My heart is full, and
this week was fantastic. Fantastic. Sooooo many miracles, in soooo
many areas! I shall proceed, but in honor of Thanksgiving this week,
let's do it in the form of thanks:
I am thankful for the chance I had to receive some
training this week about finding. This helped to strengthen my faith
that there still are people out there, even in my area, who need to hear
the message of the gospel! This really helped me to have renewed vigor
and desire to go out and find and teach.
I am thankful for the opportunity I had to go on
exchanges this week. Three of them! With three different Elders. The
first was with an Elder Smith, who I actually was with for 3 days at the
beginning of last transfer. I was so excited when I learned that I was
going to do a leadership exchange with him, and we had a great time
finding some new people for him to teach in his area. The last one I
went on was with Elder Nieto, a missionary from Colombia, and his
Spanish accent reminded me SO MUCH of El Paso and home. I got to
practice my broken Spanish with him, and we were just happy and laughing
the whole day as we taught, served, and contacted. One of my favorite
quotes of the day was when he told me "It's so funny - you're tall,
white, and Polish, but you speak like a Mexican!" Haha, that's my 17
years in El Paso for SURE!
I am thankful for my companion, Elder Taylor. We
were able to do some major work this week in finding and teaching, and
it is so great to see this area the busiest it has ever been since I
came at the beginning of August! He has really been a great support in
everything.
I am thankful for the great gift of the Book of
Mormon for teaching me, inspiring me, and helping me feel the Spirit
more every day. What a great resource for me, and what a great tool for
others. As I have applied my mission president's words to use the Book
of Mormon more, I have definitely seen and felt great miracles. Such
as one where we went to see Dan: he was a little tired and irritated at
first, but as we read from the Book of Mormon he changed so much. He
learned more about the Bible as we discussed what we read, and he was
much calmer and happier at the end. I asked him if he noticed how
different he felt at the end compared to the beginning, but of course he
declined to respond. I know he notices it though!
I am grateful for gloves. They do such a great job at keeping my hands warm. :)
I am grateful to be able to drive a car. I am so spoiled. So spoiled. But that heater is pretty darn hot, let me tell ya! :P
I am grateful for our good bishop, who has inspired
the ward council to praying for our investigators by name, and for us as
missionaries of their ward by name. I can testify that specific
prayers like that really does make a huge difference! They are
currently applying the idea of asking the missionaries serving from
their ward for investigators' names to pray for and then praying for
them. I think that is a fantastic idea. So if you feel so inclined,
would you say a prayer for Jim, Robert, William, Marc, or Tania? I
would really appreciate it. As would they.
I am grateful for the gift of music. So grateful.
I would be dead without it. Life would be bland and terrible. Music
fills me up and drives me forward and gives me such incredible joy!
I am grateful for my family: Mom, Dad, Ryan Jen Ellie and
Charlie, James, David, Mark, Robert, Katy, Kimberly, and all the rest of
my extended family and extended extended family. That should include
all of you. :) You all are the best.
Last of all, I am grateful for Jim. And the
Spirit. And the gospel. And what happens when you combine those
together. We had a baptismal date set for the 30th with him, but all of
last week he wasn't really sure if he wanted to go through with it. In
fact, with one lesson my companion had with him when we were on
exchanges, he said he wanted to wait it out. BUT, on Saturday, we had a
great time reading the Book of Mormon with him, and he told us of how
the Lord might have been answering his prayers about the church. We
testified to him that the experiences he shared were truly the Lord
telling him through the Holy Ghost that this gospel is true. We then
challenged him to make a decision about baptism, pray about it, and then
come to church the next morning.
Sunday dawned bright and beautiful. During
Sacrament meeting, Jim leaned over to Elder Taylor and said he wanted to
go through with being baptized on the 30th. And then the talks seemed
like they were specifically geared towards his concerns. Wow. When
Elder Taylor shared the good news to me, MAN I was filled with so much
joy! I am so grateful for the work that the Lord has done on him to
help him to change and accept this covenant!
So now we have a baptism to plan for Saturday. Me
in my lack of faith wasn't planning on it happening, so the Lord taught
me a great lesson. Wahoo!! On goes the work! Hoorah for Israel!
Love,
--Elder Usevitch
1. The first snow of the year! Yay!
1. The first snow of the year! Yay!
2. The first fellow Ham that I've found in Idaho!
3. Sweetest pic EVER of the Boise temple.
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