August 5, 2013

Missionary Slim thinks, What a powerful sermon in the words, "Thank You, Lord, for boys like these." (Week 78 in Pennsylvania, Week 2 in Dover, PA)

As I expected, the area split has been dramatic, in every way possible. When transfer calls were all said and done, I made sure to get the phone number of the sisters coming to take over West York and to give them a heads up about the area. I caught them as they were driving along the lengthy turnpike from Pittsburgh to the east, gave them a quick briefing, and then welcomed them to the area.
 
I'm sure that somewhere a church clock tower was ringing 12:00 midnight at the same time our phone was ringing. Sleep was distant for me, so I immediately answered. On the other end was the brand new missionary coming into our area, Hermana Law. The poor girl was only in PA for two days, and she had this to tell me: "We just barely got to our apartment and the door was locked! We don't have a key and can't get in. What should we do?" I couldn't help but laugh - it reminded me of when I was only a few days in the mission. Fortunately, some very friendly members live just around the corner, so we were able to arrange for them to stay the night there.
 
Since then, though, they've been able to get the hang of things much better. We introduced them to all of the people that we are teaching - their enthusiasm was hysterical. Because both of them are still very new on the mission, they are still learning Spanish. So pretty much every Spanish person we talked to was greeted with "Hola! Como Estas? Oh, muy bien! Y tu?" etc. etc. you know, the basics. Nothing much beyond that though. But their excitement was obvious.
 
As for us up in Dover, things are moving. Not as fast, but they are going well. We visited an older lady this week who has been visited before, but not in a long time. Her name is Ferne. When we stopped by, she was more than happy to see us and sit us down for a chat. She told us of an upcoming corneal transplant that she was going to have. We talked a bit about the restoration, prophets, and priesthood, and then offered a blessing to her. "Sure!" she said, "I would love one!"
 
The blessing went well. More importantly, the surgery went well. When we stopped by yesterday, she bounded out of her chair and said "Hello, boys!" It hardly looked like anything had happened to her. In fact, she looked more energetic than usual.
 
We had a little lesson with her after chatting for a bit, and then invited her to say the prayer. It was very special when she said what most people sometimes say: "Thank you for having these boys come over to visit me." Then she paused. I heard a sob. Then she spoke through tears. "Thank you Lord for boys like these." The words were simple, but the meaning was intense. It was incredible. I don't know if it's possible to even relate what she was trying to say in words. But it was good.
 
It's those kinds of moments that make it all worth it.
 
Take care all!
Love,
Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim

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