And Who Shall Say It Was Not A Miracle?

These letters stand for the Hebrew phrase, Nes Gadol Haya Sham– which means “A great miracle happened there.” - http://toriavey.com/

You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.

Paulo Coelho

Monday, June 16, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

Do you believe in miracles? There can be miracles if only you believe. 

What a week! There is so much to update. Mom's hair almost looks pink. It is definitely a new hairstyle. I hope Dad enjoyed a wonderful Father's Day. I am glad you enjoyed my note, Dad! I received your letters this week. It was good to read them! I loved the jokes; I thought they were hilarious. 

This week was chalk full of miracles and craziness. Starting with Monday. I want to reiterate the fact that our special investigator was not home for the appointment we had set up for last week. As her family claims, "She got upset and went to a friend's house." We have been praying for her, hoping that she is alright. So, we had a normal P-day (preparation day), playing Chess and Clue. I love Clue, but that is besides the point. We had those board games in the apartment. Miracle #1: A person who is active, but had no job, obtained a job last week. It was perfect for him! Small little miracle. He has been out of work and his situation has been iffy. I am thankful that he got a job. That was a small miracle. 

Tuesday. We enjoyed working at one of the less actives. We cooked lunch with them and had a great time. We do a lot for them in trying to help them stay attached to the gospel. We later went to contact a referral we received from other missionaries. The referral was a woman. She had requested for a blessing through her nephew. This woman has terminal cancer. I was the one that had to give the blessing. It was hard, but I put my faith out there. May God bless her and all those who are going and have gone through cancer. 

Wednesday. We decided to go see our special investigator to see if she is home. Nobody was home. Disappointed, we went home and had an early lunch. Miracle #2: This stretches back to Sunday. Our special investigator came home from church; the member that took her to church gave our special investigator her phone number. Our special investigator kept it. She has been having family issues, where her family has been leeching off of her. They fight a lot and she is tired of it. Well, Sunday after church, her family had another fight. Our special investigator threatened to call the cops. They did not like that, so they took away the phones and, essentially, made her prisoner in her own home. What does our special investigator do? Oh, just wakes up at midnight, sneaks out of her home, goes to the road (which is 0.2 miles from the house), and hitchhikes to a friend's house. Yeah, she ran away from her family at midnight, which explains Monday. Wednesday, she got into phone contact, called the member, and the member called us. We talked to our special investigator and set up an appointment. Prayers were indeed answered and we had nice appointment with her and her friend. 

But, this is not at all. Just you wait. Miracle #3: We have a section of the area that we never go to due to mileage limitations. It would kill us for the month. The ward mission leader, on Sunday, told us that he would like to take us to Amelia, that section that is hardly touched, to find three less actives. I prayed for Wednesday to be a miracle day and that we would see the less actives, all of them. Prayers are indeed answered. Not only did we get to see our special investigator (which was a major surprise), we saw all three less actives and a referral in Amelia. One less active had Parkinson's and was not too interested. Another had some contact with the Church and does not mind us stopping by. The last less active was nuts. Crazy. Proud Southerner and made it obvious that he was a bit racist. He had a wall of death, meaning he had dead animal heads on a wall. He did not mind us coming back to him again. And we talked to the referral a bit. A follow-up contact will be best.

Thursday. My companion had received notice that he would be receiving a package. He is, I say this jokingly, a creeper. So, we were headed home to eat lunch, when he saw the UPS truck and pulled off the road. He wanted to make sure that the truck was coming our way, which he did. If it did not, he would have followed the truck until it stopped. The truck stops somewhere before our house and we just go home. My companion stood outside, while I went in, to watch to make sure we were not missed. Eventually, he went in. To make it even more awkward, when the UPS man did come to our door, he instantly recognized my companion and said, "Oh, I was wondering why you were staring at me." 

Miracle #4: Remember also last week about how I told you of car accidents that have occurred here? Remember the person who was T-boned? Yeah, he is another miracle this week. Two weeks ago now (last week, it was only a week after the crash), he got hit as he was turning out into an intersection by somebody going 60 miles per hour and was helicoptered to the hospital. He had a broken neck and back and a huge cut on his head. The driver of the other car received only cuts and bruises while the passenger received a broken thumb. Well, on Thursday, he was up and moving. He was moving fast, even with a broken neck and back. He still had a neck brace on. Even more, he was cleared to go to work! The doctor, who saw him in the emergency room, was astonished and could not believe what had occurred. The doctor kept on uttering, "There is no way."

Friday. Miracle #5: This day we went out with one of the youth. We had received a referral from the office just that morning. We figure we should go see that person and we did. She was a person who also had terminal cancer. She has, I believe, breast cancer that is stage 4, grade 3, and triple negative. This cancer feeds off of her. This woman was impressed that we showed up so quickly, because she only talked to her friend in Richmond, only that morning. This woman was happy as can be and relies on God. Even more, she is taking no pain medicine nor any antidepressants. If she does, she would die. She could have an adverse reaction to radiation. And she, while in pain, is happy. She was concerned for her husband, because her husband is trying to do everything from work to helping her to taking care of the house. We offered to help. This woman also had a card that she received from a non-member youth during a Relay for Life. It really touched her; our youth knew the person who signed the card. This woman and the connections we could make was a miracle.

Saturday. We had a ward picnic at a lake. It was nice to be with the people. My companion made cookies. I really enjoyed my time. I loved it. People swam in the lake and we just played games. We talked with the people and it was the best time ever. 

As much as this next event did not seem like a miracle, I am still referring to it as a miracle. It is obvious as bad as it is that I was meant to be here. Miracle #6: Friday, we received a call from our special investigator, saying she needed help with moving some stuff. At the picnic, we got some help. Our special investigator needed some things out of her house. We arrive at her house (she and her friend were in the driveway) with the member driving behind us. A policeman comes up and escorts us up the driveway. The police are involved with her situation. We get out of the car and we need to get inside. The front door is locked and the key does not work. Any doors into the main part of the house are locked. We open one of the garage doors (there are two) that was unlocked and I, due to it being a small space, crawl in. I open the main garage door and then we tried another side door. It too is locked. The policeman is watching us and giving us occasional tips. The member ended up taking off one of the storm windows by the front room and opening up the window. The member removed glass items and called me over. Another small space for a small person to crawl through. I crawl into the home and open the doors for them. The police entered, making sure nobody was home. Thankfully, nobody was. The policeman left, seeing as there was nothing left for him to do. Our special investigator's bedroom was locked. Using an old library card of mine, we broke in. (On a side note, perhaps I should learn lock picking skills.) Our special investigator needed some papers for court to be rid of her family. She, by the grace of God, was able to find them.

Still on Saturday. We ate dinner and went to a less active's home. There we got the call. I handed the phone to Elder Clifford, because he felt that he was leaving. He is indeed leaving. Without hanging up, he hands the phone to me. I, too, am being transferred out of Powhatan. Off to a new destination. So, it is a bit of headache, trying to leave a thousand notes about this area. Sunday. We sang Take Time To Be Holy, accompanied by the member who got the perfect job. He is such a wonderful pianist and I felt so privileged to sing that song. It was his first song that he accompanied someone to and that was his mother. We both bore our testimonies. The rest of the day was filled of saying good bye to people. It sucks, because I was starting to get attached to these people and, much more, it is hard saying good bye to people. But, I must move on. And today, we have said good bye to people and had zone P-day. I did not do much, because I incidentally had most of my clothes already packed from the previous transfer and never felt inclined to unpack them.

President Wilson, or rather the Lord, likes patterns. Elder Clifford, Elder Frank, and Elder Longman all have a common thread to them and that is one companion. My chances are that I will receive that companion or a companion of his. Also, I figured I might be gone. There is one missionary that whenever he comes along, I end up leaving. He is my curse, in a sense. Who knows where I will be.

That is the wonderful, miraculous, and crazy week I had. Perhaps I should not have been involved with our special investigator's issues, but she has no one and I was needed.

All is well! 

Love,

Elder S. Todd

August 19, 2013 - Miracles - Service - Servants of Jesus Christ

Dear Parents,

It is so good to hear from you, even if it is a small letter as this. (All that I have received is the postscript, which I am grateful for and I am not sure if there is more. In any case, I am grateful.) I got mom's letter and I do plan on writing back as soon as possible. I also got Mom's invite to Google Plus, which I do not believe that I will be able to go on. I do thank you for that. I am sorry to hear that you are dealing with ants. They seem to be quite a bother.

My week here has been one of the best thus far. My companion and I had received a "mormon.org" referral. We did not have a set appointment and so we decided to go knock that door after doing service. My companion had forgotten his dress shoes and so we had to drive back to our apartment to get his shoes. We got there and knocked on his door. It did not look as though anyone was home, but we tried anyway. The thought came to my head to expect a miracle. I rang the doorbell and the door swung open and this muscular black man is at the door. We gave our statement as to who we are, "We are servants of Jesus Christ." He replied to us, "Come on in." Well, that does not happen that often and I was quite honestly expecting the door to close on us, seeing that the last Mormon.org referral cancelled on us. I was taken aback and we went inside. He was talking to his friend that referred us to him on the phone and she was happy that we were there. We shared the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit was there strongly. He wanted to be baptized, to read the Book of Mormon. We called him a few days ago and he said he was ready to turn his life over to Christ.

The same day, we had an appointment for this Baptist woman, but that day was not the right day for her due to unfortunate circumstances. Despite this, we decided to try a few people nearby who said that they might be interested. We saw this girl who we had given a pass-along card and who had invited us back to talk to her family. She brought her mother, who told us, "I already know of the Mormon church and I am not interested." We persisted and asked her if there was anything we could do for her. She told us, "No, there is not anything... Well, do you have gas money?" We gave her some and it softened her heart where she let us in and told us a few personal stories of how she came to believe in Christ. My companion and I shared our testimonies of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She pulled out a Book of Mormon that she had found on the ground one day outside her little townhouse. She said she felt full and we made an appointment to come back. As we were leaving the neighborhood, there was a man on a bike, who shouted at us, "Mormons!" We stopped our car and rolled down the window. He told us where he lived and invited us back. (We believe we met with him again and he tried preaching to us.)

The next day many of our appointments fell through, so we decided to try a few referrals. We got two new people who are potentially interested, though one of them was not a referral. God has helped us find new people and has shown us who is prepared. This week has been a miracle in that way. And while, yes, it was disappointing to not see them at church this Sunday, I was comforted in that fact that I had sowed seeds.

I did more service on Saturday for an Eagle Scout project. This young man that I was helping decided to put on a 5k Run for Canned Food. People would come to donate canned food and join the race. It was huge success for the young man, because a lot of non-members were there. I was a race marshal along with my companion. I had to go in the middle of traffic and stop it, so that the runners would be able to cross the street. I even helped other joggers, who were not part of the race, cross the street. Nobody wanted to kill me for stopping the road, which was great. Though, there was this man who was not going to wait and took his opportunity to go when he could. But, it was a lot of fun helping people cross the street. I walked the race at the end to pick up the signs that pointed the way.

I have been assigned to give a talk this upcoming Sunday on preaching the gospel. I am really excited and I have a few quotes down. I am not writing anything, but the introduction. I have created an outline, but other than that, I will rely on God and tend to the talk throughout the week. I also realized a few things this week about me personally. I love to sing and I have been learning some of the hymns. I learned Master, the Tempest is Ragingand I am working on A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief and School Thy Feelings. I do want to learn other hymns and other musical songs (though that will be a long while away). It also struck me that I should be a forensic psychologist and on the side, be a victims counselor. I feel as though the Lord has helped me realize a few things and I know that the Lord will help provide for me.

Also, thank you for all that you do for me and for sending me the list of birthdays. I now know when to wish people happy birthdays!

I hope everything is going well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

Footnote to the above post which is a letter our son sent to us:

My son received a postscript to a letter that I had written him in the form of a short email. The letter that I thought I had sent him was in a draft folder. The postscript message had a different signature message than the original letter. So it was quite interesting to see him mention the word miracle twice in his letter. The letter that was sent to him that he received after writing the above letter included the following quote from Albert Einstein: "There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; or you can live as if everything is a miracle." Also note, that his mother always chooses a quote from Pinterest to include in his letter. That quote is what you see included in this post. Notice that it is a quote from Ezra Taft Benson and also mentions "miracles." Was it just a coincidence that we sent him those particular quotes unknowingly to him or was it inspiration? I would think it was the latter. Life is full of miracles. -Stephen Todd, Seth's Father