Change of Plans

Hello Everyone,

The best way to describe this week is that it was the kind of week where the Lord looks at what we plan, and then takes it and gives us something completely different.  Going into the week, we had more or less set lesson every day of the week which is great for the area, but as time went on every single one of those lessons with the exception of one fell through.  But in most of those cases we were always led to someone who needed us more.  I will tell about about a couple of those stories.

One of those happened on Thursday.  We were going to have a lesson with a part member family we have been working to get a lesson with, but a half hour before the appointment they texted us to cancel due to the flu.  Unsure of what to do, we felt we needed to go back to a street that we had only half tracted earlier in the day due to time.  This time we started on the other half and went from house to house getting various kinds of rejections, until we reached the last house we didn't get to knock on earlier.  Right when that door opened the man warmed up to our message immediately.  While talking, it became evident to us that the Lord had been preparing him, and that the Lord maneuvered our plans so we would knocked at that house at the exact time we did, so we could catch him and introduce the Gospel to him.  We go back to his home tomorrow.

On Friday another story happened that was very similar.  We were to have a lesson with another new investigator who fell through on us.  We decided to look at our area book and contact a few former investigators nearby, which led to us finding a young mother.  Then on Saturday lessons fell through again, but this time we were prompted to visit the part member family from earlier and essentially get them all to start thinking about goals to reach baptism and ultimately being sealed in the temple.  They have a lot of work to do to get there and nothing is final, but it was great to be involved in these miracles.

Ultimately this is the Lord's work and not ours.  All God asks of us is to have a willing heart, step outside our door and do our best. When we do that, the Lord can take whatever plan we have made and change it to something that truly reflects His will.  Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter