I love service!

Hello Everyone!

This week has been a pretty good one.  We were able to do a lot of service.  We helped a nonmember family named the Oakes's, move into the ward.  They were super grateful for our help, and I've grown to love doing service for people on my mission.  (Yes, Dad, I WILL help you with yard work! :) )  I also lifted a heavy 1954 Volkswagen bug onto some vehicle dollies.  That thing was heavy!  Along with service, I've also gained a fascination with cars, and I want to study up a little bit more how they run and stuff like that.

This week, as every week does, had some ups and downs.  We had a potential investigator named Daniel that we talked to for a little bit, and we talked about the Restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon, and he seemed really interested and wanted us to come back.  When we came back, we found the Book of Mormon outside in a trash can.  It was pretty disheartening, but we picked it up, dusted it off, and put it back by his doorstep to give him one more chance.  Oh well, seed planted...

My FAVORITE thing that we did this week, and perhaps my favorite miracle/memory here in Santa Maria happened this week as well.  We were running really late for our dinner appointment on Wednesday, and we had to ride our bikes.  We turned onto a street, and we passed by a lady and said hi to her and asked how she was doing as we passed by.  She sort of "half smiled" and gave the impression of "so-so".  We kept riding for a second, and Elder Agle and I stopped at the stop light, looked at each other, and the Spirit was just prompting and prompting us to go back. I said, "We need to go back and talk with her."  We turned around and rode as fast as we could.  We caught her about 2 seconds before she was going to go inside.  We called out for her and asked "Why so-so?"  She walked toward us and told us that her best friend was suffering and dying from ovarian cancer, and she felt so depressed and lonely.  She walked over to a little stone wall and sat on it and began to cry.  We took off our helmets, planted our bikes and sat next to her.  We comforted her, and shared John 14:27 with her, and we told her that she was never alone.  Jesus Christ is always there for her, and for all of us.  We talked about how he knows what we are going through, and he always has his arms stretched out for us to come unto Him and find peace.  I had a picture book in my bag, and I showed her one of my favorite pictures of Jesus.  (It was the one of Jesus holding the lamb).  We told her how Jesus always leaves the 99 to go to the 1 that's lost and struggling.  We bore our testimonies of the Plan of Salvation, and we said a prayer with her and asked that her friend be blessed.  She cried again and said that she was so thankful that we came back and talked with her, and that she felt so much better.  

I thought of the scriptures, and how Jesus stopped to comfort the lady who reached out and touched his clothes.  I encourage all of you to read that.  It seemed like we talked with her for a long time, but miraculously we weren't that late to dinner.  I am grateful that we were able to cross paths with that lady and comfort her.  It's little day-to-day experiences like this that make me super grateful to be a missionary.  I love you all so much! I love this Gospel, and I love my Savior.  I'll talk to you all next week!

Elder Harper