Today is such a beautiful day. The sun is shining and it reminds me of home. Most days are not like that. It does rain here a lot but for the most part they're very lovely days.
I am going to tell you about a few fun things that happened this week. This is a long story but very unique and interesting. It has three parts to it. Everything fits together and we know that the Lord is in charge. No effort is wasted.
On Tuesday we had to deliver towels to a man named Martin. The Slovak people are in need of lots of different things because they really come here with nothing. We knocked on the door and Elder Allen could see Martin was reading something. He took off his glasses stood up ans came and answered the door. He had been reading the Book of Mormon. Surprise, surprise! He tried to communicate to us that he wasn't feeling well. Something was wrong with this stomach. We don't speak Slovakian and he doesn't speak English. We knew we needed to call some of the missionaries to find out what he was trying to tell us. Normally we would call Elder Sindylek because he is the most skilled in the language. But for some reason we called Elder Brown. We knew that Elder Brown was on Exchange with the zone leaders. That was the first part of this story.
Elder Brown and Elder Grimaldi were in a hurry to get where they were going. They were rushing around the streets of Sheffield. We stopped them by our phone call and had him communicate with Martin for about 10 minutes. Martin told Elder Brown that he had been to the doctor and they had given him medicine to stop from throwing up and having diarrhea. After five days it wasn't working. So that's what he communicated to us and that Martin was asking for a blessing. Martin is not a member of the church but comes to church quite often. The missionary still work with him and his wife Christina on a regular basis. They have word of wisdom concerns and that stop them from being baptized. He told Elder Brown that when he reads the Book of Mormon he will stop, puts it down and prays for forgiveness in trying to repent. He feels good and then he reads more then from the Book of Mormon. Well your dad gave Martin a blessing. He pleaded with the Lord because of the great faith that Martin had so that he would be healed. We said goodbye to him and the next day we found out that Martin was feeling much better.
Back to Elder Brown on the streets of Sheffield. They talk to us for about 10 minutes about Martin and when they hung up they saw a man walking towards them. Elder Grimaldi said we need to talk to him. He had earbuds in his ears and a hoodie over his head. Somehow they were able to stop him and have him talk to them. He welcomed their conversation because of an incident that happened in his life 2 to 3 years ago. Back then he had been helping a friend move into an apartment. Missionaries walked by and asked if they could help them with their moving. They throw their backpacks on the ground and proceeded to help them move into their new flat. This man said "aren't you concerned about your stuff getting stolen?" "No, it's just scriptures and if they get stolen maybe they will read them." Because of this kind gesture from these missionaries this young man was willing to talk to Elder Brown and Elder Grimaldi today. They were able to make a return appointment to teach him later.
Miracles happen around each and every day. You never know when your efforts might help another missionary or person down the road. Finding and teaching and teaching and finding is what we do. It's a glorious time to be a missionary. I hope you have a great week.
.JPG)
