Bonjour bodacious beloved,
Words do not describe this week. I think the feelings we get from the Spirit are truly indescribable because it gives us a glimpse of the flawless nature of heaven. I felt a bit of that this week as I had front row seats to the greatest miracle movie of the mission. Grab your overpriced popcorn and lean back ladies and gentleman because the elect are rampant, and its time.. for your friendly neighborhood edition of the CHALMETTE CHRONICLES: CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
Y'all, finding the elect feels pretty good. I attribute nothing to myself, of course, but God has most certainly been really good to us. Remember those investigators that came to church a week or so ago and bore her testimony? Yeah, we about to write a weekly about their insane preparedness and awesomeness-
So, this past week has been pleasantly spent in the service of our fellow beings and our God. I think the token to finding prepared people.. is whether or not they feed you. As most of us, natural men and carnivores know, food is a delight. If they got refreshments, you're probably already there let's be honest. Yeah, missionary work is no exception to that rule- if Louisiana cuisine is involved, chances are you're gonna have a stupendous lesson with a spiritual frequency that just breaks the celestial radio charts. And subsequently, of course, this lesson did just that.
Over the course of this last week, we have been regularly meeting with this incredible couple. And let me just say, you know that scene in Hercules where all the stars align and Hades releases the Titans from Tartarus and they rampage the cute Italian village? Well, this was no clash of clans, but there was certainly some constellation constancy that made everything in this past week possible. Like I said, God has been so good, and in looking back on this week, his hand has never been so visible.
So, President Farrell had a meeting with our investigator after church on Sunday.. and when we went over for dinner that night, he let us in on a little secret.. "she is ready for the next step." Now, this is coming from a guy I really respect and sustain, so you know I'ma take his word for it. He even said that he would've extended the invitation right then and there, but thought about us and left it at.. "the missionaries are gonna be talking to you about the next big step in your discipleship." Now if THAT doesn't have implications, I'll be darned! Naturally, we went into our lesson with a commitment in mind.
All good things start with good food. And there's even an underlying, "five loaves and two fish" miracle work in how they feed us, it's just all so incredible. We gave her the good 'ole Gospel of Jesus Christ along with a baptismal invite. SO, we're coasting through the lesson and teaching the principles.. and we have her watch the Children's Bible Video on baptism.. and then comes the invite:
If there ever was a more golden response..
"Have you been baptized before?"
"Yes, but not in the fullness of the Gospel."
I'm sure you can only imagine how fast my jaw hit the floor. As directed by the Spirit I invited her and her fiancee to be baptized- and as they say in the Book of Mormon, "my joy was full." I felt so emotional, but in a way that could not be justified by tears. Like, I didn't even know how to respond.. but what I did know is that I really loved these people and desired their salvation. You know that moment where Ammon passes out in the Book of Mormon because of his godly joy? I can sympathize. My joy climaxed as she not only said yes.. but wanted to be baptized that Sunday with two of the kids the Spanish Elders have been working with. Yes, she has some sacrifices she needs to make.. but I can tell you that I have never seen someone so prepared for this Gospel. Like, honestly, we even started teaching her fiancee the Restoration. and she ended up teaching him about Joseph Smith and said, "pray about it tonight, honey. I know the Spirit will testify to you that this church is true." You'd think she was an RM (Returned Missionary) or something. :)
So yeah, the two of them are miracles in my life and I know that I was meant to serve in Louisiana so that I could meet them. Missionary work is so exciting, is it not? My journal is traced with the penmanship of pure happiness. This week has really just got me so hyped to find more prepared people for this Gospel. They are out there, you just have to have a mind to find. :)
In other news, we celebrated the existence of one of my favorite Chalmettian humans- Brother Tony Hatcher. This guy does so much for our little branch, he is a minister to the max. He is basically a missionary, and as such, he consistently inquires where "his nametag" is. SO, naturally, the great minds that we are, we print him out a nametag.. frame it.. sign it.. and we think we are absolute geniuses. Well, little did we know... great minds truly think alike, because the sisters did essentially the same thing. We even canoodled him into thinking we didn't even get him a cake.. so, when we arrived he was like, "you were supposed to make me a pineapple turnover cake"- but in reality, we had spent the past hour and a half scavenging through Walmart looking for maraschino cherries... It was a surprise for all. Our investigators even came to his party and it was just a nice time to commemorate the wonderful man that he is. Once again, I love the people down here. I love this branch. I love the members and investigators alike.So much Louisiana lovin' Y'all.
Another highlight from this week: Elder Hernandez and I had the opportunity to go on exchanges in the Spanish area. Here's something quite delightful about the whole situation: the Spanish Elders have been tracting galore this past week, but alas, no fruits were found- consequently, they've been a bit down in the dumps, feeling hopeless about finding new people to teach- however, I was determined to show Elder Hernandez that anything is possible when you have exceeding faith. And we did just that.. we went tracting with our exceeding faith.. and found four new people to teach. MIRACLE CENTRAL. One of the highlights of the whole exchange (apart from unnecessarily walking five miles to an appointment that fell through, only to realize that we need to walk back to our car another five miles because walking around East New Orleans at night is really sketchy.) actually, came while street contacting. Now, I personally love talking to people on the street. I feel like when I come home, you won't be able to take me anywhere cause I will just want to talk to everyone I meet. #missionarystruggle.
ANYWAYS, we walked by this lady who was brooding over two full garbage cans.. and upon closer look, we realize that they are packed full of concrete. We give her our friendly introduction, and she seems rather sheepish and standoffish.. so we proceed to give her our number and declare our willingness to serve and availability to do so. Well, things got awkward just then.. because she started crying. So, impulsively, the only thing I could think of doing was to shovel concrete with a dustpan from one garbage can to the other so as to give her a place to put her trash. Upon further conversation we find out that this was the third time she had to renovate her bathroom, and the people she hired just ripped the whole thing apart and left their mess outside for her to clean up- AND the sanitation engineers wouldn't take her big clonking concrete collection because it was so heavy, so she was left without a place to put her miscellaneous paper towels and banana peels. AND it turns out that the exact thing I ended up doing.. was the perfect epiphany to get her motivated about her trash cans again. We ended up leaving her with a smile on her face and a return appointment to continue talking about the Gospel. The words of our former prophet echoed through my mind during our entire encounter.. "never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." We had other appointments to get to on our way passing her house, but instead, we ministered to her needs and got a friend out of the whole situation. Love really can change the hearts of the people we meet.
Well, Y'all I think that will conclude this week's CHRONICLES! I just want you all to know that this church is true. I know that. With all certainty of mind, I know that this is Christ's restored church in these latter days. I sustain a modern day prophet, President Russel M. Nelson. I know that he receives the revelation necessary to prepare us to meet our maker. This Gospel has brought a happiness unparalleled by anything this world can offer. I know this church is SO true. I hope you all have a great week and find ways to apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in your lives. Stop and help someone unload their concrete. Bake a cake for your best friend. Be the smile someone needs in their day. ELDER BOYD AND YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER LOVE YOU!
With a jaunty juxtaposition of joy and gladness,
Elder Boyd
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