Week 53, July 31, 2017

Miracles = Faith+Action Howdy Y'all! So this week was a Ton of fun and adventures. We have been really tight on miles so no jaunts over to Veil but it was a lot of fun despite the fact that we are at like zero miles at this point. We got three amazing new investigators! We had the lesson with Kim which was amazing! Turns out her Grandmother was a member and her aunt just got baptized a member! I feel like she is being prepared by the hand of the Lord to hear the message. It is amazing! Second was a girl named Alyxis. She is awesome. She has been taught by the sister missionaries for a while and they just handed her off so its been fun to teach her. The third was Jason! Last week I talked about Jill and it turns out Jill's roommate has a brother named Jason who is often over at the apartment. We taught him and in the process of getting to know him it just naturally transitioned to the restoration. It was amazing and I totally felt the Spirit there. It was amazing! That was the major happenings this week so now onto the Spiritual thought. You might have guessed that I am going to talk about miracles. Specifically what it takes to see one. Up until now I cannot say I have seen tremendous miracles in my life. At least not the type you hear about in General conference. I have seen little miracles but have felt that overall I have not seen the miracles that everyone always talks about. But suddenly, they have appeared. Now for those of you who know me I am rather scientifically minded. So of course I started to wonder. What could have sparked these miracles? What changed in my life? Is there a correlation or causation? And it dawned on me. Transfers happened. With transfers came a new companion. And as I discussed last week along with this new companion came a work ethic the likes of which I have never seen in any of my companions. Not that I have had bad companions. Elder Wildung is just a most exceptional missionary. So what have we been doing since he got here? We have worked our tails off. And what does that have to do with miracles? Miracles happen when we exercise Faith and then put in our best effort. Not to say that if you do those things then you can guarantee a miracle. But on the other hand if you don't do them then I CAN guarantee there will not be a miracle. Or at least it is extremely unlikely. I cannot pretend to dictate what God can and cannot do. Either way the point is we have to ACT. I love the saying "Pray like it's all on God, then Work like it's all on You". That is the way its supposed to be. We are not just meant to pray and have all our problems disappear. We are meant to work and trust that when we follow the Lords plan for us things will all work out for the best. So we work hard. Not because we pretend that we can make it to Heaven by our works. That is NOT Possible! We cannot do it! We cannot EARN our way to Heaven. We have to rely on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way. But if we want to see the Lord's hand in our lives there is only one way to truly do it. Work hard and then leave the rest up to the Lord. Put forth your best effort and He most definitely will make things work together for your good. God loves us. He wants to bless us. Not always the way we want him to but the best way for us. And so we work hard and the blessings rain down and the miracles appear. That is the way to see God's hand in our lives. I promise God is there. He wants to help you. But you cannot expect him to just make all your problems go away. He wants us to grow. That is why He Blesses us with trials. Notice what I did there? I didn't say He gives them to us. He blesses us with them. There is a distinct difference that is all a matter of perspective. And that changed perspective can make an enormous difference. I promise. I love all of you so much. I hope you are doing well and having a great time. Sincerely Elder Nathan Lindh