Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Thankful for the Holy Ghost

 (Elder Cummings)
Thanksgiving week came and went.  That is the direction everything seems to go.  On Thanksgiving we were told not to proselyte, which interrupted some of Elder Gray's and my plans.  We had busy, busy days Monday to Wednesday, Thanksgiving, then busy days Friday to Sunday.

On Thanksgiving itself we went golfing with Bishop Castleton and his sons.  Elder Gray is pretty good at golf, and this was my first time ever.  We played scramble, fortunately.  Preston, Bishop's oldest, told me that I swing like someone from a driving competition, and that except for actually hitting the ball, I had a pretty good stroke.  It was a fun time.  I enjoyed myself.  Following that we ate more than our fill at dinner, and by the time we got back to our apartment at 5:30 we had nothing to do.  I have not had that feeling for a year and a half.  What did we do?  We watched two of the five approved videos, "Emma Smith: My Story" and "On the Lord's Errand" about Thomas S. Monson's life.  In the second movie it talked about how frequently President Monson has experienced being led by the Spirit to a home for a reason unknown to him at the time, only to hear people say things like "how did you know it was the anniversary of our daughter's death?" or "how did you know it was my birthday?" as they answer the door.  God loves all of His children and keeps track of them.

Last night we had a regular "Thomas S. Monson."  We left our dinner appointment and both felt impressed to change our evening plans so that we could attend a baptismal service at one of the chapels in town.  We did exactly that, arriving before the service started, much to the surprise of the elders who had planned the service.  As part of the service, immediately following the baptism a missionary message was planned during the time that those who baptized and were baptized changed out of their wet clothes.  The missionaries who had been asked to do this presentation did not show up, and gave no advance notice.  Elder Gray and I got up and filled in for them.  We delivered a powerful testimony of the restoration of the gospel.  We both felt strongly guided by the Spirit in what we were doing.  After we closed our message, we took our seats and enjoyed the rest of the service.  It was clear to both of us that we were in the right place at the right time because we had been led there by God.  It was neat.  The rest of that night went smoothly.  We taught the gospel that is in our hearts until returning to the apartment at 9:30.

With love,
Elder Cummings


P.S. The Christmas video for the year has been released!  I've been watching it since Halloween, but it is public now!  It is on the homepage of www.mormon.org.  Watch that video.  It is powerful.

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