The Prayer of Faith...

 February 13, 2012... Dear Family,



What a great week it turned out to be. The Lord blessed Elder Gebhard and I in many wonderful ways. I think the biggest success came with the members. One fun thing we did with many of them was we role played. I used to hate role plays! I felt so uncomfortable and awkward. However, now I really enjoy them. They are a fabulous opportunity to get all the mistakes out and be led by the Holy Ghost. Some of the members were hesitant at first, but we would give them an example and then they would be more excited. By time we were leaving they were all fired up to share the gospel!


We had some great miracles. We were able to find two new investigators through talking to everyone. They are sisters. We taught them on Saturday and invited them to come to church with us on Sunday. They did! They really enjoyed it, and things went well.


However, Elder Gebhard and I felt that, because they are women, it would be better for the Sisters to teach them. It was a hard decision, yet at the same time it wasn't. I was pondering about it right before personal study on Sunday and was thinking to myself,"What would be most beneficial for them. What would give them to best opportunity to truly accept the gospel?" As I knelt to pray I knew before the words even left my mouth. I knew that having the Sisters teach them would be best. The hard thing was that they were the first people we had found in quite some time. I was being selfish and lacked faith at first. However, I was able to trust the Lord and it was a great learning opportunity.


We also had another great thing happen. There were twelve non-members at church on Sunday. One of them was the son of an active member, however we didn't know for sure while at church. I felt the prompting to go and stop by at this member's home, even though it wasn't in our plans. When we got there the member welcomed us in and it was almost as if he had been expecting us to show up. He didn't act surprised at all. He called in his son, PJ, and we sat down and had a lesson. During the lesson we taught some simple and basic truths. We also had the opportunity to give PJ a blessing. I annointed and the father sealed it. It was a tender moment between father and son. At the end of the lesson we knelt and asked PJ to say the closing prayer. He was hesitant at first, but through encouragement he said it. It was an exquisite prayer. It was very humble and heartfelt. Immediately afterwards PJ had more joy than before and the Spirit was there. It was a humbling and powerful experience.


I had a lot of humbling yet powerful experiences. I felt more in tune with the Spirit and had more faith in following promptings. I didn't know why I was being prompted to do things most of the time, but I followed and blessings came.


We had another incredible miracle on Wednesday too. To start on Wednesday and Thursday we had a leadership training meeting. Because it was a two day meeting the missionaries who had to travel from the further areas stayed with missionaries who didn't have to travel as far. So, Elder Gebhard and I had three missionaries come and stay with us. Wednesday night Elder Gebhard went out with two of them and I went out with an elder named Elder Drake. They went and taught a member named Chris. During their lesson they did a role play with Chris. He role played inviting a friend named Skyler to church. The lesson went really well, and Chris was excited to invite his friend. Meanwhile Elder Drake and I were on the other side of town trying to have a lesson with some members. We worked for a few hours, but not much was happening. Towards the end of the night we were tracting by some members in an apartment complex. We knocked on a door and nobody came. Just as we were walking away I got a phone call. It was from the member Elder Gebhard had taught earlier that day, Chris. While I was talking to him a man got home from work and went up to the house we had just knocked on, however he was locked out. While I was talking to Chris, Elder Drake went and talked to the man. I didn't hear their conversation except one part. I heard the man say Chris' name. I was in shock! I was talking to Chris on the phone and this man talking to Elder Drake just said Chris' name! I went right over and asked the man who he was. He told me," Skyler." I immediately put the phone on speaker and informed Chris who I was talking to. They talked over the phone for a second and then Chris invited Skyler to church. It was incredible. There was no way something like that could have been orchestrated by any of us so perfectly. It was a clear sign that THIS IS THE LORDS WORK! What a special experience!


My faith has been greatly built over the last week. I've been a part of many wonderful things, and had my prayers answered. I know that as we all pray and act on those prayers that we will be guided and blessed.


Love Always, Zach