These are Days Never to be Forgotten!

I have THE hardest time sitting down and trying to type up my feelings on the last week every time we come to email. It's like after you have a great game and the news reporter comes up and asks. "You had a great game! How do you feel about it!"  Me:  "Uh... It was... good?"   

 

   Anyway, how is everybody!? It's hot here! We were over 100 most of the days this week. We had a thunder storm yesterday that cooled things off for a couple minutes so that was nice, I love the rain.

 

We saw miracle after miracle this week in the mission. First one being we made it though transfers! haha It was good.  We had 30 new missionaries arrive on Monday, so that was intense. It is so fun to see them at the airport; they have that glazed over shocked face on each time without fail. With that many new missionaries we were able to open up eight new areas! It's just incredible how the Lord is hastening his work.

 

I cannot believe it was President Miller's last transfer execution in the mission. The revelation that flows to him is just incredible. My testimony has strengthened 100 fold on revelation and just how this church is run. It is something that I have always believed, but to get to witness it first hand, and even experience it for yourself is indescribable. The church is true, my friends. No doubt.

 

With that many new missionaries a lot of areas split too, including our YSA branch! We now have two great sisters serving with us. One is brand new who came out Monday, and the other has been out 12 weeks and is training for her second time. With all the new sisters coming out, the Lord is simply asking the sisters to step up at a young age in the mission, and they are responding well in the NMAM.

 

Desiree is doing great! It has been a bumpy road with ups and downs, but she is all set for baptism tomorrow. We are super excited, and our branch president is going to baptize her! It literally has come down to the last minute, many prayers from us and the branch have been answered. We are still praying, but tomorrow should be an amazing day for her.

 

Jessica is simply incredible. She has accepted the gospel and is just running with it. The lessons we have with her are always a spiritual experience for all who are there. She goes to the temple grounds, and tells us of answers to prayers she gets there. We invited her to a baptism last Saturday for an older lady who the haines ward missionaries were teaching and she loved it. She is going back to Las Vegas today and spending a week with her mom on vacation and she is going to tell her she is getting baptized. We have been praying for her mom's heart to soften, she will be in our prayers all week. Thank goodness for cell phones so we don't lose contact with her!  

 

Yesterday morning we had an experience that I will never forget. Elder Ballif typed it up earlier, so I am just going to send his account of it. (See below)   For a little more background on this man he is from Beverly Hills California, he is super loaded when it comes to money, and he is a seeker of truth. After our experience, he called up somebody and asked, "What do I have going on the next couple of days?" After some pause, he then said, "Cancel everything, I am going to be staying in ABQ for a few days" I will send the account Elder Ballif gave right away.

 

We took the departing missionaries to the airport Wednesday, and among them was my old companion Elder Johnson. Man, it was hard to see him go.  He is incredible. It is always quite the experience to get to spend the day and night with all the missionaries going home. I learn a lot.

 

Well, if you asked my how my week was, I'll give you the best "good" I can muster up! It's very good. I love it.

 

Love you all!

 

Elder T.

Elder Ballif's account:

Yesterday, as Elder Turnbow and I were finishing our companionship study, we received a phone call from an unknown number. It was one of the landscape workers at the Albuquerque temple. He told us that he was with man who came to the temple looking for answers to some of his religious questions. Before we could inquire more, the worker handed the phone to the visitor. A business like voice asked, “I’d like to meet. When are you available?”

We told him we would be there in twenty minutes. We then asked if there was anything specific that he would like to talk about. He said, “Yes. Born again and reconciliation.”

Elder Turnbow and I dropped to our knees and asked Heavenly Father to inspire us and bless us with the Spirit as we taught this humble seeker of truth. We asked that He would unbind our tongues and help us to testify of what we knew would be the answer to whatever questions this man would have. The Spirit gave us comfort and confidence.

As we scanned the temple grounds from the parking lot below, we saw nobody.  The landscape worker directed us toward the temple. As we neared the temple fountain we saw an older man rounding the temple’s south corner. We introduced ourselves.

His name is John. He has been on a search for truth for the last seven years. He has met with various church leaders and religious experts throughout the world, looking for something to satisfy his soul. He learned to read ancient manuscripts in Hebrew and Aramaic, and has met with dozens of experts to find the origin of pure Christianity. Thus far, nobody had been able to answer his questions. He stopped in Albuquerque to meet with a well renowned Baptist minister. After their meeting that very morning, he threw his things into his car, slammed the door and drove off in a fury; he was not happy with what the minister had to say. As he was driving back to his hotel in hopeless defeat, he saw the temple and felt impressed to visit.

 “So,” he said, “Here we are. What is it that you teach?”

“John,” we said, “we are representatives of Jesus Christ. We are not experts in theology. Our credentials are not of the world. We have been called of God to teach all men everywhere that He has restored His truth to the earth. We’d like to share with you how you can know if this is the truth you’ve been searching for.”

As we spoke, his eyes gazed deep into ours; it was as if he was examining our souls to see if we truly believed what we were teaching. The sincerity in his countenance was moving. Intrigued, he asked us to continue. We taught how Christ’s church was on the earth, but how it fell into apostasy. We taught about dispensations; how God always calls prophets to preach His gospel; a concept already familiar to him. Elder Turnbow explained how Joseph Smith was looking for the truth. He invited John to listen to the Spirit as I shared Joseph’s account of the first vision. With power he promised, “John, as Elder Ballif recounts the experience of Joseph Smith, you will feel in your heart that it is true.” Halfway through the account of Joseph’s divine encounter, tears welled up in John’s eyes and he interrupted me. With tenderness and confidence he said, “I know that this is true. I know it.”

Elder Turnbow then bore one of the most powerful testimonies I have heard. There was an overwhelming spirit on those hallowed grounds as we taught with simplicity and the guidance of the Holy Ghost. After seven years of the best research and professional opinion money can buy, thirty minutes of restored truth brought to him the understanding he had so desperately searched for.

I am so grateful that the Lord trusted us with that sacred experience. I know with all of my heart that this is Christ’s restored church on the earth. I know that it is only by the Spirit of God that two awkward young men can speak with great power, as with the voice of a trumpet. How humbled I am to be one of the Lord’s servants in these last days.