From time to time I receive emails that remind me of the miracles the lord brought to pass while I was serving in Las Vegas and even after as a result of the influence that service had. One woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer came to us late in the evening and requested a blessing. She and her husband had three little children and were inactive. As we laid hands on her head and blessed her I felt prompted to promise her that if she would read the Book of Mormon every day that she would be healed. Her husband wrote recently to say that not only had that prophetic promise come to pass through her faithfulness in reading the scriptures but that the influence of good members had brought them back into full activity. They have since been sealed in the temple to each other and their children.
Not all stories have a happy ending. One woman wrote to tell me of the passing of her husband from a heroin overdose. I had worked with that brother throughout my mission even after I was transferred visiting him every time I was on splits with the APs. We helped him face and strive to overcome many vices laying hands on his head and revealing the choicest blessings predicated upon his obedience. He was a dear friend and will be sadly missed. I often look at the small piece of paper he gave me with words of gratitude and friendship that is inserted into my tattered little hymnal. The news of this brother's passing came about the same time a letter arrived from a young man who I had baptized and helped prepare for a mission wrote me to share his happiness in serving the lord in that way. The contrast was stark and I felt both joy and sorrow as I pondered the consequences our choices bring
I also received an email from a young convert who we had taught early on in my mission. From that contact her whole family had been brought into the church and been sealed. She wrote me to tell me that she had since married a return missionary and been sealed in the temple as well. I am now starting to see the eternal impact our missionary service has as the generations linked together through the sealing power of the priesthood grow out of the conversions we witnessed. |
