Give Thanks!

Hello all friends and family,

This past week we've been talking and thinking a lot about gratitude. I don't have a lot of time today but I do want to share one miracle that I am SO grateful for!

So, there is an investigator here named Mark and he is amazing! 3 years ago when Mark was in Afghanistan with the US Army, he was bunked with a soldier who is a member of the church. This soldier talked to Mark a lot about the gospel and ever since then he has thought a lot about it. He did some investigating on his own the past few years and then last month he referred himself on mormon.org and asked for missionaries to come by. The Sisters met with him a few weeks before I got here and he was on fire! We visited with him once the week I got here and had an amazing lesson about the Plan of Salvation. We asked him to pray about baptism and when he thought it was time for him. Well, for about two weeks we didn't see him and he didn't reply to anything so we were getting really nervous. We drove to his house on Friday and his car was there but the lights were out. 

We happened to be in the area again on Saturday and as we were driving through the town I had a thought pop in my head and I quickly looked at Hermana Carrell and said "Mark!" We stopped by again and the lights were on! When we knocked another guy answered the door and as we looked past him there was Mark sitting on his couch playing video games! He told us that he had just been working a lot and whenever he's home he just sleeps and sleeps and he's been really bad at answering his phone. We had a good conversation and invited him to church but weren't completely sure if he was still interested or not. Well the next morning was amazing because we had 3 of our Hispanic investigators come to church! And they loved it! Well, in the middle of the sacrament hymn Mark came into the chapel! Miracle! He sat down next to us and he seemed super happy to be there. We sent him to the English Gospel Principles since he understands more English than Spanish and went our way to the Spanish class. 

After church I kept having this thought that we needed to go look for Mark before he left church so we quickly swept the halls of the church looking for him, We finally walked past the Relief Society Room and found him with the other missionaries! When we walked up one of the Elders told us that Mark had some good news to share with us. Mark told us that he decided to get baptized around New Years! At first I was taken back and like "what? did you pray about it?" He told us later that he had been praying about it and felt like he received an answer and needed to be baptized, then he had a dream the night before that confirmed his answer! So cool! We had a really good discussion with him and one of our members afterwards and I cannot believe how prepared he is for the gospel. He truly understands the importance of the gospel and he can see the blessings that it will bring into his life. He's going through a lot of transitions and changes right now and he knows that the gospel of Jesus Christ is what will lead and guide him to happiness. 

Brothers and Sisters, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true. I invite you all this week to look back and to recognize how it has blessed your lives. How has the teachings of our Savior shaped you into the person that you are today? We are SO blessed to have truth restored to the earth and to have the peace and hope of our Savior in his true church in these last days. I know that the gospel is what keeps us together as families, it is what carries us through tribulation and is what helps us see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know that Jesus is the Christ, he is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. How grateful I am to have this testimony and have the gospel in my life. I know that the gospel has the ability to bring every single person the happiness and peace that they desire. 

I leave these things with you with great great love and gratitude for my Heavenly Father. I am grateful to have a Savior and I write to you these things the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Hermana Knight