Take Flight ✈
From: Seth Gifford
Date: Mon, May 3, 2021, 15:12 PM
Subject: Take Flight
Buenas tardes!
As I write this, I’m sitting in an airplane at 7:05 AM, waiting for takeoff. I’ll explain as you continue reading…
These past 2 weeks were pretty insane, I’m not gonna lie. We were SUPER busy and experienced a lot of miracles. God’s hand was evident throughout the week and it was made manifest in so many ways.
FIRST, we had Zone Conference. While there, we learned about how we can be more focused on the Holy Ghost in all that we do as missionaries. President Adler extended us all invitations to help us apply what we were learning. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but as me and Elder Jensen applied what President Adler challenged us to do, we experienced a miracle! Actually we experienced quite a few!
We went street contacting in a place we felt impressed to go and WOW! Almost EVERY single person we talked to wanted to learn more. It was incredible! We went and talked to every person outside in this apartment complex and I can honestly say we were led by the Spirit. I felt like Aaron and his brothers from the Book of Mormon, or Nephi when he goes forth “not knowing beforehand what [he] should do.” I saw the promise fulfilled in Doctrine & Covenants 84:85 when it says:
“Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.”
The words flowed forth out of my mouth and I could feel the Spirit as I testified of Jesus Christ. It was so incredible!
We also got attacked by a goose…it was hissing at us and flew at our faces and we had to kick it away. Other than that though, it went pretty smoothly.
SECOND, we had exchanges with some elders in our district and Elder Jensen and I helped them do some finding to help out their area a little bit and the exact same thing happened! We talked to every single person and so many of them wanted to learn more. Super cool! That usually doesn’t happen.
THIRD, fast forward to Sunday (yesterday) and no one came to church. Elder Jensen and I were pretty sad, but we didn’t let that stop us. Luckily we had a ton of lessons to set up.
This one is a 2-part miracle. First, we visited a referral who’s already a member but his family isn’t. When we got inside, there was his whole family plus some gathered around us! We shared a scripture with them and testified of Jesus Christ. It was awesome and we hope that they can all start coming to church, and that they will all get baptized so their family can strengthen the ward.
The second miracle we experienced was feeling prompted to visit a member and his non-member wife who just got here from Honduras. We haven’t been able to get in contact with them for a while after we taught them the Restoration, but we stopped by their house and they were finally home! We gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon and testified of the blessings of the gospel. The Spirit was strong and we feel really good about their family. We think that the non-member wife will most likely be the next baptism in this area.
OKAY! You made it this far, and you may be wondering why all of these things are significant. Well, let me tell you!
After seeing so many miracles, Elder Jensen and I talked about it and realized that 4 months ago, we opened this area with literally nothing. Now, the Spanish attendance in our ward is at an all time high, and we’re so busy that sometimes there’s hardly enough time to eat!
Since I’m on an airplane right now as I write this (flying to SLC to get my visa), I think an airplane in the perfect analogy to describe all that has happened recently. Elder Uchtdorf would be proud.
Our area can be compared to an airplane taking off. It had a slow start, and just how an airplane needs to travel to the runway before it can take off, there was a lot of preparation work needed to help get our area started. But once we got to the runway, or once we became familiar with the area and gained the trust of those here, we could then increase our speed. Our first baptism was like turning on the booster engines and our airplane flew down the runway. Just this past week, it’s as if our airplane just lifted off the ground and is increasing altitude with every passing second. It is rising towards the sky and towards its destination (which I suppose is in this case, a Spanish branch or ward). Eventually, that’s what this area will become. That is our destination. It may be a long journey, but one day it will get there. Needless to say, it has been pretty incredible to be a part of helping our airplane or area take flight. I feel like the Wright Brothers probably felt when their first airplane took flight; filled with absolute joy, knowing their creation worked! I may not be here to see all of the fruits of all of our hard work, but one day I look forward to seeing this airplane, or area reach it’s destination. I hope this area can grow and grow and grow into what it’s meant to become.
To end off, I just want to say that I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father and for my Savior Jesus Christ. I’m thankful for the guidance of the Holy Ghost. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and even though the people may be imperfect, the one who guides this church is not. Jesus Christ is perfect. His gospel is perfect, and if we follow Him, He will lead us on a path to a glorious destination; by the side of our Eternal Father and our families for eternity. Absolutely nothing can be greater than that. I love Jesus Christ. I love His gospel. I know He lives and loves each one of you as well.
Love,
–Elder Gifford
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