God Is A God of Miracles!
From: Seth Gifford
Date: Mon, Aug 24, 2020 3:19 PM
Subject: God Is A God of Miracles!
Bienvenidos todos!
I hope you are all doing super well!
Well, honestly I’m not sure what to write today, but we’ll see where this email goes! It might be a long one 😬 Let’s get started! Also, sorry if there are any typos! I didn’t look this over…
🏗️ The Work
Well as you might know from previous emails (I think I’ve shared something about it before), me and Elder Raymond are not finding a lot of people to teach, which has been kind of hard because I feel like we are doing everything we can to find people and help people come closer to Jesus Christ. Things are definitely moving slowly here in our area. It is hard because when we do find someone who is interested, they are usually really busy and hardly have any time to meet with us (or they never respond or answer their phone) and if they do meet with us, they either don’t keep their commitments, or they don’t take it very seriously. Sometimes I get frustrated because the reason I’m out here is to help them change their lives! To help them come closer to their Savior, and find peace, strength, and direction! Sometimes I’ll think, “What’s so hard about finding 5 minutes each day to read a book that will literally change your life? What’s so hard about praying? What’s so hard about dedicating 5-10 minutes each day to the Lord?” I’m not gonna lie, sometimes I can see why a 3rd of Heavenly Father’s children chose Satan’s plan in the premortal life. Agency can be so aggravating sometimes because people are so prone misuse their agency or use it to distance themselves from God instead of bringing themselves closer to Him. But then I gotta remind myself that I’ve misused my agency many times as well and have distanced myself from God more times than I can count. I have to remind myself that God has always been perfectly and lovingly patient with me. I have to remind myself that without agency, we could never reach our full potential to become like God. Not to mention, everyone comes from a different background and what might be easier for me, may be a lot harder for them. When I put it into perspective, it helps me appreciate the great gift of free agency that our Heavenly Father has given us. How amazing it is that we get to choose for ourselves the path we follow! Even though it makes me sad that people are using their agency not to follow Jesus Christ, I can be grateful and know that Heavenly Father is completely aware of them and their situation and is doing everything He can to direct them to His Son Jesus Christ. Two things that are good to remember: God will never violate our agency, and He loves us so very much and is perfectly patient with us when we make mistakes.
🙏 Small Little Miracle
God is so kind and loving. Yesterday, me and Elder Raymond were having a fast from English to try and improve our Spanish. I realized really fast that I still have a LONG way to go before I will be able to speak the language well or even understand it for that matter. I was feeling the weight of that burden throughout the day. Me and Elder Raymond had high hopes that some of the people we have taught would join our Sunday meeting, but none of them came and we were really sad about that as well. We had no lessons to teach and no one was answering us. We tried “Spirit finding” which is exactly what it sounds like. We were praying as fervently as we could to be able to find someone who was ready to accept the gospel. At one point, I received an inspired idea of how we could contact people who didn’t have a recorded number or last name in our area book using whitepages and Facebook. I was looking up someone on Facebook and guess what? I clicked on a guy’s page to see if it matched some of the information in area book (to confirm if it was him) and the first things on his Facebook page were all kinds of very inappropriate images. Satan wasn’t even trying to be subtle with that one. At that point I was so mad! I had been fervently seeking the guidance of the Spirit and trying to find someone we could hopefully help come unto Christ and what do I get for it? A slew of garbage right in my face. Not fun. Me and Elder Raymond were feeling a little bit discouraged I’m not going to lie. But that’s when God stepped in. We had only a few more people to contact and so far, no one had answered. So we pulled up the information for one of our last contacts and Elder Raymond handed it over to me so I could practice making another phone call in Spanish. After our really hard day, and after little success in contacting people, I did not feel like I could make this call. I sat there for a hot minute saying a fervent prayer in my heart. I had done all I could do that day. I had expended all my efforts and nothing was working. I definitely felt very humbled. At that point I needed Heavenly Father’s help more than anything. All I could do was to put my efforts and weaknesses at His feet and let Him take control. After a few minutes, I made the call. I was not expecting an answer, but then she did answer! I felt very humbled and was able to feel God’s love for her. Because I was humbled beforehand, I could feel the message coming directly from my heart. All of my memorized phrases were stripped away and in the sincerity of my soul, I shared a scripture with her, testified of Jesus Christ, offered a prayer with her, and asked if we could set up an appointment with her to share the rest of our message. She said yes! Me and Elder Raymond were so happy! After the phone call I realized what had just happened. Heavenly Father kept a promise He made in the scriptures: “speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; For it shall be given you in the very hour, yea, in the very moment, what ye shall say.” It was a very humbling experience. We will see if that appointment actually happens or not, but whether it does or doesn’t, I learned some valuable lessons. I know that what I’m doing is right. I know that our message is true and that this is the Lord’s work! All I am is a tool in His hands to help Him accomplish it. Heavenly Father is so loving, and so kind and I can honestly say that I know He is real! He lives! He is always, and will forever be there.
💡Technology is a Divine Gift From God
A few days ago we had a “mini MTC” training made by our zone leaders to help us missionaries who were stuck at home after the online MTC before coming out to the field. I gotta say, it was a very spiritual meeting. In part of it, we watched an incredible devotional by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf made for all of the missionaries (I encourage every missionary on my group email to go watch it!!). But I honestly want to share what I learned from it because it applies to everyone! Quick disclaimer: I am running out of time to write my email right now and I didn’t have the time to go get the exact quotes of what Elder Uchtdorf said, so it’ll mostly all be in my own words. In the devotional, Elder Uchtdorf shared some quotes from a talk by Spencer W. Kimball and one of them prophesied about technology saying: “The Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse.” That was back in 1974! But Elder Uchtdorf explained that technology was created to spread the gospel and accomplish the Lord’s work. He explained how technology has helped in missionary work and how now, with technology, missionary work is more effective than ever before. He talked about COVID-19 and how it is a “divine reset” to implement technology better into the church and missionary work, giving it a chance to become more effective and reach more people. He stated how many people are waiting for the world to go back to normal so they can go and live back in the past, but Elder Uchtdorf said “Go back to the future!” He explained that the Lord, His church, and His work are moving forward and not staying in the past. I personally believe that the world will never fully go back to “normal” and I honestly think that the Lord is giving us time to prepare for more change. The Lord’s work is moving forward, which is so amazing. My perspective on technology changed dramatically after that. Now, I feel a greater need to learn how to use it wisely and carefully to accomplish the Lord’s work. Elder Uchtdorf explained that technology is the future of the church. It was pretty incredible! Honestly, me explaining it does not do his talk any justice, but hopefully it made sense. I know that Heavenly Father is in control amidst COVID-19 and all the craziness in this world. I honestly think the Lord is using this time to help prepare us, the world, and His church for greater change, and progress, and I look forward to it!!
️ Videos!
Me and Elder Raymond have been super excited because both of us love making videos! Even though the work has been pretty slow, we are so grateful that we have the opportunity to use our talents and abilities to help other people come unto Christ. I honestly think this is one of the many reasons we are companions, because every time we plan our video, we get so pumped to share the gospel. We are in pre-production of a video currently, but just be expecting some fire videos to be coming soon. They’ll be in Spanish and they’ll be on Facebook, but trust me, they’re gonna be super good!!
To wrap up, I want everyone to know that I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us so much! He loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Through Him, ALL things are possible. “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.” (Mosiah 4:9)
I love you all!
-Elder Gifford
Pictures (In no particular order) :
