Hey guys! Hope you’re all doing good. This week was quite nice. Hope you are all having a good time in your own lives as well. Let me know how things are going!
Litchfield Police Continued
So last week I talked about how the police dept here isn’t very fond of me because of how often I’ve gone over and asked them to help me with my visa for the Dominican Republic. The last words they said to me were to “go to the Dominican Republic and never come back” haha. So you can imagine how freaked out I was when I got an email from the church saying that I needed to redo my police letter because it wasn’t done right. Me and Elder Pugsley tried to talk ourselves out of having to see the police again but eventually realized that we had no choice. On our drive there we listened to depressing music about the afterlife knowing that I may not come out alive. We got there and before we even had the chance to explain ourselves the policeman came out, looked at me, pointed at the door, and said “get out.”.
Haha jk that didn’t happen. It was totally fine. There was a different police officer anyways so we didn’t end up bothering the same guy again. They reprinted the thing and gave it to me. It was pretty fun! The Litchfield Police department is actually quite awesome. We’re probably gonna bring them donuts right before I fly out.
Car Door
This was a pretty epic story! So last P-day, I ran into a car door. We had just parked the car outside of our zone leader’s place where we were gonna have dinner. Because it was raining so bad, I sprinted as fast as I could to get shelter. While I was sprinting, I was in the middle of passing by Elder Goodmans car door (don’t worry elder it wasn’t your fault <3) when suddenly the door came open (he was trying to get inside as fast as he could too) and I ran right into it. It mostly just impacted my right side but I was in a lot of pain. My entire right arm was dead and I couldn’t move it all. My wrist too instantly started swelling and I couldn’t move that either. Things were looking pretty bad. We called our mission nurse and sent her pictures of my arm and wrist. She said to go to the ER asap because my wrist may have been broken and if it was, it needed to be checked out as soon as possible so it could heal right.
Cool thing is though, me and the Elders here hold the priesthood of God! So before we went to the ER I asked the Elders in our district to give me a blessing. The blessing wasn’t anything crazy. It just said that I would be able to accept whatever news the hospital gives me and that I’ll be able to continue doing the Lord's work.
So we went to the ER and I walked up and was like “heyyyy so I ran into a car door....”. Anyways they took me into this room and checked my heart rate. For some reason when they hooked me up to it it started beeping really loud and faster and I was freaking out for a sec. So the guy just turned off the machine haha.
Anyways they took me into the X-ray room. This was probably like 30 minutes after getting the priesthood blessing. I looked down at my wrist and saw that the swollen wrist was almost non-existent. It was wild! And while they were doing the X-ray I was just looking all along my arm and yea it was bruised pretty bad but I could move it and the swelling was almost nothing compared to what it was.
After the X-ray me and Elder Pugsley were both there waiting for the results and we were both just freaking out because I could move my arm totally fine! We were both really grateful. And sure enough the lady came back and said that there is no fracture or anything. It was such a big miracle! I was certain that my wrist was probably broken, and if not broken at least fractured. And I was in so much pain before. I couldn’t move it, lift it or anything. I even had to get the other Elders to help button my shirt for me haha. And then an hour later, it was just a bruise! Afterwards we said a prayer of thanks for fixing my arm. It was a neat experience.
The Priesthood
Going along with that, I just wanted to say that my testimony of priesthood power is getting a lot stronger. We give people priesthood blessings all the time. I have grown to really love giving those blessings.
That’s one thing my last companion Elder Petrucka taught me really well. I remember when we were at a friend of ours and gave him a blessing. I ended up doing the blessing and I don’t know why, but it almost seemed like the spirit was absent from it. I was trying so hard to make it good, but my words didn’t carry the spirit because I was forgetting whose blessing it really was. It was the Lords, not mine. Then right after this we went to a members home and the dad asked for a blessing. Elder Petrucka gave it. It was just a couple short sentences. But by the end, everyone in the room seemed to be emotional. Elder Petrucka looked at the member, pretty aware of how short and simple the blessing was and said kinda apologetically “I was expecting it to be longer, but that’s all that I felt prompted to say.”. That really struck me.
Since then, I have always tried to remember whose blessings they are. I listen harder than I ever have for the spirit to impress on my heart and mind what I should say. I know that I am a worthy holder of the priesthood, so that means I am entitled to the Lord's power when one of His children wants/needs a blessing.
But yea we gave lots of blessings this week especially. In one blessing we gave to the member who is in the rest home, there were some things said that I really pondered during and after. It was something along the lines of “I know that sometimes it feels like God isn’t there, and he doesn’t care. But I promise you, although it is difficult to comprehend, the Lord is aware of you on a very personal level. Surely He who is aware of all that happens in the world is just as concerned and aware of the trials and feelings of one of His faithful sons”.
But yea the priesthood is super cool! Another cool experience was when we gave a priesthood blessing to a member who’s husband we’re teaching had to get part of his foot amputated. We gave her a blessing of strength and promised her that he would be back at her side sooner than she thinks. Then we got a call a few days later that now in addition to him losing his foot, his brain collapsed or something and he went unconscious and was sent up to Springfield for emergency care. I heard that and was like “well that’s awkward. Guess he’s gonna be gone a while”. But then all of the sudden he just went back into good health as fast as he had lost it and was back home sooner than any of us thought. Pretty cool! The Lord really does fulfil his promises! But it seems like he always does it in a way we don’t expect. I think he does it that way because he wants to see how we will handle the pressure of a situation where it looks like none of His promises will be fulfilled. And then right at the moment when it seems like all is lost, he comes and fulfills his word. But we will never see that he fulfills his promises unless we push through the hardest part with faithfulness. We receive no witness until after the trial of our faith (Ether 12:6). It’s just pretty cool!
Piano stuff
Another cool thing was when we were visiting a member who is in a rest home. After our lesson we went out to the lobby and saw a piano. So we asked the lady there if we could play some music for the people there. And we did! It was pretty cool because back in high school me and Elder Pugsley would go and play piano at another rest home down there. It gave us both flashbacks. So we both took turns playing piano for these guys. I started off and there wasn’t anyone listening yet. Then Elder Pugsley whispered behind me. I looked at him, and he pointed up. I looked up and there was this old lady staring right at me from the balcony and it scared me at first haha but it was great.
Elder Pugsley then played “I am a child of God” and a bunch of other really moving pieces. The member who we had taught came out to listen. By the time we were done all of the old people were crying. It was a great experience.
Jennifer
One of the greatest lessons this week was with a really awesome lady named Jennifer. We found her while visiting people whose addresses we have. She was happy to meet with us and we taught her the restoration. It was probably the best restoration lesson we have ever taught! She had the best reactions ever. She would gasp at the perfect parts and then when we finished telling her one thing she would be like “then what happened??”. It was SO good! During the lesson too she started to look pretty annoyed and was like “why hasn’t anybody ever told me this before!? I’ve been looking all my life.”. It was just a super spirit filled lesson and yet another testament to me that the work I’m doing is real.
Austin
We had a great lesson with Austin this week. We’ve been out of touch for a while but we finally got something scheduled. We talked to him more about the Book of Mormon and how much it would bless his life. At the end of our lesson he told us that we blow his mind every time we visit with him. It was great! He said he would pray about if he should be baptized.
Shawn and John
We had another great lesson with Shawn and Johnathon this week. They are so cool. We taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ but it took nearly two hours to get through the whole thing because of all of the questions they had.
One of the coolest parts was during the lesson when Shawn interrupted and was like “alright, I can’t hold this question in any longer. But how long have you guys known each other!? I feel like there’s some deeper connection there. Like when one of you talks the other one seems to know exactly what they’re gonna say and then when one of you is done talking the other one is ready and it’s like you already know exactly how the other person is working. You just seem to work together and know each other super well”. I’m paraphrasing but that’s basically what he said. So to answer his question I pulled up a video I had saved on my phone of me and “Truman” in high school recording an ad for our bowling club. Jonathan and Shawn both went nuts about it. It was a good time. But it was cool to see how the Lord has used our connection to help other people come closer to Christ. We almost invited them to be baptized but decided to wait a bit longer. This week we’re gonna watch the restoration movie with them and it’s gonna be a good time!
Transfer News
We got a call from our housing people yesterday that we are going to be put in a trio! So tomorrow me and Elder Pugsley will drive to St. Louis and pick up the new guy. It’s gonna be a good time. It will only be a trio for like 3 weeks though because Elder Pugsley is flying to Mexico on July 6th. But yea it’s exciting.
Spiritual Thought
Just wanted to share another short testimony about the Book of Mormon. It is so true you guys! I can’t see how any intelligent person could come to the conclusion that it didn’t come forth the way Joseph Smith said it did. If you read it, you will understand!! It’s true! It’s the foundation of everything else I know!
I could leave the church and try my hardest to forget every spiritual experience I’ve had, but I could never deny the power of the Book of Mormon. And I see that time and time again with people we talk to. Even if they are struggling spiritually and question if they have a place in the restored Church of Jesus Christ, the Book of Mormon isn’t really the issue. And it’s because it’s true!
If you have a sincere question about the gospel, just ask yourself if the Book of Mormon can still be true with that question/problem in mind. The answer will always be yes. Just do some praying and studying and you’ll see that it all checks out!
But yea that’s our week here in Litchfield! I love all of you guys! My inbox is always open.
Adios!
- Elder Ethan Wride
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