Look for the Miracles!


Dear Family & Friends,


The sun has been shining this past week and the snow is melting, which I don't know if it is the sunshine that has been softening the hearts of people here, or what, but this past week was a week full of miracles!


Last Monday, Sister Brown and I were able to stop by the mission home and visit President and Sister Jensen for a little bit, since they were finally home! There is no question in my mind that they are called by God to be serving here in the Iowa Des Moines Mission at this time! After visiting President and Sister Jensen we were able to serve at the YMCA, which was really fun because for the first time that I have been there, the rest of the volunteers that night were from another ward! So it is always fun to meet other members as well. Just an extension of our wonderful church family! After the YMCA we went and stopped by a less active couple in our ward. They had had a wonderful miracle take place in their lives this past week. So each day they go over to the Senior Center which is across the street from our apartment. So the other day the fire department was at the senior center and did a presentation on fire/CO detectors and so this couple was given 6 detectors to put in their home. They installed them and 4 of them kept beeping, so the Taylor's thought that the batteries must be dead. They replaced all of the batteries, but the detectors kept beeping. They then thought that the detectors must all be faulty since they were given to them for free, but after researching and finding out they were name brand detectors they decided to call the fire department, who told them to call 911 immediately. The firemen came to their home and tested the CO levels which ended up being at least 3 times above the safe level. They determined that their furnace was the cause of the CO and so they were having their furnace replaced on Tuesday. So between the time that the firemen came and the time their furnace was to be replaced they used several little space heaters to keep their home warm, but they didn't have space heaters in their basement where their pipes are. Well this was taking place a week ago when the highs were in the single digits, but miraculously their pipes didn't freeze. Anyways, just a testimony builder to know that Heavenly Father does watch out for His children!




On Tuesday we saw several miracles as well. The one I will talk about took place that afternoon as we were tracting. On the third home that we knocked on, Hannah opened the door and immediately let us in. . . . this is only the 3rd time ever in the 9 months I have been on my mission that this has happened! Hannah was over at her fiancés home cleaning it, and was open to hearing what we had to say. It was really neat, she asked really good questions and then her fiancé Josh came home and he joined us for the rest of the message of the Restoration. They are very strong Catholics, but it was really neat to have a discussion with them about our beliefs.



Wednesday, was one of those days that you go through plan A to Z in a matter of moments, but you still end up having a good day.




This is what happens to boots after wearing them every day for five month

Thursday we had our second to last district meeting with this Des Moines district. I can't believe how fast transfers seem to go by. Anyways, after district meeting we went tracting on a street, but it looked as if no one was home. To our surprise someone answered nearly every door. That evening we were able to visit a family that the Bishop had asked us to see! It has been neat, because Bishop has been calling us frequently these past few weeks, giving us names of people to see. This makes missionary work even more fun, because you feel like the ward council cares about your work, and that you have stuff to report back to them the next time you see/talk to them!


One thing you learn on your mission is that you absolutely love media referrals (referrals from Mormon.org)! Well basically you love referrals period! Anyways, several weeks ago we got a media referral for a woman named Patricia. She had requested a free Bible from Mormon.org. We had set up an appointment to bring it to her, but she ended up having to work that day, anyways after trying several other times, we finally were able to see her Friday morning! AMAZING! She allowed us to come in and we started talking with her. She went on to say that since the middle of February her house has not had water, and no one can figure it out. You don't realize how thankful you are for things, until you lose them. Anyways she kept talking about how she can't even explain what it means for her to have us there. That she can't verbalize the way she feels, and few people would be able to understand it. (She is so receptive and sensitive to the Spirit!) Anyways, we asked her if she was very familiar with our church and she said that she was very open to learning more and is so excited for us to come back this coming Friday!


So Saturday was good as well. We were doing our weekly planning when we got a call from the Hermanas asking if we had jumper cables in our car. Which we don't, but we called a member who doesn't live too far away and asked if we could borrow jumper cables. He asked if we needed him to meet us somewhere or if he needed to come help us jump the car. We told him that we could do it and he didn't need to bother coming. We picked up the jumper cables and came back to the complex to jump the Hermanas' car. With no complications we were able to do it! (our father's can be proud!)
Okay so in our ward we have 4 sets of missionaries, but we don't have any boundaries, so it is almost like a free for all. So Saturday afternoon Sister Brown and I tried to stop by Fefe's but she wasn't home. As we were getting into our car, this brand new truck pulled up and parked in front of us. Then Elder Anderson gets out. They had just gotten the truck that day, so we didn't recognize the truck at first. Anyways, he asked who we had just been seeing, and we said Fefe, which he said that that is who they were just going to try and see, but they would try another time since she wasn't home. We all laughed about that because sometimes you run into that issue since we don't have boundaries.

Yesterday was another wonderful Sunday in the Des Moines ward!


Something that stood out to me in my studies this week was in Mark 6:52 when Christ had just performed the miracle of the 5 loaves and 2 fishes, but it says that the disciples "considered not the miracle of the loaves; for their heart was hardened." And it made me think, how often are there miracles that take place right before our eyes that we miss because our hearts are hardened? Look for the miracles, they are there in abundance!


I love you all!
Love, Sister Call