Let God Prevail

So...I'm very excited to hear about your door dash discussion. I've thought a lot about that all week! Such a cool way to find someone! And how was the B-DUBS??? I hope you felt our love! This week flew by! MONDAY: Some pumpkin painting (pic 1) and a special Zupas lunch date with Jane (pic 2) - she and Gwen LOVED your emails! Dinner was a tasty alfredo by Henry Horsley working to get on top of all classes, like foods. It was delicious (pic 3) and I think he is getting there. The end of the quarter is on Friday. Fingers crossed that he keeps his good streak up... TUESDAY: We were supposed to go to a play at the Hale Center Theater with Grandma Ann and Grandpa Jim called "The Million Dollar Quartet" but they tested positive for COVID! Luckily, they are feeling much better and it was overall a pretty mild case. We missed them and it was a bummer since that was our present to them last year for Christmas, but we took Henry, Gwen and Jane and they LOVED it. Definitely one of the best plays we've seen there. You would have liked it too. WEDNESDAY: Young Womens! It was a crazy time as usual. We wrote inspirational notes and put them on cars in the parking lot at the hospital. It was a good time had by all...obviously... THURSDAY: First day of fall break and our last hurrah at Lagoon with the Gilberts and Simmons (pic 4-5). It was great. Nice, cool weather but I was exhausted when I got home. The best part of the day was that we got invited at the last minute to go to the temple with Christian Riser earlier that morning. It was amazing. Such a small group! Just 6 of us. It was such an honor to be there! (pic 6) FRIDAY-SUNDAY: We spent those days in St George. SO WEIRD NOT TO HAVE YOU WITH US! We had fun times and a couple of grumpy times with McKay...he's just so wrapped up in the big race next week and was frustrated that we didn't get down there fast enough. Plus, he had a flat because he was riding so hard. But it all worked out. I'm glad he got the chance to prepare for the race. I am on pins and needles for next week and pray that he does well, feels good about it and doesn't get hurt. Pray for him. Missionary prayers count like triple. Dad dusted off his biking things and rode with McKay. They missed you (pic 7). We hit a major slow down on the drive home around Nephi, which was great because it gave us plenty of time for our Come Follow Me discussion...hah! But it really was great. Sometimes I think car CFM or dinnertime CFM are our best ones! For Come Follow Me today we listened to President Neilson's conference talk "Let God Prevail". I was touched by the following words: "If we will allow it, there are many ways this Hebraic interpretation of Israel can help us. Imagine how our prayers for our missionaries—and for our own efforts to gather Israel—could change with this concept in mind. We often pray that we and the missionaries will be led to those who are prepared to receive the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I wonder, to whom will we be led when we plead to find those who are willing to let God prevail in their lives? We may be led to some who have never believed in God or Jesus Christ but who are now yearning to learn about Them and Their plan of happiness. Others may have been “born in the covenant”14 but have since wandered away from the covenant path. They may now be ready to repent, return, and let God prevail. We can assist them by welcoming them with open arms and hearts. And some to whom we may be led may have always felt there was something missing in their lives." After listening to these words and talking about "letting God Prevail" - especially in this new day of missionary work, it dawned on me with your story about the door dash guy and all this facebook finding verses that the way that Dad and I found people on our mission was not really aligned with letting God prevail. It was more like trying to find those prepared to hear the gospel. It seems to me that one of the great things about finding people in this day and age is much more creative...it is like a blind audition...like in the show The Voice. We've watched it enough to where we heard some seriously awesome voices and when we saw the person it was like "WHAT? Totally different than what I expected!" What if this new way of finding people to hear the gospel was kind of like the blind audition...like what President Neilsen was saying..."we often pray...to be led to those who are prepared to receive the truths..." and now with allowing God to prevail we are finding people a lot different than what we expected. Now we are led to some who have never believed...those who've lost their way and those who are missing something in their life. Maybe another way to look at it is someone who doesn't necessarily look like someone who would want to listen...someone totally different than what we expected. I love this concept! And I want you to know that my prayers have changed from praying for you to be led to those who are prepared to listen to praying for you to find those who are willing to let God prevail in their lives. I am so looking forward to talking to you tomorrow. Best part of the week! I can't wait to hear your experiences and what you've learned. I'm grateful for your willingness to serve at this crazy time in life. We are all praying for you and cheering you on from here. Be obedient. Keep up the good work. And work hard. I know the Lord is directing your path...just look for His hand this week and you will see it. WRITE IN YOUR JOURNAL! You will regret it if you don't set aside at least one day a week to write. Love you TONS! Mom