Hey y'all,
The festivities just won't end here in Baker City. Every
single week there seems to be another celebration or festival. We have been
quite busy in focusing on families and individuals that want to meet with us
and so we haven't mingled with the crowds, but I'm sure there will be plenty of
opportunity to do so before the summer ends. It's one of those towns that is
driven by tourism.
Of course, with more parties, this means....well, more
parties. Things sort of came to a head just a couple days ago when the guy who
lives in the apartment beneath us (in the same house) blasted music nearly the
entire day. Waking up at 3:30 in the morning with Hootie and the Blowfish...not
so great. Yes, Hootie and the Blowfish.
Besides this . . . the week has been AWESOME!
We are seeing our faith and commitment to the Savior being
tested in new and interesting ways every day.
We got invited to a country wedding! It's only like 40 miles
away...meaning we won't be going due to mileage limitations. A nice man who
came up to us in the store and warned us not to drink Vitaminwater got down to
talking to us and when we asked him if we could stop by his place, he invited
us over to the ceremony. Gave us a map and directions and everything.
E. Knighton and I wanted to find someone that needed help
between the hours of 6 and 7pm this past Tuesday. We prayed, exercising our
faith that God would inspire us to go to a place in this town of 10,000+ where
someone would need us. We both felt prompted to head to a small section of
town. We pulled off the road and started walking. The first man we met told us
that he didn't like 3 things: Politicians, Doctors, and Preachers. Then he told
us there was no God and that we were lying when we said that we communicate
with God through prayer. Alma 30 flashed into my mind. Besides that, he was a
nice guy. A few more steps and a couple doors later and we found the lady who
God knew needed help. Stella just recently lost her husband. Her family comes
and visits her, but at the time we saw her, all her family had left and she was
all alone in her house. She had turned the television up loud and was reading
her Bible, which she said was the only thing that really gave her comfort
besides her family. I felt the Spirit testify to my heart that God knew her and
had directed us to her. The change in her countenance from the time we showed
up until when we left was noticeable. I am grateful to have been a simple
instrument in God's omnipotent hands to have helped Stella. I know that when we
ask to be guided by God, we will be.
Another man, Marcus, has fallen on really hard times in his
life. During an exchange with another Elder, I found myself getting
increasingly impatient as we talked with him. Though I felt the Spirit testify
again to me that God was helping this man and that he would be able to overcome
his problems, I was allowing the factor of time management to distract me from
truly serving this man, who really doesn't have anyone to talk to at this
point, besides us. My experience between Marcus and Stella was different and a
good lesson in loving others in spite of anything else.
The cowboy of the century, Dub, is another man we teach.
After one of our lessons, we had stepped outside and all of a sudden he said,
"You know, I guess it does make sense that there would be only one
Church." This is a man who has repeatedly told us that, despite his age of
84 years, feels that he is missing something in his life and that his whole
life has been leading up to...something. We know, only by the power of the
Spirit, what that something is and we can see that Dub is an extraordinary man
with great potential in the Gospel and Church. We can't force him to see that
as well, so all we do is teach, invite, and pray that the Spirit will help him
learn what he ultimately has said he wants to learn more about. It's the same
with everyone in this world.
Don't hoard. It's no good.
And with that, my time is up. I hope you each have a
wonderful week! God is there and He is listening and waiting for each of us to
ask, seek, and knock!
Love,
Elder Adamek
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