Empty >> Full

Wow. Another week down. 

These next few emails are going to be the BEST ones yet because these are the BEST weeks yet!! Hold on to your seat, this week was a blur. 

One of my very favorite people we are teaching is Jean. (*Not sure if we can have favorites, but oops.) 

Jean was the young man I found a few weeks ago who had met with missionaries before the pandemic but fell out of contact. He has been progressing very well and this week he even hired someone to take his Sunday shift so he can come into church this next week. We have been cruising through the lessons, reading Bible verses and Book of Mormon verses all while smiling and laughing. He has already read up to Mosiah and plans to finish the Book of Mormon this week!! What?? 

Later in the week, his pastor from Africa called him and started planting seeds of doubt. Now he is not sure if he wants to be baptized. Please pray for Jean. I sure love him and I know that this path will bring him so much peace. 

Late Wednesday, we got a call from the Staten Island Elders. They had been calling formers when someone picked up. It wasn't who was written down, it was someone living in Manhattan, but they were interested in getting a Book of Mormon. They didn't even catch his name. Sooo we called him and off we went. We arrived and what happened was an absolute miracle. 

Waheed was ready to learn. On his doorstep, we taught the restoration. He described a burning in his chest as we spoke. We told him it was the Holy Ghost. He was excited. "Wait!!" He stopped us. "How can I be saved?" We then proceeded to teach Waheed the gospel of Jesus Christ. The basic, simple steps of faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. We invited him to be baptized and he readily accepted. We were amazed at this young man's faith. Waheed then told us that one thing was holding him back from committing fully to the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we asked what it was, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes and said, "I need to quit smoking." 

We were amazed at his willingness and receptivity to the spirit and desire to quit. We taught the Word of Wisdom. He said he desired to live it. I then stuck my hand out and asked for the cigarettes. He handed them over without a second thought. We made a plan to help him reduce smoking. He has improved so much over this week. Please pray for Waheed. He needs all the extra love and support he can get. 

That same night, we had a scary experience while knocking, but we made it out a-okay. We decided to get a blessing from our ward mission leader so that we could continue to feel the spirit. It was exactly what I needed. I'm so glad we followed the prompting of the spirit to use the power of the priesthood to heal. 

And don't worry about me, I'm just so glad and GRATEFUL for the priesthood. It is real. 

Our friend, Rob, has been praying about baptism and has felt that it is time for him to be baptized. It has been incredible watching him progress. This week we were able to teach Rob all of the commandments and he accepted them. He had been planning on being baptized on December 12th, but after he came to church again on Sunday we asked him if he would be willing to prepare to be baptized on December 5th, my last Sunday here in Manhattan. He accepted readily. He is SO prepared and I have no doubt in my mind that he will make that date. He is awesome and I love that guy. I'm so glad that two weeks ago, I stopped him in the park to ask how he was doing. He made me promise this week that even though I'm going back to Idaho, that I'll still call and talk every once in a while. I agreed. Please keep Rob in your prayers as he prepares for this special covenant with God. 

On Sunday morning, we arrived at church only to find the Bishop there waiting at the doors for us. "I need you to speak. Can you do it?" 

We accepted. Sooooo today I'm going to share something I shared in my talk for my spiritual thought. Do enjoy :)) 

One of my favorite stories is in the Book of 1st Kings. 

This is a story of Elijah and a woman of faith that I adore. During this time, there is a famine in the land. It has been going on for several years. Clearly, there has not been a Thanksgiving feasting for a while. Elijah the prophet has been without food for many days. The Lord led him to a widow, promising him that she would have food to give. Elijah arrives to find that the woman is making her and her son their last meal. All out of bread, all out of oil, all out. In other words, empty. 

What does Elijah want? Their last meal. He asks her to give it to him instead, promising that the Lord would give her more in this act of faith. 

This humble woman without question gives her and her son's last meal away to Elijah. 

What happens next is an absolute miracle: those empty pots, those empty bowls are filled. The scriptures state that they did "eat many days." In other words, God took what was empty, and made it full as that woman chose to act in faith. 

Living here in New York City, there have been many times I have felt I have been running on "empty." Moving out here, in the middle of a raging pandemic was not what I had imagined when I had thought about serving a mission. Yet, I too experienced the miracle of the widow in this story. As I focused on turning outward, sharing that which I had--I was filled. I was given more than enough. I know there is power in this formula. Turning outward fills our souls. No wonder the Savior invited us to first love God, but then to love our neighbor. I think He knew that this would be more healing for us, than anything else. 

As we turn towards the Christmas season, I want to highlight the heroes we often brush over in our beloved Luke 2. Angels came to the shepherds to bring the good news, Christ the Savior is born! They "came with haste and found Mary, Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger." 

What happened next is my favorite part. 

"And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child." 

When they came to know Jesus Christ, the natural expression of such a sacred experience is to turn outward and to share. 

We may feel empty. We may wonder what we can truly give. But as we seek to turn outward, to lift the feeble knees, to share the truth that Christ is risen, to be bold in our defense of our faith--we will find that we are filled. We will have given the best gift to our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I want to end with the lyrics to a favorite hymn, yes. A Christmas hymn by the tabernacle choir. It says, 

"What shall we give to the babe in the manger,
What shall we offer the child in the stall?
Incense and spices and gold we've a-plenty-
Are these the gifts for the king of us all?

What shall we give to the boy in the temple,
What shall we offer the man by the sea?
Palms at his feet and hosannas uprising;
Are these for him who will carry the tree?

What shall we give to the lamb who was offered,
Rising the third day and shedding his love?
Tears for his mercy we'll weep at the manger,
Bathing the infant come down from above."

He's done it before my friends, and He can do it again. He can take your emptiness, your loneliness, your inadequacies and He can make it full. You can rest assured that He will provide. He always has, and He always will. I testify that as we turn outward and fulfill the 2 great commandments, we will be sustained in every way. We will have the brokenness healed, and the magic that will remain is the love of God etched into our souls. 

I love you all. 
Be happy. Be brave. Be smart. 

1) Subway was empty? That never happens! 
2) we took Waheed's cigarettes!! Woo-hoo|
3) Temple in the FALL
4) from the mission home>> this week Sister Holmes had us over for dessert! IT WAS INCREDIBLE