Miracles Still Happen

The official weather forecast this morning said that the temperature would be 3 degrees (36 Farenheit) but with the wind chill minus 2.  I can attest that it truly did feel even colder than -3....the wind whipped at our hair and faces and blew right through our coats.  I was wearing my winter coat, gloves and warm woolen scarf.  SK on the other hand wore his rain coat with warm lining.

We took the 2 buses to get across town to another ward to hear Rebecca speak.  She will be leaving for the MTC in England Thursday morning.  It took 45 minutes to get there, and I think SK was sincerely repenting not wearing a hat and scarf.

Rebecca did a wonderful job of speaking about faith....stepping forward in faith and relying on the Lord.  After she received her mission call, she got quite sick and was terribly distraught wondering if the mission would happen.  After much prayer, she received the strength to go forward and she is now happily doing her last-minute packing.  Her mother gave a lovely talk, and then Rebecca sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go."  She is a beautiful young woman, gentle and refined.  I know these next two years will be amazing for her.

We made our way back to the apartment after the meetings and had a late lunch and then prepared to go to the center.  We had a student council meeting at 5, and wanted to be there early.  Following the student council meeting was our monthly sacrament meeting.

As I was putting my scarf on, I glanced over at SK.  There he stood, scarf wrapped snuggly around his neck, coat lining zipped up over the scarf, coat buttoned up to the top button over his suit, and stocking hat with the rim folded over twice hugging his head and covering his ears!  I laughed in sheer delight.  It is about time he recognized that it is cold outside.

We walked to the center, and the wind was ferocious.  I must admit though, for now I find it delightful.  SK is longing for the desert.

The planning meeting was very good....December is going to be very busy....but it will be a month full of worth-while activities.  We had a little while to visit with young people between that meeting and sacrament meeting.  We had a few moments with Morten, our young president.  He is handsome, kind, spiritually very strong, with a delightful sense of humor and wit.  I think he was a bit discouraged this evening.  I would love to see him find his true love and begin making plans.  Another of our great young men told us today that he is getting close to purchasing a ring.

Morten was one of 3 speakers in sacrament meeting and gave an excellent talk about fasting.  I decided that I will make fasting the focus of my study during December.  He was inspiring!  Then Steven spoke and talked about fasting and prayer.  When he was on his mission in London, he and his companion taught a girl from Portugal....neither of them spoke Portuguese and she didn't speak much English, but they communicated in the most rudimentary fashion.

They took her to a meeting where the last speaker - who spoke in English - answered most of the questions she had been asking.  Steven and his companion had prayed their heartfelt desire...that a miracle would happen and she would have help to have her questions answered.  After the meeting ended they were a little disappointed because they hadn't found anyone who could tell her what was said.  She asked why that last speaker had spoken in Portuguese....they were astonished to find out that she had heard the whole talk in her own language.

The last speaker was our high councilor who also told of a wonderful miracle that occurred to him in France on his mission 25 years ago.  After being out for a year, he was discouraged and prayed to know why they weren't having more success....the answer came back that he wasn't paying the price...the price was sincere focused intense prayer.  The only way he could do that was to go out on their little balcony.  His prayers improved and his interaction with his companion led to more effective planning meetings.

After sincere prayers they had a strong feeling that there was a family who was ready to be baptized somewhere in their area.  They set to work searching and fasting and planning and praying.  They knocked doors in one area and after a couple of days arrived at and began knocking on doors in one particular apartment building.  The high councilor said to us, "When you are searching for something you know is there, you search differently.....more thoroughly....more intensely."

They found a family who welcomed them and listened to everything and then set an appointment for them to return.  On that second visit, they felt impressed to share how they had found them but before they could tell them, the father in the family said, "We want to tell you something...."  He told the missionaries that the family was feeling like there must be more knowledge about this life than they had, so a year before they had come to the conclusion they must read the bible.  They read as a family, and came across a scripture in Isaiah about fasting, and decided to fast for help.

They fasted for 3 days, and on the third day the two young missionaries knocked on their door.

During the sacrament meeting, Emilie translated for me....she is such a sweetheart.  But as the high councilor began speaking an investigator needed a translator...so I told her to go help him.  I turned my attention back to the speaker trying hard to glean what I could, and a little disheartened because I wanted so much to hear the rest of his talk.  Then a soft familiar voice whispered in my ear the translated talk.  It was SK!.....who has steadfastly said he can't translate....but he did a magnificent job.

This last month, SK has been talking more and more in Danish, even on the telephone and doing it with much more ease.  He has never even dared try to translate.  Wow....he was wonderful at it tonight.

Miracles....


For Erin, here is my cantankerous little Nisse