Head Bumps and the Power of the Ocean

 

 

I have arrived in my new area and things feel completely different than my first area. Everything seems so much smaller. My companion is about 5 foot 4 and our apartment is about half the size of my last apartment. The doorways are only 6 feet tall, so I keep smashing my head. When I was younger, I always thought it would be way cool to be able to reach the top of the door frame with your head. Yeah, I really don`t feel that way anymore, especially when you wake up at the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and in a half daze you make your way to bathroom, just to be smacked across the forehead by a two by four. I am slowly getting used to it, and can`t help but laugh every time that it has happened. Our church building on the other hand is really large, it has two floors.  We have a great ward that I hope, through the Lord`s help, I will be able to make even bigger.

 

Last week, because we knew our area was being whitewashed, we wanted to teach everyone one more time before we left. We biked from 8 in the morning till 9 at night. We had to skip study twice, just so that we could make sure the area was ready for the next  set of missionaries. We woke up at 4am the day of transfers and wrote down everyone`s information and anything else that the new missionaries could possibly need. We also left them with a sparkling clean apartment and a ton of food. The new missionaries are a trainer and a brand new trainee from the MTC, so I hope that they both felt very comfortable. I remember my first few days out in the mission, I was terrified. So I hope that seeing that he is taken care of, will help him realize that even though this work is hard, it can be very rewarding and you gain a lot of experiences from it.

 

 

We got the opportunity to go to the ocean the other day, and my goodness, was that a treat.  The power of the ocean and the calming crash of the waves deepened my understanding of what it means to be a missionary. I thought of how Heavenly Father created the ocean, and how the ocean has a ton of power. Heavenly Father also created everything else in the world, he knows each and everyone of us individually. He is all powerful and all knowing, so why couldn`t he gather all the people that wanted to hear our message right outside our apartment. He could definitely do that! However he needs us as missionaries to be willing to go out and do the hard work, take the constant rejection, day after day, so that we can grow to appreciate Him and his message more. Always remember that Heavenly Father can do all things, however he only does things according to his will. But if we ask, we can receive of his help. It may not be the way you expect it, but he is always helping. For example, I was a little uneasy about moving into a new area and I asked Heavenly Father to help me. I wasn`t exactly sure how he would help me, but later that day my companion made an unexpected decision and we ended up at the ocean. I needed that peace and comfort and I think I got the right angle and I waved at home. Always remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ wait right outside the door to help, and as soon as you ask and open the door for them to come in, they will quickly enter your lives and bless you in ways you would never have expected.

 

Keep it up, talk to you next week,

Elder Wilcox