February 17, 2020

Riding in the van during transfers

3 AP's: Elder Legas, Elder Trezise & Elder Meyers

Transfers!

Elder Trezise, Elder Legas & Elder Meyers - right before Elder Legas got transferred for his last 6 weeks

Keepin in shape

 I was lucky to be able to speak with Elder Trezise on Monday and on Thursday this week because Thursday was my birthday.  The Thursday phone call was hard because Elder Trezise is dealing with some missionaries who are directly challenging his authority.  The worst part is the one of those missionaries is Elder Legas - someone he has looked up to and who trained him to be AP.  My heart broke for Elder Trezise when he told me.  At the end of our call Max played him an Elliott Smith song on the guitar and Ben broke down in tears.  I think when life is hard you just want to be around your family.  I've been worried and praying for him all week.  Here is his letter from Monday:

Hello family!!!

This week was CRAAAAZY!!! It was transfer week, so Monday was transfer paperwork, Tuesday was all day with the departing missionaries (going to the temple was THE BEST), Wednesday was dropping off the departing missionaries bright and early, then spending the remainder of the day with the new missionaries. It was a good group. Thursday was transfer day, so we got to drive up down and around the mission, and drop off missionaries ALL DAY. And then we finally got to proselyte on Friday and Saturday. Friday some stuff came up and we only spent half the day proselyting, and then Saturday was THE BEST. 

 

On Saturday we found 3 new people to teach. The first was a super sweet lady who lost a son to cancer a year ago. He was a 4 year old boy. She has been praying moments before we got to the door. We shared our testimonies with her, and described the Plan of Salvation. She got emotional, and was very excited to meet with us again when we left. Later on in the day I had a prompting that we should visit someone we are teaching. We haven't talked to him for a while, because he is fighting to gain full custody of his 1 year old daughter. He is having her over more and more and there are no visitors allowed when she's there. So it's critical we don't stop by during those times. We went by, and as we were walking up to the house one of our ward mission leaders, Cedric, stopped us. We talked for a little bit, telling him about the woman we taught earlier that day, and asked if Steven (the person we are teaching with the 1 year old daughter) was home. Cedric replied that he was but that he had his daughter so we couldn't go by. I knew that I was prompted to go by so I was confused. As we were leaving we saw 2 U Hauls. We asked the people at the first one if they needed help, and they said they were good. At the second one there were 2 middle aged women unloading stuff. We asked if they needed help. You could see the relief in their eyes as they responded yes. We unloaded a lot of heavy stuff into their apartment and talked as we worked. They moved from North Carolina, are Christian, and don't know much about our religion. We talked about what matters most to us, family, and shared a quick video about families. When everything was unloaded we gave them each a copy of the Book of Mormon and explained the importance of it, and really just what it was. We set up to come back tonight, and they were so grateful and so willing to learn. It was amazing. Throughout the experience one of them kept telling us how amazing the timing was. She arrived just minutes before, didn't have a job, and couldn't afford to call a moving company. Her friend with her was her only help, and there was no way she could unload the heavy items. They unloaded some smaller things, and right as they got to the big things, we showed up. I thought back to why we were there in the first place. If I hadn't been prompted to visit Steven, if the Lord hadn't placed Cedric in our path, and if we hadn't seen the trucks as we were leaving, these 2 people would have never heard our message that we had to share that day. 

 

In a talk by Hank Smith titled, "He Knows You", he shares the story of a John Equalmenza (not sure if I spelled that right). John was banished from his hometown when he was a young man. He had to leave his wife and young son behind. He took on jobs around the country painting, and painted for one woman who was a faithful member. She talked to him about the Gospel as he painted. He wasn't religious and didn't want to be. But each time he'd come over this woman would share Gospel truths. As time moved on John started attending church with her, and eventually was baptized! A while later, now a full-fledged member, he decides to go to the temple. He goes whenever he can. As he sits in the temple a man sits down next to him. He introduces himself and asks where the person sitting next to him is from. The other man answers John and says, "Seconde" (again, might have spelled that wrong). He responds, "What part of Seconde?!" The man answers, "Katan." John, moved by a sense of recognition asks, "What is your name." The younger man responds, "John Equalmenza". To which John responds, "That is my name too." John Equalmenza senior was banished from Katan 50 years earlier. When John Equalmenza junior was going to school at the University of Ghana in 2004 he picked up a Liahona magazine. He read from it, and liked what he was reading. Excited, he takes it home. That day, as he took the magazine home, his wife stops him and says, "John, I need to talk to you. I met 2 young men today. They have a message I want you to hear. They are from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." John looks at his magazine, and says, "Of course! They made this magazine! I love what's in here." They join the church in 2004 and are sealed together in 2005. And then one day in 2012 they woke up and decided to go to the temple. They missed a session by 5 minutes. So as they sit and wait. And as they sit and wait, an older man turns to them and says, "Where are you from?" Tears flowed as father and son recognized each other. They had both joined the church separately and made the decision to go to the temple on the same beautiful morning. It may have been coincidence. It might be coincidence that Elder Meyers and I happened to walk by to help 2 ladies unload a truck. Or knock a door seconds after a woman finishes a prayer. 

 

Elder Bednar would say, "The tender mercies of the Lord are real. They do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence." God knows each of us. He knows us by name. He knows our challenges, our struggles and our successes. He loves us and wants to help us. I testify that this church is true. God is waiting for us to turn to Him. His arms are open. His hands stretched out. He sends others to show His love. Rarely does God come down in a bolt of thunder. No. He sends His children. Our brothers and sisters to help us. To heal us. To strengthen us. He knows you. He loves you. I promise you this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

-Elder Trezise