this branch, I have been serving with faith and clinging to the Lord's
counsel in Doctrine and Covenants 123:17:
*Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that
lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance,
to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.*
I have worked hard for the past year and I have reaped small victories and
miracles here and there, but for much of the time I have felt that I have
worked and worked and worked, but have seen little tangible or visible
progress. We would make great ground, but we seemed to lose it as fast as
we gained it. However, especially the past 4 months we have made a more
concentrated effort to work as close as possible with the leadership in the
branch to do *all in our power* and then leave it up to the Lord.
We have struggled as a branch to fill many leadership positions and
function effectively. Nevertheless, despite the smallness of our numbers
and simplicity of testimonies, we have done what we can.
My whole mission, I have clung to this scripture:
*Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
labourers are few; *
* Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth
labourers into his harvest. *Matthew 9:37-38
It has truly been my prayer my entire mission, and especially the past few
months, that the Lord send forth more laborers to help us.
This week, the Lord revealed his arm.
As a branch, we have truly learned that "after much tribulation come the
blessings..." [D&C 58:4].
This past Sunday, the Lord sent 7 faithful laborers to be part of our
branch.
A strong Peruvian couple that I served with in Sunnyside branch in
Marysville moved south to Everett and are now part of our branch. We
received another stellar couple from Mexico who moved to our branch from
the Lake Washington Spanish Ward to the south of us. A couple, also from
Mexico, that used to make great contributions to the branch returned from
living in Utah. Lastly, the Lord sent us a faithful, single, Ecuadorian
sister who is just ready to work, work, work.
What a blessing and miracle it was to receive these precious souls! We are
excited to fill some much needed positions and bring great success to this
branch!
The love I have for these people is just inexpressible. Truly when we lose
ourselves in the service of others, we come to love and see them as our
Heavenly Father does!
The Lord works in mysterious ways, but I am glad he knows what He's doing
even if I don't!
So last week, we had everything arranged for Patty to come to church. It
was going to finally happen. I knew this would be a monumental learning
moment and testimony builder for Patty, so I fasted that Patty would have
"an uplifting and edifying experience this Sunday that would help her faith
increase." I fasted with more faith and fervor than I think I ever have in
my life.
And then she got in a car accident on the way to church.
I thought, after church and all that night, "how could I have fasted with
so much faith and then she didn't even make it to church? and it wasn't
even her fault?" I was a bit let down. Sad. A little doubtful.
But, luckily the Lord is patient. Patty called me the next day and
apologized for not getting to church. The call went a little like this:
*I was almost to church and then the people rear-ended us. We are all okay,
our backs are a bit sore from the impact, but we aren't hurt bad. My
parents came to pick us up at the scene and I thought I would just have
them drop me off at church and someone could take me home. But then Yamely
[her daughter] said that her back really hurt. I suggested we go to church
then the clinic after, but Yamely seemed to be in enough pain that we went
to the clinic. *
*I feel so bad because I wanted to go to church so bad and I was ready and
excited...and then that happened. Did I chose wrong in taking Yamely to the
clinic? Should I have just come to church?*
[We assured her that being a mom definitely takes precedence over anything.]
She continued to tell about how after the experience, she doubted a little.
She continued:
*I just sat there waiting in the clinic talking to God and asking why that
happened if I worked so hard to get there. I told him I tried and that I
was sorry. As I just talked to him and told him how I felt I started to
feel peace. Then I opened my scriptures and read a little bit and a peace
that I just can't explain came over me. It was like he was literally
telling me that everything is going to be ok and that he is proud of my
because I tried. I just can't explain it... *
*But actually, I was really just calling because I was wondering if you had
more scriptures I can read so that I can keep going strong. Do you have any
for me?*
The Spirit filled my heart and testified to me in that very moment that my
sacrifice through my fast was truly consecrated to Patty's benefit. I was
expecting her to get her growing experience and testimony at church, but
Heavenly Father knew that there was a better way. She grew much more from
that experience that she ever would have from being at church that Sunday.
I am grateful that God works in mysterious ways and that not only Patty was
able to grow in her testimony, but also that mine was able to grow.
Lastly, our Relief Society President gave a great talk on the scriptures on
Sunday. She asked the sisters [and I would like you all to ask yourselves
these questions as well]:
1. How many of you went to school?
2. How many of you studied a career?
3. Tell me about your experience.
The sisters took turns sharing their experience on how they worked
diligently and struggled and made many great sacrifices to accomplish that
task.
She then asked the sisters:
Now, how many of you study the scriptures like you study for your careers?
It was a simple, but profound question. Not one person could say that they
spent anywhere near as much time or effort studying the scriptures as they
do/did for schooling.
Challenge: Ask yourself, do I study the scriptures like I do for anything
else? Work? Career? School? Then, re-evaluate your priorities and repent.
I know as we do so, we will have power! As one of my favorite songs so
eloquently puts it:
Scripture power keeps me safe from sin.
Scripture power is the power to win.
Scripture power! Every day I need
The power that I get each time I read.
I testify that this is true!!
Have a great week!
Hermana Clark
We help Karolin make her end of the year math project. We learned lots of
fun math vocabulary so we could translate and teach her everything. I see
bilingual tutoring in our future...
Yay! Hermana Richey finished training!