Deep Sigh of Relief

Things have been going crazy. We set a baptismal date with our investigator, Rickee this past week. She is way cool and we had a great lesson. We taught her lesson 3, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She had a bunch of questions when we were talking about baptism. She has always asked great questions. We were able to answer them for her, and at the end of the lesson, Elder Hansen gave her the baptismal commitment. She said she knew we were going to ask her to get baptized sooner or later and that she knows it is the right thing to do. Her date is set for July 10th. There are a few challenges that we are going to have to overcome with her, but she has felt the Spirit and she told us that she received an answer to her prayers about the Book of Mormon!! Man, that promise is amazing that Moroni gives to us, isn't it?

Paul has almost put me in the mental ward twice this week. We had a lesson scheduled with him earlier in the week and when we showed up he was crying his eyes out. Paul's plans have been that he was going to move back to Utah with his parents to try and pick his life up a bit and get things put back together. He has been super excited about going because he wants to see his daughter really really reallly really badly. Every time he talks about her, his face just lights up. Well, when we went to his house, he had just received news that his ex wasn't going to let him see his daughter...not good. I have never seen so much pain in somebody's eyes. Paul is a tough guy. He benches 300 lbs like it's nothing, he's got scars on his hands from cutting them open on other people's teeth when he's punched them in the mouth, and here he was weeping openly with us standing there. I offered to give him a priesthood blessing, which he humbly accepted. While we were giving him the blessing, there was such a strong spirit of love in the room. Paul gave me a hug afterwards and just held on. When we showed up at his house, he was to the breaking point. He had nowhere to go, and he didn't know what to do. In the past, this kind of experience would have put him into spiraling depression and he would have rebelled against anyone and anything. Through our support, and Paul's determination to change and seek Heavenly Father's help, he has been able to fight back against what has been happening. I can't even begin to tell you about everything that has happened since we met him, but I have seen Paul change so much. I about lost it when he went up to the stand yesterday in church (before the Bishop was even done sharing his testimony) and bore his testimony about how he knows God lives, hears our prayers, answers them, and loves us. I will never forget these experiences. Paul told us that we can consider him one of our best friends and he's already talking about how I'm going to go hang out with him in St. George when I get home. I'm not doing the story justice by typing it out for you, but just know this has been something that has changed me forever. I know I am where I am supposed to be. Even if I hadn't had any of the other successes that I've had on my mission, even if I went two years and never saw anything come of the work I did, if Paul was the only person I talked to, it would be worth it. I love him and I am praying that he can continue on this path that he has begun. He has a lot of challenges ahead, but he knows what to do. Please keep him in your prayers.

Okay, time is running out soon. I hope that things are going well with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa, you've given me some unwanted excitement on my mission! You are in my prayers and I hope you feel better soon. Grandma, get better fast! Stay happy and know that I love you! You are in my prayers. Congrats to Vern and Jen! Another cousin...wow. : ) Have a great week everyone. Be mighty!

Elder J Hammer