This week has been amazing. I have truly felt Gods hand in my life. I have truly felt close to my Savior. I feel better. I feel stronger.

One lesson I have learned this week is that God is looking out for us.

“O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will put my trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh.” (2nephi 4:34) “O how great the plan of our God!” (2 Nephi 9:13)

I will share a few experiences that really allowed me to see my Heavenly Fathers hand in my life. This week, We were able to attend the Palmyra temple with our recent convert, Alex. We were planning on Saturday, but last minute she had to change it to Friday. She took her grandmothers name and her fathers name to do baptisms for the dead. While in the temple, I saw Caleb, my cousin Porters good friend… and my friend as well! I was able to ask him if he would be proxy for Alex’s father. As he stood in the font, Caleb’s grandfather (who was baptizing him) paused and started tearing up. The temple was silent and it was filled with a sacred spirit. You could feel Peter in the room as well as Alex’s grandmother. The baptism and confirmation of Alex’s father was so sacred and powerful- as well as the baptism of her grandmother. What a tender mercy God granted us to have Caleb be there and be able to make the baptism of Alex’s father so special and have it really touch Alex. I know she was concerned about who was going to be doing the baptism for her father and having such a sweet boy that I knew well and someone she could talk to meant a lot to her.

Because we had changed the temple trip to Friday, We had to meet with Neal that evening. We felt prompted to invite sister Boyer to come teaching with us. She is usually very busy and we don’t even bother asking her- but tonight she was available! When we went to his house, we saw him leaning over coughing and saw that his house was filled with smoke. We ran in and opened al the windows and doors and got him out of the house. He was really out of it and couldn’t think. He had left the stove on and there as oil that was smoking. When he was outside, he was having labored breathing and coughing. Sister Boyer happened to have friends that were doctors and she was informed that he had to go to the hospital immediately. Her husband picked them up and they spent till 2am in the ER with him. Turns out he had a mini stroke and would have most likely died if we hadn’t been there that evening. He had to spend the next 2 days in the hospital. How grateful I am to God for allowing us to be there that evening with Sister Boyer. He is looking out for all of us. Later that week, We were praying on wheather or not we should try Sammy or tract. I again felt that we needed to see Casey. On the way over, we ran into Sally- a recent convert who had watched an anti-mormon video and completely stopped coming to church or responding to our calls and texts. It was truly a miracle. We offered to help her in her garden and she accepted! She really opened up to us as and told us how unhappy shes been and how she’s been praying again. We suggested she fast and she said she would and asked if we could meet with her again soon. Gift. From God.

Another tender mercy I saw, as weird as this sounds, is when I broke down crying in the middle of a lesson. We were teaching the Plan of Salvation to Paul and Jim. Out of nowhere, Paul starts shouting at us and going off on how incorrect we were and “how could God send all his children to hell  if he loves them” and all this crazy stuff. I have no clue where it came from because nothing we read or said mentioned hell or damnation haha but it scared me so bad! For the first time in 2 months, I felt the spirit leave me. It was the worst feeling in the world! My best friend left me! I just started crying and crying. The whole room went dead silent and I just cried HAHAHAHAH then I was able to testify of Gods love and of the Plan of Salvation and Christ’s atonement and he kept his mouth shut the entire time. The spirit came back in the room and it ended up being a powerful lesson. (also, he let me pick out my favorite painting of his and take it home cuz of how rude he was hehe) But I would like to share with you what I shared with him, and that is: “There is One God, and One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1Tim 2:5) I KNOW that is ALL ABOUT JESUS CHRIST. I have felt so close to Christ. I especially felt close to him while praying in the sacred grove, while watching the most gorgeous sunset and listening to hymns, while seeing my first fireflies in 11 years, while watching Neal bury his coffee and taco in his backyard and forsake his sins, while watching Steve’s progress and seeing his change of heart, while praying for all of you each night and while studying the scriptures. “For behold saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts and lend an ear to my counsel, for they learn wisdom; for unto him that reciveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, we have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have” … “Come unto me, for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God” (2Nephi 28:30,32) I know God is aware of you. I know his love is unconditional. I know that through Christ, you can find true peace. Through repentance, you will taste true joy! His arms are always reaching out to you! Fall in them and find rest! This week, I challenge each of you to do unto others as Christ does to you. Give someone a HUGE hug. Tell them all the reasons you love them and thank them for all they do for you. And once you’ve done that, do it again. and again. and again. I love you! I hope you can feel my love and my hugs!!!!

Oh, one more funny story, So after we taught Steve the Word of Wisdom, he said “Next time you come over, you can find me upstairs in the fetal position humming “come thou fountain” HAHAHAHA SO funny! LOVE STEVE SO MUCH!