February 4, 2013 A lady named Vanilda

Superbowl Sunday? Oh yeah we are already in february. What happened-.?

I honestly do not have much to write.... mostly a normal week. But heres a cool thing that happened.

Saturday we go to an appointment with a lady named Venilda. But when we got there, she wasnt home. So we leave. But then we are walking away and I felt so strongly ..in the wrong... for walking away. So I looked at Elder Olivares, and told him that we needed to go back and contact the neighbors. So we go back, and they really wanted to listen to us, and at first thought that we were Jehovahs witnesses (oh I cant even tell you how gross that comparison is) and we begin to explain who is god, what he wants for us, what we need to do to be happy, those kinds of things.

Then, Venilda arrives. She had been at the hospital visiting her brother and cousins who were in a car accident that very day, and were in bad shape, and she consequently was in bad shape herself. She then asked us to offer a prayer of safety for them, and that we did. 

Then the neighbors want to have another visit, and Venilda came to church and brought her two kids for the first time, so we were very very happy.

Now I want to mention why it was so sweet and powerful that she asked us to pray. Think about it, we (members of the church) would never ask someone else to pray for us without doing it ourselves first. But this woman, this daughter of God, in her time of need asked us. Why? because whether she realizes it or not, she trusts us as representatives of Jesus Christ. She knows that we are men of God, and she inwardly feels the spirit we bring and the priesthood we hold. And how great was it that we were able to simply offer that prayer with our faith, her faith and the power of our calling all backing it up. I do not believe that her brother will worsen.

Faith is very powerful. And I believe that no one really fully understands it. (if we did the whole universe would explode and earth would end. Its FAITH for heaven´s sake. You cant fully understand faith. You just have it.) A story that really meant a lot to me, was Alma 15, the healing of the changed Zeezrom. This man was horrible. He was evil. Was, honestly in the fast lane to hell. But. He changed, only through the power of, and his faith in, the atonement and redemption of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. later in the book, Alma and Amulek take him along on one of their missions (can't remember exactly where but I think in the 40s of the book of Alma, or 39 or something) and he is blessed to witness wonderful teachings of a Prophet of God, Alma.

Zeezrom is not the only one. Alma himself, many years later made the same change, the same seemingly impossible, totally potent, life changing and eternity saving conversion that has changed many other people in the course of history. And I do know that it is only through the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Read the story. Ponder it in your hearts. And then, please? Liken it unto you, just like Nephi always did. 

Paz, Amor y Gozo con todos.

Èsto dejo in el sagrado nombre de nuestro redentor y salvador, la Persona Ùnica que realmente tiene el poder de salvar. El poder que viene de un conocimiento perfecto de los pecados, deseos, y corazones de cada uno de los hijos de Dios. Jesucristo, Mi Hermano, Mi Salvador, Mi Esperanza. En su nombre, testifico, Amen.

Elder Hartvigsen