Hi Friends!
So on Saturday we had an appointment with Wong, and we'd planned to meet on campus. It was drizzling as we got our bikes out, so we said a prayer right before we left that it wouldn't rain on us. Well.. we got outside, and the second we started riding the heavens opened and DUMPED on us. Like raining so hard it kind of hurt, haha. I started laughing, because what else do you do.. I think I was half laughing half crying, but you couldn't really tell because nothing could be heard over the sound of rain pelting my helmet. Peddling as fast and hard as we could, we were about 3 minutes into our 10 minute bike ride when suddenly Wong's car pulls up next to us out of no where, and he starts shouting for us to get in. We had to explain that we couldn't get in his car because of the mission rules, blah blah. He felt so bad for us. We decided not to ride all the way to campus, and Wong stood
outside his car in the rain with us until we could figure out where else to go. We felt so bad, but he refused to get in because we were "doing this for him!" We decided to head to this restaurant called Ichiban's, with Wong following us slowly in his car the whole way, just to discover that they'd closed. We ran into the restaurant next door to find shelter, but they told us they were closing too. So back out into the rain we went, when from across the street shown a big beautiful warm inviting neon sign: PIZZA HUT. We ran across the flooded street, parked our bikes, and sloshed into Pizza Hut, looking like we just survived Katrina.
So on Saturday we had an appointment with Wong, and we'd planned to meet on campus. It was drizzling as we got our bikes out, so we said a prayer right before we left that it wouldn't rain on us. Well.. we got outside, and the second we started riding the heavens opened and DUMPED on us. Like raining so hard it kind of hurt, haha. I started laughing, because what else do you do.. I think I was half laughing half crying, but you couldn't really tell because nothing could be heard over the sound of rain pelting my helmet. Peddling as fast and hard as we could, we were about 3 minutes into our 10 minute bike ride when suddenly Wong's car pulls up next to us out of no where, and he starts shouting for us to get in. We had to explain that we couldn't get in his car because of the mission rules, blah blah. He felt so bad for us. We decided not to ride all the way to campus, and Wong stood
outside his car in the rain with us until we could figure out where else to go. We felt so bad, but he refused to get in because we were "doing this for him!" We decided to head to this restaurant called Ichiban's, with Wong following us slowly in his car the whole way, just to discover that they'd closed. We ran into the restaurant next door to find shelter, but they told us they were closing too. So back out into the rain we went, when from across the street shown a big beautiful warm inviting neon sign: PIZZA HUT. We ran across the flooded street, parked our bikes, and sloshed into Pizza Hut, looking like we just survived Katrina.
ANYWAY..
We had one of the best lessons we've ever had, and the best part? Wong told us he wants to be baptized! So amazing!! Woah, it was such a sweet experience. Sometimes that's how it goes in life. Things get crazy, dark, cold and scary.. But when we persevere, stay strong, and keep moving through the tears. That's when the miracles happen. Where the growth takes place, where the light breaks through, and the joy of overcoming completely erases all traces of sorrow.
Helaman 5:12
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer,
who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when
the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
In other news, we found a dead mouse in our apartment, and
made the Elders come remove it for us.
It was
free Chil Fil A day (if you dress up like a cow they'll give you free food)
so we made them some cow spots’Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin, But held it up with a smile:
“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried, “Who’ll start the bidding for me?”
“A dollar, a dollar”; then, “Two!” “Only two? Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?
Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
Going for three—”
But no, From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”
And he held it up with the bow.
“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?
Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,
And going, and gone!” said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
“We do not quite understand
What changed its worth.” Swift came the reply:
“The touch of a master’s hand.”
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine,
A game—and he travels on.
He’s “going” once, and “going” twice,
He’s “going” and almost “gone.”
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.
-Myra Brooks Welch
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”
And he held it up with the bow.
“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?
Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?
Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,
And going, and gone!” said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
“We do not quite understand
What changed its worth.” Swift came the reply:
“The touch of a master’s hand.”
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine,
A game—and he travels on.
He’s “going” once, and “going” twice,
He’s “going” and almost “gone.”
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.
-Myra Brooks Welch
That poem at the end was shared with us by President Sainsbury in his
weekly today. I really liked it! Talking about the Atonement of Jesus
Christ 💙
weekly today. I really liked it! Talking about the Atonement of Jesus
Christ 💙
