Week Fifty-Five: Where Are the Keys?

The work of the Lord seems to be hindered when keys are missing. More on that later.

Hello my dear family and friends,

This week was a good week. Mostly because we have found very amazing people. We were walking through part of our area and randomly my companion contacted this man. He greeted us cheerfully and asked how the work is going. We introduced ourselves and the church and he told us "I live just down this line, all the way down there. You see that cabin? Right to the left of it is my house" he then described it so clearly and distinctly that we knew the place when we visited it. He told us "I go to work at 4pm so you can come by anytime before that." We scheduled to see him that same day. He welcomed us cheerfully and we got to know him a bit. Afterwards he introduced us to his sons and told them "They are from a church" and was really excited to have them go with him to church. He walked with us and told us that the people in his neighborhood need what we have.

Then on Thursday, we received a call from the sister missionaries that one of them was sick and asked for a blessing when we had the time. We told them we would go after our appointment with this man. We met with him and he eagerly asked us about what he had read in the pamphlet we left. We taught him about the restoration and he accepted the message gratefully. When we left his house he saw his friend and yelled "I'm sorry, I forgot to get you! Next time!" and then explained his friend was eager to hear our message too. We walked with him most of the way back to where we parked, then he parted ways with us to continue to another area.

It was at this point my companion realized he didn't have the car keys. He couldn't find them anywhere. Because the window was open a bit, we were able to unlock the car to look in there and in the boot, but we couldn't find them anywhere. We walked again the path we had taken, twice more, and there was no sign of them. We called the sisters to apologize for the delay and to ask for their faith and prayers in helping us find it. Ultimately we felt we left them in the investigators house. Only he had left his phone at home, and his children were away playing soccer. We had no way to contact anyone to be able to check inside. Then purely a miracle, one of his sons happened to pass by home (something he never does), and he was able to open up the house and sure enough, right there were our keys.

When we visited this brother on Sunday, he told us he heard of the situation and told us we were lucky his son was there because he often goes far away to play soccer.
Nevertheless, we learned the importance of keys when doing the Lord's work.
haha

This week our branch also had a baptism, and a missionary fireside. At the fireside we taught everyone the missionary lessons and gave them all pamphlets to share with their friends. 2 Restoration of the Gospel, 1 Plan of Salvation, and 1 Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlets. Some of them half-heartedly accepted, but not brother Madziro. He told us "This isn't enough, I need more." So we also gave him a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet on marriage. The next day, Sunday, he told us he gave them all out that morning and showed us who he gave them to. He then asked for more. When we talked with Brother Madziro, who is now in the Branch Sunday School Presidency, he asked us "Why do members live so far away from each other? Shouldn't people be sharing this with their neighbors? There shouldn't be such big gaps between members." And sure enough, he understands it because every single one of his neighbors has been given a pamphlet and he is working his way outward from his house.

This man is powerful. He has introduced us to two different families already who he had set up appointments for us to teach them all on his own.

Truly, I am so grateful to be on the Lord's errand. I have seen what true conversion looks like and I understand how this gospel can change someone's life.

I love you all so much. Have a wonderful week.

-Elder Wilcken