Faith in Trials

This week we got to tour the mission a little bit and see a lot of wine country and fruit and vegetable stands.  We also traveled to Ukiah for a Zone Conference with the other missionaries in our Stake.  There we learned that we were foreordained to be missionaries and that we accepted this call in the premortal life.  That was a powerful lesson.  Glad we followed the spirit in accepting this call on this side of the veil too.  And then we traveled to Sacramento to worship in the temple.  They have an incredible baptismal font in this temple.  Beautiful.  About a dozen young missionaries from the Sacramento mission were in the temple too.  That made things incredible.  We love serving with these young Elders and Sisters who have sacrificed so much to be missionaries.

We love serving the good people of Lake County, CA!  They are strong, determined survivors. The more we get to know them the more we are amazed at all they have overcome, and realize that the list of those hardships reads like a bad country song—My wife died, my dog was shot by the neighbor, my second wife also died, both my trucks were stolen while I was evacuated from my house, my  sister was shot by the bad guys, my other dog’s leg is broken, my house burned down, my health is gone, my house burned down again, my daughter was raped. . . and I’ve broken every single commandment so God can’t love me!

The long list of difficulties would make anyone afraid to trust anyone or anything again.

Rather than sit and complain about these trials though, over and over again we hear about the miracles that have saved them from the ill effects of these challenges. They have been healed, protected from accidents, guided in prayer, comforted, fed, given power over addictions, and called to serve others.

Just like a white horse riding in to save the day, God has ridden into their lives to rescue them from the pain and grief of all these terrible things.  And despite the history of tragedy, they look forward with faith in better days ahead.

We are honored to serve among such humble and determined people.

At the Sacramento Temple

Sunset on Clear Lake

Ukiah Zone Conference