So last night at about midnight we received a call from Hermana Rosenlund. Three sisters near us were locked out of their apartment. One of them needed to get medication so they were going to ride their bikes to the 24hr pharmacy. Right away, they realized that they had locked themselves out and called the President for assistance. All the spare keys to missionary homes are in the office, which is a couple blocks from our apartment. The office Elders live on the 4th floor of our apartment building, so Dave went up to wake them up to go get the spare keys. He pounded and pounded on the door. He succeeded in waking up people on every floor of our building and in the building across from us but not the Elders! President and Hermana Rosenlund live about 30 minutes away so they drove to meet us at the office. Meanwhile, we went to pick up the Hermanas so they weren’t out alone and took them to the pharmacy for the needed medication (and a midnight ice cream treat). We met President at the office for the keys and went back to their apartment building, only to discover that both sets of spare keys did not fit their lock! There is an apartment in our complex that is used for emergencies and we thought maybe we would could take them there, but that would mean that President would have to turn around and come back and get us those keys! Even though the Hermana’s apartment is on the 2nd floor, Dave asked them if they had left a window open. They lit right up and said, “Yes! We left our balcony door open”. We went to the front of the building and sure enough, their door was wide open. We quickly had one of the Hermanas step in our hands and we hoisted her up and she climbed right onto the balcony and in! As you can see from the picture, the design of the building lends to being a ladder to climb right up.
Problem solved! But at the expense of a long drive for President and Hermana, waking up at least 10 different apartments and not to mention our trip out. It was a simple and obvious solution, but they didn’t see it. Why didn’t they see it? It made me think of this scripture:
Doctrine and Covenants 58:26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
How many times have I faced a problem or trial and immediately turned to the Lord to solve it for me with no work or thought on my part? How many times have my eyes been closed or only open just enough to have tunnel vision that I did not see the path laid out before me, all the obvious solutions, the glaring guidance and many blessings right in front of me? I am so grateful for a loving and patient Heavenly Father, for a Savior that shows me the way if I will just look up and follow Him, and for the Holy Ghost who will “…show unto (me) all things what (I) should do.” 2 Nephi 32:5. I am grateful for the President and Hermana Rosenlunds and Elder and Hermana Crosbys in my life that will drop everything to come to my rescue when I am not being a wise servant.
I love my mission and all the opportunities I have to love and serve those around me. I will cheerfully and gratefully do a midnight run anytime for the Lord!
Yep, that is correct. I was schooled by the Lord in the bathroom of the Paine Branch. It happened on June 19, 2022, the very first time that we attended the Branch. We had only been in Chile since the beginning of June, so I was feeling a bit overwhelmed or more like underwhelmed – with myself. I came in with so much momentum ready to do the Lord’s work, to serve and make a difference, but at this point I was feeling pretty useless. The language barrier was tougher than I was prepared for. My prayers were full of pleas to show me how and where I can serve. Show me what good I can do! I have so much to give and share! Make me more than being a place holder that can say, Hola!, Cómo Estás? Muy Bien, nod my head and smile a lot.
As soon as we arrived at the Capilla (Church), I quickly found the bathroom. To Paine, it is a half an hour drive from our apartment in San Bernardo, and of course all the water I had consumed before and during the drive compounded by my anxiousness were pressing me into dire need. Unfortunately, when I was ready to leave the bathroom, I discovered that I couldn’t. I was stuck in the stall!
I tugged and twisted and pounded on that latch, but it would not budge. After about 5 minutes I was starting to become very concerned. As you can see from the picture, I wasn’t going to be able to crawl under the stall. There was no way to go over either, because the toilet was too short to do any good if I stood on it. And the surface of the doors are so smooth and slick, there is nothing to grip. I wasn’t sure how I could pull myself up far enough to throw myself over and get back down gracefully in my dress, without injury. And no one came in the whole time I was stuck either! I wouldn’t have been able to ask for help anyway, and even if I could I was feeling so humiliated I probably wouldn’t have tried.
The stall to the left, also known as the corner of crappy confinement
So I pull out my phone to call Dave for help, only I have no service. I pull out the mission phone to call for help, and it has no service. I search for the church’s Wi-Fi, and discover that this chapel has no Wi-Fi! Its been about ten minutes now and my thoughts are racing: “Oh no, I am missing meeting everyone! How come Dave hasn’t even noticed I haven’t come back yet? Does no one in Chile have to pee before Sacrament meeting? Sacrament meeting should have started by now!” Here come the tears, lots and lots of tears! At least I have lots and lots of toilet paper.
Blubbering, I finally turn to the Lord in prayer and plead for His help. Alma 7:23 “…ask for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal..” Immediately the thought comes to my mind to lift the door up with the top of my foot to take the pressure off the latch and sure enough it slides right open! I almost shouted my prayer of thanks and then washed up and left that cursed domain and rushed to sacrament meeting, which hadn’t even started yet (Chilean time!? I’ll save that for another post).
The lethal latch
Of course, my small bladder is not going to allow me to avoid this room of regret very long, and so right after church I entered again, but with caution, and found that one of the three stalls has a different type of latch and it was safe. Whew! It was pretty busy in the bathroom, being after church and all, so I didn’t take much notice of the girls standing around the first stall. When I came out of my stall I saw that they were all tugging at the door, talking to the girl on the other side and trying to help her get it opened. Using universal body language, I was able to communicate the means for extracting the poor victim, having just obtained that knowledge painfully earlier. They were relieved and grateful. I realized then that they were children that were with one of the Amigas (or investigators) that had come to church for the first time, so like me were clueless to the perilous Venus flytrap of a bathroom stall.
I was truly humbled and grateful when I walked out of that bathroom. And I walked a little taller and a little lighter. I had been pleading to be of use, to be able to serve the Lord and He had used my particular (not so great) experience to serve and bless another. It may seem silly, insignificant and small even, but it was huge for me! Alma 37:6 “Now ye may supose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small an simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.”
The Lord gave me what I wanted and what He knew I NEEDED. I needed to know that the Lord will use me if I am willing and ready. This is His work, done in His way and in His time. “Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies”. My mission hasn’t looked like I thought it would for me, but it has been perfect for me. I may not be able to speak and share a lot, but I have really learned to listen, to quickly observe and recognize the Spirit’s promptings and guidance and act on them right away. I give lots of hugs, share tears and yes, I nod and smile.
One of my favorite songs is “Hands” by Jewel. The lyrics are beautiful and say exactly what I already know but needed the Lord to remind me again:
If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all OK
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these
I won't be made useless
Won't be idle with despair
I'll gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear
Poverty stole your golden shoes
It didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after
We'll fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing
In the end, only kindness matters
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
My hands are small, I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
We are never broken
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's mind
We are God's eyes
We are Gods hands
We are God's eyes
Reflections of God
WE ARE REFLECTIONS OF GOD
We ARE reflections of God! Each of us is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such each has a divine nature and destiny. As I have put my trust in the Lord and asked Him to trust me as I serve as a disciple of Jesus Christ, so many maneras (ways) to serve have been placed before me and so milagros (miracles) have occurred. I am so grateful for these precious lessons! I know that the Lord loves me. He knows me personally and truly cares about what I care about. His Hand is in my life daily. He is aware of the specifics and is in all the details. I invite all who read this to reflect on how the Lord has had His Hand in your life in the last 24 hours. I promise you He has and I promise you He loves you!
La capilla de Paine
The two beautiful, thick palm trees at the Paine chapel that I love!!
Map of our drive from (A) our apartment to (B) the Paine chapel
Tonight we attended the baptism of Guillermo Almonacid and Tamara Muñoz Leveke in the Paine Branch. I love attending baptisms, but this one was particularly special for me. I truly felt that joy that is spoken of in Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16“And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” I truly had an overwhelming abundance of joy and gratitude fill my heart as I witnessed this baptism, and the light and joy in their eyes when they bore their testimonies. I know that choosing to make and keep covenants with the Lord brings a miraculous change of heart and an abundance of joy and peace!
We met them for the first time on August 9, 2022 when Elder Diaz, and Elder Tavarez, invited us to a lesson with them. Tamara comes from a family of many members and was ready and excited to join the church, but her partner, Guillermo, was not seeing the need for the church in his life. He had Word of Wisdom issues that he wasn’t feeling the desire or need to change. On top of all of this there was the issue of them needing to get married before baptism. In Chile, there is more incentive to stay single because government programs for assistance for getting into a home are better if you are single so this was an issue for them also.
Through out the lesson, Guillermo seemed pretty closed off. His arms were crossed and he didn’t make much eye contact as the missionaries shared their message. At the end of the lesson Dave was prompted to share his conversion story with Guillermo. There was a very distinct shift in the Spirit and a noticeable shift in Guillermo as the Spirit touched him as Dave bore testimony. It is a beautiful thing to observe and be a part of! Guillermo’s heart was softened and he followed the invitation to read the Book of Mormon and know for himself that the gospel is true.
Over the next several months, we kept them in our prayers, and we ran into them several times, which gave us the opportunity to make them feel as special as possible (Dave is amazing at this)! Tamara had joined the Buin District Choir soon after this lesson and as she travelled to the different branches to sing, he would go too. We had heard they had set a wedding date for January and had plans to be baptized right after that, but it seemed so far off we were not certain it would happen. Sure enough! It is amazing what a difference it made when all the members of not only the Paine Branch, but the District Choir and all of the other branches fellowshipped them and made them feel welcomed and wanted everywhere they went. That ministering by the members is very powerful!
I’ll never forget the huge hug I received from Tamara’s grandmother after the baptism. As we embraced and shared tears of joy, I felt her happiness that after all this time, all her faith and prayers for her family, she could reap the reward of joy in this day. I know those desires for my family well, the fasting and prayers, the hope and trust placed in the Lord. All I want for my family is to take part in the true joy and peace that comes from following our Savior Jesus Christ. Life is not easy, it wasn’t meant to be, but He gave us a plan and showed us the way back. I know my Savior lives and that this truly is His work, in His way and in His time. And I am so grateful to be a part of it!
From left to right, Elder Crosby, Guillermo, Tamara, Me, Elder Tavaraz & Elder Diaz
From left to right Elder Matthew Adams (Sacramento CA), Elder Austin Martell (Monticello, UT), Elder Fernando Pugliesi (Brazil), Elder Estêvão Costa (Brazil), Kevyn Leveke, Guillermo Almonacid, Tamara Leveke, Mario Leveke, Elder Diaz (Argentina), Me, Dave, Elder Rylan Simmons (Spokane, WA) , Elder & Hermana Jones (Bountiful, UT), kneeling in front: Elder Bradley Andino (Honduras) & Elder Tavaraz (St. Anthony, ID)
I love to watch the love and connection that Dave has developed with these missionaries we work with!
Bless, Lift & Connect 