Serving and Working Miracles in the Name of Our Savior

Apologies to everyone again for my short, detail-less email last week. It's a bummer when you're only allowed to use a certain amount of time on a public library's computer...anyway, I decided to write my group email FIRST instead of last this week. =]  

I didn't get to mention in my email last week that a recent convert in my last area got her mission call - she'll be serving in the Arizona Gilbert mission, right next door to my home town! How crazy is that? 

We got to do some family history work this week! I found a couple of names in one of my lines that are ready to go to the temple to have their work done, which is exciting! I took as many of the lines as far back as I could...the farthest I got back? Raphael de Podio, born in Rome, Italy in 1011. Cool stuff! I also found photos and stories on my ancestors on my mother's side of the family who were the first ones to join the Church: Mary Ann Huntley and her husband, James Lewis Burnham. They were baptized when Joseph Smith was alive, and then moved to Nauvoo. James actually worked in the quarries to help build the Nauvoo temple! 

We're doing a new musical number for the next couple of musical firesides: "Child of Light" by Mindy Gledhill. I transcribed and the string parts from the recording and arranged a few other things for the strings to play to fill in the gaps. I can't wait to hear it all put together!  

I got really, really sick this weekend...some sort of stomach bug. It was a nightmare. I'll spare everyone the nasty, gory details. Long story short, we stayed home and missed church yesterday. I'm feeling better today, but I'm still taking it slow as far as eating goes. Don't worry Mom, I'm doing just fine. =] 

We did a LOT of service this week. Painting, laying hardwood flooring, all sorts of things. I'm only beginning to see the power that service can have to soften the hearts of others. We have a potential investigator named Joe - we haven't even started teaching him yet, but he agreed to let us come and help him fix his brother's porch. We met his brother Craig, Craig's wife Stephanie, and their young two sons. They were very hospitable and Craig even ended up making us lunch. He had all sorts of questions for us about how missions work and who we are and why we're doing what we're doing. The entire time, I couldn't help but wonder if he would have even given us the time of day if we had knocked on his door in normal missionary attire. Now we have another potential family of investigators in addition to Joe, all because we spent a Saturday morning helping to fix their porch. I believe that as missionaries, we're doing what Christ would be doing if He was here: serving and teaching others. 

To close, I'd like to share a true miracle that happened this week. Most of the time you hear stories like this at general conference or in someone's sacrament meeting talk, but this one happened to us. A woman in our ward has had problems with her big toe on her right foot for quite a while, and had part of it taken care of but still needed surgery on it. The day before her surgery appointment she asked her home teacher to come and give her a blessing; he called us and asked us to assist him. I anointed, and the home teacher sealed and gave the blessing. The next day, this home teacher called us, saying that this sister had just called him. She said that during the blessing, she felt tingles from her head to her feet. When she went in for her appointment, the doctor unwrapped the bandages on her toe and just stopped what he was doing as he looked at it. He said that he wasn't going to even touch her toe, because it was healing perfectly. That was my first time being part of an instantaneous healing. I am truly grateful for the privilege it is to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood, to be made worthy to exercise it in righteousness through the Atonement of Christ, and to have been part of this sacred experience. 

This work is true, and our Savior stands with us. 

Much love, 

Elder DeLong