In the field week 78--Lincoln's Testimony of Discipleship and missionary work

Happy Tuesday the fourteenth everyone! I hope everyone is having a good week down south. I'm pleased to hear that Ashlynn and Dallin are keeping active and staying out of trouble.  And Good luck with drivers ed Ashlynn! 

We had a week of miracles here in Slave Lake. We are working hard to get everything ready for the anticipated transfer call next Monday. We have been fairly consistent as far as teaching and finding new people to teach goes. Consistency is always a good thing to strive for in the work. I feel like things are going well in my personal ministry here and I expect to see great success in the coming transfer. 

I told you last time about how Andrew really felt the spirit during our lesson with Carla. This week we were invited back and we shared a message to help Andrew understand what he felt during the blessing. We then invited him to take the lessons which he accepted with all sincerity.  His less active girl friend is super on board haha. She's been waiting for this for quite some time. So she called us up to teach a lesson last Sunday afternoon. rarely do we ever have people calling and wanting to meet with us; what a pleasant surprise! So we came into the house and sat down with them and Carla's like "oh wait, I forgot something." So she leaves and comes back with a decent stack of copies of the Book of Mormon and like 50 dilapidated pamphlets haha! We love Carla, she's a great missionary. We had a wonderful lesson about the restoration and invited Andrew to baptism, Which he said he would do when he was ready. He understands that he needs to make a lot of changes but he told us he needs to do this. So he prayed to know if the book was true. He had scarcely said "Dear Heavenly Father" when I felt the spirit stronger than I ever had, at least that I can remember presently. It started at my waist and rose through the rest of my body, causing me to weep. I cannot remember anything he said, but I will not shortly forget how I felt. What an indication of real intent. When he ended the prayer we could tell that he had felt the spirit for sure, we all had in fact. We taught him the Plan of Salvation the next day and He's taking it all in. He's got a long way to go but none of us even thought that this would have been possible for him eight days ago. He had expressed no interest in religion at all since the missionaries first met him. God truly does soften hearts and nothing is impossible to Him.

We saw another great miracle last night! We were tracting a couple weeks back and we ran into some construction workers doing some roofing. I called out to one of them on the porch and we had just started talking when a dog came from the door way and took him out haha! But he got up and came over to us and we asked if he'd be interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ. He told us that he would and gave us his address. Anyway we stopped by at 7:00 last night to find him just getting back from work. So we drove down the street and back around to give him a little time before knocking his door. When we pulled up we saw him sitting on his porch, reading a book. A moment later he put his head in his and hands. I felt a prompting that told me he was reading the bible and that God wanted us to stop by at this time for a reason. So we said a quick prayer and got out of the car. We asked him how he was doing and he told us he had just read Genesis 2:24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." He told us that he felt so much guilt for the lifestyle that he lived when he was younger and had disobeyed God. We told him that our message was meant to help him overcome his guilt and shame. We told him that whatever he had done, he could be cleansed through Jesus Christ. This seemed to relive him greatly and became as teachable as a child. We shared the message of the Restoration and testified that he could get an answer through study and prayer. He agreed to be baptized if he got an answer from God. 

We have seen so many miracles here lately and have been richly blessed. True happiness is not in lifting ourselves, but in lifting others and helping them feel of Gods love for them. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life. We do not need to be perfect to be instruments in the Lords hands (D&C 4:3). We just need to have a little humility, penitence and a desire to serve God. Doesn't mean it still wont be tough sometimes. That's part of the program. But it's got to be one the most fulfilling things I've ever done. 

Love, 

Elder Higginson