TENDER MERCIES

We had a....surprising week. Amirah was supposed to get baptised, absolutely nothing to stop her. We were excited; her family's come such a long way.
The night before the baptism, which was supposed to be Tuesday, we get a text from our Bishop, saying the baptism is off. Pardon? Why in the world would the baptism be off, and why was Bishop the one telling us??
Apparently Amirah's father (who's a Muslim) made some really severe threats, and they were worried about the family's safety if it went forward. Amirah didn't even know....the poor girl was absolutely gutted. And now they are going through the spiral of legal complications getting everything sorted with the father. What do you do? I just felt so helpless.
All week I was praying so fervently for them. What could I say? What was right? And we weren't sure. We didn't feel confident about anything
We came up with and rejected so many ideas. In fact, it wasn't until we were praying right before we went into the lesson that we knew what we were supposed to share with them. We opened to 3 Nephi 11 and read the first few verses. We talked about how Heavenly Father is so pleased with His Son, and why. We just bore our testimonies that even when things are hard, we can know how our Heavenly Father feels about us. We can just ask Him and receive that comforting, confident witness. No matter what trials we experience, we can have that assurance. The Spirit was so strong. It was just one of those lessons where you know that what you are sharing is exactly what they need. It left no doubt in my mind that what we taught was out of inspiration, not desperation. I love that the Lord cares what we teach when things are unexpected.

Another time this week, we had planned the spiritual thought for a DA (dinner appointment) on service and gratitude. As we were about to share it, the mom said: This needs to be good, I've had a rubbish week and I really need a lift. (It wasn't in a rude way, it was almost a plea.)
We couldn't find the Mormon Message we had chosen to share (I love that all the members have technology. So convenient). So we were slightly panicking right in front of the family,which would be bad under any circumstance but we really wanted to share something they needed. So my companion just clicked on the one called "Lessons I Learned as a Boy". It tied in perfectly with what we had wanted to focus on, but it just wasn't quite what she needed.
I offered up a little prayer, asking that somehow we would know what Sarah needed. Right then, one of the kids piped up and said: "I'm so grateful for Mummy for always doing her best." And then started crying and ran into her mum's arms. The parents both looked so confused because they hadn't understood what she said. So we repeated it to Sarah and she started crying too while she cwtched her little girl. It was just the sweetest thing. What a tender mercy for her.
Heavenly Father cares even if it's just that we have a bad week. He understands. He wants to comfort us. And I love that. The love of God is such a personal, pervasive thing. And what a privilege. "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."
The gospel is just full of those little tender moments. I love it.

We are just so blessed.

xxxx
Sister Miller


PS.....next week will be a short email. :) A member is taking us "castle hopping" for Pday. Oh I am so excited. I have only explored like four castles so far.

Pics:

The night I became "Sister Bubblegum". Remember always doing this at Esplin reunions? I remember doing this in G&G's front room for ages. There were like ten kids at this DA, and they were going crazy. They absolutely LOVED this.

This morning a member drove us up on top of the mountain. The wind was wild and the air was just so fresh and the sun was out and you could see for miles. The birds were singing their hearts out. I felt like my soul was just going to explode with happiness. I felt like I could actually breathe out there. So naturally I just ran across the fields and threw my arms out. The hills are alive with the sound of music. But I decided to send you a nice picture instead of one of me doing that. haha.