Our Savior's Love - Elder Joshua Avery

Written by Elder Joshua Avery, training at the Provo Missionary Training Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He will report to the Singapore Mission December 15, 2014, speaking Mandarin Chinese

 Family and friends!

I love you all so much. This week was awesome. Our investigators are doing great and I have a super cool story. But first, I can finally tell you that Elder Harmon and I  are the new zone leaders. We've known for over a week but, weren't supposed to tell anyone. We are going to be super busy this week. For Thanksgiving they are doing a huge service project and the zone leaders are in charge of set up, take down, and teaching our zone how it's going to work. So that is crazy. An elder in my zone is a really good singer. He, a sister in my district, and I will be auditioning for a musical number in hopes that we will get to play in the Thanksgiving devotional.

Elder Avery, Elder Sedrick, and Sister Halcom

Now, for the highlight of my week. As you know I have "investigators" here at the MTC. Some of them are members, some are not. One year ago Elder Ostler was here. He taught an investigator named Sh***. She is not a member, and has a really rough background. After being in an abusive marriage for years, she came to Utah. She said that Utah was just a point on the map and it was far away from her husband. Elder Ostler and his district were the first missionaries to teach her after she got the job here at the MTC. She got really close to Elder Ostler, and she said that when he went home he was on her mind a lot. She said that when she saw him back here, it was the first time she had prayed in months.

My district and Elder Ostler taught her on Saturday. I don't know if I have ever felt the Spirit so strong. I wish I could share the whole experience, but there is just too much to share. I will give you some of the highlights. One of her concerns in life has been all of the trials she has gone through. One of which was the death of her son. He died when he was 2 months old. She said that she prayed he would live, but he didn't. I shared with her about Jonathan (baby brother)...how all of us prayed that he would live, but he died. I told her about how Dad gave him a blessing and he knew that Jonathan would die, but blessed him not to feel pain.

Sh*** said that it seemed unfair that God says, "Ask and ye shall receive," and that she doesn't feel like that is true. One of the sisters in my district, Sister Crowell, told her that God promises that we shall receive when we ask Him, but He doesn't specify what we will receive. She told Sh*** that although her son did not live, God gave Sh*** His son to provide her with strength and comfort. Sh*** said that she had never thought of that before.

After that, Elder Ostler shared one of the most powerful testimonies of our Savior that I have ever heard. Everyone in my district was truly speaking with the Spirit. It was obvious that we shared God's words, not our own. Sh*** said that she would pray for gratitude, but not ask for anything because she doesn't know if she trusts God yet. She loves the Savior and is one of the most amazing women I have ever met. She goes into surgery, so tonight we are teaching her again and Elder Ostler is giving her a blessing.

That's all for now. Love you!!

Feng Zhang Lao

Let God Do His Thing (November 17, 2014)

Thanksgiving in the MTC  (December 1, 2014)