Dear all,
We continue to see miracles in the Balcones Heights ward. I can hardly believe that I have spent six months here! It feels like just yesterday that I was in Austin, receiving the news that I would be transferring to San Antonio. I can imagine no greater place to serve the Lord!
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| Sister Paul and I got a special visitor today! Sister Montclair came for a visit and she and her parents took us out to lunch! |
We are doing well. Texas continues to amaze me. The people are nice and they love them some Spurs basketball (apparently they're doing really well this season?) I get to practice speaking Spanish everyday. Our investigators are all progressing and it's incredible to see the gospel work in their lives. I wish I had time to write every miracle! You'll just have to ask when I get home, I guess!
I had a tender experience in Relief Society yesterday. Just before the lesson, we were allowed about 30 seconds to make an announcement. I was just planning on getting up and asking if anyone would like to fill the only empty spot on our dinner calendar this coming week, but as I looked over the sisters I have had the privilege of serving for the last six months, my eyes filled with tears. I was suddenly filled with so much gratitude for their loving hearts and willing hands. They have taught me so much about service. It was almost all I could do to tell them exactly what I felt.
I have discovered over time that there are two types of people in this world: those who are willing to drop everything and help those who are in need, and those who are more interested in their own interests and needs than those of their fellow beings.
We learn from the scriptures that when we are serving others, we are serving God. I learned what this looks like as I watched my parents repeatedly put themselves aside to serve their neighbor. There were many days I would watch my father, tired from a long day of working in the sun to support his family, walk across the street to help our neighbor unload hay instead of resting in his comfortable armchair and taking a well deserved nap. I have learned what true service looks like as I have watched my mother faithfully care for her own mother in her final days, never once putting her own needs before my grandmother's. I am glad to have such wonderful parents who have worked to set a lasting example for their children.
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| Exchange with Sister Jones. We rode bikes all day! Can you tell?? haha! |
And who can forget the example of our beloved prophet? President Monson has spent his entire life in the service of those around him. One of my favorite examples of this was told by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland when he said: "I have been blessed by an association with this man for 47 years now, and the image of him I will cherish until I die is of him flying home from then–economically devastated East Germany in his house slippers because he had given away not only his second suit and his extra shirts but the very shoes from off his feet. “How beautiful upon the mountains [and shuffling through an airline terminal] are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace.” More than any man I know, President Monson has “done all he could” for the widow and the fatherless, the poor and the oppressed" (Are We Not All Beggars?, October 2014).
President Monson has repeatedly called us to go to the rescue of those in need. He has said: "... the world is in need of your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save."
My little sister reminded me of this important principle in a letter she sent me this week. She quoted President Monson, saying: "Perhaps when we come face to face with our Maker, we will not be asked, 'How many positions did you hold?' but rather, 'How many people did you help?' In reality, you can't love the Lord until you serve Him by serving His people."
I have had many opportunities this week to reflect on the type of person I am and want to become. I hope to always follow my parents' example. I hope to always be willing and ready to serve those in need. I hope to always be ready to go to the rescue! I love my fellow beings and will do everything in my power to serve them.
President Monson posed this question: "Amidst the storms of life, danger lurks; and men, like boats, find themselves stranded and facing destruction. Who will man the lifeboats, leaving behind the comforts of home and family, and go to the rescue?"
Brothers and Sisters, love God. Serve His children.
"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matt. 25:34-40).
Love,
Sister Waite
