The most Epic testimony meeting ever.

This week was awesome.  We got a lot done, and we saw amazing miracles, especially with Felipe and Carmen.

They came to church again!  And this time, they came to the Spanish branch.  It was fast Sunday again, and the testimonies were super powerful.  Then, at the very end, Felipe got up and went up to bear his testimony!  He told everyone how Saturday he'd been driving to work when the car broke down.  When he checked it, he saw that the radiator was missing a LOT of fluid, and he was really worried.  He knew that if he didn't go to work then he'd have to work on Sunday.  So, he prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help him. (As a funny side note, he also said "Joseph Smith; if you want me to go to your church, help me out!  give me a hand here!"  We'll work on helping him not pray to Joseph Smith soon enough!)  So, after he finished, he realized that he had a couple water bottles in the back of the car, so he dumped them into the radiator, and then started driving again.  When he got to work, the tank had filled up to the halfway point and when he got home it was completely full!  At the end he said "And so, my purpose in being up here today is to tell you... (he paused for a while to get control of himself)  I KNOW that this is the true church."  It was amazing!  Carmen loved it too, and she said Felipe REALLY wants to come every week, so hopefully this helps them take the steps they need to to come.

We also taught a couple of young people who were extremely ready who we passed on to the Assistants to the President, since they are YSA age.  One of them, Jose, met me and Elder Lee a while back, and when we saw him again he said he'd been reading the book of Mormon!  He shared how he felt the spirit while he read and said he would like to be one of us someday.  It was amazing: he's only been taught once and he wants to be a missionary!  The other, we've taught her twice now since we've been trying to get the whole family to listen to us, but that's coming along too slowly.  Her name is Liz, and she has a lot of basic questions about religion.  She loved everything we taught, and when Elder James invited her to be baptized she hesitated because she'd been baptized catholic.  But what she said wasn't like "I don't want to because I was baptized already." it was "Can I? I was already baptized so is that okay?"  After we explained Priesthood authority a bit and how God want's everyone to be baptized that way she agreed.  She was super happy too, and grateful for us coming to help her out.

Mission leader council was incredible this week.  President and Sister Felix are exactly what the mission needs right now.  They had a lot of questions about the mission and how we go about doing things, because they really want to get absorbed into the culture we've built up here.  It comforted me a lot when President Felix shared that we're going to be continuing all mission rules and policies until we receive direction otherwise.  It would be an utter mess to try and root everything up at once.  He also had us construct a massive list of all the unwritten rules we've been following so that he can review them.  I was amazed at how much sense most of them made.  They also shared their life experiences, how they met and raised a family, what they enjoy together, how they received their call (Dad would be interested to know that right before their call they were on a service mission teaching therapists to fit wheelchairs for people in Tucxla-gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico.)  They also shared how a short time ago, after they'd received their call, President Felix (Who is an incredibly healthy, active man) was biking along when he felt a sudden burning sensation in his chest, and his shoulders got heavy.  By a series of miracles, they got him to the ER, just in time for him to suffer a massive heart attack ON the examining table.  He was worked on for a long time with no pulse, but after they stabilized him, and he had a stint put in, he received a priesthood blessing that he'd be okay.  The doctors told him that the survival rate for what he went through is about 5%, and if he hadn't been right there he'd not have survived.  As he was set apart, Elder Nelson (of all the general authorities, the heart surgeon!) blessed his heart and told him the Lord intended for him to KNOW that he was supposed to be here now. 

That's all I've got time for this week, I'll let you know what happens next!  Keep up the good work, and stay on the lookout for those who need a hand. 

Love,
Elder Matthew David Clough