Go See 17 Miracles - That's an Order

4th of July yesterday was a memorable one. It was an all day p-day, and that was a little bizarre. We had so much time, and with all the email places closed, we had to kill time. Until...we gathered at the theater at the gateway mall. 150+ missionaries in a movie theater, everybody else there was a little "freaked" to see us! I must admit, I felt a little scandalous being in a movie cinema, my rebel ways are diminishing here in the missionary world! The movie, "17 Miracles" was superb! If it's playing anywhere around you, go see it! It shows just some of the miracles that happened with families and individuals who were part of the Willie Martin handcart company, a group of early church saints that came to the Salt Lake valley from England, and had no wagons, but handcarts to pull themselves across the plains, and then ended up trapped in terrible winter conditions. I cried, for sure. All of these stories come from journal accounts of those that were part of the group. Afterwards, the director, T.C Christiansen, spoke with us in the theater about the making of the movie and some of the things he learned as he filmed the movie.

I am so grateful for the rich heritage of this church, and too often I take it for granted, forgetting what so many went through to allow me to have the true gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. 

The work in my area is getting busier. We have names to go by, many potential investigators, and people that should be on date for baptism by the end of this week. On Sunday our couple that we were trying to get married, but all of a sudden backed out, came to church and talked with bishop. They wanted to get married THAT day. Elder Fifita and I ran home to grab the marriage license and paperwork and brought it back to church. Truly a miracle. 

Another man that we have been teaching recently had a stroke. HE is a member of the church, but had been very inactive since his youth, until he had his stroke and had a priesthood blessing that he knows is what saved his life. He knows he felt the holy ghost touch his heart, and said that as he was given the blessing, feelings he never felt before came over his entire body, and the frantic attitude of the room dissolved, and there was peace. Come to find out, his membership records cannot be found. We will need to recreate his records if possible, or otherwise baptize him again. The Lord truly does prepare people for us to teach, and goes a step further and prepares people for the set of right missionaries and vice versa. This man is a great example to me and how keeping a positive attitude through a challenging part of life makes all the difference. I am able to relate to him somewhat with my cancer story, and how staying happy is really the thing that makes or breaks you.

Transfers are next Wednesday. Again, I have no idea what will happen to me, President Winn is pretty unpredictable. Zone conference is this week, perhaps I'll find something out. Everything else is good. Driving home from the movie last night, as I reviewed in my mind the stories of the pioneers I just heard and how what a terrible human being I have been about thinking my life and situation was soooo hard, I saw a billboard for a company I don't know, but that read, "No Excuses, No Complaints." I thought, "How true is that?" I love that phrase, and will try to make it a part of my everyday experiences.

Love,

Elder Scotty