great memories of "Spud Harvest". Hard work, great family and
friends, long hours, patience and a sense of humor recommended,
cinnamon rolls for the crew and whole lot of gratitude for our
blessings. We hope that you will all be kept safe and that the
harvest is gathered in a timely manner.
We want to share two accounts this week. We have been telling you
about Elder Vaea. Last Monday, Elder Vaea had appointments with some
specialists in SLC. He was waiting in the hall for a test to be
taken, when a door opened and President Monson and his doctor came
into the hall. Elder Vaea stood up and Pres. Monson asked him if he
was a missionary and some other questions. They shared a wonderful
hug and then Sister Vi took their picture. It is a great picture and
we will send it along with this e-mail. The experience was such an
emotional boost for Elder Vaea. We have the picture on our Return
with Honor board in the Mission Office. There are no such things as
coincidences!!! One of those "tender mercies" that we all have from
time to time.
We attended the Chigaunas branch today and heard a wonderful story.
Brother George, a member of 20 months, gave the Sunday School lesson
without any notice. He began with his conversion story. He told of
his mother dying when he was 6 years old and her asking him to take
care of his three sisters as she was dying. His dad was an alcoholic
and they had a tough growing up. He became an angry young man and an
angry adult who was involved in a lot of bad things. He is about 65
years old now. He said that he decided he needed a Church and began
to look. As he was searching, he knew in his heart that he was
looking for "a book" and as he was walking the streets of Chigaunas
he saw the small sign "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints" on a building. He immediately knew that he wanted to go to
that Church. The first of the next week, two white boys came to his
door with a message from "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and he gladly welcomed them into his home. He found that they
had "a book" which they would share with him on their next visit. He
was so excited and began to read as soon as he received his copy of
the Book of Mormon. He could not lay it down. There are three other
churches within a two block area of the Chiguanas branch which have
lovely chapels. The Chiguanas branch meets above a business and he
still knew he would find what he was longing for there. He is a
strong member and loves the Book of Mormon which he has read three
times. The subject of honesty came up in the lesson and he shared
this experience. After becoming a member, he had the feeling that he
needed to pay a debt to a friend and that he needed to do it very soon
because the friend was going to die. He called his friend and asked
him to come to his house within the next couple of days. He paid his
debt and his friend died on the following Saturday. He was so taken
back by the experience that he didn't come to Church for a couple of
weeks. He says he is so grateful for the Spirit that guides him
everyday. We love it!!!
We have been preparing for transfers the last few days. It is always
a hectic, challenging time for all of us who serve in the office. We
have one Elder coming from French Polynesia and a Sister coming from
Nepal who is the first missionary from her country. There are 4
missionaries from Guyana and 1 from Trinidad in the Dominican Republic
MTC who will be here in the West Indies Mission on October 5. It is a
miracle what has happened to have so many local missionaries. We will
share that story in person when we return home.
We are looking forward to General Conference this week. I listened to
the Relief Society meeting and loved President Monson's story about a
couple moving into a new neighborhood. The wife noticed that the lady
next door didn't have very clean clothes on her clothesline and made
comments for several weeks. One day she told her husband that the
lady must have done something different because her clothes looked so
much cleaner. Her husband told her that he knew what had
happened....he had washed their windows. Moral of the story, don't
judge. We love Conference!!! We will be thinking about you all as we
watch from the chapel in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Much love,
Elder and Sister Wheeler
| Elder Vaea.JPG 2198 |
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