October 13, 2014

What a magical day. No, a magical week.

Fireside

TEMPLE TODAY! HOORAY!

AND - got to watch Meet the Mormons today. SO GOOD.

The day was topped off with MJ committing to live the word of wisdom.
I swear, I have the BEST life ever!!

This past friday we had President Packard's Joseph Smith Fireside roll into town. I have been to a ton before because of the Visitors' Center, but it was interesting viewing it in a different lense. The area has spent months prepping for this fireside - getting it out in the community, inviting friends. It was all we talked about. The fireside is a presentation about what answers we have because of the restoration of the gospel and what revelations Joseph Smith received like what happens when I die? What's heaven like? Why do bad things happen to good people? You name it.

Miracle story:

We've been working with this man John. John is my favorite - he's taken the lessons before and knows more about President Benson than 90% of church members. We were fightin to get John to this fireside. We knew itd be a game changer. So we follow up with him - wednesday he says hes coming. Thursday - says hes coming. We get a text Friday afternoon a few hours before the fireside starts that says he woke up at 3am with a fever of 101.3 and that it hasn't broken so he doesn't think he'll be able to make it. Sister Layton and I want to pull our hair out, yet it also made us extremely happy because if the adversary was working this hard..it means something good was in store for him. Instantly, Sister Layton and I drop to our knees. We prayed and talked about what we needed to say to him. We decided that we needed to promise him a number. We need to give him a bar line to hit so that when he hit it, it would be a sign that he was well enough to come. After praying, we looked at each other and both agreed upon '99 degrees'. Fireside started at 7, we knew that if he was at 99 degrees by 6pm, he could come. We call him and the words just flew out. We told him that he knew exactly why he had a fever. He said, "I do?" We said, "yes. this isn't a fever. this is a delusion of Satan. You're not contagious and you're feeling fine. You will break to 99 degrees by 6pm, and if you do, you can know that you're well enough to come. Go take a hot shower, and say the most sincere prayer you've ever said. Tell God what you're intending to do. Then call us back immediately." He agreed. 20 minutes later we get a call. "I took a shower. I feel very enlightened. I think i'll come."

He does come. Just as the firesides about to start he leaned over and said, "It was weird - i checked my temperature right as I was leaving the house - it was exactly 99 degrees." While I was overjoyed, I wasn't exactly shocked. We knew that he would be! I said, "John, we prayed right before we called you because we knew that we needed to tell you a number. We knew that God would break your fever to 99." He was like, "are you serious?!?!" Dont act so surprised John. We told you there was a war going on up there while you were running around trying to decide if you were going to come or not.

I know that God is aware of each one of us - he does care about what we do. He does know if we go to church on sunday or not, and if our heart's in the right place when we are there. He knows exactly when we choose to watch tv before we choose to study his scriptures. He also knows that we have the gift of making our own choices and he will never ever stop us or force us into decision making. However, when we listen closely, are in tune with the spirit, and have the courage to make the right choice, we will be able to see the Lord's hand and his miracles VIVIDLY.

We have been hearing a LOT about prophets lately. it seems every where I turn it's about prophets. Even when we skype taught the man in Uganda, his main question was: "How can I tell between a true prophet and a false prophet?" You are asking the right question my friend. It's amazing that a random man with no context of the church is still spiritually aware of the main topic going around. Are we prepared to follow the prophet at his next command that may require more faith than we currently have? What are we doing now to follow the prophet? What kinds of activities fill our time that will help bring in the right spirit to discern between a false prophet and a true prophet. How lucky we are that we have the promise that our prophets will NEVER lead us astray. What a steady anchor in a shifting world. Who wouldn't want that spiritual security? 
Choose to listen. Choose to follow the prophet. Choose to act on faith before you act on the natural man.

And as the glorious Sister Crane would say - CHOOSE CELESTIAL :)

Love,

Sister Bell

Pictures:

1. S. Laytons B day on general conference!

2. Apple picking with the coolest branch missionary