August 15, 2016

Current Address: Elder Truman Burgess 3556 Carriage Hill Circle Apt #101 Randallstown, MD  21133 Traveling to District Meetings throughout the zone can roll up quite the appetite. Cruising in a town about an hour away from our area, we spotted a Tuesday-special on discount buffalo wings. Within a blink we were parked and ready to engulf our appetites in garlic seasoned lemon-pepper wings and sip some ice cold water to off-set the brutal heat. As we sat, I couldn't help but feel a tug of Spirit to scarf the food down and get moving back to our area. I looked at the clock, realized we had some good time for lunch still, and carried on with the feast. Wing after wing the feeling grew until it became a very uncomfortable mental state for me. Finally I got the waitress for the slim check and we were zooming down the road to return to work.  The first stop in our plans was for a 70 year old Nigerian man named Vincent. We had crossed paths on the street a week prior while he was playing with his grand kids and scheduled a loose "come back early next week before 3:00" appointment. The pull to movemovemove lead to leaping up the apartment stairs and a solid knock on his door.  It opened almost immediately to old Vincent with a slim smile and bright eyes who welcomed us in warmly. He told us his life story, how the Catholic Church had helped him from a young boy in Africa, how his wife died, and of the hard trek it was to travel to the U.S. We taught a few points of the Restoration of the Gospel and what our purpose is as missionaries, and oh boy did he soak it up. He said, "I have enjoyed the Catholic Church, but if you can teach more of Jesus Christ and how i can live with Him, I will do anything you ask me to. I will worship with you and I will be a member of your Church."  Try to find a missionary that wouldn't love to hear that! He then answered my mystery as to why I felt so prompted to visit: "I prepared myself and my home for you to visit today. I was right on the couch praying for your visit. If you did not come within the thirty minutes, I never would open my door to you for as long as I live." My heart skipped a beat. Vincent taught me a few valuable lessons, particularly in the importance of keeping an open channel to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, no matter what situation you may be in. We have such a small tunnel vision of the cogs turning around us that it is imperative to listen to Him who sees the whole picture. Most of the time we can't see why we are being led or prompted, but if we live on the wind of the Spirit and trust in the real guide, God has promised that we will witness after the trial of our faith. Who would have thought that serving a domestic mission would involve so much divine language study? ;) xoxo Elder Burgess