The internet was down at the library yesterday, so we had to wait a day to email home. Sorry for any distress or confusion :P
I had the opportunity to confirm a newly-baptized young man named Miguel as a member of the Church. He's 17, and he was actually taught by the Spanish-speaking Elders in the Waterbury ward, but when asked about who he wanted to confirm him, he said he wanted me to. The Spirit was so strong as I gave him the blessings that our Father in Heaven wanted for him. He wants to serve a Mission, which is coming up very soon for him. Seeing him progress and build his testimony was an amazing experience for me, as well as everybody else that he came in contact with. He's going to be an amazing Missionary and an even better example for the youth of this ward.
Other than that, this past week hasn't been all that eventful. I was sicker than a dog for 4 days, but I finally wised up and got a blessing. Since then, everything has gotten better, except for what I think is a sinus infection. I'm going to be setting a doctor's appointment to figure out what's with the constant headaches and pressure behind my eyes. But all in all, I'm feeling so much better!! I probably should have gotten that blessing much sooner, especially because I had an AWESOME experience with giving a blessing two weeks ago (and I don't think I shared that with all of you guys... I don't know why, though :P) I had the chance to give a blessing to an ex-Marine. He was in a hospital in West Haven, some 22 miles away; and when your miles limit is 1000 for the month, forty-four miles for one appointment is a LOT. Upon leaving the apartment, we prayed as we always do before leaving. As I said the prayer, I felt the distinct impression to say, "Prepare our hearts and our minds for miracles." I immediately remembered a saying that I've heard since being out on my Mission, "Work as hard as you can to help God answer your prayers." I spent the entire car ride doing just that: remembering Christ feeding the 5000, miracles from the movie "17 Miracles," and listening to the song "Losing Me" by Tim Goodman. It contains one line that really stuck out to me: "And when I found that I was doing what I never thought I could, I was losing what was in me, and in my place He stood." (By the way-I'd recommend that whole CD-it's called "Inside of Me." It seems like I quote it almost every time I write home.) When we actually got to the hospital, we found out just how serious his wounds were. He still had shrapnel in his leg from an explosion, plus a gunshot wound that tore almost every major ligament in his knee. The infections from these wounds, as well as an 18-inch blood clot and some benign growths in his thigh, had cut off circulation to his lower leg. Doubt began to creep into my mind: could I really do this? All the medical technology at the disposal of his doctors was already in use, but to no avail. I said another prayer, essentially saying, "Lord, I can't do this, but I know You can. I've done what I can to be worthy to use Your power, so please work through me. I'm going to push all doubt from my mind for 2 minutes. Use that 2 minutes to let my faith, his faith, and the faith of his grieving mother work for his benefit." I gave the blessing, pushing aside all doubt that crept into my mind. A few days later, we found out that about 3 hours after we gave the blessing, the clot in his leg dissipated, circulation returned to his lower leg, and the infection was reducing drastically. All it took was 2 minutes of complete and total faith. Truly, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." (Alma 37:6) There have been other small miracles going on all around the Waterbury ward: less-actives coming back to Church after decades of inactivity, a life-long smoking addict quitting cold turkey so that she can do Temple work for her family, Bishop allowing an excommunicated member share her testimony of the Atonement, and even a golden investigator seemingly falling out of the sky. God is still a God of miracles: "For with God, NOTHING shall be impossible." (Luke 1:37, emphasis added) How many times have we (and by "we," I mostly mean "I") kept ourselves from blessings, knowledge, and happiness simply because we don't let God work in our lives? That's one thing I'm definitely going to be working on this week and throughout my life.
The book is blue, the Church is true, and Jesus is a Mormon, too!
Love y'all!
-Eldah Boone
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