A post-it note and a park

Hello Friends and Family!

I apologize for not writing for over three weeks! The mission has been crazy busy (for all the best reasons) and I am loving every single second of it. This month Elder McPherson and I have put over 3,500 miles on the car from traveling around, and I have learned easily over 3,500 lessons. I love serving as a missionary, and wouldn't trade it for anything. As the Lord Himself said thousands of years ago, "Therefore, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, yea, a marvelous work and a wonder...". Truly, this work is marvelous, and often a wonder. For this week, I wanted to share with you all just one "wonder" that I was fortunate enough to witness by the all-loving hand of our Heavenly Father. 

I was on exchanges with a missionary, and we got on our knees to inquire of the Lord whom He would have us meet that day, and to bring an image to our minds of that individual. We said prayer after prayer, until finally we both received revelation that we were going to meet a young Caucasian woman in her early 20's, that would be wearing dark clothing, and had recently left an abusive relationship. Now that we knew the individual, we needed to inquire of the Lord where we needed to be to meet this young woman (it is like finding a golden needle in a haystack). Again, after staying on our knees and praying for quite sometime, the Elder I was with said, "I came to Macon almost 6 months ago and met a old man in a nice park. He was sitting on a bench when we met him. For some reason, that same bench just keeps coming to my mind. I think that's where we will find this woman." We prayed for confirmation, and felt the touch of the Holy Spirit confirm our plans to go to that park bench to find the young woman Heavenly Father had just told us about. We now needed to know the time that we should be at the bench to be able to meet this young woman. The Spirit spoke to both of us at the same time. The Spirit told us, "LEAVE NOW." We gathered our things, and headed out the door. In less than 20 minutes we were at the park. As we began walking around, to find our way to this particular bench, we ended up talking with about four individuals. However, when we finally reached the bench we had thought of, no one was there.

So what do we do? Do we give up, turn back, and forsake God-given revelation? NEVER. If we hope to receive further revelation in the future, we must honor and respect the revelation that He gives us today. Anyways, we went all the way to the bench, looked around, and sitting about 50 yards away were two young females (of course, in their 20's) sitting on a blanket having lunch. One was wearing almost all black, and the other was wearing almost all white. According to the revelation we had so mercifully received earlier, we knew the one we needed to talk to. We approached their blanket, and they quieted their conversation and looked at us doubtfully. We stepped forward and said, word for word, while looking at the girl wearing the darker clothing, "Ma'am, God has sent us to you today. We were praying twenty minutes ago and had a strong feeling to come here now. God told us that there was going to be a young female, in her twenties, wearing dark clothing, that had recently left an abusive relationship. Is this you?" As soon as we said this last part, the young lady burst into tears. The Spirit flowed, and we stood there in silence as she cried for about two minutes. Finally, the young woman said, "Yes, that is me. What church are you from?" 

Now, at this point of the conversation, do we simple say the Church's name? NEVER. We responded, "Ma'am, we are from THE ONLY TRUE AND LIVING CHURCH OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. It is called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have been called by a Prophet of God on the Earth today to find you." We all had tears in our eyes after this, and the Spirit was so strong there. I will never forget the feeling that existed there. We then asked if she had been praying the night before for more comfort, and she responded yes.  

Before we left the apartment, we had written all of the details down on a Post-it Note. The note read:

-Young female

-Early 20's

-Wearing dark clothing

-Caucasian 

-Recently left abusive relationship

-Praying last night for comfort 

We then wrote down the time that we received this revelation (which was twenty minutes before)

We then used this Post-it Note to mark a chapter in The Book of Mormon for her that we knew would help her find peace. As we gave The Book of Mormon to her, we said, "Ma'am, this Post-it Note will remind you every time you look at it that God sent us to you, and that this is His Church." We got her information, and as we walked away, I couldn't help but feel the Spirit confirm to us that this was the woman Heavenly Father needed us to find at that moment. 

I KNOW that if we but simply ask Heavenly Father to reveal to us what those around us have been praying for, and pray to know specifically how to find them, that God WILL give us that revelation if we are worthy, and seeking His guidance in our Lives. 

May we forever remember that the Lord Lives, that this is His Church, and that we are simply instruments in His Hands to press the work ever-onward!

Love you all,

Elder Robb