Elder Neel: 5/13/24

 

Hello my friends and family! It's been awhile again since I've sent a group email but I wanted all of you to know I am thriving and enjoying the mission to the fullest extent! This will be a shorter email but I'll add more pictures and update you through those as well.

We had transfers in April and I stayed here in the Texas Tech YSA for my fifth transfer! My new companion is Elder Brockbank. He is amazing and is from Salem Utah which is not too far from my hometown of Springville. I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with him earlier this year and he is such a diligent Elder and a good friend to me. I will hype him up all day and he is the best person to be capping off this amazing adventure in the YSA. We just went into summer break and are grinding until the summer semester starts. We have seen many miracles and I will share them with you as we go throughout the weeks. Shoutout to all our members who went home for the summer, Liset, Sarah, Sophia, Ethan, Jared, Trey, Austin and much more, thank you for all the memories. What a great experience this summer break has been and will continue to be. 

One of the ways we saw the hand of the Lord in our work was through meeting our new friend Anthony. We went to our friend Ria's graduation Friday night to support her. Her story is a miracle inside of itself but that story will be saved for another time. On our way back from graduation we were lined up at the crosswalk ready to cross the street and head home. A gentleman pulled up across the street at the exact same time as us. I had the thought to offer him a picture of Jesus but as we said hi, he responded with "Hi Elders." That stopped us right in our tracks since most people don't call us by that name. Usually it's the Mormons or the missionaries. We were stopped in the middle of the street just staring at each other and I blurted out, "can we just walk with you?" He said of course and we then proceeded to walk with him for the next forty ish minutes. He was adopted by a member family and grew up in the church but eventually fell away a few years ago. He has been through the ringer a couple of times and was out looking for trouble that night. He told us he had been doing his best to come closer to God but that it was really hard to stay strong. Meeting him that night was an answer to his prayer and ours. We boldly testified as we walked of the love that God had for him and how proud He was of the progress Anthony was making. He's been wanting to come back to church so we showed him the institute and exchanged numbers to send him the church address. We all felt the spirit so powerfully and Elder Brockbank and I after could do nothing but marvel at the goodness of God. 

God is a God of miracles and knows the exact timing of which all things need to happen. How us and Anthony perfectly lined up across the street from each other will always be astounding to me. Before that we had taken many shortcuts through Tech, stopped to talk to people, and many other things that took time and yet we still ended up at the crosswalk at the same time as Anthony. He was just walking around randomly as well which shows God can lead us in many unique ways. I have a testimony of this and bear witness to you all that our Heavenly Father will use all of His faithful children to help and lead other of His wayward children back to Him. God's timing is perfect, always remember that. 

To end, I want to give a shout out to my amazing, angel mother. For mother's day yesterday I did a study on mother's and first started out with reading the Book of Mormon and going from where I had left off. I was in Alma ch. 1 and was curious how I could relate any of it to my mother. This is a part from my study journal that I wanted to share with you all just so you can see a small part of how amazing my mother is and how much she means to me. I hope not to embarass you mom but show my friends and family the wonderful woman and mother that you are. It says "It never ceases to amaze me how comparable the Book of Mormon is to our world today. Alma ch. 1 is a great example of this. Priestcraft is introduced and it turns many of the people upside down. Strife & contention became prevalent and the Church is greatly persecuted by those who want to follow the things of the world. Verse 25 (of Alma ch.1) explains my parents exceptionally, especially my mother. While she hasn't experienced heavy persecution of being a believer like the people of God's church in this chapter did, she has been through many ringers and trials in her life. Some that I have personally experienced, and many others silently within herself. While this is the case, my mother is the greatest example of standing fast in the faith and being steadfast & immovable in keeping the commandments of God and she has borne her afflictions of life with much patience. While there may be times she doubts this about herself, I know this is the case with all my heart. She has been my rock in life, the gospel, and especially the mission. God be thanked for the matchless gift of my beloved mother! Just like the church flourished during a heavy time of persecution (because of its faithful members) so too has my life flourished because of a faithful mother who loves God and loves me. I love you mom. 

"No more sacred word exists in secular or holy writ than that of a mother."

--President Ezra Taft Benson

I send you all my love and until next week,

Elder Neel