Dear family and friends,
Hope all is well family and friends! I am sorry for not being able to
write home the last few weeks! I hope everyone has had a good
Christmas time! We had a great Christmas here in England! It was very
cool being able to celebrate Christmas with all the different cultures
and traditions here in Grimsby! This week in Grimsby we had a really
cool experience this week! This week as a district we made it a focus
to try by former investigators! Which we didn't really have any former
investigators we could stop by. Anyway, the week went by and I had a
dream about an investigator that Elder Omondi and I used to teach! Her
name is Anna and we stopped seeing her about a month and half ago
because we couldn't get in contact with her. After Elder Omondi got transferred, I
took Elder Clanton several times and she was never in and we could
never get in contact with her so we stopped going by! Anyway, after the dream I didn't
think much of it. I got up and went through my normal morning routine. I
got to my personal study that morning, I started to read a talk
by Howard W. Hunter about the story of Jesus walking on water! This is
what he said:
"In [the disciples’] moment of greatest extremity they looked and saw
in the darkness an image in a fluttering robe, walking toward them on
the ridges of the sea. They cried out in terror at the sight, thinking
that it was a phantom that walked upon the waves. And through the
storm and darkness to them--as so often to us, when, amid the
darknesses of life, the ocean seems so great and our little boats so
small--there came the ultimate and reassuring voice of peace with this
simple declaration, ‘It is I; be not afraid.’ Peter exclaimed, ‘Lord,
if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.’ And Christ’s
answer to him was the same as to all of us: ‘Come.’“Peter sprang over
the vessel’s side and into the troubled waves, and while his eyes were
fixed upon the Lord, the wind might toss his hair and the spray might
drench his robes, but all was well. Only when with wavering faith he
removed his glance from the Master to look at the furious waves and
the black gulf beneath him, only then did he begin to sink. Again,
like most of us, he cried, ‘Lord, save me.’ Nor did Jesus fail him. He
stretched out his hand and grasped the drowning disciple with the
gentle rebuke, ‘O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?’"
After reading this I got the impression that we needed to go by Anna!
I kept pushing it away thinking maybe another time, on a day that
would be little bit more convenient. You see buses were not running
that day and our day was filled with stuff to do and I didn't see how
we could fit it in! I also just thought that maybe I was crazy! It
wasn't convenient so I didn't think anymore of it and continued on to
the schedule we had! The problem was the more the day went on the more
the prompting came and the more I felt we needed to go see her!
Anyway the prompting started to stir inside me so much I couldn't take
it anymore! I thought of the story I had read earlier that morning, when
Peter was asked by the Savior to come unto him out on the
water he had enough faith just to listen right away and Sprang over
the boat and walked towards the Savior! It was about 5pm and we were
heading to a lesson with recent convert and was about an hours walk
away from Anna's, but it got to the point where I felt we really needed
to go so despite the inconvenience. We stopped what we were doing and
started walking towards Anna's! As we walked to Anna's I started questioning
a little the feeling I was having! Maybe I was just going crazy maybe
we weren't meant to go see her! I began to feel uneasy and started to
worry and think what if we go and it's nothing we would have wasted so
much time! I remember praying to Heavenly Father pleading that I
wasn't going crazy and that this is where you wanted us to go! We
arrived finally and when we did the house was dark the blinds were
shut and there was no sign that she was home! I remember standing in
front of her house thinking really,?.we had walked all this way just
for her not to be home again! We hadn't even knocked on the door and I
was already starting to doubt! I walked up to her door and gave it a
good knock and waited! Nothing, I became uneasy thinking well maybe
she didn't hear and gave it one more really loud knock! I stood there
waiting and waiting but nothing! She was not home once again just as I
suspected! I was devastated! I remember looking down at the ground in
front of her door with tired legs in complete discouragement! Thinking
why Heavenly Father why, why did you let me walk all this way just for
nothing? As I stood there facing the
door feeling like as if I were "drowning" I heard a gate open and in a
very polish accent the words "hello....Elders?"! I don't think I will
ever forget that moment in my life! Emotions came flooding into me!
Could it be? I turned around and there she was! It was as if time had
stopped! I stood there looking at this old frail polished lady and for a
moment it was as if I could feel the Savior stretching out his hand
to me and saying, ‘Oh Elder Tuita , wherefore didst thou doubt?’ The
spirit overcame me! I couldn't believe it! I could feel tears come to
me! Realizing that I had been standing there in silence for a while, I
pulled myself back together and asked her how she was doing? We came
to find out that this whole time, the whole month in a half we hadn't
seen her she had been trying to get a hold of us! She had switched
her work hours to work in the night( that's why we couldn't get ahold
of her because we were only trying in the night) and that night she
had gotten off early! She told me that we were an answer to her
prayer, and that last night she was really feeling down and she prayed that God
would do something or send someone to show her the way! She invited us
in and it was the most spiritual lesson we ever had! Earlier, Elder Omondi
and I had given her a Book Of Mormon and she she had read it and written in
it and had questions! We answered them and taught her the restoration and she loved it!
She wants to be baptized but will have to first be able to get
Sunday's off so she can come to church! After we left we went back to
the flat and I went up to the room! I was just so thankful! I can't
put into words the feeling and the emotions that came to me in that
room! I learned two important lessons from that day! First, is that
sometimes we are tempted to let our lives be controlled or motivated
more by convenience rather then yielding to the promptings of the
Holy Ghost. It is not always convenient to live gospel standards and
stand up for truth and testify of his gospel. It sometimes isn't
convenient to share the gospel with random strangers on the street. It
isn’t always convenient to respond to spiritual promptings! In fact
most spiritual experiences that we can have, rarely come at convenient
times. But there is no spiritual power in living our life by
convenience. The power comes as we strive to do what the Lord wants us
to do no matter how inconvenient it may seem at the time! And finally
the second lesson I learned that day is the the Savior as long as we
have faith in him will never fail us! Sometimes in life like Peter,
there will be wind and storms in our life that can cause us to doubt
and cause us to feel as if we are drowning!
When this happens remember to never doubt and to remember the words of
the Savior of us all "Be of good cheer it is I be not afraid" I
testify that I know that my redeemer lives and because he lives and
loves us we have nothing to fear! I love you all and pray that we will
always remember that when ever we feel as if the storms and winds of
life come in our life he will be there to lift us and to comfort us!
Love Elder Tuita
