Oi Familia!

Wow, what an incredible week!

On Wednesday Sister S, Sister Lu, Sister Har and I drove up to San Antonio, where we dropped off Sister Har (she went to the Border zone) and where Sister Lu went to a training meeting to become a trainer. Thursday Sister S and I drove up with Sister Lu to the Austin stake center for transfer meeting, where Sister Lu received her new companion, Sister Ro! On Friday we drove back to San Antonio where we met with the whole mission to hear from Elder Bednar, an Apostle of the Lord!

It was really an incredible experience!  We all gathered in the chapel (everyone at least half hour early), where we sang hymns as we prepared to hear from Elder Bednar.  When President Slaughter, Sister Slaughter, Elder and Sister Bednar, and Elder Southward came in, we stopped singing (they surprised us by coming in a bit early) and all stood.  As it was silent and as they entered the room, the Spirit became even stronger. I know that Elder Bednar truly is a living apostle of the Lord!

Elder Bednar had asked the mission to study three of his talks before he came. "Seek Learning by Faith",  "Ask in Faith", and "Converted Unto the Lord”. For weeks we each individually, as companions, and districts, studied and pondered these talks.  It turned out to be a very powerful learning experience. Elder Bednar taught us these principles through doing them and inviting us to do them!

He began by asking us a question:  What did we learn from the talks? One by one he would point to a missionary with their hand raised, they would state what they learned, and often he would inquire "May I ask you a question?" and would ask more about what they learned and how it applies to them.  After time he would stop the question asking and ask a new question: "What have you observed about the pattern we are using right now to learn?" he would again listen to missionaries express what they were learning one by one. Half way through he said we were going to change and that now it was our turn to ask him questions.  It was truly an incredible experience as there in the little chapel, elders and sisters stood and asked inspired questions to an apostle of the Lord. (By the way, he told us to scrap any questions we had written out before hand and to listen to the Spirit! Elder Bednar is really funny!!)  I asked this question: "I know that we teach about eternal happiness, and that to be exalted is to be like Heavenly Father. But I also know that Heavenly Father feels and understands all of our pain and sorrow. What do you think it means to Heavenly Father to be happy?  Or what is happiness to Him?" Something like that.  I was humbled as Elder Bednar turned to his wife and asked her if she would like to answer, and then as she stood at the pulpit, looked directly at me, and spoke to me!  She answered and spoke about a parents love for a child. I asked her if there was a way to find joy in times while one's children are going through hard struggles and pain. Elder Bednar stood up again and joined her at the pulpit.  And together they shared a personal and sacred experience of theirs about one of their children and her husband who has a child who is really struggling with health. They bore testimony of the joy found in seeing their children exercising faith and growing closer together and to the Lord. It was an incredible experience for me to see them both standing there, Elder Bednar's arm around Sister Bednar, both looking directly at me and speaking to me.

I know that our Savior knows us individually and cares for us. If He were in front of us, He would have time to look at each of us directly and speak with us, regardless of how many people were around.

By the end of the three short hours we had with Elder and Sister Bednar, Elder Bednar asked how many people had a question that they didn't ask, and almost everyone, if not everyone, raised their hands (including me).  He then asked how many had received an answer to that question. The hands stayed up. He asked one Elder if he got the answer to his question through what we were speaking about.  He said no.  Elder Bednar asked how many people had received an answer to a question which had not been spoken about by us.  And the hands went up again. In the beginning Elder Bednar had testified that we still have miracles today, but often do not have the eyes to see them.  As we raised our hands, he said "Was the parting of the Red Sea a greater miracle than this?" He testified that being taught by the Spirit is a miracle. The Spirit was so powerful throughout that visit. I know that the fact that we can be taught individually by a member of the Godhead IS a miracle!  Maybe even a greater miracle than the waters parting for the children of Israel because the miracle of the Holy Ghost deals with people!  -- Individuals and their hearts and deepest questions, hopes, and concerns.

It's such an incredible blessing to have these true servants of the Lord on the earth today, who hold the keys of the priesthood necessary to lead Christ's church.  I know that Elder Bednar is one of those apostles and holds those keys. Something I noticed was how he distinguished between he himself- David Bednar- and the mantel of the apostleship which has been placed upon him.  He knows he is a servant of the Lord, but he knows all of that comes from the Lord and is not his own efforts or strengths.

M's family (C and little Ja) are progressing wonderfully!  We have had two lessons with them in members home this past weekend and one included dinner at the F Family's house. I love the people here!!

Some people are really struggling. I'm going to tell you about them and ask for special prayers for them.

E and S are still firm in their testimonies and love for the gospel, but have gone through some really hard trials...financially and also E just found out she may have a serious health condition.

We just found out Brother M has cancer. He always appreciates our texts, he told us he wouldn't be able to meet last week because of a medical condition, and just recently when we texted him to see how he was doing, he informed us he was trying to decide which cancer surgery to undergo.

Sister H had leg surgery a long time ago for a torn acl and since then it has become infected and gotten increasingly worse to the point that she has a very rare condition where she experiences severe pain.  We met with their family last night. Her husband seemed really humbled this last appointment. The one before that he was very casual and smoking an electronic cigarette.  But this time you could tell they were in a humbler position and appreciated our visit even more.

If you would like to pray for some specific people we are teaching, these are some people who could use those prayers!

I love you all! Thanks for all you do and for your love and support!!

-Sister Greenall

 

I guess when you've lived in Hawaii for 2 years, Texas is COLD!