How Great Thou Art

email 29 September 2015

Oh my goodness. This week was miracle after miracle. And I know without a doubt it came from obedience. Obedience to God's commandments is the most powerful tool we have.

That kind of leads into my first little experience. We went to go visit this old man. He's 98. He was the sweetest and kindest person I've ever met. It seemed like he had life pretty figured out. I mean...he made it to 98. That's pretty good. So I asked him if he had figured out the secret to life yet. And he told me the secret to life is to "Keep ALL of God's commandments. No questions asked." At first this seemed like a Primary answer (church class for children - Ed.). But I think we sometimes take for granted those Primary answers. There's sooooo much power in doing the Primary things. More than we could realize. But I also realized that keeping God's commandments means also acting on the revelation He gives us. It's personal commandment. I love that that old man said no questions asked. That part is probably the hardest! But I know he's right. If we keep all of God's commandments no questions asked, we will receive more blessings than we could ever imagine.

Also I forgot to say this past week how AMAZING my senior couple is. They're names are Elder and Sister Hadley. I can't explain to you how amazing this couple is. They are purely Christlike. They will help us with ANYTHING. They went and bought us lights for our bikes. They give us rides. They feed us. They won't stop! I can't begin to describe how grateful I am for the Hadley's and how much love I have for them. They are truly disciples of Christ.

Okay time for the first miracle!!! We were going around knocking doors of some former investigators. We get to this one woman's house and we're on the doorstep doing our introductions and she just tells us "I'm not interested at all. I mean...you seem nice. But I'm not interested" and out of nowhere I just said "yeah, I'm still getting used to biking. It's pretty rough." I have no clue where it came from. I was kind of embarrassed it was so random, haha. But then she said "yeah, and it's hot." And Sister Manley said "we're both from Texas. This is NOT hot." And the lady looked at us and said "where in Texas?" And at the same time we both said "Houston." The lady lit up and said "I'm from Houston!!! Come in right now!!!" So she let us in and we were able to have a really spiritual discussion with her. She was crying and she invited us back anytime. MIRACLES. Seriously. I wouldn't be surprised if the only reason we were together in this area is so we could get to meet and know her.

Okay the next is Kayson. He's an autistic boy and his family is completely active. But he was so scared of getting baptized that he waited till he was older. Therefore, he needed the missionary discussions. He's 9 and the cutest thing in the whole world. He makes my heart smile :) But because of his fear, we and his parents weren't sure if he was going to still get baptized on Saturday. We were praying and praying. And On Saturday morning, he was able to be baptized. And when he came up out of the water he said very loud and proud "I did it!" We were so proud of him! He did it!

So everyone who's ever been in charge of the musical fireside always gets sick for it to where they can't sing. So I guess I had to be initiated in. Because I got sick the day before the musical fireside. And I don't get sick! EVER! So it was so weird! I could hardly talk. I couldn't smell or taste and I could hardly breathe. I was so so so scared. So I went over to the Hadley's for help. Elder Hadley gave me a priesthood blessing and Sister Hadley gave me this nasty nasty concoction. If any of you remember the story from the very beginning of my mission when someone gave me that oil that made me almost die...well this was even worse. It was tea with all the essential oils in it you could ever think of. But luckily I had a brownie I could take a bite of after every sip! It was nasty but it helped! I had every medicine you could think of. Tea, honey, mucinex, decongestants, allergy pills, and of course, priesthood blessings. And the next morning I woke up even worse. It would be okay if I was singing a small song. But my solo was quite large. And high. We get to the musical fireside and I was terrified. My song was at the end so I had no clue what my voice would be like at that point. So I get up there to sing and my voice sounds completely normal. But then on the high notes my voice cracked a ton. I was kinda bummed. But when I asked people about it, no one heard it. These weren't little cracks you could ignore. I know Heavenly Father helped everyone hear something different. And I know the spirit filled in my gaps of imperfection so people's hearts could be touched. This was God's fireside. The same exact thing happened for the Sunday performance. I haven't listened to the recordings yet, so you can probably hear all the mess ups. But I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father healed me for that moment. Once it was done I could feel the weight of sickness on me again. He lifted it for those nights. Miracles happen. Priesthood blessings are real. Angels are real. Heavenly Father and His love is real.

Fireside view from the choir loft. - Ed.

Okay I'll end with a funny moment. I was the one directing the opening and closing hymns that the audience would sing with us. So I had the choir stand then I turned around to motion the audience to stand. And no one stood. I motioned again. Nothing. So I was up there flailing my arms around and finally they took the hint and all stood and everyone was laughing. It was so embarrassing but kind of hilarious, Hahaha. Classic Sister Sarlls moment.

Well today we're taking a mission trip to the Ogden Temple. So you'll get to hear about that next week. I love this gospel. I can't explain the feelings in my heart from this past week. Pure happiness.

Love,
Sister Sarlls

P.S. 87 days till Christmas:)