A God of miracles indeed! 2/4/2019

Hola mis queridos!

Florida's "winter" is over now, so this week has been super hot, which has been super nice... We had some pretty neat experiences, but my companion got pretty sick, so we missed some time. Today was also his birthday though! We also learned that my trainer, Elder Cook, will be coming to the area right by ours this next transfer, which is AWESOME! He is an amazing guy, and I have tons of good memories with him, and am super stoked to be around him again. But we saw some really nice miracles this week, so I'm gonna get into that.

As for those whom we are teacing, they are all doing well, and we made some awesome progress with some of them, namely, the Cruz family and the Guatemalan Tribe (Lopez Family)! The Cruz family has not been reading from the Book of Mormon these last two weeks, but we had an awesome lesson where we talked about the fact that Heavenly Father can not answer our questions about something if we put in no effort other than to ask Him, and they seemed very motivated! And then a good chunk of the Lopez family was able to make it to church on Saunday! They told us on Saturday night at 8:00...church starts at 9:00...and ten of them wanted to come...and they had no car...! So we did what missionaries do best and hyper-sped some plans out to get enough people all the way out to their area (very edge of the ward) to have enough seats for everyone! And it actually worked out! It was a miracle in its own right, haha. Sadly, at about 8:00 that morning, all the men got called into work for a special project, but those who claim seemed to really enjoy it, and really liked how kind everyone was to them! It was really cool!

We met some really cool new people this week too! Despite the sick time. We met a husband and wife who just started a little taco truck, and they offered to put up a bunch of our pass-along cards on their trucks stand for us, they are super nice and have two adorable daughters! We met a few others, but given the time, I want to make sure I talk about Edgardo! He was a very big miracle, and is amazing! We were knocking on doors in a complex we visit often, and met a lady that said we could come back at 3 that day, which was pretty cool! We show up at 3, and...no-show. Pretty lame, but as we were getting our bikes ready, a guy from across the parking lot just shouted, "Hey! Are you Mormons?!" (note: this being shouted is usually followed by an unpleasant encounter, so what happened caught us super off gaurd), and beckoned us over. We semi-relunctantly came over, and he asked if we were the ones "who believe in Joseph Smith as a prophet?" (again, not usually a good sign). We explained what we believed and he's like, "Yeah, yeah, I know all of that. I found one of those books he wrote back home in Panama, and I believed it, and think that this Joseph Smith was called of God". Quite a plot twist! We explained briefly that he did not write it and asked a bit more about what he believes, and he has truly received some personal revelation from God, as most of his beliefs line up with the truths of the Gospel! We have been over to teach him a few times since then (later that day, the next day, and the next one!) and I am beyond stoked to keep working with Him!

I think Edgardo's story is a good one to explain a bit of what I wanted to end this letter off with. God is still a God of miracles. I know I talked about this a lot last time, but this week has put a brand new purpose into my mission and has greatly enlarged the flames of my testimony. I have read over and over that we as children of God and Latter-day Saints are to ask God for what we stand in need of, and then expect that He will provide. This is not something easy to do, but I took it upon myself this week to truly "expirement upon the word" and take it to deep thought and prayer every night, what exact miracle I wanted to receive the next day. And, with full confidence, I can say that every day I held up my end of the bargain, Heavenly Father held up his, and I saw some amazing miracles! We learn in D&C 82:10 that, "the Lord, is bound when we do what He says; but when we do not what He says, we have no promise." And every day it was a thrill to learn what I had to do, to receive the miracle I had asked for. And let me tell you, it wasn't easy. The size and scope of the miracle was and is directly correlated to the adversity it took to receive it. If I asked for something incredible, I had o go through some incredible work and trials to get it, but I always did. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God hears our prayers. And He is ready and willing to pour down every miracle we need upon us, if we only ask and do what it is we need to, to be able to recieave it. I know that our Heavenly Father is, always has been, and always will be a God of miracles. And I hope you can all take the chance to know that as well if you don't yet. Ask Him. He'll show you! And it is amazing! Thank ou all for everything as always. You are all a blessing and a miracle in your own rights for me! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

<3 Elder Fox