MISSION MIRACLE

Mission miracle says it all. Hi my name is Elder Lavelua, and I want to share a small yet powerful mission miracle with you which really helped strengthen my testimony of the gospel.

At the start my mission things were hard, and being a mamas boy it was most difficult for me to leave me my family and embark on this journey as a full time missionary. I didn't really understand why I came out on my mission, because in my family when you turn 19 years of age  you serve a full time mission. But one thing I do know for sure was I came out here to the Australian Brisbane Mission for a reason. This mission has really helped mold me into the person my parents wanted me to become but most importantly who The Lord wanted me to become. And my mission miracle may show a glimpse of how God works in mysterious ways and shows that He does care for his children.

Elder Ram and I were teaching a part member family and I was fresh out on the mission, nervous but anxious to do the Lords work. We had planned to teach the whole family but only one person was interested in hearing our message we had to share, which happened to be the son who was at the time only 10 years old. The parents were more than happy to have us over, but no matter how hard we tried to involve the dad, he wouldn't budge. The mother of course was the member in the family. We saw so much potential in this family and so my companion and I decided to teach the discussions to the boy but also teach the parents too at the same time obviously without them knowing. The spirit was strong every time we taught this beautiful family. We eventually committed the boy to baptism and he was beyond ready. We held the baptismal service and the parents attended also, you could not deny the feelings nor the comfort we felt during the service; it was the spirit. I kept an eye on the parents the whole service and I knew that something was stirring within them feelings at the time they had not  recognized before, but I knew they would ask about it later on. Over time we visited the family and continued to teach the son. And the moment I thought wouldn't come until later on down track, miracles happened, the Dad popped the question that all missionaries die to hear which is "Can I take the discussions?" I screamed for joy, not for the fact of knowing he is going to be baptized like his son, but the fact that I knew that his family could be blessed from this gospel.

We then taught the discussions with the father and his son helped us teach him also which was a miracle in itself. Knowing that his 10 year old son was helping us teach him, he knew that the son had gained a testimony of the truthfulness of the beautiful restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through sleepless nights and constant pondering over the things we had taught him, he came to the conclusion that he knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that through the gift of earnest prayer he knew that The Book of Mormon was the word of God. The father was then baptized  2 months later. 

A year went by and I knew that they were working towards entering the Temple. I felt the urge at the time to call the family and ask if they were going to enter into the temple, with amazement they had finished talking with their stake president and had already set a date and time to enter into the temple. This beautiful family that we worked with countless times were sealed in the temple on the 20th of July 2013. What a joyous occasion this was for me and the family, they thanked me and said "if it wasn't for you and your companion our family wouldn't be sealed for all time and eternity". Besides crying like a baby and having to have my companion see me cry like a little girl, I told them 'to don't thank me, but to thank The Lord. I was just an instrument in His hands'.

The Father is now a Melchizedek priesthood holder and is serving as a second counsellor in the bishopric. If this is the reason why I came out on the mission then I am eternally thankful for my parents and my Heavenly Father for raising me up in this gospel and making it a requirement to serve Lord for only 2 years. I'm also eternally thankful for my mission presidents and their wives for helping me during this time and for their inspired counsel and advice.

I would like to finish with a quote from the father who was sealed with his family, he says "I know that the young men and young women who dedicate their lives to serve the Lord in the mission field truly bless people's lives. Just like our Savior, the love the missionaries have shown our family meant that in only 12 and a half months since my baptism our family is now sealed together for all eternity. Our family will be forever grateful for the missionary program".

Elder Lavelua