The Last Few Weeks of Serving

Family & Friends,

It is hard to believe I will be home in 5 weeks. I am savoring the last few weeks of Serving. One miracle I'd like to share is about Nathan. Nathan is 13 and lives with his active-member step-mom and non-member but supportive father. We had discussed baptism for May 9th and he was working towards it, but didn't have his answer yet. We took him and his step-mother on a church tour Saturday. Our goal for the tour was to help him receive an answer and whole-heartedly commit to being baptized on the 9th. With this goal in mind, we focused on the importance of ordinances, the sacrament and baptism by taking him to the chapel and the baptism font. So we're in front of the font now. After discussing the doctrine of baptism, reading about Christ's instruction of baptism in the America's in 3 Nephi 11, and answering any questions he had regarding baptism, the spirit was right to invite him to commit with his whole-heart to be baptized on May 9th. Sister Warren felt prompted to pull out her planner and turn to the baptism interview questions. She explained to him that these were the questions he could gauge his knowledge by. She asked him the first two and the last. Nathan, without any hesitation said he believed in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, that he knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today, and that he was ready to covenant with God and be faithful to that covenant the rest of his life. Then we asked him if he would covenant with God on May 9th. He sat still. About 15 seconds later he looked us in the eye and said a confident, "Yes." 

Fast forward to church the next day. We sit by his family in sacrament and Nathan is reverently listening to the speakers and beaming ear to ear the whole time. After Sacrament his step-mom tells us that he received his answer. He told her after the church tour that when he was still and didn't answer for a few seconds that he heard someone whisper in his ear, "yes" and he was recognizing in that moment that it was the Holy Ghost. 

This right here is an evidence that Heavenly Father is everything about this work. He does it all. We are his instruments and he will play the music. I'm so grateful for the Manning family. I am so grateful for Nathan being so humble and faithful. He is a special son of God. At church on Sunday he had a black suit, white shirt, and stripped tie on. I glanced at him and could see for a split second a missionary name tag in his pocket. He is going to be a missionary for the Lord's church one day and bring the same spirit to people around the world...5 years to be exact :)

Miracles are happening every day, big and small. Let us all open up our eyes to recognize his hands that are present :)

Love,
Sister Fredrick