Pieces of Me: Faith-Promoting Missionary Experience

Kiirsi who has an exceptionally nice Mommy blog Pieces of Me shares a rather interesting experience of a German Elder who spoke in her ward a couple of weeks ago:

The German elder talked first and he gave a great talk. He was so confident and spiritual and shared such a nice testimony. Then he ended his talk by telling us about how, as a youth, he was hurt and confused and in a lot of pain (spiritually, I’m guessing). One day he went into an Orthodox church and said "God, if you’re real, please take this pain from me" and within a few minutes the pain was gone. That was the beginning of his faith in God.

He didn’t tell us how he found the LDS church, but he did say that before his mission call, he was his parents’ only support. He worked hard at his job and was able to provide for himself and for them…keep them stocked with firewood against the cold winter, buy food for them, and pay their bills. When he got his mission call it was hard for him to go, because he knew his parents couldn’t get along without him. He didn’t know what to do and was so worried about them starving or freezing to death.

But he quit his job and went on his mission, on total faith that if he did his best to take care of the Lord’s people, the Lord would take care of his.

Well, a few months into his mission, he got an e-mail from a friend of his in Germany telling him that his parents had been without electricity, etc. for three months. He was so worried and almost overcome by this news, knowing that if things were so bad that they had no electricity, they were probably starving, also, and that winter was coming and they’d freeze. He prayed and prayed, asking the Lord to help them, and it was really hard for him to continue his missionary work when he wanted to rush home and save them. But he kept working hard and trusting in his faith.

I don't want to steal her punch line so go on over to Pieces of Me and find out what happened to the elder and his family. It really will give you a good feeling in the end.