Whom the Lord calls he qualifies

I cannot believe it's already August. What's up with that? Tomorrow marks six months since I reported to the MTC. I've decided it must be celebrated somehow. I'm not entirely sure how yet. Maybe ice cream or some other sort of delicious edible substance? Only time will tell. 

We had some really good lessons this week. We met a couple of times with  the woman with a baptismal date. She is just the sweetest thing. I always feel the spirit when we meet with her. Plus there is an  amazing couple , The Boyds,that have come with us every time we visit her. They just have such love and such a sweet spirit that radiates from them. Seriously, senior couples are the best. We sang "Have I Done Any Good in the World Today," and she seemed really touched by that. She wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she had to work, but we'll definitely be setting up a time to meet with her again.

We've also started meeting with Ann. We met with her the first Saturday I was here, and I'll be honest, I didn't think it was going to go anywhere. She's had a lot of trials in her life and she was convinced that she has absolutely nothing to be grateful for. She was very skeptical of our message, and I just thought she wasn't interested. We called her anyway, and she agreed to meet with us again. We met with the member who had referred her to us, and it was a very good lesson. While we were walking with her to the church she mentioned that we should call her every night and ask her what she's grateful for. So that's what we've started doing! Especially when we have trials in life, I know that it's hard to find things to be grateful for, but they are there, and I can testify that every single one of us are children of a loving Heavenly Father and He sent His son to atone for us. Through our Savior, we can have everlasting happiness as we act upon His atonement and strive to do the best we can. Anyway, so we are helping Angelica to see that she does indeed have things to be grateful for. Her biggest trial at the moment is that she's been out of work for 2 years. We have someone in the branch though who is going to help her find a job. She came to church yesterday for the first hour. We'll continue to meet with her.

Zone training was also this week. Week went to the beautiful Sibiu where I just came from. That was exciting. One of the things that stuck out to me from the meeting is that two people can do anything as long as one of those people is the Lord. We also had our own little miracle. On the way to Sibiu, Sora Modzelewska left her journal on the maxi taxi by mistake. I don't know about you, but that would be one of the worst things that could happen if it were me. I would be so heartbroken. At the same time, she felt a sense of peace, like she would get it back. Sora Lund said a prayer for her, and her prayer was answered! When we were trying to figure out arrangments to get back to Cluj, the driver from that morning came up from behind us out of nowhere, and he had Sora Modzelewska's journal! I tell you, if something is important to you, it's important to Heavenly Father.

Okay , last but not least, I've been thinking this week about how the Lord qualifies us for the work. I don't just mean missionary work. I mean anything He may require of us. So often we may feel like we aren't capable of facing something or serving Him in some capacity, but I know that He wouldn't call us to do something if He didn't know we could do it with His help. He doesn't set us up for failure. One of my favorite examples is the story of Moses. This is what we read in chapter four of Exodus:

 10 ¶And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but Iam slow of ^aspeech, and of a ^bslow tongue.

 11 And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who ^amaketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?

 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy ^amouth, and ^bteach thee what thou shalt ^csay.

And we can definitely see that Moses was strengthened and guided to lead the children of Israel from Egypt. Though he felt inadequate, Moses was qualified by the Lord.

I have also found another story I love which illustrates this concept as well, and that is the story of Enoch. The stories are similar in that Enoch feels inadequate. He can't even speak well. How can he call people to repentance? Here's his exchange with the Lord as found in Moses 6:

 31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he ^abowed himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying:^bWhy is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people ^chate me; for I am ^dslow of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?

 32 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy ^amouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.

One of my thoughts when I read this was, "Gosh, I sure hope people don't hate me because I'm slow of speech!" I know they don't though, so we're all good there. What I love most is seeing the transformation of Enoch which we see in the very next chapter:

 13 And so great was the ^afaith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he ^bspakethe word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the ^cmountains fled, even according to his command; and the ^drivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so ^epowerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.

Just like Heavenly Father gave these two men strength to perform His will, He will do the same for us. Sometimes it may seem so much easier to go along with the crowd rather than stand up for what we know to be right, but hard as it may seem in the moment, how much better it will be for us to take a stand. We will look back at that time and be grateful that we did what was right rather than what was popular, and Heavenly Father will give us the strength to overcome such temptations. Even after we've served in a calling for a while, we may still not feel like we are qualified, but the Lord will shape you. If you go forward, trying to act according to His will, you will have success, and you are probably doing better than you think you are. In fact, I can pretty much guarentee it. Again, Heavenly Father doesn't set us up for failure. If we want to know if we are doing what we should, if he's happy with our efforts and actions, all you have to do is ask. Go to Him in prayer, and He will guide you.

I hope you are all doing great. As always, thanks for your support and strength!

Cu drag,

Sora Adams

This is a view from our "patio" deck area. It gets really hot so we spend a lot of time out here.  This is a straight down shot that we can see.  You can see my tanned tootsies.  The heat has been a lot for me to handle.  A couple of weeks ago I had to elevate my feet and soak them in cold water because they were so swollen it concerned my companion and the older missionaries.  They are doing well now!