Week of July 24, 2017

Dear friends and family,

The last few days have once again held many blessings, miracles, and insights that I am enthused to share. Last week, I was able to work out in the field far more than normal weeks, and it was wonderful! Elder Uy and I conducted two exchanges with some zone leaders, and I was blessed to go on splits with some wonderful elders. One thing I have come to enjoy more than anything else in the mission is being able to learn from other people. I have come to find that the best resources of information and wisdom are the people around us! Everyone has different experiences and insights that can serve beneficial; it certainly has for me while on the course of my mission.

Aside from the wonderful exchanges I was able to participate in, my mind is drawn to something else I am excited to share. A few days ago, I received a call from the branch clerk asking me to speak at the funeral of a member's father. I accepted, and prepared to do so. I prepared a simple message focusing on the purpose of life and delivered it to those present at the funeral. I felt good about the message I shared, but I didn't think it was particularly extraordinary. But, considering the fact that all of the individuals present were members of the church who I know well, I didn't think too much of it.

The next day however, I got another call from the ward clerk asking me to speak at another funeral later that day. I accepted to do so as a wonderful member here requested it. When I arrived at the second funeral, there were far more people than the first, and almost everyone present were members of other faiths. In fact, there was a large congregation of members of another faith also present, with pastors and other ecclesiastical leaders. To make matters more interesting, I was losing my voice due to a cold and there was no microphone present for me to use.

As the meeting started, the member who requested that I speak mentioned to me that all of his family (who are members of other faiths) were present and that he wanted me to inspire them to being more interested into the gospel. At that moment, I felt quite a bit of pressure in which a bowed my head down and offered a silent prayer. I prayed that I would know what to say, what scriptures to share, for the gift of tongues to deliver my message in a way all could understand, and I also prayed for power. When I got up to speak, there was still quite a bit of noise (it was held outside) due to gambling and games going on. But, as I spoke in the loudest voice I could under a cold, all faces turned towards me and the crowd went silent. I don't remember entirely what I said, but I felt good when I sat down. On the car ride home, my companion told me that he wished I could have seen myself, he knew I wasn't the one talking.

As I pondered over the two nights I spoke at funerals and the difference in performance I had between the two, a realization came to my mind that brought me great gratitude to our Heavenly Father. Although nothing about me had changed from one day to the next, the responsibility I bore at the second funeral was far more, and the Lord thus blessed me with far more abilities at that time to fulfill my task.

Although I have now been a missionary for almost two years, I still completely rely on divine help. I have come to know through many experiences such as the one I have described that the Lord indeed does prepare a way that we might accomplish the task that is before us (1 Nephi 3:7). As I have said many times, there really is nothing better than knowing that He has used you as a tool to bless the lives of others. Perhaps the only thing that brings me peace concerning my approaching departure date is knowing that all of us, whether we wear a name-tag or not, can qualify ourselves to be a tool in His hands if we so desire. I am so grateful for all of the heavenly help that I receive every day and am determined to stay worthy of such help. I hope all else reading this letter would do the same.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Pulley