Everyday Miracles

Last week I was talking on the phone with my sister. I was telling her the amazing and sometimes crazy things that happen daily. After listening to my stories, she said something that I have not been able to forget. Speaking of herself (and my life in the States), she said, “We have everything, yet we forget to notice the miracles all around us. But when everything is stripped away, and you are left with almost nothing, that is when you notice the miracles of God.” 

Every day I see miracles. To some they may seem like coincidence or good luck, but to me they are evidence that God is aware of each one of us, that He loves us and wants the best for us. 

I want to share a few miracles that I have witnessed this past month. Many of these will not make sense to anyone unless you live here, but they still are miracles to me.

It’s a miracle:

• That our missionaries don’t get more infectious diseases.
• That a good medical clinic opened around the corner from our office.
• When we have power and the internet at the same time.
• When the ATM has cash. 
• When a Come Follow Me lesson gets past the title of the lesson. 
• When we show up to church and the computers aren’t stolen. 
• When people understand us….and we understand them.
• When we receive a missionary who is a ‘child of record’.
• When you find a couple who are legally married.
• When you find a child that lives with their real birth parents.
• When a person gets a birth certificate & passport so they can go on a mission.
• When members who have never left their village go to the Ghana temple to be sealed as a family.
• When a young missionary can lead an entire branch.
• When two missionaries can work out their differences and become friends. 
• When a young person repents and you can see the change in their lives.
• To see the faith and hope in a person that literally has nothing.
• To witness a missionary once paralyzed by the language not only learn English but Kalokwa.
• When we and our missionaries return home safely each night.

Each of those have stories behind them, but I want to share a few specific miracles of the past couple of weeks.

• In previous posts we have shown the condition of the roads going to the southeast. It is an 8-day journey on muddy roads to reach our missionaries and members. There is an airline (one airplane) run by another religious group that missionaries would use, but when they heard rumors about our faith, they refused to let us fly with them. Jeff and I went to the airport to visit them but they wouldn’t meet with us. Anytime we transfer missionaries, or whenever they get sick, Jeff and I are worried, knowing we cannot get to them easily. We have had scary experiences (miracles of their own) that have made us question if we need to pull the missionaries out of these areas. Jeff was scheduled to go down to the southeast, Jan. 13, for a branch conference. He was gearing up for the 15 hour drive to Zwedru on bumpy roads that even the young missionaries say they never want to do again, and then another 8 hours, to Harper, on the back of a motorbike (because the roads are impassable by car) through the thick and slippery mud. On Jan. 2^nd we learned that a new airline was coming. It’s first flights were scheduled to start on Jan. 13^th. We were more than thrilled! It is an answer to prayers. It is a small twin engine plane, but they are willing to take us, and we couldn’t be happier. It will allow us to get where we need to go, and it gives us the peace of mind that we will be able to get to our missionaries in the case of an emergency. 

• There are two American brothers serving missions: one serving in the States and the other serving here in Liberia. The one brother in the States is teaching a Liberian woman the Gospel. She is married to a man who still lives here. The second brother is serving in the area where her husband lives. He is now teaching her husband. What a tender mercy that two brothers, half a world apart, are uniting a family together forever in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

• A couple of days ago, the Hanks (senior couple) went to the airport to pick up a missionary who was coming back to the mission after having surgery. When they got to the airport, they found another missionary coming home from serving in Nigeria. No one knew of his arrival, yet there they were to welcome and bring him home to Monrovia.

• Today a shy 11-year-old girl showed up at church. She was clean and in her ‘best’ dress. She wanted to be taught the Gospel. The sister missionaries asked her if she knew any members of the church. She shook her head no, so the missionaries asked, “who brought you here?” She said, “The Holy Spirit.” To me, it is a miracle that a young child is humble enough to hear and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and then act on it. The sister missionaries are now hoping to teach her family.

Nov. 28^th (excerpts from my journal): 

Last week, during interviews, Elder Makieu shared a little about his life. His “mother” lost her husband and was so sad. To overcome her extreme sadness, the community (I believe) felt she needed a baby to take care of. Elder Makieu’s birth mother gave him to her when he was only two months old. He grew up associating with his real mom, but he never really knew she was his birth mother. He didn’t learn he was adopted until he was 17 years old. He said it was a hard truth to learn, but he loved the mother that raised him and was so grateful for her. Being a single mom, she sacrificed a lot to raise him. He knew she valued education, so he worked hard in school to please her. He found the church as a teenager, but his mom never joined. He was working as a DJ and doing very well. He got a full ride scholarship to go into journalism and communications. He was excited and so was his mom. She was so proud of him. He then had a feeling he should go on a mission, so he met with the stake president and submitted his papers without telling his mom. After he got his mission call, he told his mom. She said if he went on a mission, he needed to pack up all his things and never return. He didn’t want to hurt his mom, so he told the stake president that he wasn’t going to go. The stake president said he should fast and pray before he made his final decision. He fasted many days that week. His mom asked him why he was so sad. He told her he really wanted to serve the Lord on a mission and felt it was the right thing to do. Her heart had been softened and she said if it really meant that much to him then she would support him going on a mission. Elder Makieu went to the Ghana MTC (mission training center). His companion was wonderful, and they became good friends. His companion was assigned to serve in Sierre Leone, the country where Elder Makieu was from. A year into their missions, his companion was called to serve in Elder Makieu’s hometown. He said he found his mom and his mom had agreed to meet with the missionaries. 

I saw Elder Makieu at Stake Conference yesterday and told him I was praying for his mom. He was so thrilled. Today he sent me this message from his mom, it is so tender and honest. 

Hey son, How are you doing? Hope you had a great week. I have been busy today with work that’s why I wasn’t able to reply to your messages. Well, the missionaries came to see me last Thursday and we had a discussion about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon and even the church. They asked me to pray and I did. I don’t really know how to describe those feelings that came into my heart. They wanted to give me a copy of the Book of Mormon, but I told them that you gave me one before going on mission. They gave me reading assignments and really took my time to read. I never really knew that the Book of Mormon has such interesting scriptures about Jesus Christ. I visited the church yesterday and I even met with your Bishop. He and the Elders were very much happy seeing me in church yesterday. I promised to be with them again next Sunday. I am still at work, but I’ll give a call when I get home. There are really much things we need to talk about”.

Elder Makieu said: I shed tears when I received that message from her. I just hope she continues to feel spirit the more she reads the Book of Mormon. 

Jan 9:

Elder Makieu’s mom continued to learn about the gospel. She was baptized Jan. 9. This is the text to her son.

“Good evening son. I was finally baptized today. The way I felt today when I was immersed and brought up out of the water, is something I can’t describe. I just had tears running down my eyes as I was coming out of the water. I wish you were here and see me being baptized. Even the Elders were crying tears of joy. Thank you for your support and relentless effort to take me this far in getting me to make the right choice”. 

It is not by chance that his MTC companion was assigned to the area his mom was in. But to me the greatest miracle was his mother’s change of heart. She went from nearly disowning her son to seeing the changes in him and softening her heart to hear the word of God and now embracing it. Her life will forever be changed for the good. 

Albert Einstein said: “There are two ways to live: You can live as if nothing were a miracle, or you can live as if everything is a miracle.”

I choose to live as if everything is a miracle….because in reality it is.

Now for some of the happenings over the past month…

This was our first Christmas without our family. I missed them terribly. Lining up on the stairs for pictures on Christmas morning, the Christmas Eve “Talent Show” and Fondue dinner, dressing up for the nativity story, singing Christmas carols, doing puzzles, playing games, sledding, etc. The kids surprised us with this awesome video that made us happy, and thankfully we were able to Facetime them. We are blessed with an amazing and supportive family!

We celebrated Christmas here with a Sister’s Conference where we decorated Christmas cookies. It was a first for all of them. They were darling as they each expressed their personalities in their creations.

We brought ALL the missionaries (for the exception of the southeast elders) to Monrovia for a Christmas Zone Conference. The theme was “I Believe.” Several missionaries shared personal stories about how they came to believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ. It was a touching and spiritual experience. We also had a wide array of beautiful musical numbers performed by the missionaries. After lunch, it was fun and games and a reenactment of the nativity (that was the missionaries gift to me….made me feel right at home). President T-Rex (Jeff) made his appearance bringing each missionary apartment a microwave – a first for most Africans. It was super fun!

We invited some elders over for Christmas Eve. we ate dinner, watched The Chosen’s Christmas nativity show, and played some games. I know the missionaries enjoyed the evening, but I think we did it more for us than them. We needed ‘kids’ for Christmas. On Christmas Day, Jeff and I were invited to be special guests at the five-stake choir program. They take their choirs very seriously, even with matching outfits (sometimes two). Halfway through the concert they invited their “beloved mission president and his wife and missionaries” to perform. Despite being told many times that we did not need to do anything, we were now walking up to the stage with no idea what we were going to sing. Thankfully a talented missionary who can play the piano said, “Let’s do Feliz Navidad.” So that is what we did…the audience loved it, or at least pretended to. It was a fun and festive event and a great way to spend Christmas day. That evening, we had a Christmas Zone Conference with our southeast elders. What remarkable elders they all are. I am constantly amazed at their faith and dedication serving in the remote areas of Africa. 

You can never have too many people in a car.
The entire Kingsville Branch came to District Conference in two vans…..
stuffed inside and on top.

Elder Thomas served in Zwedru for 6 months without a haircut. 
What happens in the Southeast stays in the Southeast….meaning his hair.  

Sister Kalema from DRC, Sister Flomo from Liberia, Elder Edeh from Nigeria, Elder Djanie from Ghana
going home after faithfully completing their missions.

“This is the way we wash our clothes”….the locals….and the missionaries.

Two couple missionaries went home this month. We will certainly miss them. The Blanchards went home to be with their daughter who is very sick. Coming to Liberia was a true act of faith. The Blanchards accomplished so much while they were here, and continue to help the mission from across the world. We continue to pray for them and their family and will welcome their return whenever that may be.  – After two missions in Liberia Steve and Kim Barker return home to Utah. They have served all over the country and know Liberia better than any of us. They have left their mark in many hearts.