Week 59- The Return of The Westmead Blessing Team

The Lord continues to work miracles in the Winston Hills Ward. Lehi is progressing well towards baptism and receiving the Aaronic Priesthood. The young men's program in the ward has started to take really good care of him. At our ward council meeting for ward conference, I was surprised to learn that Lehi was actually the first young man to turn in his paperwork for the upcoming trek activity. The whole ward is just amazed by what's happening here. People want to come to lessons, be at the baptism, and help him become all he can be. It's great to see what happens when the ward can take hold of an investigator and make him a part of their lives and prayers.

There was an unusual teaching opportunity this week. We got a call from the zone leaders telling us that there was a man in Westmead Hospital who needed a blessing. The man was probably going to die, and so we needed to go quickly. The zone leaders picked us up and brought us to the hospital. He couldn't speak in his condition, so we couldn't learn much about him, but the four of us were able to give him a blessing of comfort and strength. As we left, his niece who was there talked to us about how he had requested a blessing earlier, but it had to be from the Mormons. The hospital had called the temple, who had referred them to the mission office, who had referred them to us. She thanked us and we left. Later on, we got a call from the niece telling us that the man was going to be moved to a hospice ward, so she wanted to know if we did Last Rites or anything like that. We went on to explain how priesthood blessings work and why we do them. As time went on, we learned that this man was actually a less-active member and his niece was from the Church of England. We were able to get the bishopric his ward in contact with him and that's the last I've heard of the situation as of now, but I'm glad that we were able to be there to bless this man and help his niece know more about our church.

The biggest growth in spirituality and character I've seen as a missionary has come as a result of following the spirit. When we are willing to put faith into these "hunches" that we get from time to time, we can see amazing things happen. Sometimes, they don't seem to be much more than just a thought in passing, but if you'll just hold on to it for a little bit longer, you'll see the hand of God in your life. For example, one morning I woke up and just thought, "Next district meeting, everyone is going to teach". I thought it could be pretty cool, but didn't think too much more about it. When the time came for me to prepare for district meeting, the same thought came back, so I decided to go with it. As a result, district meeting was a chance for each missionary to train the district on Christlike attributes. Honestly, it was one of the most interesting and insightful district meetings I've ever attended. I'm thankful for the "hunch" that started it all.

Last week, we read 3 Nephi 6-10. Here we have the fall of the Nephite's judge-based government and the final events leading up to the personal ministry of Jesus Christ in the Americas. We also have the few righteous people, like Nephi, sharing the gospel, regardless of the mounting opposition of it all. We can also share the good things we know to be true, regardless of any circumstance.

This week will be the start of the Book of Mormon's crowning event. We will read 3 Nephi 11-15. Some parts of these chapters will remind you of the sermon on the mount. Look for the differences between the Bible's account and the Book of Mormon's.

Love, as always,

Elder Clark

Baulkham Hills Zone outside Sydney temple

Elder Clark 

Baulkham Hills and Beach Zone Conference