The Blessings of the Lord

Dear Family,

I feel like I emailed you yesterday. Time is going much too quickly. I continue to be reminded just how short two years is. I need to take advantage of every minute of it! The photo is of Elder Evertsen at his best. He has been a champ this week. He has been sick, but still working like crazy. He is finally better now after some extra sleep and we are both grateful for that.

This week has been a week of blessings. Not only did we have an incredible week as a companionship, the district had the best week we have had for almost a year! Still no baptisms, but lots of people with dates for this month. We are being incredibly blessed as we dedicate ourselves more fully to this work.

I had a really neat experience this week. On Thursday night all of our appointments fell through and we were trying to figure out what to do. It was cold and sprinkling and we wanted so badly to get into an appointment. We stopped to make some phone calls and while Elder Evertsen was on the phone, I laid down on the grass and looked up at the stars. The Spirit whisped that if God could create all those stars, He could certainly help us get into an appointment. I closed my eyes and began to pray. I pleaded with the Lord to tell me who we could go visit. Immediately the name Doris came into my mind. I thought it couldn't be right. We have tried visiting her so many times without success we had just about given up on her. I wasn't sure if it was a prompting or not but decided we had nothing to lose in trying. She was a little bit of a far ride from where we were, and the whole time I continued to question whether it was a prompting or not, but I continued to pray. We knocked on the door and even though she was busy, she invited us in and we had a wonderful lesson with her.

I am so grateful for the experiences I have each day that confirm to me that this is the Lord's work and that He is at the head. The Spirit continues to teach me that this is true. We are seeing the hand of the Lord. Thank you for your prayers. There is a quote that I have come to love since I have been out here: "Pray as if everything depended on the Lord, Work as if everything depended on you."

Something that President Ashton has taught me is that the Lord is willing to bless me even in my infirmities. I bear testimony of that truth. We have interviews with his this week and then a tri-mission conference with Elder Ballard, Elder Callister, and Bishop Davies this Saturday. I can't wait!

Please continue to pray for Doug and Dina. Also, please pray for Whoopi and Jorge.  I love you all and pray for you often.

Elder Case