We had kind of a funny experience the other day, biking around a trailer park looking for service opportunities, and this one guy with a long ponytail and bangs (haha maybe I should've let that scare me off) was cutting down a ton of stuff in his yard. He was using a leaf blower and couldn't hear me and evidently couldn't see me waving to try and get his attention.... lol. Eventually he did, and he walked over, turned off the blower, and looks and me and says, "Talk!" If I wasn't a missionary trying to make a good first impression I would've given a piece of my mind... (my comps afterwards laughed and laughed, they were just waiting for me to let loose on the guy...10 months in the mission still hasn't totally tamed my fire temper haha) Anyway, I said, "Hello, sir, we are out looking to help people in their yards, and we would love to help you clean up all these branches everywhere." Then he went on a rant! "Nobody CARES anymore! We don’t want your kindness, your help, or you around here! Worry about yourselves and let other people worry about themselves. The world is changing, just give up, get out of here, and go home!" Then he moved his hand and brushed at us like we were a couple of flies and turned around and walked off. Oof. That hurt a little bit at the end of two fruitless hours in the glaring Mesa sun in the middle of what was actually a really hard week. But as I reflected on it later, and talked to Heavenly Father about that mean old man (and about how grateful I am for the gentling influence of the spirit that stopped me from grabbing that long gray ponytail and whipping him back around... just kidding. God must get a kick out of my prayers.) I realized how sad that is. That guy doesn't have any hope for anything, and I feel sorry for him.
When all is said and done, it is HOPE that gets me through the day. Hope that God lives and we are in His hands. Hope that there will always be people that DO care. Hope that this next person might answer the phone. Hope that even if they don't eventually someone will. Hope that even when I feel so frustrated and unproductive, the Lord is using me to accomplish His purposes. Hope that tomorrow will be an even brighter day. And guess what the source of all that sustaining hope is? Jesus Christ! How blessed am I to know that He is a source of endless hope?! One of His favorite names of mine is” High Priest of Good Things to Come”. I 100% believe that there will always be good things to come. I love this quote, "The future is as bright as your faith." Mine is a God of hope! Its scary for me to imagine what it would be like to face this time without hope that God knows better than I do and that like our sweet prophet has taught, the blessings that come from enduring hard things well are real and eternal. I'm trying to keep an eternal perspective, after all, mortality is just a blip on the timeline of eternity and our eternity is going to be wonderful. If that feels hard to believe, or if you feel like your hope and faith is feeling a little shaky, read the Book of Mormon. You weren't expecting that, were you? :) I don’t know how it works, but when you open the Book of Mormon, it's like putting on a pair of glasses with the prescription: "It's not as bad as you think it is. Look, this guy and this guy and this guy and his family did it, and so can you!" Its just a diary of success stories and if they ever turn our journals (here's a plug for journal writing!) into scripture a couple thousand years from now, they'll see that God didn't abandon His people in ancient Israel, neither will He abandon His people in the pandemic of 2020. Some days I just bumble onward and think, "Good thing He's got this." :) We got this! One day at a time and with lots of time on our knees. I'm so glad to be a bearer of the greatest news of all time: there is ALWAYS hope. Even for Mr.ponytail.
Love you all, you're in my prayers!
Love, Hermana Miller
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