Asombro Me Da ~ "I Stand All Amazed"

Thanks to the Starks family we received these photos last night of Elder Thomas and missionary buddies at the BYU-I Orchestra Fireside.

The week began much like any other week. The sound of our louder than loud alarm waking up our neighbors and us and then preparing for the looming transfers. Elder Millett was on his way out and I was going to be left to run the show with Elder Andruski. Due to this change and a handful of other things going on earlier in the week I was feeling a little overwhelmed. There were a lot of changes and some other things I was dealing with. It was becoming rather stressful and I felt really tired and drained for a couple of days. In my mind I thought that it was a trial that I had to get through. In my dense mind, it never occurred to me to simply ask for help. After cutting trees and hauling branches for a couple of hours we came home and I knelt down and ask for help. A few moments later I felt peace. It was like someone was working in my thoughts helping me think how everything was going to work. It was a simple request from a weak servant and it was answered abundantly. I knelt again and I asked some questions and the answers came quickly. In a moment of receiving answers I paused and asked is this all real? Can I really be hearing this or is this just my mind? I still can't believe the help that the Lord will freely give us. It truly is wonderful.

      We visited a man named P before Elder Millet left. He and his inactive wife had been found miraculously by the Stake President. Due to health challenges we haven't been able to visit them very much. But our visits usually entailed them giving us lots of food and making us laugh harder than I ever have in my entire life. As we visited, he told us he watched General Conference and really liked it and said some brief words about baptism being an interesting idea. We left them with a prayer and took a couple pictures and then left. At 10:25 that night, we got a call. "Is this Elder Thomas?" the voice said. I responded yes and P told me he hadn't been very clear about baptism. "I want the Stake President to do it and I think I want to do it on May 8th, is that ok?" My jaw dropped and after he said hello a couple of times I said yes. I was confused at the grace the Lord had given me to be a witness to all these miracles.

     Transfers came and things moved on. Elder Andruski had served here before, like me, and had some people to visit. We went out visiting the people he knew and I knew. I had been feeling a little discouraged due to some of the really promising investigators discontinuing our visits. We made a stop to someone Elder Andruski knew. First stop, and a little boy looked out the window, parting his long hair and the curtain to see us. His eyes got wide and he ran away. The door opened soon after and the father and the boy came to the door. They remembered Elder Andruski and were very excited to see him. After a brief discussion about the power of Christ's Atonement and sharing the Hallelujah video he looked at us and he promised us he would be at church. The day arrived and he wasn't there. We visited him after church and he told us the address didn't work. We told him we could lead him there another day if he wanted. But he grabbed his keys and shouted to his son and then said, "I'll follow you there" as he ran to his car. He looked around the inside of the church and we taught him the Restoration. He told us he had similar questions to Joseph Smith. The man said in his search for the truth he had always followed his instincts. He said, "that is what I am doing right now. Following my instincts". He was led to the truth by the Spirit and I was again left speechless at the love Jesus offers me, allowing me to see this all happen.

     I woke up Sunday morning singing "I Stand All Amazed" in Spanish in my head. Specifically one line. Cuan asombroso es que por amar me asi muriera el por mi. Which means something similar to, how amazing it is that he loved me to die for me. In our little group of Spanish speakers, they sang Asombro Me Da. With only four of us in the room who could read and sing it was a struggle but we all felt the Spirit as we had the Sacrament. Later on that night we heard the BYU Idaho orchestra, who was passing through on a mid-west tour. The conductor began with a quote from J. Reuben Clark who said, "We get nearer to the Lord through music than perhaps any other thing except prayer". And when they played I knew that to be true. It was an odd and peaceful feeling with no applause after a song. Just the Spirit lingering in the room. They played many hymns with orchestra members sharing brief messages in between. One woman, who had obviously seen the help of the Lord, bore her testimony of the Atonement. She then said they would be ending with I Stand All Amazed. The music played around me and the words played in my mind. It is wonderful what He did for me. I can't believe how much help I receive everyday. I know Christ lives. He is real. And I know that He will bless you with strength and help you in every aspect of your life. Because He has done that for me and it is incredible. 

Adios,

Elder Thomas