Sister Thatcher,
We are loving your mission emails! You give so much detail and the pictures you send are awesome. Keep them coming. We love you and pray for you as a family every day.
Almost 19 years ago, I left on my mission. One of the people I was most sad to say goodby to was you. You were my first niece, and we all adored you. I didn't want to miss out on you growing up and learning to walk and all that fun stuff. Here's a picture of saying goodbye to you before leaving. I showed this picture to people all throughout my mission so they could see my adorable niece:
 |
| Paul leaving for his mission hold little Megan |
On my 3rd day in my greenie city, we visited a sister who was a brand new member of the church. This is what I wrote of that visit: "She has three small kids and one on the way, and her home looked like kids were living there. She was embarrassed, but I told her that with 13 kids in my family, I understand disorder. So Elder Miller and I spent 20 minutes doing her dishes before teaching the third new member discussion. Just before we began teaching, her husband came home. The missionaries always teach when he's not there because he is against the church. But all went well and we had a good discussion. She is such a wonderful woman -- I hope she will always be active."
I drew very close to this Sister and her children as we continued to teach her over the next several months. I helped them do some work on the new home they were building. I cried when I was transferred as I said goodbye to her and her family. I remember how excited I was when I heard the news of the birth of her new son. I prayed throughout my mission for them, and after my mission, that they would always stay close to the Lord.
You have no idea how excited I was to see the picture you sent of Elder Strihavka who is in your district. He was the baby boy born to Claudia Strihavka, the new member I have loved all these years!! Here he is, third Elder from the left:
 |
| Sister Thatcher's District at the England MTC - Elder Strihavka 3rd from right, Sister Thatcher 5th from right |
One of the happiest days of my life was when I received an email from Teri Weidman, Mom's cousin who was serving a mission in Austria 4 years ago. She sent this picture of the Strihavka family and let me know they were all still faithful to the Savior:
 |
| Sister Claudia Strihavka and her four children |
Last summer, we ran into the Weidmans on Temple square. We talked about the Strihavkas, and they mentioned that Camilla, Elder Strihavka's sister, was serving a mission on temple square. We decided to see if we could find her, and we were successful! She was a happy, and powerful missionary. Here she is on the far right:
 |
| Paul with Grace and Millie, Brent Weidman, ?, ?, Terry Weidman, Sister Strihavka |
Please pass on my love to Boris, whom I've never met, but who I care a lot about. I know he will be a fantastic missionary, because he was raised by a mother with great faith, and his dad Christian is a wonderful man.
Megan, you will meet your Claudia Strihavka's during your mission in England. I didn't play a very significant role in her conversion -- we just loved her and helped teach some new member lessons. But she and her family hold a significant place in my heart because the Lord filled my heart with love for them. That perhaps is one of the greatest privileges of serving the Lord on a mission: He fills your heart with His love for the people you are privileged to meet and teach, and you're never quite the same again. They will become a part of you, and your love for them will extend past this life and into eternity. In it's simplest form, missionary work is really just loving people, and helping them feel how deeply their Father and Savior love them. Once they feel that, we put our arm around them as they learn faith and repentance, receive baptism and the influence of the Holy Ghost that leads them to the House of the Lord.
Just know how much we love you, and how grateful we are for your example to us.
Carry On!
Uncle Paul
It was fun to receive Sister Thatcher's (the young and beautiful one) email this last week where she responded to her uncle Paul's email to her. Here is part of that email.
Ok anyways COOLEST STORY EVER SO LISTEN UP!!!! By now a lot of you probably know this but I mentioned an Elder Strihavka from my district in my last email but said he was from Germany but he is not, I later found out he is from Austria, anyways my uncle Paul was one of the missionaries that taught her and her family after she was baptized. Elder Strihavka says the coolest thing about it is that even his dad- who is not a member- remembers him. He says that his dad does not remember any of the missionaries that taught his mom but remembers you because you helped him build his house, so he says that you must be a pretty special guy. But how cool Elder Strihavka is the youngest of 4 kids- all members- and now he is in the same MTC district as Elder Thatcher's niece. Small world huh. It was awesome- me and Elder Strihavka are basically family now.
 |
| Sister Thatcher and Elder Strihavka |
We have often heard that it is a small world if you belong to the Church. We love the connections we discover with those around us as we go about our daily lives as members of this wonderful Church and Kingdom of God.
Not too long ago our son Mark gave a talk in his ward and mentioned Grandma Amacher, who as a convert to the church in Switzerland and victim to a crippling disease, had prayed for a man from Utah with the gift of healing to be sent to heal her. Her prayer was answered when a Bishop Wheatley from Honeyville Utah came to Switzerland and was brought to her home by a missionary. Through the priesthood he healed my grandmother and her story of faith and testimony has been passed down to her descendants.
After Mark's talk a man he worked very closely with in the ward came to him and told Mark that Bishop Wheatley was his great grandfather. Mark was able to give him Grandma Amacher life history. His family had never heard the story. Our lives do interact in miraculous ways. The Lord of the Harvest is at work among us and we experience the joy of wondrous connections with others.
We are so thankful that our lives connect with all of yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment