What a Week!

Hi family!

What a week! We have been ridiculously busy but the Lord has blessed us immensely and we have seen His tender mercies and many mighty miracles in our lives and in our work this week!

Miracle #1 - My March Madness bracket is doing better than Elder Barney's or President Jones'. It must be pure luck, since I haven't been able to watch a basketball game all season!

Miracle #2 - We got transfers all figured out! After transfer meetings every morning Tuesday - Thursday, we finally had everybody in place. It's fascinating to work with President Jones on the transfer. Sometimes the revelation he receives is very clear and other times the Lord leaves it to him to work out a little bit. As I asked the Lord in faith, however, he blessed me with the assurance of the Spirit that President Jones' transfer decisions were made according to His will.

Anyway, after figuring out who would go where, it was up to Elder Barney and me to figure out how and when. Only four companionships in the mission (including ours) are unaffected by this transfer because we have ten missionaries going home and eleven coming out. It's going to be wild. We have, for instance, 15 extra missionaries that have to spend the night in Lansing tonight. It will be another miracle if the transfer goes smoothly. I'll let you know next week, I guess.

Miracle #3 - Gulam Kobora! He's Muslim, and a Fulbright Scholar from Tanzania teaching Swahili at MSU. Several months ago, Elder Barney talked with him on campus and set up a time to meet and discuss the message of the restored gospel. He didn't show up for the appointment and they couldn't contact him, so Elder Barney figured he wasn't interested. Out of the blue, he called us on Thursday and asked us if we could meet up with him, so we set up an appointment for Saturday. The lesson was amazing!

Of all the people I have ever taught, Gulam may be the most "elect". He is honestly searching for the truth; he told us that he feels the truth of God is in the world somewhere and he wants to find it so he can live according to it, no matter what church it may mean he must join. He was raised as a Muslim but while living for the past year in the U.S. he has become very confused by the many different doctrines and ideas he has now heard from many different religions. He asked us amazing questions, like, "Who is God? Is He a tangible being with a physical body or is He somehow everywhere and in everything?". He understood better than anyone I have ever taught what we mean by "authority of God" and was fascinated by the recurring pattern of apostasy and restoration. After Elder Barney recounted Joseph Smith's First Vision, Gulam stopped us and told us he needed us to slow down because he felt we had reached a turning point in the lesson and he really wanted to understand what we would say from that point on because it was likely the most important part of our message. The Spirit was exceptionally strong as we testified of the Book of Mormon and promised him that he would come to know for himself that our message was true as he prayed and asked God if it was.

And, "conveniently", we have access to two Swahili-speaking members, one in our ward who is working on a Ph.D. in African Studies and one who is a return missionary (from Kenya, which includes Tanzania) and the brother of a member of our ward. :D

Miracle #4 - Stake Conference was amazing! The Spirit taught me so much that I needed to know for my personal development and growth and for my continued service to others. Some things that really stuck out to me were:
A) President Winder's discussion of covenants as a partnership with God (President Winder is one of the counselors in the Stake Presidency) -- it totally synergized so many of the thoughts and ideas that have been floating around in my mind for months and years.
B) President Ritchie's declaration that, through our covenants, as we personally bring our best efforts we can save our families. (President Ritchie is an incredible Stake President; he's a dynamic leader and a powerful speaker and teacher. It probably helps that he's a professor at MSU).

I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers!

Elder Joseph Cloward