Russell's Email 3-12-09

I have had an awesome week this week, and the best is yet to come. On Saturday, at 3 pm we will have a baptism with the U. family. The four of them- T., H., A., and T.,- will be baptized and then confirmed on Sunday. I am so excited for them....
We have been teaching more and the Lord is blessing our efforts. We are teaching some less active people who are progressing so quickly, and we are about to challenge one young man to prepare himself for a mission, which is a huge commitment for this guy. What I love the most, is that through the gospel it's possible!
The past few weeks we have been doing a lot of service. I heard a funny saying, it was "When you are a missionary, you are a full time missionary and a part time moving service." I enjoy doing service, and it's great to help people with stuff that they couldn't do on their own. We offered to help someone move and the guy said, "It's okay, we just hired a crew to help us." I thought, and asked Elder Davis, "Why in the world would you hire a crew to help you move?" He replied, "That's what you have to do when you don't have an Elders Quorum to call." I found it really funny...
We also had a sweet experience with a young man in one of my wards. He is 20, a great guy, but he is handicapped and wasn't going to get to serve a mission. We learned he really wanted to serve, but he seemed hopeless about serving a mission. We heard that the whole mission office was being released in the next few months and talked to the mission president. Elder S. is now going to have the opportunity to serve an 18 month mission serving in the mission office for the Nevada Las Vegas mission. He was so grateful for that opportunity, and I was so happy that we played a part in his chance to serve.
I love seeing the Lord's hand in our lives. He is so aware of each of his children and their needs. What's more amazing, is that he meets the needs of his children. I love it. It's amazing.

Elder Hitchcock