"Heaps" of Miracles!

From: Joseph Weiss <joseph.weiss@myldsmail.net>
Date: August 25, 2013 8:08:38 PM MDT

Subject: Heaps of Miracles!

HOW TO SPEAK AUSSIE (AUZZIE): to say mate like a proper Aussie it's said, "might". And heaps means a lot. So I said there are "heaps of miracles". And hectic is like cool or good. So we had some pretty "hectic miracles". There is your how to be aussie lesson for the week.

This past Tuesday we were contacting in this food court where there are two Latin restaurants so there is usually a steady flow of Latinos in there. We talked to a guy from Spain. He didn't really want to listen. He just wanted to tell us about how he's a life time member to Real Madrid and how Raul has never gotten a red card ever. But for some reason he told us about one of the shops over yonder. It's name is *drum roll* SUPER MEGA BARGAINS! Everything is SUPER MEGA CHEAP! And everyone is SUPER MEGA COLOMBIAN! So we went and talked to one of the employees and got her number. Nothing extraordinary happened besides that.

Then the next day we decided we were going to contact 10 people in the train station/ food court. So we were doing work in English and Spanish. The trick was is we take turns initiating the contact so that we aren't waiting for the other to say something. So we did this for like six people and we were cruising, then people started coming up to us and asking us who we were and just random stuff. We had just finished talking to this black guy who spoke like a "black man". He learned to speak English by watching an American sitcom with two black dudes and prayed to God for an American accent. So he talks like, "Ay man, Check dis out! I praaayed! And God gave me dis accent. But it didn't come all at once. It's a PROcess mah a PROcess." It was super funny but we talked to him for like an hour it seemed.

Then we were going back to the food court we stopped and looked for someone to talk to. We saw this Aussie looking guy and said, "How are you?" And like many other Aussie's we've talked to, he shook his head and gave us the universal hand signal for, "talk to the hand". After he had walked by I said, "It's cold today isn't it?".
He stopped, turned around, and came back. And with humble, scared look in his eyes he held up a piece of paper and said in broken English, "I need these things. I've lived in Australia four months and don't speak English." We asked him "Where are you from?" He said, "I'm from Spain" I smiled and said, "Hablamos espanol! Podemos ayudarle". We took him to the store owned by the SUPER MEGA COLOMBIANS the next block over and show him the things on his list. We asked if we could get his number and teach him about our church sometime and he said sure. But, he didn't know what his phone number was so we put our number in his phone and called ours. We said we'd call him to set up a time and said "Ciao". As we were trying to leaving he grabbed my arm and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you soo much!" His eyes watered with tears.

As we left somebody else came up to us. It was hectic. But I testify that there are miracles happening everyday. God is preparing you to be a miracle in the life of one of his kids. And he is preparing others to do the same for you. We don't usually get to see God's hand in our lives but I testify that it is there because I have seen it with my own eyes. As missionaries we get to see miracles happening all the time but for me this experience was so vivid it's almost as if I'd seen the literal hand of God stretched to help his children. It reminded me of the scripture in Matt 25:40. "When you have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." Ironically this man's name was Jesus.

Jesus Christ suffered endless pain for each off us. I show my gratitude for that sacrifice in the ways I serve others around me. I know God is aware of each one of us and he is preparing the way before us.

I love you all, this work is "hectic" (good)!

Elder Weiss