Dog People Never Work for Me

This week was killer. 

On Pday last Monday we were eating at Burger House per the usual, and obviously speaking English (that place is hallowed English speaking ground) and some woman starts talking to us, asking us who we are and where we're from, the usual. So I'm sitting there going, 'Casual, or bold?' Well, you're a representative of Jesus Christ....so bold it was. 

She asked after a bit of conversation, 'So when did your church begin?' 

'Adam.' I told her. 

And then we had a full blown first lesson with her, talked about prophets, the apostasy, the restoration, prayer, the Book of Mormon, families, and the whole shabang. She loved it. She has lived in Chicago and asked if she could have all the missionaries over to feed us Chili 'Cause I know you boys miss chili' and then if we could bring her a Book of Mormon and teach her more. So, that will happen in 1 week. Then, We had a leadership training in Zagreb on Thursday. It was a riot. I got to drive stick there and back, and maaaaan that was fun. We made great time :)

We learned a lot from President Rowe. I'm going to miss him when he's gone. But til then, I'm going to learn all that I can from him and make him proud. We had a Zone Conference on Saturday following the training, and it was incredible. There was such a strong Spirit present, even more so than last month. We trained on resolving concerns through the Book of Mormon, because as Preach My Gospel says 'Your most powerful tool, combined with the Spirit, is the Book of Mormon.' And it was awesome. You can answer any question and resolve any concern with that book, if you will just read and become familiar with it.

Testimonies were incredible. I'll spare all the details so I can share the miracle story. After conference, President wanted to work with us. We drove out to Pančevo for some lessons we had planned, but they ALL fell through. And it was raining. We tried talking to people on the street, had some good conversations, (in Serbian. President holds his own pretty well) but nothing was working. I had felt bad about going out there beforehand, because the lessons were kind of shaky and not 100%. After that all happened, President said 'We should have let you listen to the Spirit. Let's go back.' 

So back we went. And we had about half an hour left. We went off and said a brief prayer. I remembered what Chip told me last week, and I asked Heavenly Father, with as much faith as I had ever given a prayer, to take us to somebody who was prepared, because we KNOW that somebody of these 2 million is prepared. Then we went and talked to people. 

3 people down, and we tried a guy walking his dog. He blew past us. I said, 'President, dog people NEVER work for me.' 'Never?' 'Never.'

So then, next person is a girl walking a little dog who is yapping up a storm. President starts talking to her, she says she doesn't believe in God, and next thing you know it's 45 minutes later, we know everything about this 17 year old girl named Katarina, including that her father died when she was 6 and that she doesn't know why a God would let bad things happen to good people. She is committed to learn more, and there was just this THICK Spirit on the street that night. Her dog calmed down, nobody cared it was raining, and President just didn't let her walls and concerns stop him from teaching while finding. We taught her about the plan of salvation, and promised her that these answers will make her happy. We talked about her father, where he is now. We talked with her about us, and, at the very end, President said, 'Now, this may seem strange that 3 strangers come up to you and bring all of this to you. But it's a good thing. If it was bad, you wouldn't be feeling that good feeling that you're feeling right now. And you are feeling it, aren't you? You don't know what it is, but you feel it, and it is good.' WHOA. And she did, and said she did. We testified that it was the Lord's Spirit, and we committed her to learn more about the questions she has by meeting with us.

Draw whatever conclusions you will, that night I witnessed power, as a loving Heavenly Father answered the faith and prayer of a 20 year old missionary in Serbia, and as a Priesthood Leader acted in faith, doing all in his power KNOWING that he could call down the powers of heaven for a miracle to bless one of his sons.  And he did. I witnessed a miracle that night and I will never forget it.

Love you all, and miss you dearly. Talk to you Sunday!!!

Elder Hixon

P.S. pictures coming in hot!