Miracles Really Do Happen

Hey ya'all, so this week was so AWESOME!!!!!! I can't even begin to explain the miracles that i have been able to witness this week, it was so amazing!!! But to answer your questions before i start this huge long story, yes i got the package finally!! The zone leaders had my package the entire time, they just forgot to give it to me for three weeks!!! Gosh! But it was okay and i tried the shampoo so we will see how it works out. That is so great dad found an all right job, it is definitely a start and a blessing for now. ANd we got the call yesterday, elder baxter is leaving and i am getting a new companion on wednesday, so we will see how everything plays out, i can't wait to see what is in store, and now for the miracle!!!!

We have a baptism for tommorrow for a guy named Ron Jayne, he is such a great guy!!! We met him on July 11 and he is getting baptized already on July 27th! We have only met with him twice, but he is so prepared, his story really is a miracle.
Here is his story. We got a call two days before sunday a few weeks ago. It was a girl that said she was going to have her friend coming to church with us. She was way excited and she sounded like he really was going to be elect. I didn't know what to think ,you hear that from evrery refferal you get, so i wasn't too enthused about it, i thought it was just going to be dead end, it has been like that for months, ( i know that is horrible faith , but it just seemed like that was all that was happening, i definitely got humbled on that one, my bad!) Ron came into church and he was a really confident, business looking man, he was so nice and friendly and loved church, he asked for a Gospel Principles book so we just let him take one from the class, he really seemed interested in actually learning about the church. We set up a date to meet him the following saturday because he had to go on a business trip to ohio until the weekend.
When we met with him we got to know him and asked a few questions about how he ended up in hawaii and what life was going like for him. He surprisingly told us that he was actually going through a really hard time, he had left ohio a really short period earlier because of that problem. When this trail occured, he immediately ran into a mormon girl who was going through the same problem as he was. He said she really helped him out a lot and he thought it strange that a mormon girl was helping him out, but he thought nothing of it. After a pretty indecisive choice, he ended up coming to hawaii, he still doesn't really know how or why he ended up in hawaii, it just kind of happend. After a living here for a little while, ron decided to go on a hike with his friends. Ironically, the name of the trail is called "STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN!" But anway on his way up he ran into a group of girls going on the hike. One of them showed a lot of interest in him but he didn't really pay too much attention to her. They exchanged numbers but he kind of avoided her the following week, she wasn't really the type of girl he had ever went with and she was a lot younger than he was...
A few weeks went by and one day his friends talked him into going on a hike again. He didn't really want to go but they pretty much forced him into the car and pushed him up the trail.... What was his amazement when a looked up and saw a familiar face coming down the "STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN!" It was that same girl he had met earlier. She was overly excited and happy and full of energy when she saw Ron yet again, but Ron felt something good about her. He felt that something was meant to happen with that girl, he knew it wasn't a coincidence that he had ran into her again, it was just the way he felt inside. So, a little hesitant but knowingly, he gave in to her pleads and hints that they should go on a date. They went on the date and absolutely hit it off! They both loved it! During the course of that date, Renee, the girl, mentioned that she was mormon and being the returned missionary that she was, she invited him to church and he said basically,"Why the heck not!" So that was when we met him on that sunday.

Sorry i gotta go mom so i will text the rest of it to you later when we get a chance later tonight, we have to go to a party with all of the missionaries so i will be back and email you the rest, sorry , and i promise i'm not doing this on purpose, i can't wait to tell you how much o f a mirale Ron's story is. OFa aty talk to ya in a little bit....

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The second he came to church he felt like it was the right place to be. He really enjoyed it and thought all of the people were so nice. He felt like god had been leading him to this feeling of peace and calm that he had been lacking and searching for ever since that huge problem surfaced in his life a few months previous to now. IT was really cool to hear his story as he was telling it. He said that later that week after church, on his plane ride to ohio, he was reading the Gospel Principles book and actually finished the entire thing. He said that while he was reading it the man seated next to him asked if Ron was mormon. He told him no just investigating ,and then the man told Ron that he was a member of the church and although less active, he began to talk about the blessings of church and they talked for most of the plane ride about the gospel. What are the odds that the man seated next to him on THAT flight to ohio is a member???? CRAZY!!! ANyway, we taught him that night and he kept mentioning the problem he was having and it concerned us but we didn't want to be too pushy so we didn't really dig at all to try and uncover the iceberg that lay hidden in his thoughts and soul. We schelduled the next apointment for monday at 630 pm, but on sunday we found that we had to reschedule it to 730. I had to run like a madman outside of the church to ask him if 730 was too late, and i barely caught him, which turned out to be a big factor in the miracle that we would witness the following day. He said that 730 was a little late for him on monday and asked if he could do it on the next day at 630. I almost said yes but Renee blurted out,"HE CAN MAKE IT ELDER! Don't worry about it he can be there!" Ron must really like Renee because he just smiled and said it was okay to do it on monday at 730 instead. That turned out to be huge! The reason being is we wanted a certain member that we figured would really get along with Ron to attend the lesson with us and had we done it on any other night we would've had it at 630 because that was the time ROn would prefer. By so doing the member we wanted to come to the lesson would not be able to make it due to work, so it was such a miracle that renee said something and told him he could make it on Monday. So we met the next day and Ron looked even happier and said that he really enjoyed church once again and felt so good coming and he again mentioned all of the signs that had led him to the church so far. Renee didn't want to attend the lessons with him because she wanted ron to decide for himself and not join just to please her, but we did have that member at the lesson. We began to talk about the lesson we were going to share but before starting we asked ron how he felt about everything. He talked for awhile and then for some random reason, i believe it was the spirit that prompted him to say it, he began to mention what the problem was that he had been dealing with in his life. we didn't ask or hint or do anything to get him to say it, it just came out of his mouth and we all listened in horror as he told of what had happen to him. He said that his wife had been unfaithful to him, betrayed him, left him for nothing, taken his only two children, and moved in with another guy and got it so she had custody of the kids. He spoke of how hard it was and how much he had been going through. He started to tear up and I almost cried listening to the awful thing that had happend .He then said that he felt so terrible that he couldn't forgive her when he thought of the fact that his only two children were being raised by another man. It was such a sad thing to hear.The member that had made it to the lesson then said something. "Are you serious??? Are you serious???" I was a little worried by that comment and didn't know what he was trying to get at. Then he said the most surprising and humbling thing I have ever heard. "I just ask you that because i am going through the same problem."SIlence filled the room as the spirit entered and i knew then why that member was meant to be at that lesson at this time in Ron's life. Elder baxter and i had no idea that that member was even old enough to be married, let alone divorced and already having had children. I honestly almost dropped in disbelief. HE WAS MARRIED???? The member then began to explain his painful secret and how nobody knew about it except his family and how hard it was for him to go through such a tough thing. He explained about how he had been on a mission, went to the temple and got sealed, had his little kids, married his dream girl, was active in church doing all the right things and then one day he came home and his young wife was gone and his children with her. He stiil didn't know why or what had happend and even though it had been almost one year and a half, the pain stabbed at his heart everyday. He also bore his testimony about how the book of mormon was the only thing that had given him peace, even the temple hadn't brought him comfort like the book of mormon. Ron and him looked at each other and it was as if they knew each other's minds. You could tell that ROn was in amazement that this member was going through THE EXACT same thing he was going through and that he had been prepared to meet this member. They talked and talked of how rough it was and baxter and i just sat there silent, flabbergasted at what had just happend. I was almost to the point of breaking down, i felt so bad for the member and ROn, i felt so much sorrow for them. And then they did something that pushed me over the limit and i couldn't hold the tears back. Ron and the member then pulled out pictures of thier kids right there on the spot, showing how much they really were on thier mind, and they exchanged them and spoke of how proud they were of them. I could just look at their smiles and know that they really did love those kids to death and they would do anything in their path to get them back. I felt so sad for them. Baxter felt the spirit as i and we spoke of the miracle. Then we talked about baptism. I then asked ron,"WIll you follow the example of jesus christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of god?" He immediatley said"Yes! Yes! I know that is what god wants me to do. I know that he has led me here, and i can't deny all of these miracles that i have witnessed. I feel chills as i think about it. Yes, and i am so thankful for what has happend. What happend tonight has sealed it for me it really has. This is such a miracle."Through tears we thanked him and promised him blessings and after ron left we got down on our knees and thanked our heavenly father for such a miracle. I cried and cried and still do today when i think of how heavenly father placed in the path of a middle aged man, angels and miracles to help him out of such a dark time in his life. The mormon girl to the other mormon girl on THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (i still laugh about how crazy that is), to the guy on the plane, and then to that member who just happend to live here in this area and who barely made it to that lesson at 730 on monday. God really does watch over his children, members and non members alike. He is preparing the hearts of the childfen of men. Look for oportunities to share the gospel. I testify that there are people just waiting for the good news that you have, just like Ron Jayne has heard. ROn will be baptized tommorrow at 630. I can't wait to watch such a fantastic example of the miracles that still happen everyday. I love ya'all, stay close to the lord. OFA ATU

Elder Hala