A Couple of Minutes

Dear Family and Loved Ones,

     We had a great week and are now enjoying a couple of days off from school (Friday and Monday). It’s nice to have a break every once in awhile from our very early mornings and homework :)

    We also enjoyed a visit from Ted’s brother Doug, his wife Ann and their two youngest boys. They spent a few days at Disneyland and were also able to stop by the mission home for a visit, which we enjoyed immensely! They arrived to some cold wet weather but made the best of it, put on their rain ponchos and found that the bad weather made for short lines at Disneyland. The weather improved for the rest of their visit.

     Mari gave the lesson in her Laurel class today. The topic was “Finding Joy in the Journey Now”. It seemed like a perfect topic for her to share. She has had quite a few challenges lately but is able to look on the bright side and have faith that everything will work out for the best. Many of the girls and advisors said she did a great job with her lesson.

     Ted continues to interview the missionaries and still has a few zones left to take care of this week. After a day of interviews he returns home hoarse and tired but loves spending one on one time with each missionary.

     There were some very special baptisms over the weekend. Some have taken many months to achieve. A few of our former missionaries returned to be a part of those sacred ordinances (serving in California has its advantages). Other former missionaries were in town to participate in temple ordinances with their converts this weekend.

     Every week Ted hears or reads many amazing missionary stories, often he has a hard time recalling all of them because of the incredible amount of information the missionaries share with him. I wish he had the time to write our e-mail because it would be great to get more of the events he hears about recorded. This past week two of our Elders told him about a missionary miracle they experienced. The two Elders were standing on the doorstep of one their recent converts. They have a standing appointment every Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. to teach this family a new member lesson. The trainer looked at his watch and said “we’re a couple of minutes early, let’s see if we can contact anyone in two minutes.”  They were at an apartment complex so they went down the stairs and saw a woman loading her baby into the car. They decided to contact her and as they approached she began to cry. The missionaries were a bit startled by her reaction. The woman quickly explained that they were an answer to her prayer. A couple of months ago her husband abandoned this young mom with a new baby in a foreign country. She told the missionaries she felt so alone so she prayed and asked God to help her. Shortly after her prayer two Mormon missionaries showed up at her door, they shared a message at the doorstep that gave her a lot of comfort and they agreed to meet again. Because of her heavy work schedule she didn’t follow through. Now months later she was having a really terrible day she said another prayer asking God to send someone to help her . . . and the Mormon missionaries just happened to show up. The woman told the Elders that since God had given her a second chance to listen to their message she would make sure to follow through this time. They have an appointment set for this week. It’s amazing what can happen in just a couple of minutes!

 We love you all,

The Long Beach Buberts