A week of miracles!

Hey everyone! :)

I would LOVE to write you 104 blog posts titled like this from my Mission and I promise in some ways I will! I`m a little sorry about being late with this, but this past week has not only been miraculous but also really busy.

Guess what? School is almost out! And miracle number 1 here, I`m probably gonna make it without having to pull all-nighters. I wasn`t sure that this was gonna happen but it looks like it! Also, I can see three A`s and one A- approaching. I need exactly full credit for a straight A in my Mass Communication class and I have a paper and an exam left. If I get full credit for both, it will be an A. If not, an A-...so, 3.93 is my most likely GPA, which is AMAZING for me not being really focused while still in Germany. Except I probably won`t get an A in the only class I really need for my major, but that`s ok. :P

Second, now entering the real stuff: I have my Bishop`s interview tomorrow night! So I will be expected to get my clearance to schedule my Stake President`s interview very soon (granted it all works out - It should, but still, prayers would be nice!). I`m two steps away from turning my papers in :) And I can actually see the pre-drawn footsteps in front of me now, so that`s awesome! And very helpful haha :) I love shrinking to-do lists. But actually, the real miracle is the Bishop who will be conducting the interview. It is...Bishop...*tension is rising*...STROMBERG! Yes! I`m getting to stay in the 18th ward with an exception rule! Bishop Stromberg talked to the Stake Presidency about my case and they`re good with me staying. Tender mercy right here! I know the Lord needs me in this ward for one more semester and I`m glad that His anointed servants actually agree with me on that one.

However, as of now my records are still in Germany because they have never been pulled over. In order to remind my clerk in the Bonn ward of the urgency of this transfer (because my interview is tomorrow), I decided to e-mail him. I was really sure it would still be my good friend, Brother W______, but to my surprise, he was released since I moved. The new ward clerk is Brother O_____! There is a really, really neat story about me and the O_____ family because there is an unlikely connection between us. I don`t think I`ve ever told anyone about it so here it comes: A little over a month ago when I was still in Germany, a new family from America moved into my ward. As usually everyone does, I greeted them and asked them where exactly they came from. They told me they were from Georgia, and I was like "Hey! I have a really good Sister Missionary friend serving there right now! Do you by chance know Sister S_____?" I told them that she was very spiritual and had a character sweeter than cotton candy (You gotta know, she was still in her first area, and there are about 800 Missionaries in Georgia right now - Chances for them to know her were SLIM). To my surprise, they said yes! In fact, Sister S_____ had just been at their house for dinner and had even helped them move! :) I was really amazed! The week after, being my last week in my home ward, they took a picture of all of us and sent it to her. I gotta ask sometime if she ever replied to this or if she was just...stunned? haha I`m not sure what I would be! ;) So, that`s me and the O_____s.

Ok, so as I am writing this post, I`m really going back and forth. This is NOT organized, but I`m writing blessings and miracles down as they come to mind. So...remember how I told you a couple weeks ago that I would die and go to Paradise for a couple days? Well, I didn`t quite die, but I still made it to Paradise :) We combined two wards and went there for a camp out. To Paradise in Cache Valley, that is. But it could have totally been the real thing. It was a wonderful feeling to just get away for a couple days :) We had two service projects and a natural waterslide that led straight into a pond we cleaned for one of the projects. So when we were done, we grabbed some tubes and went down the slide, again and again! I probably went like 70 or 80 times. No kidding. By the end of the day I wished there had been a gondola going back to the top :) It was SO much fun :) So much, I forgot something very essential: Putting on sunscreen. At an altitude as high as the Alps or Snowbasin, on a cloudless 95-degree afternoon, for about five hours. That was FATAL. When I went back to the campsite, everyone was looking at me and asked me if I was hurting. I actually realized earlier that I had made a mistake but didn`t quite make up for it because it didn`t hurt immediately. It was maybe five in the afternoon, so I put my clothes back on, played some Apples-to-Apples, ate dinner, played some football, attended a great fireside by a real bonfire with our Bishop`s brother, played some truth-or-truth (truth-or-dare with only the truth option) with some great people I met who turned out to be new in my ward, made some s`mores and went to bed. It was all good, to the surprise of everyone I talked to. Actually, I was spending the night all by myself in a huge tent intended for eight (!) people. William, with whom I had shared this tent the night before, had to go home in the afternoon and my two other friends, Stuart and Kurt, decided it would be a good idea to sleep outside underneath the stars. So I was alone. I`m not sure if this was the worst thing though. It was probably what saved everyone else. About 10 or 15 minutes into the night, I started to feel really warm and at the same time I started getting chills, worse than I`ve ever had them before. I was literally bouncing on and off the ground and had a hard time staying in my sleeping bag. My skin felt like it was on fire but I feel like this cooled off all my internal organs. That`s my theory behind the chills at least. This was going on for maybe half an hour and I felt like I was gonna die, seriously. I was just in total apathy and started hearing voices and having visions (of the bad kind). It was horrible. All of a sudden, I felt a prompting to get out of my tent and walk over to the restroom, in the middle of the night. I tried to put my shoes on but I was shaking so bad that I couldn`t keep them in my hands, so I stayed barefoot. It was also pretty cold by then and I wasn`t sure how I should feel about it. But I went and did. Somehow, I made it all the way there and locked me in for what felt like half an hour, at least. Good thing that no one had to use the restroom...anyhow. I just went there and prayed for a miracle, that someone would find me and help or that those chills would just go away. From one second to the other, and maybe five seconds after the prayer, I was just normal. No more chills, and my skin felt somewhat normal. I couldn`t believe it! I gingerly walked back to my tent and went to sleep, from which I didn`t wake up until the next morning. My feet and shoulder still hurt the next day and my shoulder still does (a little bit when I touch it) but I`ve generally been fine ever since. :) I just know that Heavenly Father is aware of us. We can hurt ourselves through DUMB decisions but when we see our mistake and turn to Him, He will deliver us at His own timing! I`m glad this timing came very soon for me! :)  I learned a lot of Gospel lessons that night. I think I`d love to use them all in a talk sometime (Bishop? Are you reading? :) ).

I have a lot more to tell and another really cool Mission-related story to share, but I`ll make it a cliff hanger. I`ll write about it later this week, along with a little note on how the interview went :) I just want to close out with my testimony that I know that Christ lives. There is a God! And He is not just there existing in endless passivity, but He is our Father! We are His children. He loves each of us stronger than we could ever imagine, no matter how far away we are from Him. And He helps us and He wishes for nothing more than to bless us when we keep His commandments. So go and do that and you`ll see! :) His commandments are there to help us. And even if we mess up, we can always turn to Him and He will embrace us again. I know it, because it has happened to me, SO many times before. I cannot wait to bring this message to those who may have never heard about it before, because I know that it can change lives to the better and that this is the way to true and eternal happiness! :)


LOVE you all! :)

-- Pascal