Elder Dallin Cutler: The last 5 weeks.

The saddest day of a missionary's life. Transfer calls for the last transfer. But, GOOD news nonetheless. I am "dying" in the Midwest City ward. Couldn't be more excited. I did ask President to send me back to Edmond or Stillwater in a bike area for the last transfer so I wouldn't die a zone leader but he laughed at me. I think he thought I was joking. Anyways I love this area so much. I also get to stay with Elder Gardner and we will be training a new Zone Leader again. So we will have another companion. His name is Elder Bushman and he's originally from Arizona. I have served around him since the beginning of his mission and he's a cool cat, so it should be a fun last couple of weeks. Anyways, I am here to stay in a trio. It'll be a good time.

So we had another baptism this past weekend for Amber Kagley. She is such a faithful girl. The first time we met her she was angry at God and did not believe that He loved her. Hearing her share her testimony is so powerful because of the process that she has undergone to get to where she is today. My testimony of the Godhead has been strengthened through this process. I want to share a couple of details from her story with all of you.

Amber grew up in Utah when she was really young. She is native American and had seen missionaries all the time where she lived but never knew what they were or why they were dressed up. She moved to Oklahoma and started working at Braums (a restaurant out here). Well one day, the missionaries walked into Braums and she describes having a "sudden feeling" to just blurt out "who are you guys?" She is a pretty quiet girl so she said that it felt super weird for her to do that. Well the missionaries invited her to church that week and she came! It surprised them. Well I got transferred to Midwest City the week after she came for the first time and we started teaching her. Long story short, she faced a lot of opposition. She wanted her parents approval to be baptized and so she asked and they said "no". So she came back and told us that she would probably have to wait a year until she moved out. There was nothing really we could do about that. We prayed and fasted as to what to say and the story of Nephi going back to get the plates came to mind over and over. Baptism is a commandment and we knew the Lord had already prepared a way for Amber to keep that commandment. We asked her to go back "and get the plates" and to ask her mom one more time. She was denied again. So after that time, we were a little disheartened. All we could do was turn her to God. We invited her to fast and pray with us that her parent's hearts would be softened. She fasted with us for the first time that sunday and then we invited her to set her own baptismal date. She prayed for two weeks and came to a conclusion. We waited for her to talk to her mom the third time and one day she came up to us at church and said that she was ready to do it. It had taken about a month, but she had received an answer from God on His time. She was so excited. She prayed that night that she would have an opportunity to bring it up to her mom again and it was given. Her mom was excited for her this time around and she was baptized unto repentance this weekend. :) She is going to the temple this week with us this Thursday to do baptisms.

What did I learn? The best feeling in the world is when we are able to successfully help others re-connect with their Heavenly Father. He is the guiding hand and He knows better than we do. It took a lot of fasting, prayer, and patient diligence. There was nothing spectacular about it, other than the fact that she overcame opposition through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She prayed, and received. I know that God speaks, not spake.

We have seen some really cool miracles lately as well. I will share one more. We are teaching another family over here named the Morrells. We went by one night and their neighbor, who is 16 years old was over there. His name is Michael. 4 weeks ago he was hit by a car and shattered his arm. The night we stopped by he was complaining about how bad his arm hurt and how the pain never stopped. We offered to give him a blessing and told him that we would use the same authority that Jesus gave his apostles in the New Testament. We looked him in the eyes and asked him if he believed that Jesus worked miracles. He said yes. We than asked him if he had the faith to be healed. He said yes. We laid our hands upon him and commanded his body to heal. We then left. A week later we came back and heard that the very next morning he was able to move his arm and twist it. He was able to take his brace off and move his fingers too. Not only that, but the pain had completely subsided the very next morning. They were so excited to tell us.

What did I learn? God works according to faith. The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven. The authority of the priesthood has been restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The power of the priesthood is restored in us through righteous living and is activated through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As priesthood holders, we have been given authority to act in the name of Christ for the salvation of God's children, but the power is activated through faith in Jesus Christ.

God is a God of miracles. He will not "leave us comfortless, He will come" to you. All He asks is for our willful obedience.

Elder Dallin Cutler

the third one is the kitty that we have as a "pet". She can never come in, even though she wants to. We feed her and pet her and her name is "cat". :)