Raise Your Vision

June 13, 2016

Anybody that has driven in Spain, including Spaniards themselves, will tell you that all the drivers in Spain are crazy. On Sunday after eating lunch we headed out to visit a recently married and baptized couple in our ward. We got lost a couple of times because of bad addresses and crazy one way streets. During that time we got cut off several times by cars and people crossing the street in random places without looking. By the time that we got there I was pretty frustrated with what had happened. I parked the car and sat there for moment, I asked God to help me to change my attitude and to be able to bless the lives of this family. I got out of the car and looked up into the sky where there were the most beautiful clouds. That view, peeking out from behind the buildings was enough to help me remember who was in charge and that everything was going to be okay.

I think many times we get caught up in our daily lives and don´t remember that we need to look up. The Lord asks us to do exactly this. In Doctrine and Covenants 88 he teaches us "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is expedient for you;" Our Savior wants us to turn to Him when we have difficulty, and when we do we will receive the rest. Anyways, when we sat down with the family we talked for awhile about what they were going through as a recently called Relief Society President and a husband struggling to find work to support his family. The Spirit testified to them of their need to make sure that they were doing the most important things first and that the Lord would take care of the rest. The Spirit testified to me of the same thing in my assignment.

This week we have had several unexpected changes in the mission and as such President Pack sent my trainer up to Gijon in Asturias, about 4 hours away by train. So, this is going to be a grand adventure with a lot of problem solving and figuring things out as I go along. I´m just hoping that over the next couple of weeks the mission still has power and water. I´ve decided this week that I am a fireman. I run from one fire to another putting it out, from a moldy piso in Alcala to a broken washing machine in A Coruña to a leaky piso in Santiago etc.

Anyways, my invitation for all of us is to look above the leaky, moldy pisos when the time is appropriate so that we can better deal with the problems when they come our way.

I love you all!

Elder Gustafson