11-5-17 the Plan of Salvation

Kaise hei hamaar julum parivaar! 

Short on time again today, so I'll be brief! 

It was a really good last week. On Tuesday we blitzed the area with Sigatoka again and found heaps of people! It was a humbling day because I went with Elder Dempsey while Elder Tui'one went with Elder Jackson. We had been rejected by about seven houses when we decided to stop at a store for an escape from the sun and a drink. Elder Dempsey and I were pretty discouraged when we got a call from the other elders that they were ready to meet up. When they heard what happened to us, and when we heard that they'd just gotten 7 new investigators in the last hour, Elder Jackson decided to take me for one more OYM before we moved onto a different area. We were able to get into a house and have an awesome lesson with a really sweet family. That, to me, was a lesson of perseverance; you never know what the next house will hold, despite a day full of rejections. That last lesson was a really nice refresher and motivator, we were able to move onto the next area with a new drive and found more people. 

On Friday night, we got a pretty late call from our bishop's second counselor. Though obviously a bit shaken over the phone and in need of assistance, I was not at all expecting to hear what he needed us to do. He and his wife had just delivered their still-born baby, and he needed help digging the grave the next morning for the service in the afternoon. For such a request, he actually seemed really strong. He seemed more uncomfortably just asking us for the assistance, but of course we were more than willing to help. I know it happens often, but I can't imagine the emotional scarring that would have on someone; especially the mother. When we met with Brother Singh at the grave site the next morning, as always, he was smiling and ready to tend to OUR needs as we dug. It was hard, digging such a small grave, and especially watching them pull the tiny casket out of the back of the van. Both he and his wife looked like they were holding up really well at the burial service. Though a bit broken, it spoke huge volumes to me how strong their testimony of the Plan of Salvation is. There was another service that night at their home, and I was asked to share a bit about the Plan of Salvation. I talked about eternal families and was able to share my testimony of the God's great plan for us in Hindi to non-member family members who were present. It was an excellent opportunity to teach, and afterwards, Brother Singh gave some excellent closing remarks. He talked about how blessed he was to know that his son was able to pass onto the next life without any temptation and imperfection, and how blessed we are as saints to know without doubt that he is in the highest degree of glory with our father in heaven. He went on to say that he and Sister Singh decided that their new solemn responsibility was to keep themselves faithful and worthy to reach the same degree of glory as their son that they might achieve eternity with him. To most people, death is probably one of the hardest things anybody can go through. It's incredible how blessed we as saints are to know God's plan for us, and that death is, by no means whatsoever, the end of family. Throughout my mission, I've seen people I've come close to pass on, I've been able to dress a body, and dig/ be a part of the dedication of a grave. As I prayed about all these things, I received a bit of a prompting that the Lord is preparing me to do a lot of work for those who have passed on. 

Okay everybody else is out of time, so I'll close here. I love this gospel so much and I love you all sooo much! Glad everything back home is going well, I love yous! Have a great and blessed week! 

Khyaal rakna, 
Elder Ishibashi