As Clear As Mud

So today I was chatting with Sister Hutchings and she had me share an experience I had a few months ago. Here is the experience.

So I was with Evan in Shelbyville, TN. We were driving around one night looking for a house. We passed the house and needed to turn around. Evan saw a roundabout driveway and decided to pull around in there. Well we got in the driveway and the car started to slide so Evan stopped. Well we got stuck in the mud. So I had to get out and push. I couldn't move the car it was really stuck. A teenage boy came out of the house and asked who we were looking for. I told him no one but we just were stuck in their driveway. He went in and got his uncle and they helped me push the car out. After we got the car unstuck I talked to the uncle whose name is Marco. He told me that he and his family had talked to missionaries before about a year ago but the family he was staying with told the missionaries not to stop by any more. He said he was still interested and invited us to come back in a few days.

We show up for our appointment and teach Marco and his wife about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We talked a lot about prayer and how God will answer our prayers and guide us in our lives. Marco then told us a story. He said that a few weeks ago he had been put in jail and was going to get deported. Marco prayed hard that he wouldn't have to leave so that he and his family could stay together. Well because of some sever snow storms the people that were coming to get him were unable to make it. So the just decided to release Marco. He told us that he prayed and told God he would do the right things if God would just let him be with his family. In jail Marco began to study the Bible with a religious group there. He signed up to have them come visit him at his home after he got out. Well a few weeks had pasted by and the two guys never showed up. Then we showed up stuck in the drive way. He saw and felt that as an answer to his prayer. He knew that God sent us there to him and his family to share the gospel with him.

It was a great experience. Marco and his family started coming to church and began to see that blessings come it from keeping the commandments. Marco received a steady job and he and his family were happy. After a month though Marco and his family began to drift away from the church and eventually stopped meeting with us.

That wasn't the ending Sister Hutchings was anticipating. We began to discuss the situation. We talked about how God works these miracles to put people in the right place at the right time. God made sure it snowed so Marco could stay with his family, He made sure the snow melted so the drive way would be muddy, He lead us to a new area and house knowing we would miss it and have to turn around, and He had prepared Marco spiritually to receive the gospel message we have to share. As we talked about this I began to see times where God has prepared the path for me to reach my goal or when he had placed me in the right place at the right time to find someone or something I needed. God knows each of us personally. He knows exactly what we need. He sees the big picture and has the way planned out for us to receive joy. But ultimately it comes down to us and what decisions we make. It is up to us to see these miracles from God. To recognize these instances that aren't coincidences. Then it is us to us to act on them. As we have faith to take the step on the own know path that God has laid before us He will prepare the way for us to receive joy and happiness. God does this for us because he loves us and he wants us to be happy. It is up to us to stay focused though. Hard times will come along the path. We just have to rely on God and work through them. Great blessings will come along the way that cause us to forget the great things God has done for us. This causes us to forget about God and go after things of the world. This will lead us off the path God has directed us onto. So it is up to us to always rely on God, to pray to him for guidance when things are hard and to thank him for all our many blessings when things go great. We need to look at the moments in our lives and see where God is leading us. We need to work to see the big picture so when hard times and distraction come up we can clearly see where God is trying to lead us in our lives. If we let the trials and things of the world distract us from the big picture our vision will only be as clear as mud. And if that is your view it will be hard to follow God. I know through prayer and scripture study that God will guide us and help us see the big picture. We will also receive the strength and guidance we need to stay on the right path. We just had to work with God and trust that path he leads us on.