God's Tender Mercy

Wow! Looks like yall had a good time in Disneyland! Thanks for the pictures. I love hearing from you each week. Thanks for taking the time to write me!This last week has been pretty awesome. I learned so much in a short amount of time: funny how trials can do that to you. I was pretty much the senior companion which taught me a lot. It helped me realized how much I really do know... and how much I don't. It really was good. I had multiple special experiences while I was in Carnton. I spent eight days there. There is one experience, however, that I think my readers will find quite interesting. During my first transfer, I asked for a blessing. Elder Rudy, my District Leader at the time, gave it. He is from West Jordan actually, he returned this last transfer. In the blessing, I was told that during my mission I would come across many people members and non-members alike that I would be able to connect with. They would 'be able to strengthen me, and I in turn strengthen them more than any companion ever could'. This blessing has helped me understand more fully my individual purpose as a missionary. Since I have come to Tennessee, I have understood why it was so important that I serve the Lord in this capacity. It is funny how He asks such small sacrifices from each of us then turns around and blesses us even more. We truly are an over-blessed people. This last week, this blessing came to pass in such an obvious manner that it brings me to tears just thinking about it. In Carnton, we stay with couple that were converts to the church about 20-30 years ago. The husband has Parkinson's disease. He is one of the sweetest men I have ever met. He was talking to me one morning while I was eating breakfast. He asked me why I decided to come out on a mission. I told him about my past and about Tyler. He was quiet for a little while then told me that he had been introduced to the church by a girl he was dating. She found out she had Leukemia. They were going to get married, but she passed away before that happened. This connection alone was very special for me. He had known in a way, what I had gone through. The very next morning, his wife, Sister Smith and I talked about my being a widow at a young age. She then continued to tell me that she had been married a year and ten days to her first husband when she had come home to find him murdered by a house robber. We talked for quite some time about our lives after these traumatic events. She was not a member of the church at the time and had been very bitter towards God and the world around her. We talked about the Gospel and rejoiced in our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ truly takes away the sting of death. I was supposed to leave their home last Thursday. They didn't want me to leave. They called President and asked if I could stay in Carnton with them even though Sister Lutz was doing much better. President prayed and thought it best that I go back to Clarksville. I spoke with Brother Smith last night before I left their home. He told me that I had blessed him and his wife more than I could ever understand. He also told me that I would forever be welcome in their home. I am so grateful for this tender mercy that my Father in Heaven has chosen to bestow upon me. He knows every single one of His children. He knows our strengths, weaknesses, thoughts, needs, intents, motivations, and desires. He knows what we need and He provides when we do all that is required of us. I love being able to serve Him. It is such a small sacrifice of my time and will in comparison to the multitude of blessings that He has been pouring out upon me. I love you all so much! Keep praying, reading your scriptures, going to church, bearing testimony to family and friends, going to the temple, and looking for missionary experiences. What we have is priceless. It is everything, and the Lord has called us to be His mouthpiece to the world... we are members of His church!Love, Sister Cassie Thacker