Across the Pond: The Small and Simple Things, and Halloween Day

Happy Halloween from London everyone!! :)

This year Halloween was a bit different from last. Instead of being in the English countryside, I got to be in the hustle and bustle, and crazy costumes of London. People sure do like to party here! It was funny to see all the different costumes on the tube. My companion and I even dressed up as well! I dressed up as Sister Zeng from China, and she dressed up as Sister Croft from Kaysville, Utah. haha. The Mullens (senior couple at the VC) even had us over for pumpkin carving & burgers this morning. I'll send some pictures!

Something that's been on my mind quite a lot lately is a story from the Old Testament. It was shared at least 4 times within the last week, and so I thought I would share it with you all as well. It's the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5. To start out Naaman's story, you should know he was the captain of the Syrian army. This was perhaps the most powerful army in the entire world at the time. Naaman however, had a disease called leprosy. Hearing tales of a prophet in the land, Naaman went and sought out Elisha. But when Naaman stood at the house of Elisha with his horses and chariot, Elisha sent a messenger out to meet him instead. The messenger said this "Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean." Now to be honest, I feel for Naaman at this point in the story. The river Jordan wasn't really the cleanest river, and why 7 times? This captain turned away in a rage. Luckily enough Naaman had a friend who persuaded him to have faith. He said "If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, when he saith to thee, wash, and be clean?" Well, Naaman did go, and did wash 7 times. Not 5, not 8, but 7. And he was made clean! I've thought a lot about this story this week, and I've learned a ton from it. For example, we need to have faith in the living prophets and apostles of God, and we need to have faith enough to know the Lord will heal us. The biggest thing I've taken away however, is that sometimes the council of God isn't to do the grand and mighty, but to work on the small and simple. Prayer, scripture study, service, and going to church may seem tedious and repetitive sometimes, but they can produce incredible miracles. I'm a witness to that! :)