Experience

Our stake is holding a missionary prep class and the teacher asked if the missionaries serving from the ward could email and share an experience.  Here is Austin's.  I did not edit so I think he thinks in Bulgarian so he is having a hard time with grammar.  Enjoy!

One of the most uplifting spiritual experinces of my mission came when I started to pray with earnest for help from God.  Praying has always been a hard thing for me to get into a good habit of saying.  I finally have gotten into the habit of saying them everyday now and the blessings are very apparant.  One of the blessings that I feel are directly related to constant prayer is when one night a family investagated the church with out us doing a single thing (in fact at the moment we were trying to reschedual for a different time.)  Here is what had happened.  We had been tracting and we were on the 2nd floor of a apartment complex after having worked from the top down with little succes.  Once we not on this door immidetly two dogs started barking extreemly loud bad sign number one.  The door was opened by a young girl who before we could even ask for her parents just left (bad sign #2.)  The mother then showed up and said that she had guests over (bad sign #3) then before we could even explain why we were their and give her our information since obviously the time wasn't right 3 guys came up searching for a person in the house (bad sign #4.)  She went off to get him and then came back with chocolates to treat us because it was her birthday (good sign chocolate bad sign birthday.)  Then her husband came to the door which 90% of the time turns out bad (bad sign #6) and then her father (#7.)  All the while this little dog is yapping its head of.  At this point we are just trying to say that we would come back at a later time, but we kept getting interupted.  Then dispiet not having said anything all that important, about the gosple, or about why we were there she invited us in (7 bad signs + 1 good sign =  let in?)  We were thoroughly confused and just agreed to go in.  We went in and she took us to their living room where her mother and father and daughter were celebrating her birthday.  She then went and brought us some dinner and we were able to talk a little about the gospel.  The only thing that really had helped us get in is that my companion could play the piano (lesson two it is important to know some type of musical instrument to get let into houses) and they wanted him to play a little.  Anyways I was an amazing night and after talking for awhile we all sang together and my companion played the piano.  Then the daughter played and she was amazing.  We then manage to rescheadule another meeting with them for the next night.  The amazing part about this story is that; One, we didn't really do anything, but pray for succes and did the work, two that night and the next was the only two nights that that family had free and were all together.  So that was our only chance to find them.  We have now been teaching them and they are some of the coolest people I have met in bulgaria and are progressing in the gosple.  That was also the first time in a year and a half that that had happened to me.  I know that prayer is the most powereful tool we have and can bring to pass miricules.  My life and mission has become so much better as I have relied on prayer and I can feel the litterl strength I recive from it everyday.  I know this church is the true church of God on the earth and I am so happy that I decided to serve a mission.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Ewell