On Saving Gadsden County

As missionaries, we are continually challenged to adjust to our own limitations and to the limitations of others. We would love to "save" all of Gadsden County! A few days ago, we wrote to our mission president, sharing some of our challenges. We knew of his very busy schedule and didn't expect a reply right away. Immediately after receiving our e-mail he wrote back:

Dear Elder and Sister Zabriskie,
Thank you for the excellent detail. There is so much more we do not know than we know. What we do know is that you have been sent to the (name withheld)for their redemption. The Lord loves and trusts you enough to place these beautiful people in your hands. Do not allow fears and doubts to linger long. You deserve to feel a peace and warmth regarding the progress that is taking place. The adversary always turns nasty when the stakes are so high. He wants everyone to lose their confidence and their cool. He has tremendous bluster as he seeks to stir up the hearts to anger. Our greatest weapon is the Spirit of love and peace. We must patiently apply this healing power to still the storm that seeks to rage. We must bind up the broken heart, strengthen the feeble knees and calm the troubled sea. I do not know exactly what to do but I do know exactly how we must do it. I know that you are imperfectly perfect for the assignment with which He has entrusted you. His grace is sufficient for you because you love much and will submit to anything He asks you to do, in any way He asks you to do it. So ONWARD into the fog with a humble, submissive, love that will conquer the chaos. I love you both very much.
President

Oh, how we needed his confidence when ours was weak! Later that day, we thanked him for his wonderful response. His eyes filled with tears and he pointed to the heavens, replying, "Isn't He great?"

Yes, He is!

Sunday was our ward conference. We are so happy that our "ward" was more accurately reclassified as a "branch" and that the stake boundaries are being redrawn giving us about 5 new families. A few families here in Quincy have been holding things together with a band-aid for a long time. This reorganization is a GOOD thing, giving more flexibility in making some long-overdue decisions. It has been quite a struggle, yet, today as we sat in the gospel essentials class, I counted ten new people eagerly progressing in the gospel, all of whom are new since we came. We were especially thrilled to see Edith, our Haitian friend, back, whom we hadn't seen in a couple of months. The deep and abiding relationships we have made are so heart-warming. After the sacrament meeting we enjoyed a very nice dinner together; oh, boy, more notches to be let out of our bigger and bigger belts. There are some really good cooks here, especially my friend Angela who has promised me a cookbook of her recipes before we leave. (Between Cora's and Angela's recipes I may have a more successful book next time.)

We are so grateful for Angela and Bruce's friendship. Her heart is as big as the ocean and has taken 20-year-old Elba, single mother of two, under her wing. Angela is the nurturing mom Elba never had, teaching her to sew, how to manage her children, set the table, budget, you name it. Angela is the perfect example of Christ-like charity. Not many people would extend themselves to someone like this, doing sleepovers, feeding the horses, taking Elba and her kids to the doctor, sorting out her school problems,and whatever else is needed. Elba is going to be baptized on June 3, her 20th birthday, and the Rowans are giving her a big birthday party at their home. Don't you love it?!

Saturday, Elder Z cut 7 acres of their pasture on Bruce's big tractor. Angela took me to a candle party so I could make some new acquaintances, hoping to find someone new to teach. We were blessed with just the right person there, a transplant from Indiana who served on the city council back in her hometown with a member of the church. She was curious about our work, saying she didn't like any of the churches she had attended here. Angela invited her come to our church, I invited us over to talk about the gospel, and she said she would love it and thought her husband would also. Bliss! Monday the Rowans took the Summerhays and us on a lovely trip in their boat down the Apalachicola River. We are still teaching Bruce once a week on Mondays, our P-day.

A couple of weeks ago, most of the senior missionaries were given permission to do an overnight get-a-way to Monroeville, Alabama to see the play, "To Kill a Mockingbird." Monroeville is the birthplace of Harper Lee, the author and close friend of Truman Capote, also of Monroeville. Several of the characters in the award-winning book and movie were based upon people Lee knew in the town. The beautiful old courthouse was the model for the courtroom in the movie starring Gregory Peck. Elder Zabriskie and four other Elders were "summoned" as jurors for the trial. What a sight, five Mormon missionaries proudly wearing their name badges, deciding the fate of a wrongfully-accused black man! And they would not let us take any pictures . . .

Now, for the best fish story ever. My two sisters and their husbands came for a short visit from North Carolina. After a couple of unsuccessful days of fishing, I felt "inspired" to invite a little divine intervention down on the pier the last day of their stay. I walked to the end of the pier, raised my arms to the heavens and said,

"Lord, my family came a long way to fish here. Now, I have really built this place up to be a BIG fishing hole, and we need some fish! Okay?!"

Nobody's believing I'm doing this. Miraculously, within five minutes a fisherman walks out on the pier and asks, "Would you guys like to have some fish," offering a much-wanted large bag of speckled perch. Now we could have the fish fry we dreamed of! Then he offered to not only give them to us but to clean them, filet them, with or without the ribs in the fish. He whipped out his electric knife and before you could say, "fish fry" the whole mess of fish were ready for the deep cooker. I just imagined Heavenly Father having such a good time with all of us about this, and I smugly said, "Sure didn't take Him long to answer that prayer, did it?!" My sister was tickled to have a good fish story to tell her Baptist Sunday school class. . .

There's more: the fisherman also offered his condo free of charge to any of us who wanted to have a little vacation in Pensacola! Well, after all of this, I later told Elder Z to go over to his cabin and invite him to our fish fry. Unfortunately, our fisherman friend declined but Elder Z came back with another big bag of fish. Who says we don't have miracles today? Must be something about the fish. . .

This has turned into a long epistle, not so much about "saving" Gadsden County but saving ourselves through the tender mercies of Him whom we adore. We send our love and best wishes. Thank you for your prayers and concerns for us. Don't forget to WRITE . . . we miss you.

Elder and Sister Z