Epistle - 11.4.09

Hello All!

Another wonderful week in the exciting land of DC. The weather is starting to cool down here, reaching below freezing at night out in the suburbs, but staying in the 40's at night here in down town. Down town is definitely the place to be in the winter, staying a pretty constant 10 degrees warmer than out in the suburbs.

Last week apparently I was just doing far too well when I e-mailed you, so I made sure to balance it out by getting sick again. Another fever, this time grabbing Some Tylenol Cold and Airborne, instead of last time's Sudafed PE (I've got to have variety in life!) and a Friday spent getting some paperwork done inside with a fleece on and voila I'm back and having fun again!

This week I'll share another funny miracle story with you

Last Sunday was Fast Sunday, where we go without food and drink until dinner time to come closer to God, and Sunday night was a Family Home Evening at President Mansell's house, and we ended up not having any time to eat before heading off to President Mansell's house. We brought Amanuel, who was confirmed Oct. 25th, and his wife and daughter came, who have not yet begun investigating the church so that was a big deal. We also invited another Ethiopian we're working with named Dawit. When we went to pick up Dawit we ended up having to park across a busy street from his house. I called him and told him to come across the street and we were waiting for him, then I stood outside the car so he could see me when he left his house. Right as he got to the street corner a whole pack of cars came from both directions. We were running late, and in my state of fasting an image of Moses parting the red sea came to mind, so I said a quick prayer in my heart, asking God to part these cars as He had parted the Red Sea for Moses long ago, so that we could get going since we were already late. I looked to my left just as the traffic light there turned yellow. I looked to my right, this one was a bit more stubborn, the flashing crosswalk signal was still at 2 seconds, but obediently counted down 2, 1, 0, yellow light. Looked to my left, red light. Looked to my right, red light. Not 3 seconds after that silent prayer Dawit crossed the street and we went off to our Family Home Evening. Coincidence? You can think so if you like. I'll play it safe and call it a miracle, wouldn't want to write off anything God does for fear of condemnation, you know?

Well all is lovely in lovely Washington DC. We have a General Authority coming in a couple weeks (One of the 70), so that should be fun.

I love you all. Keep me posted on life!

-Elder Ted E. Bear