Last Thursday (April 17th) we drove to Lilongwe and we stayed with E/S Prete. President and Sister Padovich and Elder & Sister Taggart drove over from Lusaka, Zambia and we all met there. Elder Taggart is also in the Mission presidency so they were able to have a good meeting. Taggarts go home in a couple of weeks.
While in Lilongwe the Mission President interviewed and selected a new Branch President. As you may remember this is the Branch where we had so many problems last fall with a group that didn't like the Branch President, caused all sorts of difficulties and attempted to split off into their own Branch. We spent a lot of time back and forth trying to help. We visited their homes and pleaded with them to realize what they were doing wrong and to come back to the Branch. When Pretes arrived in Lilongwe it really helped a lot and they were able to visit the members and listen as they talked things out. The Branch did become united again and the ones who were aposticizing realized that they had been led astray by the adversary. They apologized and went about trying to fix the damage they had done and now everyone is back in activity at the Branch and they are all friends again.
One of these men was just called to be the Branch President and one is a counsellor. He also kept one of the previous counsellors. We had a great Sacrament meeting and they bore their testimonies and talked a bit about their previous troubles and how they now are united and love each other and will support each other. The Branch President that was released called the new Presidency up when he bore his testimony and hugged them each and said he would help and support them and encouraged the members to do the same. It was really a good experience to see all this take place.
That is the kind of day that makes all this worthwhile. As they bore testimonies Elder Bullock was thanked 2 or 3 times for all that he had done to help them. After the meetings the new President came and got Elder Bullock and said, "What do I do now?" He had his Branch council waiting for a meeting. They talked for a few minutes and Elder Bullock told him what he needed to do for the meeting and that Elder Prete would be there to train and help in any way they needed. He will do fine. The new President is a good man and we knew that all along. We are so glad that we were able to help him turn things around.
3 comments:
Oh this story just gives me goose bumps. I am THRILLED to hear the update. The Lord is truly is charge. Love it. I bet that meeting made your whole mission worth it. ; )
I'm so glad that things have worked out so well. Now the shoe is on the other foot and he will get to walk a mile in the others footsteps. The Lord will guide both the past and the present president. I'm glad that they have made amends.
You and Jim have made such a difference in the lives of so many! It is amazing how things can improve when working with the Spirit! Elder Gene R Cook gave a talk several years ago about micro-management...this experience, the one with the father and two sons, and the one with the new investigator from France are evidence of how the Lord is able to micro-manage his work on this earth. Thank you for sharing your experiences!!!
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