A Mission Miracle

About 2 weeks ago the mission received a donation from the Ashby Foundation. I was given the responsibility of going through it all and sorting it. My  first priority was to look for suits, ties, dark pants and shirts for out-going missionaries. Those things not suitable for missionary attire were to be donated to those in need throughout all the islands. I had just started on it Tuesday with the help of Sister McKnight. The last thing I did before I went to bed that night was to look through the few suits we had found and hang them up. When I went to bed our apartment looked like this and there was still more to sort.

The next morning I went downstairs and stumbled into Holden's office looking for something. There visiting Holden was a young man from Terrafal with his father. I greeted them in my limited Portuguese and then Holden told me the young man was leaving that day for Brazil to start his mission. I asked if he had all he needed. He bravely said yes. He had a yellowed white shirt on, visible holes in his shoes and no suit coat on, so I was a bit suspicious. I  asked Holden to be more specific in his questions. How many shirts? Does he have a suit? Well I almost panicked as he answered 3 shirts and no suit. I had only uncovered a handful of suits in the donation boxes yesterday and I hadn't seen any shirts in his size. But I raced upstairs and grabbed the 8 suits I had found and had him try them on. I was thinking if we could find one close I could alter it really fast. But to our amazement, he walked out of the bathroom ten minutes later in one of those suits and it fit him perfectly - everywhere!! I then raced through some unopened boxes and found him 4 shirts. Then out of the blue the first mission president called to Cape Verde, President Hobson, come to the office. We were shocked. He is the one who had been working with the Ashby foundation and had been instrumental in getting the clothing donations all here. He walked in about the time I came back with the shirts and he was so touched to see the donations being used and how handsome this young man looked in the suit. He helped him pick out a few ties and then noticed his shoes. I didn't know there were shoes in the shipment but President Hobson did! Brand new Rockports! President Hobson went down in the basement with me and we searched through several more unopened boxes until we found the one with the shoes. We raced upstairs and found out the young man's size. Sure enough there was a pair in the young man's size. The young man had been completely transformed head to toe in less than an hour. Looking at him President Hobson started tearing up, as did the young man's dad and then all the women. This young was radiating the spirit of joy and worthiness - for lack of a better words. I can't describe it. This was suppose to happen. What are the chances that I would walk in at just the right time (and that I had stayed up late to sort those suits just the night before), and that Pres. Hobson would show up when he did.  Heavenly Father wanted that young man looking and feeling like His representative.  And he did. This was not a coincidence. This was planned. And I think for both the young man and President Hobson, who is also leaving on a mission to Brazil in just a few weeks. He will be serving in the Recife Brazil Temple. He opened the city of Recife as a young missionary many years ago so you can imagine how thrilled he is. Our Father is in the details and because of that miracles still happen today. Here is Holden, the young man, and his father. And the next picture is of the Hobsons with Sister Cummings.