Look for the Miracles, Even Under Difficult Circumstances

Recently, I was assigned to speak at a youth conference devotional at the Heber Valley Camp. I felt impressed to speak to them about the challenges the youth experience today.

Of course, that list gets long pretty quickly. Even though life can be difficult, and sometimes we feel like nothing is going right, if we keep searching for the Lord’s influence, we can find miracles as we stay on the covenant path.

When my wife and I served as mission leaders in the Brazil Fortaleza East Mission, our motto was “Mission of Miracles.” At every opportunity, we would encourage the missionaries to look for the many miracles that would come their way as they were obedient and worked hard. We encouraged the missionaries to record the miracles in writing and share them with us. Over the course of three years, we received nearly 1,000 written stories of miracles our missionaries had witnessed.

One morning, while on my way to a zone conference, I received a call from one of the office elders. He asked me to stop by the store and get bottled water for the missionaries, as there was none available at the meeting site. I always strive to be early to my meetings, and I worried if I would have enough time. However, with the heat of Fortaleza, the alternative was not an option.

When I stopped at the store, I parked out on the road where I could make a quick getaway. I ran up the ramp to the front door, grabbed a cart and went quickly to the stack of bottled water. I threw some in the cart and hurried to the cashier.

In the first aisle I turned down, there was an elderly woman pushing her cart slowly down the middle of the aisle. Rather than force my way around her, I turned around and went down the next aisle. There was a forklift in that aisle that made the passage impossible. So, I reversed the course and tried the next aisle.

As I raced down that aisle, I could see the cashiers in front of me; however, all but one had a long line. Just before getting to the only available cashier, the sweet, elderly lady who initially blocked my way, moved in front of me. I was forced to wait in another line as her cart was full.

I selected a cashier who was helping a man purchase basic necessities, but his card was not working. He requested patience while attempting to resolve the issue by phone. After a few minutes with no resolution, my impatience grew. I asked the cashier his total, and upon learning it was around $25, I offered to pay for it with my water. The gentleman was surprised and genuinely appreciative, thanking me as I nodded.

After I handed cash to the cashier, she left to get change. I called out, explaining I didn’t need change — I just wanted to buy the water as I was running late.

After finally paying for the water, the same elderly lady who had delayed me twice before blocked my path with her cart as I was leaving the store. Unable to pass on the narrow sidewalk, I slowly followed her to my car.

After loading the water, I was ready to leave, but two cars waiting for my spot blocked my exit. I had to ask one driver to move so I could leave.

Needless to say, I arrived at the zone conference late, and I was very frustrated. Trying to justify my tardiness, I told the entire story to the missionaries. They laughed at the story and my obvious frustration.

Later during lunch, I was still expressing my frustration at the circumstances, when one of our sister missionaries, Sister Kiane Matzenbacher, of Florianópolis, Brazil, said, “But President, you are always teaching us to look for the miracles around us. Don’t you think that maybe you were the miracle today for that man that couldn’t buy food for his family?”

She was correct. I was humbled and expressed appreciation to the “student” who taught the “teacher” an important lesson.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own difficult circumstances or worries that we don’t see the miracles happening around us. They are there, and as we forget ourselves, we can see them.