Cool Happens

Hey Guys,

A cool experience happened this week. At about 10 in the morning on Saturday, I get a call from the Branch President. He says, Hey Elder Houk I was wondering if you could or maybe not, do me a favor, and give a talk tomorrow in Sacrament meeting. Could you do it? Trust me I really wanted to say, I don't know, I'm sure my companion would just LOVE to do it much more than me! haha. But for some reason I said yeah, no problem, I can help you out. After that call, I went and grabbed my patriarchal blessing, personal study journal and said a prayer. And I started reading and it started coming to me slowly but surely. We left to teach English. After, we came home for lunch I spent a little time on it then left again to go to an activity. We had some fun and I met the Branch President there. He wondered if I could still do it and of course said yes. We cleaned up the church for the following day and headed home for the night. I decided that I was going to do this talk with only notes and not write out everything word for word. I had always wanted to do that, but I always thought my first time doing it would be my homecoming talk, in English. haha. 

There were points of the night where I was stressed and felt that I would not be able to do it. But I kept praying for help. I realized what I needed was faith. The faith to know that if I did my part the Lord will make up the rest. So I went to bed and woke up. My morning prayer was praying for the faith and the gift of tongues. I said my talk once fully in Romanian while getting ready and I felt strangely comfortable and confident. We traveled to the church and did all the normal things, talking to people, setting up the sacrament and everything and wasn't feeling too nervous, it was weird. When I was called up to give my talk I went up with my notes and scriptures and went for it. I can usually tell if something goes good or not by the way I feel at the end. I knew that it wasn't perfect, I messed up here and there, but I knew, without a doubt, that the Lord helped me deliver that talk. And I felt good about it. An investigator told me forte bine (very well). A sister told me she cried. A member referenced something she liked in my talk relating to the lesson, and the beauty of it all was that I KNEW that it wasn't me. It wasn't my talk at all, but the Lord's. Because it was the Spirit and I was just grateful enough to be His instrument. I didn't think I could do it and I couldn't. It took me to realize that I needed the Lord and his Spirit. All I needed to do was trust Him enough to accept and humble myself enough to ask Him to help me. It was a great experience for me and a spiritual step to learning the ways of the Spirit. 

I hope you guys have a great week and I love you all!

Elder Houk

More cool news!
Published on February 10, 2015
Apostle Russell M. Nelson, who 25 years ago blessed Romania, sent a video message inspiring members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and all the people of Romania, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the this historic moment. We invite you to listen to the message!

Published on Feb 10, 2015

Apostolul Russell M. Nelson, cel care în urmă cu 25 de ani a binecuvântat România, a trimis un mesaj video înălţător membrilor Bisericii lui Isus Hristos a Sfinţilor din Zilele din Urmă şi tuturor oamenilor din România, cu ocazia sărbătoririi a 25 de ani de la acest moment istoric. Vă invităm să-i ascultaţi mesajul!