Who can know the future...

Here's a little excerpt from a letter I sent to my brother out in the mission field.  I just felt like someone else might get some inspiration from the story as well. 

Samuel Smith was Joseph Smith's younger brother. He was the first missionary for the Restored Church. The first day out he travelled 25 miles (on foot!) trying to teach, but the people were unresponsive and cruel. He stopped for th night at an inn where he asked the owner if he would like to buy a Book of Mormon (imagine that - having to find yourself accomodations and asking people to buy the scriptures!). The innkeeper asked where he had gotten the book and Samuel told him Joseph's story. The innkeeper became angry and told Samuel to take his lies and go. Samuel spent the night under an apple tree.


The next morning he went to see John Greene, the leader of another church. He wasn't interested in the book, but agreed to ask people in his church if they wanted a copy. Unfortunately, 3 weeks later there had been no sales. But Mr. Greenes wife had read the book.

Samuel's mission was hard. When he went home he felt he had been very unsuccessful. He was discouraged. But what Samuel didn't know at the time was that his work would eventually lead to many people joining the Church. Two of these people were Mr. and Mrs. Greene. But Samuel had also given the Book of Mormon to a man named Phineas Young.

You might think that name sounds familiar. That's because he had a brother named Brigham. Brigham Young and Phineas Young went on to join the church, and Brigham went on to become the second prophet of the Church in this dispensation. I guess Samuel's mission was a lot more successful than he thought!  (here's the link to the scripture story:  http://lds.org/languages/childrenmaterials/scripturestories/CUR_2008_Stories_14_DC_12SamuelSmithsMission_31122_eng_.pdf

We thought of you when we read this as a family in scriptures. I love to hear about all the people you meet and teach, but I know there are times you feel discouraged by someone's lack of motivation or interest. Don't despair. We never know what influence today will have on the future. You are working hard and following the Spirit and the Lord will bless you and everyone in your path because of it.

That is a good reminder to me to have a little more faith in God's plan for each of us. Things have been a little dicey around here as we try to secure a placement for Dan's internship in order to finish up his education. While we thought we had everything worked out beautifully in our minds, it turns out God might have a different idea of when and where we need to go. Still don't know where that is. Wish I did. I'm trying to have the faith to believe that He has led us this far and will not leave us out in the cold at this point. At least not if we listen to the Spirit and let Him guide us. I'm also trying to keep Elder Holland's words in my mind from his talk "The Best is Yet to Be", http://lds.org/ensign/2010/01/the-best-is-yet-to-be?lang=eng.  He basically explains that we need to believe the Lord knows each of us and He has something in mind for us that is better than we could ever dream up on our own.