Sister Ann Elgaaen in Houston, Texas South: October 14, 2019 "Be Healed"

Hi family and friends! This week we schedualed 2 baptisms!! They will be held this Saturday for Adah and Masen! I will keep you posted.

On Wednesday the 9th of October, we rose from bed early to quickly prepare for Zone confrence which would begin promptly at 8 a.m.. We were picked up by the Galveston sisters who drove us 45 minutes to the church where the confrence was being held; everything was perfectly normal... or so we thought.

Lunch time came and there was an assortment of salads and fruit. We piled our plates full of the delicious food and sat at a table where a companionship of two sisters, who were our close friends, joined us opposite to where we were seated. One of the sisters, sister Aung, has a sevear allergy to peanuts, and the ward members who provided the meal were very aware of it. They had made sure NOT to have anything that contained peanuts even optional on the lunch table.

We ate lunch and were exited when they brought out root beer floats for the missionaries. We each had one, but only about 3 bites in Sister Aung began to feel sick. I asked if she needed to go lie down or if she would like me to call for our mission nurse. She said she would be fine, but as time went on she began to get progressively worse.

Eventually she was leaning over with tears in her eyes trying to breath. Her companion asked her to pull out the epy pen and had it in hand, but the sister didn't want her to use it. Myself and others constantly were reaching out to her, asking her if she needed anything and tried to do all we could to help her feel better.

Time seemed to speed up as Sister Guthrey, our mission presidents wife, came over to her and instructed her to move into a different room. Sister Aung relied heavily on sister Guthrey as they slowly began the walk out of the gym. Not even ten steps later sister Aung went limp. I watched as Sister Guthrey tried to support her weight but eventually ended up guiding her to the floor where she lay motionless.

I quickly bowed my head and offered a prayer for her.

Fear filled me inside and out. My hands shook and my eyes filled with tears, all that I could think about was loosing sister Aung. She had stopped breathing and her companion ran to her side dropping to the floor with the epy pen in hand. She stabbed it as quickly as she could in Sister Aung's leg but had forgotten to take he cap off. Precious time ticked as Sister Aung lay lifeless on the floor. I pressed my eyes closed as her companion finally jabbed the epy pen into sister Aung. We waited. But nothing happened.

Soon President Guthrey was kneeling on the floor and with his hands on Sister Aung's head. The Priesthood blessing was given quietly and urgently.

As president Guthrey uttered the words "Be healed" Sister Aung suddenly sucked in a deep breath, sending fresh tears to my eyes that streamed down my face. She would be ok.

The Priesthood is the power and authority to act in God's name. This experience has helped me understand deeper how wonderful this gift from heaven is. It was no coincidence that it was only after the priesthood blessing where Sister Aung was able to recover quickly. The ambulance came and giant men stood over her ready to take her to the hospital, as they would with any other person that experienced something such as this, but through the priesthood blessing she was able to recover enough where that wasn't necessary.

This last general confrence during the women's session our prophet said,

"Every woman and every man who makes covenants with God and keeps those covenants, and who participates worthily in priesthood ordinances, has direct access to the power of God. Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power.

The heavens are just as open to women who are endowed with God’s power flowing from their priesthood covenants as they are to men who bear the priesthood. I pray that truth will register upon each of your hearts because I believe it will change your life." (President Russell M. Nelson)

I know that this is the true church on the earth today, for no other church has the priesthood power given to them by God! We MUST continue fighting for what is right and constantly strive to become more fully converted to this gospel.

Our father in heaven loves each and every one of us, he has given the priesthood power to us on this earth today and we must remember to constantly stay worthy to receive blessings from the Priesthood.

Sister Aung is doing wonderful, but I may never look at root beer floats the same way again.

I hope you all have the BEST WEEK EVER!!