Wednesday, May 15th
The first thing I did when we got to the office today was to check on CHAS to see if there was any change on our project. IT HAS BEEN APPROVED!!! I was so excited that I wanted to scream and dance but Alan wouldn’t let me. I don’t know how he can just sit there and smile when this is sooooo HUGE!!! The only thing I can compare it to is having a baby. You go through all of this waiting and agony and in the end you feel such joy! I cried when I shared the news with the rest of our office at our morning prayer meeting. They are all thrilled too. Then we called Sione and asked him to come into the office.
Sione was a wreck when he got to our office. He didn’t know if the project had been turned down or approved. He didn’t have to wait long to find out. As soon as he came in I handed him the paper with all of the approvals on it. He cried, I cried and he said, "My heart has stopped beating!" when I hugged him he was trembling all over. We talked with him about the approval and he was just overcome with joy. They have waited so long for this help. As he left he said, "You have saved a village, you are the answer to our prayers. When I found you I found heaven." How can I put into words the joy I feel right now? Being an instrument in the Lord's hands is indescribable. What a privilege it is for us to be here serving this mission!
The rest of the day I was walking on air. I wrote to the kids and shared the news with them, along with a picture of Sione with us and the approval paper. How I miss our family today. When something this wonderful happens in your life, you want to be surrounded by the ones you love the most so you can share the joy with them. I guess this time an email will have to do.
When I went to Liahona this afternoon to work on the computer, we received an email from New Zealand with the formal letter of approval attacked. They also sent a schedule of reports that we will need to send to them as the project proceeds. Now the work begins.
