Woah! Sorry about the downer e-mail last week. I think I just forgot to include all the good that happened because it really wasn't as rough as I apparently made it sound. Stillwater is doing REALLY WELL.
It's a beautiful fall morning over here. I'm used to October 25th being the first snowfall, but it was 85 degrees on my birthday. So odd. I love it. This week was insanity.
We got to go on our first exchange of the transfer to Woodward. The exchange itself was wonderful, a lot of walking around to find people for them to teach and allowing the spirit to guide and direct conversation in an attempt to aid struggling missionaries. We also found a windmill museum in the middle of nowhere. And a sign that said, "Slapout...Population 8". It's always an adventure here in the middle of Oklahoma.
I was really pleased to have had this opportunity because it helped me apply a lot of what I've been studying... trying to strengthen my testimony in an attempt to utilize it for the growth of others. I think back on all the people in my life who solidified my testimony by sharing theirs with me. I want to be a part of that. I know that the closer I get to Christ, the more easily I can reach out to others. So I've been attempting to change my mindset to have an outlook of "It Matters Not". If I can live constantly in the service of others, listening to what they have to say and valuing their ideas and opinions, and losing myself, being less inward-centered, it will be easy to help others draw unto Christ. Because my own pride and selfishness won't be getting in the way. It makes me think of Alma as he is just caught in a trap of wanting to scream the Gospel but feeling restrained. He says, "I do not glory of myself but I glory in that which the Lord has commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." I've been thinking about that a lot lately.
We spent about 6 hours in the car driving to and from Woodward, which was a lot of glorious companionship bonding time, and can I just say, I really appreciate and look up to my companion. Sister Roberts has such a solid head on her shoulders and a huge heart. She is constantly trying to help me see my worth and strengthening others as well.
We had a few lessons this week, one with one of our investigators named Leroy who is trying to give up dipping, but he is so sincere and it is such a pleasure to see his heart softened every time he comes to church. Hearing stories from his past, I'm reminded of how merciful our father in Heaven is, and how individualized each of our purposes are. Leroy has had a lot of near-death experiences, and it is such a blessing to be a part of watching his change. He has set up a baptismal date in December, a little ways off to give him time to ease off his addiction, but I have a lot of faith that the Lord will make him stronger than his desires. Because the Lord's done it for me. :) And I've seen him do it for countless others.
But THIS WEEKEND WAS INSANE. We got to spend it with Sister Barlow, the office missionary, who came down to hang out with us.
Stillwater is a college town, home to the OSU Cowboys and this weekend was homecoming. We spent a lot of time out on the streets trying to contact people that way, getting people to take surveys, handing them pass-along cards, and trying to gather their information. On Friday night, we walked the streets of the "Walk About" where the sororities and fraternities have these massive, elaborate displays outside of their houses to show their devotion to the university and there were 90,000 PEOPLE there. We had to start narrowing down who we spoke to pretty specifically because the first several people we talked to just wanted to Bible-Bash with us. One woman told me she didn't believe my faith was real. I'm going to start making a tally of how often I hear that. I always thought hearing people rip apart our beliefs would be hard and damaging, but it's really not. More than anything, it makes my heart hurt for them, not doubt how firmly I stand.
WE WERE EXHAUSTED. But the next day was my birthday, and day two of homecoming: Game Day. We, once again, drove downtown and walked blocks and blocks until we got to the homecoming parade. This was the Okiest parade I've ever seen. There were a few floats, but most of it was semi-trucks, tractors, and lawn mowers (the kind you ride, and the kind you don't...) My companion, Sister Barlow, and our roommates, the Hermanas, all told me this parade was for my birthday, and I have to say, it was a blast. I'll attach a bundle of pictures. We also got to chat up a storm over there as the parade was letting up. Then we took off to beat traffic and handed pass-along cards through car windows.
We had a young single adult named Lil' Breezy take us to lunch at Braums. It was the best. He wrote me a birthday rap, and I don't think my life will ever be the same because of it. We ended up doing our studies in the middle of the day due to the game, doing some service for a sweet elderly lady, and then Brother and Sister Pettingill from Wichita Falls and my trainer, Hermana Gonzalez, came up to Stillwater to take us out to dinner with the Elders. It was a blast. Overall, it was a terrific day. A lot of commotion and joy in the air.
I had a chance to open my presents, all of which were so heartfelt, useful, and thoughtful, and the package of letters that was put together for me. It made my day. I almost wept as I read them. If you're lost, my mother and Dane Goodwin collaborated to contact just about every person I've ever met in my life to write me a birthday note and send it my way... and it meant so much to me. If I don't get a chance to write you back, just know I love you and value those notes so much. So thank you so much to everybody who participated in any way in sending something my way for my birthday. It was, indeed, the best birthday I've ever had.
I'll leave you with one more thought. I've been re-reading the Book of Mormon, this time highlighting Christlike Attributes as listed in Preach My Gospel and trying to follow the story line more exactly and how it applies to us in our day. I found a verse that has been weighing heavy on my mind. Lehi has seen the vision of the tree of life, which I talked a bit about in my last email, but several chapters later, as Nephi is explaining the symbolism of everything to his brothers...
"26. And they said unto me: What meaneth the river of water which our father saw?
27. And I said unto them that the water which my father saw was filthiness; and so much was his mind swallowed up in other things that he beheld not the filthiness of the water."
I was so impressed by Lehi's display of virtue in this instance. His mind is so focused on God's love and his words and doing all he can to gather his family and keep them close that he doesn't even take the time to glance over and comprehend the filth of the river. He saw that it was bad, and that was about all the energy he wasted on it. What a great example. Sometimes we let our minds wander, or even our actions revolve, around that which is not expedient to the Lord; things that are trivial and have very little eternal impact. But if we seldom take the time to acknowledge the filth of the world, we will have so much more time to focus on that which uplifts.
I love you all. I know God loves you all. I felt that very strongly this week. The Lord confirmed to me that everyone back home is being taken care of in His own way. I hope you feel it. I love you from states and states away.
Love,
Sister Best
Notable missionary gifts:
Elders Wilcox and Gonzales gave me a tie + directions. Photo attached
One of the Zone Leaders gave me the calculator watch from off of his wrist. Woah. Life made.
The Hermanas got me some leather-scented scratch-and-sniff stickers.
As for the photos...
Me and my sculpture buddy. If you look closely, you'll see a woman I had just given a pass-along card to checking out the pass-along card. Woot! (Oh, and wearing possibly one of the cutest dresses of all time. 1 of 2 adorable dresses I received for my birthday.)
Me and a semi-truck... in a parade... What?
The glorious tie + directions.
YESTERDAY WAS A SURGE OF EMOTION. We have had the hardest time getting people to come to church the entire twelve weeks I've been here. Which has been so very disappointing. The first transfer, we only ever had one person at church, and this transfer, same story, just Jesus Jr. at conference. But yesterday, we had FOUR people come to church. It was so wonderful. I was able to bear my testimony in Spanish for them and feel their repentance process begin and it was so satisfying. I love finding personal success in the progress of others. It feels rewarding to know the Lord trusts you with his children.
So, basically, one of the members of our ward gave us some really heart breaking news about one of our investigators that just shook me to the core (don't worry, I'm being really vague on purpose. Inquire within.) And then, not even thirty seconds later, President called and asked how I was doing.
"I'm doing okay, how are you?"
"I'm Wonderful! Why are you only okay?"
And I kept my cool for a solid 15 seconds before I kind of lost it. And he calmed me down.
And then slyly told me that I had been called as a Sister Training Leader in Stillwater.
So my emotions kind of turned around, probably selfishly, because this means I get to be companions with Sister Roberts, whom I love and has been my STL for my entire mission, and it gives me more opportunities to improve on things I'm still working on... like patience. And Christlike love. And giving constructive criticism (I especially dislike that one), but it also means I'll be serving English for quite a while, which is kind of a bummer. But Stillwater is only and hour from Enid... So when we go on exchanges I'll be able to come back and visit. I don't know. I just...woah. Anyway. Then we hung up and right that second, Jose called and told us he was outside for Spanish Sacrament. So in a matter of about six minutes I went for horrified to ecstatic. It's just a bunch of crazy happenings over here.
Later that night we learned that my companion, who earlier had made a deal with President to stay for one more transfer if he let her go at the end of it, is also coming to Stillwater to serve in the Spanish area. And the sisters in Stillwater live in the same house! So it should be quite the party. Her new companion, Hermana Anderson, is one of the missionaries I look up to the very most. I love her guts. So we should have a pretty darn good time.
It was a bizarre week. A lot of hand-off lessons to the Elders and preparing for that switchover, saying goodbye, praying and fasting (oh so much praying and fasting...) for my sweet and wonderful companion Hermana Hirschi. But we had a bundle of highlights:
-Sister Neff dyed my hair dark red in the kitchen sink at the church on p-day. All the Elders watched. It was real weird/awesome/there was pizza involved.
-We got to see Meet the Mormons the Tuesday before it was released in theaters. And it was so good. A lot of people commented on being able to see it already, and that makes me so glad. It truly was wonderful! So inspiring and uplifting. It makes you recognize that it doesn't take much to have a successful and fulfilling life; just the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the standards laid out for us.
-We ate a lot.
I love you love you love you all. Con todo mi corazon.
Fotos:
-This is Rosalinda, whom we love so much and visit her almost daily to read scriptures with her. She's amazing.
-The Hair Dying Ordeal
Sweet Family and Friends of mine, how I love you dearly! This week was magnificent! Every week is magnificent. But when you get a chance to hear from the Prophet and the Apostles, life gets even better. Because it was SO INTENSE. Let's see.. Let's see... This week was eternal.
Welp, I really don't want to leave Enid. I love this place. The people are so kind. Especially the members, they are so consecrated. And I have grown to love the young women and YSA of this ward. and apparently some of them read my blog... so shout out to Charity, Hannah and Rylan! hahah.
Abunch of the people we have been working with are growing leaps and bounds, especially this week. People who have been learning about the Gospel for a long time are finally keeping commitments. It's amazing. This is my favorite part of missionary work; watching people change. Jesus Jr. is someone who I have seen this difference in the most. I'm pretty much one hundred percent positive he is the reason I came to Enid at all. Last transfer, Hermana Chugg and I were on the North East side of town when the English Elders called us and told us we needed to come say a prayer with a guy they just met. So we cancelled our appointment, which is kind of unheard of, to drive across town and go see this random man. We both felt like he was priority. We ended up teaching Jesus Jr., his father, and his brother the Restoration. Later we would find out, this was the same day he got out of jail for something that he definitely did not do, but he was looking to change his life so he could stay out of trouble. And ever since then, he has been a sponge. Absorbing everything we share with him. We visit him every other day and share concept after concept that he loves. (In return, he cooks us slabs of meat and gives us Mexican Coke and dulces.)
And ladies and gentlemen, HE CAME TO CHURCH THIS WEEK. Well, rather, he came to conference. But he sat in the chapel and had to contain his emotions as he leaned over to me and whispered that this was the first time he had been to church in 13 years. Gah. I gave him a piece of paper to write down questions he had during the session and they were all so sincere. Questions about repentance and the Doctrine of Christ. I got emotional just sitting there, hearing what he was hearing. He was wearing translation equipment and it still didn't mask the power behind the words and voices of these ordained servants of God. Goodness. Ahh. Goodness.
Yesterday, we had another powerful lesson, the spirit was strong, and after he said the only prayer we've ever not had to help him with, he leaned over to me, and squeezed my arm, and said "yo voy a extranale mucho." uggh. Me too. But it's been such a blessing to be a part of his conversion. And now, it will be wonderful to see what happens next. The Lord is preparing him for great things.
I absolutely adored conference. It answered so many questions. I had so many questions about personal revelation and how we can receive answers to our questions. Conference blew me out of the water in that aspect. If you haven't had a chance to watch it, please do. Saturday Session was amazing, but the whole conference was about being prepared, not lowering your standard's to meet the World's standards because God's standard is immovable and correct. It opened my eyes. And made me fearful. We need to be strong. We need to be lights instead of subjects on which people can pick on and drag us down. If you want more insights on my thoughts on conference, let me know. but I'll quit dribblin' on so y'all can watch it for yourself. Ope, you caught me. "Y'all" is just too easy to say. Hahaha.
Pictures: Trying to get our buddy Jose to smile. not an easy task. ;)
We took all the books out of my bag and filled it with snacks so that Jesus Jr. (and the other missionaries) would stay awake during conference.
Sooo... A whole bundle of a lot happened this week (and every week for the last eight months). BUT GUESS WHAT?
I got a speeding ticket for the first time in my entire life. For going 35 MPH...in a little town called Kingfisher. It was such a sad, sad thing. That ticket was a hefty 150 bucks! I'll be paying that forthwith... I just wanted to complain because I'm too embarrassed to tell the rest of the missionaries, hahah. One of the other sisters got a speeding ticket a couple weeks ago (for going 80 in a 65...) and nobody will let her live it down. Especially because when you get pulled over on the mission, the President "grounds you" for thirty days and your companion has to drive. But when I sulked up to president and admitted that the reason we were late to the new missionary meeting was because I got pulled over for going 35 mph, he just looked at me and laughed and said, "Well I'm not going to take away your driving privileges for that. Just be careful".
So yeah! What else?
The General Women's Meeting was..uhm...off the hook, if you will. It was so good. The whole thing was on the importance of the temple, which was a little bit interesting seeing as we had an investigator there and we hadn't quite gotten to the temple yet, but on a very selfish level, it was wonderful. It talked all about the importance of keeping covenants and the light that we can be to those around us. It's not a burden to have to live the commandments, or, "the strict standards of the church", it is a blessing to know what we can do in this life to make our lives easier, happier, and better. Commandments are given to relieve us from temptation and trials... Yet we're so darn prideful. Sometimes we just don't wanna do it! Hahaha. In the words of Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Do we really need to obey ALL of God's commandments?" then he chuckled and said, "I think he knows something we don't know..." Then he goes on to rebuke women who define themselves by their Pinterest boards and their Instagram posts instead of their divine potential. If you didn't watch it, run now. You get to hear his heavy German accent say the word, "Pinterest" and it's the best.
Sunday was... SO DISAPPOINTING. You have this expectation as a missionary that you're basically marketing gold for free, so people should probably just jump right in and do what you invite them to do. And they promise you they're on board. But then you get to church. And there are people who tell you, "yeah, we'll be there!" Or even, "I'm on my way!" And they never show up... It is heartbreaking. Because you know the words that are being said, the spirit that is being felt, is exactly what that person needed. Uggh. We have five meetings on Sunday. All three hours of church and then ward council and correlation before and after. So by the fifth hour, usually we're exhausted, but we gather as missionaries in the kitchen and make sandwiches. This week I couldn't do it. I asked my companion if we could go home and take a nap instead of eat lunch, hahah. She was totally on board. On the way home, I had Hermana Hirschi dial president and the conversation went as follows,
"President, we think you should know that we are working our little tail ends off in every way, and there is not enough Spanish work to sustain both areas in Enid. We have one progressing investigator and he is on probation..."
President Walkenhorst: "Well you keep working your little tail ends off for the next two weeks and then we'll close your area."
And for some reason, that was not the response I was expecting... Hahah. I love this area. I love Enid. And I definitely don't want to leave yet. The ward, our one progressing investigator-Jesus Jr.-, my companion, I love them all so dearly. And this will now successfully be the second area I leave and it immediately gets shut down afterwards. Ugghh... Que triste. Pero vamos a perseverar! We'll keep going until they shut down this area. As for my companion, she may or may not stick around in the mission. She's still praying about it and studying it out. If she leaves, she'll go at the end of the transfer. That was the deal she made with president. I hope she chooses to stay. There are, no doubt, things you learn on your mission that you could not learn any other way. It is a progress of transformation that takes time and will bless her life so much... The transfer ends on October 16th. Her decision will be made by the tenth. And seeing as we'll both leave at the end of the transfer, I'll be celebrating my birthday with a bunch of strangers! Woot! ;)
There's been a lot of spiritual insight this week. We had Zone Conference, and a new missionary meeting, and church, and the General Women's Broadcast. So I'll just going to leave you with a few quotes, do with them what you will.
"If you don't feel inadequate, you're not trying hard enough." <--Thank goodness...
"We don't need to BE the best, we just need to GIVE our best."
"Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed bu reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's." -2 Chronicles 20:15
"...I will fight your battles." D+C 105:14
"Heaven will be full of those who have forgiven and those who have been forgiven."
"Your life should reflect your love of the savior...Rejoice in the Lord and be glad in it."
That's all, folks. I love you. God loves you.
Pictures:
My companion and I did Weekly Planning with cartons of Braums ice cream...Which seemed like a way good idea, but I am apparently super lactose intolerant. And ended up really quite ill. So that was fun.
Hermana Hirschi and I getting stood up by Jesus Jr. We're going to print out this picture and leave it at his door next time he's not home. It seems like a really good idea.
There were a lot of things that happened this week, but I'm going to go ahead and focus on those of greater importance... Oh but first, you should know, we spent three and a half hours mowing grass that was UP TO MY WAIST. Insanity. In the hot, humid Oklahoma sun. And grasshoppers and spiders and beetles kept getting all up in our bid'ness. So I just wanted to mention that... for sympathy? I don't know. Maybe just to humble you if you think your life is hard.
I received so much stinking revelation at church yesterday that it would shock you. I felt like every prayer I had ever had, every question I had ever asked, was answered. But all of this started on Saturday. Woah, forgive the sporadic nature of this email.
On Saturday my companion and I had the amazing opportunity to drive up to the city with Hannah and Rylan Richter, a couple of girls who joined the church with their family last year. And we got to watch them be sealed to their family. I feel so powerfully overwhelmed with the spirit that was felt at this sealing. I cannot honestly state that I had a testimony of Eternal families until that day. Being able to spend the entire morning with Hannah and Rylan felt reminiscent of my own sisters, specifically Katie (sorry others) and the idea that being with them for eternity was so incomprehensible, but it was an overwhelming feeling of joy. The spirit in the room as their family all kneeled together just turned your heart upside down. I wound up afterwards in the dressing room with the Bishop's wife just trying to compose ourselves because the spirit was all-consuming. This is what life is about. This is the purpose of all that we do. Our eternal goal is to become families, sealed together, living with God. nobody in that room could have denied the divinity of the priesthood power that was present. Nobody.
So on Sunday, the whole ward was re-energized. Because I swear that spirit carried over from the sealing to fill the entire ward. Or maybe it was just me. But one of the speakers in church talked about how the Book of Mormon is a record of a fallen people who had fallen because of their pride. And it was focused on how the more we are humbled, the happier and better we will become. But humility is hard. It takes a lot of work. You have to actually make those changes you don't want to make in order to feel that joy you are trying to implement. A lot of times the things that we THINK are hard, aren't actually hard at all. Satan just has a way of making us think they are insurmountable until we actually do them and acknowledge that we are more capable than we think we are. I sought revelation about obedience in Spanish Gospel principles, and then in Relief Society, we talked more about the sealing power. I just know this is God's plan. I have no doubt. It is so refreshing.
On Sunday night, I gave a talk in Spanish Sacrament Meeting on something that has been weighing on my mind pretty heavily lately. 2 Nephi 4: 17-24. How because of our flesh, we feel so weak, we feel a slave to our worldly habits. And sometimes we want to overcome them, to be made better, but we feel physically incapable. But I love what Nephi says. "I know is whom I have trusted..." He says he offered up his voice in prayer and continuously counseled with the Lord to make sure what he was doing was fine, and the Lord constantly reminded him about his strengths, and verified that he was doing enough. Those aren't direct quotes, but they might as well be. If you have good intentions, if you know you're doing what's right, you're doing enough. You don't need to be perfect, nobody expects you to be translated, our flesh is weak, sometimes unconquerable, but through God, we truly can do all things which are expedient in him.
I love you. Especially my family, mostly because the Lord has confirmed to me that we will be together for time and all eternity. Hopefully life is wonderful in Utah/Washington/California/New York/Canada/ wherever else you may be reading this...
Love you.
With all my heart.
GAH! So much.
Okay, love you.
Sister Best
Good morning sweet family of mine! They kicked us out of the library today and so we're at the church and I don't have my journal or my camera. So please forgive the lack of pizzaz that will be this letter home, but I'm thrilled to be here with you all! Hopefully all is well wherever you are.
This week has been fall-like weather, which made for a little more time to break out the bikes without risk of dying. And we just worked our tail ends off. I wasn't quite sure what else to do. My companion still feels positive she is not supposed to be here. And being the kind of person who does not quite know how to succor those who are going through tumultuous times, I decided that the best cure for apathy is hard work. So I made sure we always had appointments, lessons, members to come with us, with very little down time. We had back up plans for our back up plans. And it felt so good. The joy in missionary work really does come from the amount of work we put in. We taught over twenty lessons this week, found a member who hadn't been to church in years, visited several members who were struggling, and found a bundle of new investigators. And my companion, as much as she's struggling, still has not let that effect her work ethic. She gives it her all. She's obedient to the rules, she teaches with her heart, and her spanish is progressing leaps and bounds. The Lord has definitely blessed me with the language so that our investigators can understand us collectively. It's such a special sight to see others in tears from the spirit they have felt by the words you have said, directed by the Lord, in their language. It's definitely something I thought I was incapable. But this is hard. It's not fun to see somebody that you work with so well, that you love so much, feel like she's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Especially because I know how much a mission changes you, prepares you, and I still feel pretty darn green myself. But I will let her make her decision. She has her agency as much as anyone else does.
Our investigator pool is still fluctuating a bit... But we're working on it. We had to drop a couple of investigators because of their romantic intentions... and one of our investigators is moving back to El Salvador, and our most progressing investigator is on probation... I guess you could say we spend a lot of time on our knees trying to figure out how we could help these men, how we can better prepare for them to meet their needs. It's tricky. But it's still so worth it just to see them get on their knees and say their first prayer out loud... ever. Or to see grown men cry because they have felt the Lord's love in their lives. I always thought the phrase "It's the hardest work you'll ever love" was pretty cheesy, but it is pretty darn accurate. It's emotionally draining. But you get to see how special each one of God's children is to him. That he knows them and knows how to use us to best help them, no matter what the age difference, no matter how inadequate we may feel.
Something I studied this morning had to do with Christlike Attributes, I study it a lot because I believe it is the key to missionary work, but it said that becoming like Christ is a lifelong process. And it all starts with the little steps and decisions that we take and make every day. It's so common for us as human beings to see how far we are from perfection and give up, or break down, or feel inadequate. But we're only as inadequate as we convince ourselves we are. Because when it comes down to it, we have the potential to be like Jesus Christ, and our imperfections are just little rocks to help us get even closer to him (and to help us avoid pride ;) ). Another point I studied said that "You have to become a Christlike missionary, not just to missionary things." I think that's an easy trap to get caught in, but it applies so much outside of missionary work. You have to be a Christlike disciple, not just go to church. You have to have Christlike charity, not just doing something charitable once and pride yourself for it. It's an ongoing process of falling and getting back up. Man oh man is it a struggle, but you become so blessed for that which you conquer.
I love you guys. This email is probably horrendously stoic, and I apologize for that. I guess it's just been kind of crazy this week trying to stay focused so that my companion doesn't get depressed. But you all have my heart!
Adios! Que Dios les bendiga!
Hermana Mejor
Good morning, all!
I know it's Tuesday, but I promise we're not being disobedient. This week we had mission conference so we swapped our P-day yet again. Yesterday we got to hear from Elder Foster of the Quorum of the 70, and he spoke to us about prayer and the importance of relying on our Heavenly Father in all things. AND IT BLEW MY MIND. You would think this would be a pretty simple concept to grasp for a missionary, but sometimes we get so caught up in always making sure we're on time and have enough people to see and are talking to everyone and are doing service and coordinating schedules that... sometimes we forget to involve the Lord. Forget to be sincere in our prayers and specific and ask him for the things that we need, to guide us and direct us to the people that are ready. I have recognized that I was not counseling with the Lord nearly enough. But this counsel to be sure to pray sincerely about everything we're concerned about came in handy this week with my new companion!
My "daughter" is amazing. I love her. Her name is Hermana Hirschi and she's from Idaho. She's especially darling because for some reason she doesn't think Idaho is just northern Utah... No, I'm kidding. I really like messing with her because she's Idaho proud. She even works for Spud Harvest in the summers. ;) I love her. She's training me, to be honest. She works so hard, she is catching on so quickly, and she already loves the people she teaches and is a bomb-tastic teacher. So it has been an easy transition. I keep double checking with her to make sure she's okay because I feel like she's doing too well to be a new missionary, hahah.
However, yesterday, she did give me some pretty tough news. She said she has had this overwhelming feeling that she's not supposed to be here on her mission. She's struggling because she wants to be here and she's scared to go home but she feels sure that she is not supposed to be here... So she's been praying about it, and we're going to talk to our district leader today. The Lord also told me to encourage her to request a priesthood blessing from one of the elders, so we are planning on doing that when we are done emailing. I've been praying and praying and inviting her to receive a blessing is all I am sure of. It's interesting because while we were in trainer's meeting, President said something, and while I don't quite remember what his words were, I remember having a feeling that my companion would be likely to go home early. And something told me to have peace about that. This is one of the strangest things I've yet to experience, because I can tell she's being sincere in her desire to be here. Pray for her. :)
So this morning I was wrapped into my studies about putting trust in the Lord and found several scriptures that really helped me a lot. I know the Lord loves me. I can feel it for me. I definitely never felt that way 7 months ago. So now it's just trusting that BECAUSE he loves me, He can do miracles through us. The scriptures I found are some of my favorites. The obvious, Proverbs 3:5-6, and Alma 36:3. I just know that we need to recognize WHO we put our trust in. Trusting in ourselves will fail us every time, trusting in others will fail us even worse.
I love my family and those who have supported me all my life. I reflect back on those who have always helped me, cared for me, and strengthened me, and I am endlessly grateful. I know how special families are, and how much we as people are all connected in some broad way. We have this obligation to take care of one another. To uphold one another. We are responsible for answering each others prayers and being the flesh that God can work with to do so. And so I stand fully aware of how much the people in my life have done that for me. And I know you all are home doing the same thing for others.
Photos:
We found this toad and I thought it would be a good idea to bring it into our apartment while I grabbed my camera... And then it hopped out of my hands and we had to scramble to try and catch it... I guess we have rules for a reason or whatever.
Here's a picture of myself and Hermana Hirschi with Sister Chugg and her new companion!
