I have found the reason I was transferred here. A couple reasons actually. There are definitely people I've met this week that I NEEDED to meet. They needed me as much as I needed them and I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has led me to these people. This week has been much much better than the last few. I've finally accepted that I'm not in Riverton, and I really do love the people here. My district leader Elder Cleveland is super awesome and did really inspiring trainings on the Book of Mormon, and on OYM's (open your mouth...aka talk to EVERYONE you see) and since then I've just really felt that I can do this. It doesn't matter what area I'm in, the gospel is the same, the people are still Heavenly father's children who need our help to return to him. The work is done differently in different stakes but the work, the goal, is still the same. There are people to teach EVERYWHERE, but you aren't going to find them if you aren't putting forth ALL of your effort PLUS extra...if you aren't doing all you can....why would Heavenly Father trust you with His precious children? So I've decided that no matter what trials come my way, no matter what anyone says or does to me...I am going to be the best missionary I can be in every area, with every companion, every day. It's going to be hard but I know with the Lord's guidance I can do it. I just need to have faith. Elder Roberson (from my MTC Salty Cucamunga District) sent me a quote today that I just LOVE. It was "You see what you look for. If you're looking for bad, you will see it everywhere. If you look for good, you will see it in every place." It is so true.
So one person that I met this week and absolutely adore is Sister Johansen. She is an active member. We met her OYMing. We were riding our bikes down her street and she was trying to pull her trash cans back up the house. I quickly hopped off my bike and said hello and grabbed the trash can to help her. Turns out, she had just had an intense procedure and so she wasn't feeling good and was very grateful for the help. We ended up getting talking and she really really needs spiritual guidance. She is going through a LOT of extremely hard things, and I can't even imagine what would've happened if we hadn't met her. It was definitely not a coincidence that our dinner had cancelled that night so that we could be on that street, at that time. We were led to her. I will never be frustrated again when someone cancels dinner. Now when it happens, I'm going to look for the reason it was cancelled.
Another person I met was a teenager named Heidi, she is leaving for her mission in a few weeks, but we got to sit and talk to her for a while about the MTC and mission field life. It was neat, it felt like when I would hang out with Sister Curtis and Sister Redger. It made me miss them but so thankful for their guidance and love and willingness to answer all my questions. Talking about the excitement of a mission helped me get re-excited and remember why I'm here, and how blessed I am to be able to serve the Lord for 18 months. I truly am so grateful to be here.
There was one day when we were just tracting, and a bunch of less active people let us in. We weren't able to have any lessons with them, but we built a foundation to work on, so we are excited about that! We've also been able to do a lot of service this week so that's been exciting! We have been having a TON of active member FHE's so I have been able to meet a lot of people. There are wonderful people in this stake, just like in Riverton! There are wonderful people everywhere, and people that I need to meet in each area I am called to. I know that, I always have, I just need to be better at trusting in that knowledge.
ANOTHER super cool thing from this week that is really just awesome... you already saw this in my picture email probably....but I met Great Grandma Violet Love's niece. SO COOL! So we've been just calling random phones numbers in the directory to set up family home evenings, and they were one we called...DEFINITELY NOT A COINCIDENCE. So we get to their house, and she says "Sister Love......hmm. Where are you from?" I told her California then she says "What was your great grandmother's name?" so I told her Violet and she GASPED. She said, "That is my mother's sister, my aunt!" So she was showing me pictures and stuff and it was so neat! I've been thinking a lot about family history lately and now I know that there is someone on dad's side of the family doing it! How neat is that?! Seriously one of the greatest experiences of my mission! She says she remembers Papa (Larry) and one of his brothers staying at her house for a week when they were young. I told her how excited dad would be haha, I know dad will have some researching to do! :)
This is really random.....but the other day I helped this cute little old man with a walker to cross the street,I thought that was something that only happened in movies but I totally got to do it! We saw him just waiting in the street so I asked him if he was trying to cross and he said he was (there was no cross walk by him and he couldn't walk well) so I told him that luckily, we needed to cross the street too! I think he was embarrassed at first but he was very grateful. It was the busiest street in our area that he was trying to cross, again, I'm glad I was there at that specific time and I know it wasn't a coincidence.
Yesterday we were blessed to be able to attend a session of the Ogden temple re-dedication that was broadcasted in our stake center. It was INCREDIBLE. Each session was different (there were 3 sessions) and we went to the middle one. There were quite a few speakers, including PRESIDENT EYRING AND ELDER HOLLAND :) I'm glad that's the one we chose to go too! Every single talk included something that I really needed to hear. The Spirit was just so strong. I am so thankful for the work we are able to do in temples. We sang "The Spirit of God" at the end and i couldn't even sing because I was just BAWLING haha...
I am so glad we were able to go.
I know without a doubt in my heart that this church contains the FULNESS of the gospel. That through Joseph Smith, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ restored that SAME church that Jesus Christ himself established when He was on the earth. I am grateful to be a part of this church and to be a missionary, able to serve the Lord, and help others find this everlasting peace and happiness that can't be found anywhere else. I am thankful for every single trial I've gone through, every single mistake I've made, that has led me to be the person I am today. The choices I've made in the past has made the Atonement so real for me. I am thankful for the chance we have to be cleansed through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and for the individual love that He has for each of us. I know that if we do the things we asked, no blessings will ever be withheld from us. Heavenly Father WANTS to bless us and he WANTS us to be happy. We can be if we just trust in Him. I am especially thankful for the scriptures and the answers and guidance we can find within them. I know that the Book of Mormon, as well as the Bible are truly of God and that by living by the teachings found in those books, we can receive the blessings awaiting us, and return to live forever in God's presence, WITH OUR FAMILIES<3 I love you all so much and can't wait to hear from you next week<3 PRAY ALWAYS! There is NO BETTER PERSON to rejoice with, to talk, complain, or cry to than God himself <3
-Sister Love
No comments:
Post a Comment