Let Him serve you :)

What a wonderful and crazy week!  First of all, my thoughts and feelings go out to my family, as a very special event and sacred ordinance took place this last week.  Oh how blessed we are to have temples and the priesthood power on the earth today!  I am so grateful for the eternal blessings that come from those two things!  Knowing that I will be with my family forever, that I am truly sealed and bonded with them is a joy and a blessing dear to my heart. :)

A few of the miracles and blessings I received and witnessed this week are:

• [One of our investigators] came to church!  He is someone that we have been working with since I got to Jackson in July!  And the funny part is I actually met him a year ago when I was serving in Florence but came on exchanges to Jackson for a day!  We have been trying to encourage him to come for months, and on Sunday he finally came!  The hard part about it was that Sister Hartley and I weren't there...we were in the Jackson Branch this week and [this man] goes to the Madison Ward.  It took so much trust and faith to tell [him] when he called us Saturday to let us know he was coming, that we were going to be helping in a different congregation that week.  Oh that was so hard...but thankfully [he] still gathered up the courage and came to sacrament, and the members were great and welcomed him in!  Hopefully we will see him and his nephew there next week!

• We got to have Sister McDonough (our mission president's wife) come out with us twice this week!  Once to visit a less active, and once to teach an investigator!  It was actually a miracle that we taught someone because the person we came to teach wasn't there, but her niece was and she was very willing to listen, even though she was in the middle of school stuff (medical school).  It was a great lesson and Sister McDonough was wonderful!  Just feeling of her spirit lifts your spirit and helps you to feel so good!  We love her!

• [A brother of two sisters we are teaching] got baptized and confirmed this weekend!  His sisters will be following him on November 15th.  We had to reset the date for them so that we could finish teaching them everything, but they are doing well and I love them!  [One of the sisters] is 14 and [the other] is 12.  They are so fun and I love them so much!

• The Madison Sisters in our Ward also had a baptism and confirmation this weekend!  It was the wife of a part member family, and they are great!

• [A family we have been teaching for a while] made it through a little challenge in their family, and [the wife] is getting brave and practiced driving to a party they had this week so that she will be comfortable driving to church when [the husband] has to work on Sundays!

• We were able to give a Book of Mormon to our maintenance man!  He has had to come a few times in the last couple of months for different repairs (fire alarm, refrigerator, light bulbs, etc.)  This last time we had a 30 minute conversaion with him about the Book of Mormon and some common questions about Mormons and he accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon!  He's great and such a happy guy!

• We got some great lessons while tracting :)

So much more happens in a week, but those are some highlights of this last week.  One thing that I learned this week is how to give things to the Lord and not be stressed. :)  Last Sunday, a week ago yesterday, I started feeling dizzy.  Any time I moved my head too fast I would get a feeling of fogginess/dizziness...almost like I was on a roller coaster.  I thought it was just because I had happened to not eat much breakfast that morning, but as I ate and drank water it didn't really go away.  I felt it out the next couple of days, but it seemed to get a little worse.

I started getting nervous that people were going to think I was drunk because I would start to feel "tipsy" if I walked too fast...yeah probably not a good rep for the church.  After talking with Sister Hartley about it on Wednesday, we decided I should call our mission nurse.  She asked me a few questions and then had me call a doctor in my ward.  Come to find out I had vertigo - where something in my ears is infected so it throws off my brains interpretation of what the position of my head is.  He said it should be healed by the end of the week but if not he could call in some medicine for me to cure it up.  Turns out it did heal by the weekend, but there was a question that our mission nurse asked that really got me thinking and ended up teaching me a lesson.

The nurse asked me, "What is your level of stress?"  When she first asked me it kind of took me back and I thought, "I'm not stressed...I don't feel stressed...am I stressed?"  As I pondered on that over the next day, I paid attention to how I reacted to things - did I get annoyed easily, was I down about things, did certain things give me anxiety, etc.  I realized that I was indeed stressed.  I realized that I was taking in all of the "pain and afflictions" of others and the circumstances around me instead of giving it to the Lord.

As soon as I stopped worrying about things that I couldn't change, and started trusting that the Lord would take of things when I couldn't, I started feeling so much better.  The fog literally lifted from my mind and my heart felt happier.  One example was trusting that the Lord would take care of [our investigator at church], even though we couldn't be there with him.  That was a big stretch of faith on my part, and it was so wonderful to see that the Lord did fulfill His promise as I served with all my "heart, might, mind, and strength," in a way that was not "fater than [I had] strength," but still "diligent" (Doc. & Cov. 4:2 and Mosiah 4:27).

I know that the Lord is aware of us and wants to take our burdens from us.  He suffered "pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind...that he may know according to the flesh how to succor [us]." (Alma 7:11-12)  Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured, and it can be if we will turn to our Savior and use the enabling and redeeming power of his atonement.  Let the pain go from your heart as you pray to your Heavenly Father and talk to those who love you.  I know you will be blessed with a peaceful heart as you do so.

I know my Father lives.  I know my Savior lives.  He loves you.  Let Him serve you.

Picnic in the Park :)

After eating at Cracker Barrel

Change/Newness :)

With the Zwicks

This last week was so packed with spiritual instruction and edification that I felt I almost couldn't receive anymore without putting some of it into action first!  It was great to hear from Elder Zwick of the 70!  He gave us a lot of encouragement from him and the first presidency.  He also gave us some good instruction to lift our mission a little higher.

One thing I was taught this last week is, being willing to change means being willing to leave our comfort zone......Being willing to change means being willing to leave our comfort zone.  That hit me so hard.  I realized that I have great desires to change and do better, but what's stopping me is my comfort zone.  I've come a long way in expanding that comfort zone since I was born :)  however, if I were to stop now, it would all be in vain.  You can't stop because then you backtrack.  I know that the Lord wants me to go out of my comfort zone so that he can expand my abilities and work greater miracles in my life and the lives of those around me.

One thought that I have often had is, how do we expect miracles to happen if we are not willing to do miraculous things?  Or why do we expect extra ordinary results when we are only willing to give ordinary efforts?  We have to be willing to leave our comfort zones in order to experience new and joyful things.

Sister Hartley and I are working with [two sisters] who were supposed to be baptized this upcoming weekend, but we are going to have to push it back.  Hopefully we can help them and teach them all we need to so that they can receive the blessings of the full gospel of Jesus Christ.  Sister Hartley and I, as well as many of the sisters in our zone are struggling to find people who want to receive our message of the restored gospel.  If as you pray for me or any other missionary you could specifically pray that we will be able to work with the members to find those who are searching for the gospel, that would be wonderful.  We need that help and guidance in order to hasten this work.

I know that the gospel is one of joy and newness!  We are to have new experiences, achieve new things, and become new people.  I hope that each of us will recognize and accept the strength given to us through the atonement of Christ so that we can experience the newness, the change, and the joy that comes through doing so.  I love Jesus Christ and I love my Heavenly Father.  I know that He is my Father in Heaven and that He hears my prayers.

I love you all and hope that you enjoy the newness of your lives this week!

:)

Hello!

I have a very short amount of time today, but I have been so overwhelmed with love and instruction from the Lord and the leaders he has for us in this area right now.  It has been such a wonderful and inspiring weekend with Stake Conference with Elder Nash and MLC with Elder Zwick.  Then tomorrow we get zone conference with Elder Zwick!

I have learned so much about faith and trust and diligence.  I love the Lord and still am amazed that I am actually serving a mission right now.  I had a very distinct moment this last week in one of my personal studies where it really hit me - I am a missionary.  I am doing the Lord's work.  I am striving to hasten with the Lord as He hastens along His work.

I love this work.  I love it so much and am striving daily to do all I can to serve with all of my heart, might, mind and strength.  I know the Lord loves you.  Ask Him.  He will let you know.  I love you all!

Modern revelation :)

Hello everyone!

Today is transfers and my dear companion, Sister Keyes is being transferred back to Utah tomorrow.  It's crazy how fast time has gone.  Needless to say, I'm staying in Jackson!  My new companion is Sister Hartley!  I knew her from when I was an STL in Shreveport!  She was actually companions with Sister Meek (my trainer) in Texarkana and I went on exchanges with her there!  She is awesome!  We actually look a lot alike...tall and blond. :)  She's also from Canada!  Alberta to be exact!  She is a sweetheart and I am so excited and blessed to have her as a companion.  She is a hard worker and she will bless the lives of the sisters here so much. I get to "train" her in being an STL and I feel so blessed.

General Conference this weekend was wonderful!  My prayers were answered so specifically and clearly!  It was amazing to me!  It was also interesting to see how questions or topics I had on my heart, and hadn't actually prayed for were also answered.  The Lord truly knows our hearts. :)

One impression I received very strongly was to turn back to my patriarchal blessing for answers.  I recently read the account in the Book of Mormon when the Lord chastises Lehi for complaining when Nephi's bow broke and they went for a time without much food.  Lehi asks where Nephi should go to obtain food and the Lord directs back to the Liahona - a guide He had already given him.  I felt the same direction as I listened to Elder Godoy's talk. My patriarchal blessing is a great gift, and holds more promises and guidance than I know.  I felt so strongly that there is more I need to learn from it, and that I need to give it more time and attention then I have been.

Another blessing of guidance we have been given is a living prophet.  I know that we need to listen and live according to the guidance he gives, as well as the 12 apostles.  I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, that he represents our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ as he speaks to us and gives us direction.  Turn back to his words as you need guidance, faith, or hope.  His words will provide because they are the words of the Lord.  I know that is true.

I hope that we will choose to turn and face the Lord as we seek guidance through personal and priesthood revelation.  That will keep us "in the boat"  as we listen, obey, and use the atonement of Jesus Christ, including partaking of the sacred sacrament.

I love each one of you and hope for each of you it will be a joyful week!  We will get to hear from Elder Zwick of the 70 next week in our mission - including a special MLC with him.  Guidance from the Lord continues!  We are all so blessed!  Love you!