May 14, 2012

Hi Familiaaaaaa!

Well, it was so good to talk to all of you. I feel like it was all a really big blur, and I'm not really sure what I said/if I said anything at all...but just know that I am a happy camper here on the mission, and that I am SO grateful that I have the best family in the world!! Anyways, like I said, I have no idea what I said, but I loved talking to you. I loved your words of wisdom, and I loved your stories, and I loved hearing your voices. And seeing skinny Eric and seeing Al in her posh Aussie apartment :) Hahaha. And dad...you look good, too. 

Okay, so...I feel like I didn't really even answer your questions that well. So, I will do that now. 

Ok, also...you asked about what you could pray for, which is the coolest question ever! hahaha. And, so yes...I did say, pray to help me overcome my weaknesses. But also...I think just pray that we will be able to find truly prepared people. Also, we're praying a lot right now that we'll be able to find more families and men to teach, so you could join in on that. Really, the biggest thing is that we'll be able to find prepared new investigators. And that we'll be able to get baptisms! Oh, and also, pray that we'll be able to get more people to church! Okay...basically, there are too many things you could pray for. But, just the fact alone that you want to pray for me, means everythingggg. So, muchisimas gracias! 

Alrighty, so...this week. Was good. We had a few days where we had some detours...had to get the car fixed a few times, had to go 2 dr's appt's for sister cottrell's sprained ankle, etc. etc. So, that put kind of a hold on the work. But it was all good. So, Ivette is definitely our most solid investigator right now...she's the 12 yr old w/ the inactive mom. She came to church yesterday and participated in the YW musical number in sacrament! We went to the Visitor's Center with her this past week, and it was SO good. She totally felt the spirit. We watched God's Plan with her, and she was just crying, and talked about how she just wishes her family spent more time together. And so we were able to talk about how baptism is helping her to have that kind of family in the future. We talked about the importance of chastity and preparing to enter the temple, and it was way good. She has a pretty rough family right now, so this is a big stepfor her. I like teaching the young women, because I feel like Sister Cottrell and I just become their big sisters, helping them along thru the rough roads of teenage-hood. 

Que mas...well, I will tell you about one experience that I had this week. So, we had zone conference on Wednesday I think it was, which was awesome. In it, the departing missionaries always share their testimonies. Anyways, so, afterwards, I was just thinking about you know, my mission and what's been the struggle and all that. Anyways, so...I know I've talked about this before, and I know that Eric has talked about how the same thing happened on his mission, just how like sometimes you feel like you get super overwhelmed by all the stuff you have to do, and it's just so easy to be really hard on yourself (the mental game, if you will). Anyways, so yes. That has definitely been the challenge of my mission. That, and just having everyone be able to see the ways that you fall short! I've had to learn to not care so much about what others think of me. Also, I think training has been challenging when paired w/ that, because then I feel like not only do I have to be exactly obedient and diligent, but I'm also responsible for helping my trainee to be the same way. So, not only do I feel guilty if I do something wrong, but I feel almost even more guilty when they do something wrong! Weird, right? Anyways, so...you asked about the most challenging part, and that is it. But...this comes to a point. So, the day after zone conference, I was just thinking about it, and thinking about like "why is this still an issue? why can't I just get over this?". Almost like, if I could just get over this, then I'd be able to run with my mission. (Kinda like mom, what you wrote about the thorn in your side...that's totally true.) Anyways, so I was just not feeling it that morning when I woke up, and I was talking to Sister Cottrell about it, and she's super awesome and tries super hard to help me...but of course it does come to a point when she's like "I understand, but I don't understand." anyways, so she said that I should get a blessing. And I was like "For reallss?" this isn't even a big deal! But, I decided that I needed to, it had been a problem for long enough. So, before district meeting, I asked the senior missionary in our district, Elder Hansen, to give me a blessing. And it was really really good! So, first off, after saying that Heavenly Father and the Savior love me, he said "And the Atonement is for YOU." and that totally struck me. And he went on to talk about how I would be blessed with relief from my worries and anxieties (because there really have been times that it has felt like almost anxiety), and how I would come to have a spirit of joy in the work. He blessed me with good sleep! (which, if you remember, was promised in my blessing from Elder White...because my sleep is always the first thing to go.), and he blessed that I would be able to feel the spirit of the work, and that my joy would bless the lives of those around me. Anyways, so it was a really good blessing, and I was glad that I got one. So there you have it folks! But, I will also tell you...that in the blessing, he blessed that my family at home would not be worried about me. Pretty cool, eh? So yes. Don't worry, but that probably explains why I mentioned that last night. It's been on my mind a lot as of late, but I already feel and have seen huge improvements. I wouldn't be writing about it if that weren't the case. So, I know that the Atonement is real, and I don't know how it works, but I know that the best way we can feel it in our lives is if we just live the Gospel. I know that taking the Sacrament is something that can help us "come to ourselves" like the talk given in General Conference. So, like mom said, I think I'm trying to get to the point where I'm grateful for this "thorn in my side", because it does build my empathy, and there's nothing that can't be overcome with the Savior, right? 


Oh! something that we talked about in zone conference that we're trying to start doing is to start giving more blessings in nonmember homes. So basically, in a street contact, we're going to offer to just say a prayer in their home/a blessing over the family. So we go in, just spend like 5 minutes, ask them all the things that they're in need of, and we say a prayer with them and help them to feel the Spirit. And then afterwards we help them to recognize that and ask if we can teach them more! I know, a different idea but it's so cool how it works! It definitely brings miracles, and it helps in our teaching because we can bring the spirit and authority of our calling right off the bat.