One more year

Dear everyone,

Today is kind of special because in exactly one year, I'll be on my way home. Due to some weird things with Christmas and a 7 weeks transfer and other things I don't fully understand, I will finish my mission on 21 July 2015, not 4 August. So, you know. There's that. It's kind of exciting, but also kind of scary, because I ONLY HAVE A YEAR LEFT. I've already completed 1/3 of my mission. Tomorrow, I'll have less than a year to go. Seriously. What happened.

It's been good, though. This last week has probably been one of the craziest, most dynamic and life changing weeks of my mission. I'm not going to share everything, but here are some hightlights. 

1. Roberto. Roberto is/was one of our investigators that absolutely loves the church, and especially the Book of Mormon. Our lessons are always hilarious because he always shares with us what he's been reading, and how it's affected his life. He was so impressed with Lehi's dream that he read it 4 times, and then we spent a lesson talking about it. He refuses to read or participate in anything that isn't in the Book of Mormon. We started off trying to teach him with the scriptures and pamphlets, but he just refused to read the pamphlets and straight out told us that they weren't interesting to him at all, and that if we wanted to teach him something, we had to do it with the Book of Mormon. It changed my mission because I suddenly had to learn how to teach the entire Plan of Salvation from the Book of Mormon, or different commandments, or the Restoration, or various other things. It's been amazing as a missionary, because now I have such a greater knowledge of the scriptures, and my testimony that the Book of Mormon can answer literally every question we could ever have is absolutely true. I love it when investigators have questions, and we can just be like, let's read about this in the scriptures! The words of God are so much more powerful than our own. The other funny thing about Roberto is that last Sunday he suddenly announced that he was reading in the Book of Mormon, and praying, and God told him to be baptized, so by golly he was going to be baptized that week. It was a little crazy, but he was baptized Thursday, and is well on his way to converting everyone he comes in contact with. Seriously, there's nothing like the referrals of a recent convert. 

2. I'm finally getting the hang of this Holy Spirit thing. This is going to sound strange coming from a missionary that has 6 months in the mission, but it's actually a pretty common thing, I think. As new missionaries, we seem to think that we just go out and teach, and the Spirit just likes to hang out with us all day and give us everything we need and ask for. Ha. Nothing worth having was ever that easily given. I've been working for months now and finally feel like I can let the Spirit speak through me. He will accompany the words I say, and touch the hearts of the people we teach. Our lessons, in some form or another, really took a turn this week, and I could feel the power. One thing one of the missionaries in our zone was talking to me about is that when he feels like he doesn't have the Spirit, he says a prayer in his heart and asks for it to accompany him. This really changed the way I think about the Spirit. I think a lot of times, as members and as missionaries, we just expect to have the blessings of God because we're being good people and trying to make good decisions. It doesn't work like that, though. We have to put more effort into the things that are actually worth having, and ask God to give us the things that we seek. We have to humble ourselves before Him and recognize that everything we have comes from him.

3. Speaking of which, I'd just like to testify that this is the Lord's work, not ours. We witness God gathering his children before our eyes, and it's not because of anything we're doing as missionaries. We teach people, and give them the tools they need to improve their relationship with God and become converted to His plan for them, but that's all we do. We are instruments, and just like it is impossible for an instrument to play itself, it is impossible for a missionary to do this work without God. When God works through us, we have the opportunity to follow His will and help Him in bringing His children back home to His presence. 

Well. I've got to go. Hopefully someone learned something from my incessant ramblings of the typical missionary who talks too much. Hehe :P I love you all, and have an excellent week!

Hermana Day

Another week

Dear everyone,

Did you know that this week I complete 5 months in the mission? Yup, July 5. Crazy, no? 

This week was... crazy. Monday night I was talking with the Elders on the phone, and suddenly I heard them protesting and fighting and then the phone cut off. It was probably the most terrifying 15 minutes of my entire life because we couldn't call them back, we had no idea where they were, and they are both fighters, so of course they're going to fight, and probably get killed. Luckily, they didn't get killed. They were almost at the point of fighting back when the Spirit spoke very strongly to both of them that they should not fight. So they didn't. And then they got a knife pulled on them. And then they were robbed of all their money and the cell phone. Revelation is real, people. Listen to the Spirit, because it might just save your life.

Anyways, we also had a cool experience where we set up a multifamily Family Home Evening with the Elders as part of our strengthen the dying ward project. We weren't sure what we were going to teach, so the Elders said, look, we're going to pray, and you guys pray, and then we'll call each other again in an hour with our answers. So we did that, and then they called us in an hour, and everyone was like, 1.... 2.... 3... ATONEMENT. Everyone recieved the exact same answer. I'm telling you, revelation is real. 

Besides that, this week was really hard, haha. :P Sometimes, missionary work seems pretty impossible because you can't see any progress. While there are never any doubts about the church or the doctrine, because it's as true as it's ever been, in these times you start to doubt yourself. Like, What the heck am I doing here? I can't change any of this. I'm wasting God's time. I'm not capable or spiritually sound or strong enough to handle this. Every piece of knowledge I thought I had is completely insufficient. I feel dead. I can't make a difference. I have no idea what I'm doing, and I have no idea where to begin. I am just so dang worn out and tired. 

I'm a person who likes to be in control, to have a firm mental handle on everything, and I'm facing problems greater than I ever imagined. It's impossible.

It's times like these, though, when you learn to rely on God, and He helps you out a ton. I testify that these thoughts come from the devil, and that they are not true. They only bring us down and take away our hope. We are given these hard, extremely difficult experiences not so we can fail, but so we can grow stronger in our faith in God and be triumphant over all. This week I remembered Moses 7:28-41. I read it every morning, and it gives me more peace than anyone can ever imagine. It is my favorite scripture story in all the scriptures, and I hope everyone will get out their scriptures after they're done reading this long, boring email, and read it. I won't bother to explain it, because it's a scripture that should mean something personal to everyone individually, and I'd like everyone to have that experience. 

Well, I'm out of time, but I'd like to close with my testimony. It's strange, because I'm not sure if I've ever done this in a letter before, which is very strange in and of itself. But here we go. First off, I know this gospel is true. I know it through every fiber of my being, I've known it for eternity, and I'll know it forever more. Nothing with ever change that, because it feels eternal. God is real. He exists and He hears His children when they suffer. He is a loving Heavenly Father and He weeps with us. He communicates with us, and loves us dearly, and nothing we can ever do can change that eternal love. I testify that Christ is the Savior of the world, that His role in our lives is more essential than the air we breathe, and that without Him there is no hope, but with Him there are no limits to our potential. I know that this gospel literally changes lives, both for people outside of the church, investigators, members for life, and less actives who haven't gone in years. This gospel is a gospel of change, and it is a gospel for everyone. There is no better way of living, no other manner that will bring greater happiness. This is it, and it is beautiful. I love you all dearly, and I feel your prayers beside me every day. Stay golden, and have an excellent week. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Hermana Day