FAMILY!
Oh my... I am SO SORRY for the craziness I caused all of you yesterday! haha FORGIVE ME! I mentioned to Sister Stephenson last week how I had forgot to tell you all it was transfers and because of that I wouldn't be emailing until Tuesday... and then I didn't have wifi at all yesterday so I didn't get to see any of your emails... whoops. :) BUT OH I LOVE YOU!! Seeing all of the emails and that you were worried about it just makes me feel so loved. OH I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Thank you for loving me. I'm sorry for the craziness though! i promise that I will be better! I think next transfers are Jan. 5. So just incase.... it should be around then! :) Oh i just love you all and miss you a lot.
BUT with that! YES it was transfers week! Sister Stephenson and I are both staying here in Aldershot as STLs. Sister Stephenson was sure she was moving. After this transfer she will have been in this area - her first area - for 7.5 months! CRAZY! But she ended up staying so next transfer will be all the crazy emotions again... transfers are so fun! :) But yep! I'm staying here which is great! I am so glad to be staying here for C
hristmas! AND I STILL CAN'T WAIT TO TALK TO YOU! I don't think I have ever been more excited for Christmas than I am this year... and you know how much I love Christmas :)... but just because I GET TO TALK TO YOU! I literally can;t even wait. Only 4 more Sundays!!!!!
But this week was a good one! First off though, it is FREEZING! It is so so cold. I have never tried to bundle up so much in my life. It even snowed earlier which I guess usually never happens but it was great. And it was a week full of walking outside in it! YAY! But its okay! :) It just makes things more fun! I also got to go on exchange with Sister Hiatt! How fun is that? I took the pictures and everything to show her and we just all got caught up with our families and the stories that we have always heard about each other and oh... it was SO FUN! I would be SOOO HAPPPYYY if we could serve together. I feel like our personalities just work really well together and she is so willing to work so hard and talk to everyone which I LOVE! So fingers crossed one of these transfers she can just come and serve here in Aldershot with me! :)
Something that I learned about this week was EXACT OBEDIENCE truly does bring so many blessings. I have really been focused on being that consecrated missionary that the Lord needs me to be. After Zone Conference I saw a lot of things that I lacked - not that I was being bad but I just saw how I could improve SO MUCH more and wanted to! So this week I have gone and started applying them. There was one day in particular that Sister Stephenson and I just did everything in our power to be EXACT with our obedience - we set the timer for our lunch, we left right after studies in the morning, and something that I decided to do was being better about reading my emails throughout the week so that I stayed better focused so I decided I would only check them at night, not throughout the day! So we applied all of these things and that day we saw SO MANY MIRACLES! Oh my. It was amazing. We had multiple lessons with people and got 3 new investigators. We met a former who welcomed us in and we have a return with! We contacted a great referral which is a FAMILY who now we are having dinner and teaching this next Wednesday! It was incredible. And it was all becuase we were just exact about it all. So KY - you will hear it A MILLION AND TEN TIMES that obedience brings blessings but it really does! When you get out just do everything you can to be exactly obedient and then blessings come - wether that be meeting amazing people or just feeling that you have done your part that day and feel successful! :)
With that though I am working on being okay with not being perfect. As I have seen all of the different ways that I can improve.. I also then realize all the things I am lacking and it stresses me out. Haha i just love my Saviour and want to do EVERYTHING I can to serve him fully these 18 months and see how I constantly fall short. Ha kinda funny but multiple nights this week I have woken up at like 3 or 4 a.m. in pure panic because I am just laying there and I don't have an investigator with me. Obviously my head isn't fully there since it is so early but I just panic and don't understand why I am just laying down when I could be out working and being with the friends we are teaching. Once I wake up a little more I realize that it is night time and I am allowed to sleep so I go back to bed... but yeah. That pretty much sums up the fact I also need to relax a little bit and just trust in the Lord. I know that I am SO IMPERFECT and honestly will never do enough but that is okay because it is HIS WORK! This is all in HIS TIMING and all I am asked to do is try my best. Just work hard to BECOME better each day and that if I do that it will all be great! So that is something I am working on... I am grateful to become the missionary and woman my Heavenly Father needs me to be but I am also grateful to realize that he understands and plans for me to fall short while doing it! And that's why we have the Saviour! OH Our Heavenly Fathers plan is just SO PERFECT!
Another fun thing is I got an email from Sister Barnes who had talked to our Ward Mission leader in Peckham and Anne and Treece - these 2 amazing twin sisters who we had found and taught in Peckham - are getting baptized on SATURDAY!! How neat is that!? Oh it is just so amazing. It is so great to be a missionary.
But HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I can't believe it is thanksgiving this week! And it sounds SO FUN with having Karol and family and Keith come over. Oh it will be so great. They don't celebrate thanksgiving over here. HOW SILLY!? I guess it makes sense.... but still. But sister Stephenson and I talked the only american family into making us one on Thursday so we are going over for a DA that night and then Joy and Martyn are making one for us on Saturday! so it will be good! But i hope you know how THANKFUL I AM FOR YOU! OH. I just love you. This week honestly has been a hard one with missing you all. As much as I LOVE this time of year and have so much to look forward to it is SO hard being away from all of you. I JUST LOVE YOU! And miss all of the little things. SO my plan is just to stay really busy and just not let myself think about it! :) There is SO MUCH going on too so that will be easy but I hope you know how much I love you all and how much I wish I was with you but SO GRATEFUL for the chance to be here! I know there will be SO MANY thanksgivings and Christmas' coming up where we will get to be together so I am grateful for this chance to be here for these. Eat extra stuffing and sweet potatoes for me though! those are my favorite! :) And just remember how thankful I am for you! I will FOREVER thank my Heavenly Father for giving me the perfect, most incredible family who I love with all of my heart! Each night I plead with my Heavenly Father to just keep you safe and healthy and happy and that all of the blessings of my work here can go home to all of you! I just love you and miss you but am so grateful for you!
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