Hello family!
This week was so wonderful. We saw a lot of miracles and I'm just so happy. So happy to be here serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. So happy to be here in Seattle in the Carkeek Park ward. So happy to serve with my companion, Sister Salabao and to serve alongside so many other incredible missionaries. So happy to feel the Spirit in my life every single day. So happy to work with individuals and share the gospel of Jesus Christ--a message of hope and peace and joy and love. Ah, I am just SO HAPPY!
We had a good lesson with Andrea this last week and she said that she knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet. We had great fellowship and it just felt so good. One of those lessons that is a confirmation that I am where I should be and that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
I had the opportunity to go on Exchanges this last week. I went with Sister Eaton to her area. She's a Russian speaking missionary so it was lots of fun. They cover the whole mission--well actually they cover a few missions. She is amazing though. I'm grateful for her example and she was just such a blessing to me this last week. She said some things that I know Heavenly Father needed me to hear. We talked about patience. I'm pretty good at having patience for other people but for sure one of my weaknesses is that I'm not patient with myself. Sometimes I expect this level of perfection out of myself that isn't possible to reach and it's actually a way that I let Satan get to me because then I feel down about myself, etc. Anyway, I've been working on that since and I've been studying patience and the Atonement and I'm just so grateful for this gospel. So grateful for the scriptures and the words of prophets and many other wonderful church resources that we have to study the gospel and to set goals and become better as we rely on the grace and Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ to become better individuals. We can't be perfect but we can be faithful. And that is what God has asked of us. I've just felt this huge relief as I've really made a conscious effort to be better and to be more patient with myself.
We also had some great miracles with inactive members. A lot of the time when we go through the ward list and find names to try the people are fairly rude and it's just heartbreaking to see how hard their heart is. But two different individuals were nice to us and invited us back. Yay for kindness!
Last night was so amazing. Each month there is a New Member Fireside that President Choi puts on. I've never had the opportunity to go because you have to have a new member to take with you or an investigator and we've never been able to find someone who could come. But last night we were able to attend with Bill and Kazuyo and their family. They're so sweet. They're very active in their own faith and have not really been super interested but they were curious to come to the fireside. It was incredible. It was one of the most spiritual meetings I've ever been to. Fifteen different new members bore their testimonies. Hearing them share their conversion experiences was amazing... how they've completely turned their lives around and turned to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't even express how sweet it was. It just filled me with so much hope and an even greater determination to talk with everyone that I see and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes it can be difficult when you meet people who try to tell you that you have no idea what you're talking about because it was just something that you were born into and that's the only reason you believe it. Or when they try to tell you that Joseph Smith was a con man and they refuse to believe anything else. Or they refuse to even look at the Book of Mormon. But all of those difficult times are worth it when you meet someone who is willing to listen to your message and really in need of it.
Oh, one last miracle. We were doing our Sacred Finding Time and had a goal of handing out fifty pass along cards. We didn't quite make it but it really pushed us and it had already been a wonderful night. We were walking back to where our car was parked so we could head to our
7 o'clock plans. As we were walking we see these two teenage boys coming down the hill on a side street. They were a little ways off but as we were walking past that street I told Sister Salabao that we needed to talk to them. We headed in their direction and started visiting for just a minute. One was fifteen and the other was twelve. They were these really sweet African boys that just needed to be told that God loves them. We said a prayer with them and then we asked if we could come share a message with their family. They gave us their address. It was just a really simple, sweet spiritual experience that reconfirmed to me that Heavenly Father is aware of all of His children and that He loves us all so much. Keep them in your prayers and especially that their parents will be open .We've really been praying to find a family. Their names are T and Midio.
Well, I know that this gospel is true. I believe it with all my heart. I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can be healed. I know that Heavenly Father loves us. I love you all so much! Read your scriptures and CTR and get excited for General Conference!
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