Trust in Him

Monday…November 24th, 2014

Well hi there fam! 

Life is the weirdest thing lately but before I get too sad I want to tell you about the AMAZING thing that our journey called life is. You know it is so crazy thinking back at our life and remembering how SCARED we have felt at many transitions in life and then knowing that once that mountain is climbed and we look back at how FAR we have come, it brings strength and happiness. I wish that we could see it in the moment! But I guess that that is the cool part about life. God loves us so much that He allows hardships to make us better. To make the people that He intends us to be. I have been feeling pretty tender feelings lately. I have been trying to think of how to possibly describe how I feel and I think that I would say that I feel NUMB.. full and empty at the same time. I actually kind of feel like I am leaving the MTC again but on a whole different scale.. I have thought about all of the incredible people that I have met and been able to love and reflect about my now unfailing testimony.. and I feel empty thinking about how I have no idea what is ahead of me and how this year and a half has just gone so fast. I am excited to come home and know that there is so much ahead.. but at the same time I feel like I am dying. I know that I am and that I will always be where I am needed when I have the spirit by my side. I think that is true with just about ANYTHING in life or any transition.. an empty and full feeling. That is where faith comes in! We have to constantly strive to love and make the most of our lives, where we currently stand, giving miles and miles of gratitude along the way. This life is SHORT. it really is. and it is amazing!

Things will work out for those who love and trust God.

I feel this poem here wraps up my thoughts and feelings

“I was reflecting yesterday if I would call the mission a sacrifice. And for everything it seems I might have sacrificed, I feel like I have been given tenfold. If I say I have sacrificed time with my family, then I must realize that I have been rewarded with a family more united and loving than ever. If the mission has been a sacrifice of time, I have been rewarded with knowledge that no university in the world could have taught me. If it has been a sacrifice of my talents, I have been rewarded with more than I ever had before. I can speak Spanish, I care more genuinely about people, [and] I am less quick to judge and more anxious to serve. If it has been a sacrifice of human relationships, I have been rewarded with practice in speaking to men and women from all walks of life and in diverse situations. If I have sacrificed my earthly possessions, I have been given new ones that I value infinitely more. For anything I have sacrificed I have been given more.”

OKAY enough for random thoughts.. This week has been great! The only down side is that I am SICK, ahhh it's horrible. Pray for me please! But this week has been full of miracles. Turns out that I am having my last miracle baptism this coming Saturday! That was a miracle and I am happy to be able ot participate in a last baptism. Her name is S.  She is from Galicia and she is 27 years old and is the a beautiful girl. I have learned so much from her. She is so receptive to the spirit because of her tendendy to be really silent and to really think and meditate. We have been working with her for a while now and I am so happy for her to take this huge leap of faith. Everything, including basic knowledge of Jesus Christ, is new to her. S. feels the spirit and acts on it so fast but I really and truly feel for her so much! We were up laying in bed last night just talking about how much we love her and feel this strong connection to her. I love her! She is such a brave person and I love her. We pulled out her baptism white dress the other day to show her and she just started to cry. There is something that is so pure about her.  You just feel it when you are around her. I think it might just have to do with how she hasn´t had a lot of real direction in her life. She will be baptized this Saturday and respond to her leap of faith. She works in a hair salon and we always teach her there. :)

We got a lesson with J. this week and it made me so happy! Little by little with her. She still has got that fire of faith strong inside of her. I will never forget that. We have just been loving her and serving so much everyday every chance that we get. I think that is ultimately our message we have for the world. That of love and service!

Thanksgiving is this week! How crazy how time does fly! I will never forget that our gratitude has a lot to do with the faith that we have. I don´t know if I have told you about this activity that we do every Sunday night.. but when I got here we came up with the great idea to do a pancake night every Sunday night! And we have been holding that tradition strongly since week one. It is just a little thing we do so that members and investigators and everyone can come! We did it last night and had a great turn out. We make seriously over 50 pancakes every sunday night. It was fun! We decided to share the message of gratitude and celebrate it there with those who came. We went around and said one thing that we are greatful for. I just sat there and it was so nice to just be able to soak up the spirit that comes so fast from sharing our blessings.

Be bold about expressing your gratitude! Do it every minute. You can never say to much! It brings the spirit and you will be happy. You will see the very many blessing you have the many more that are out there for us to have.

I love you all a ton and I pray for you constantly! Especially you KATIE I pray for you alllll of the time that you will learn the language and just be HAPPY and help others to be happy like you despite how hard it gets.. that you may grow to love the mission and lose yourself and find yourself.

Make this week count!

Hermana Nydegger