SCHOOL STARTS ON WEDNESDAY??
Wow... crazy! Sometimes in the mission field we forget that there is real life going on and that people go to school and have their own crazy lives. Wow I just can't believe that summer is over! And more than anything I can't believe that in just 14 days I will officially be one transfer out. I can't tell if time is flying by or crawling by! For the most part it is going by faster and faster. SO much happens in a week and it is impossible to remember all that happened and all that is planned. Meanwhile when everything is in Spanish... yeah that is another story… haha. But it is a good thing that missionaries are trained to be organized to the T. Missions, for sure, are a time WARP! I love it. And I can't believe how soon JESS is leaving! And Annie and so many other people. And that Zac is already out in the MTC. Oh and Sam! So cool! I am constantly remembering how cool it is to not only be on a mission right now but to be able to be on one at the same time with many friends and family! We are taking the gospel to the ends of the earth and it is SO COOL! Ah. It is so cool and so hard! It is a hard thing to comprehend. But I love it! And the fact that Sarah and Grace are putting their papers in too so soon gives me chills. So cool! Yeah MISSIONS! Such a priviledge. And so unique! WE ARE NOT ALONE! Don't forget that :) Plus Sister missionaries are so cool.
I heard a way cool quote this week about sister missionaries and I LOVED IT. Jess actually emailed it to me and thought that you would like it to. It says:
"Many young women are serving MISSIONS. Many are preparing to serve, not because they aren't married or have nothing else to do, but because they have a desire to serve. Therefore they are being called to the work. The reason so many of them are going is because in the next generation, Heavenly Father will be sending His Priesthood Army to the earth and wants to send them to MOTHERS who have been trained and taught in the gospel. And what better training can a young woman have than that of serving a mission."
HOW COOL. How cool is it that we have this opportunity?! Times are changing faster than we know it. We need to FOCUS.
Anyways... so this week FLEW by. Wow, it feels like just yesterday I was writing you! But this week was good. It ward laborious.. as always. Lots of disappointments, but lots of miracles. The Lord brings us lower so that he can lift us HIGHER. I know that I say this almost every week but only because I know that it is true. And everything that I experience is a testimony to me of how TRUE it really is! Thinking about a mission… my comp and I really decided that it is a FULL on refiner's fire. Completely and fully an intense, tear jerking, bone scraping, FIRE. Hahaha it is true! So true. But I am so grateful for it and I am learning so much.
It has been hard opening up an area. Dad, just like you.. both of us had our first area in the mission an area we opened up! Here we call it WHITEWASHING. Sister Phillips and I are doing great though. We are starting to really build our teaching pool and I KNOW that we will see the fruits of all of our hard work. We are working so hard. We are so exhausted! It’s cool though. Everything we do, we do with purpose.. That is our goal - to fully consecrate ourselves! This is her 3rd time opening up an area and she told me that while this has been her hardest area... it has also been her best so far with whitewashing. We have been having such success! It’s cool for me to hear that because I wouldn't know any other way seeing that this area is all I know about so far. We are giving our all and it feels great! When we have disappointments it can be really rough though. Of course I mean that’s why they are called 'disappointments'! But we know that it is because Heavenly Father is preparing us and testing us for MIRACLES. They will come!
I am learning to really love the grind of missionary work. It is SO rewarding. Almost every night I feel happy, so exhausted, and so content. Mornings are a different story haha. But usually by the end of the day I feel incredible and ready to sleep.
During personal study this morning I came upon one of my favorite passages of scriptures. Doctrine and Covenants 121:5-20,
"My son, peace be unto thy soul, thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment, and then, if you endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high, thou shalt triumph over all foes. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."
I LOVED THAT. Don't you all? What a cool passage. What cool promises! Dad, I have been thinking a lot about whether a mission is purely enduring. I have decided that it is not! There is such a higher way that we can serve rather than enduring. When we not only endure but endure it WELL.. God will exalt us on high. We are not alone in this work or in this life! We are not alone, we just need to focus harder than we ever have before and endure it well... while sharing the gospel! Mom I love hearing about your missionary aspirations. I LOVE IT. You are so great and so strong. Keep those aspirations high! Missionary work is the most important thing that anyone could do name tag or not.
The language is coming... kinda. Haha poco a poco! Little by little. I am feeling improvement. I feel everyone's prayers for me! Thank you all so much.
The Church is true, the book is bluuuuue!
Sister N
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