First of all, I would just like to say that the miracle friends written about in this post, Robert and Katherine, were not real people. We were being catfished. So there's that.
Wow. This was a hard one for me to review. I had forgotten how hard this week was. One of the most painful experiences I've gone through. I say a lot of what happened this week. What I don't talk about is crying and writhing on the floor while my companion is in the shower because I am so sad to see my friends go home. The stress and trauma that I watched my friends go through. The emotionally draining anxiety that I felt every day trying to teach so many lessons over the phone and adjust to this new way of missionary work. Trying to cry quietly while having breakdowns over a follow up call. The peace I was brought to just spend the night with my STLs because my heart hurt so much and I just needed a break from it all and I needed really good friends to be there for me. Reading peaceful scriptures and praying because it was literally all I had.
So it was painful. But beautiful too. Because I also remember so clearly feeling the fear of the world falling down around me, but I somehow knew that I could not get hurt. It felt like everything was breaking into pieces, but I wasn't, and I felt like I should be afraid, but I wasn't. I couldn't be. I just knew I was safe. It was a feeling that had happened on my mission before, where I felt so unbelievably strong. That's what God can do for His servants. That's what God can do for any of you.
Enjoy!
Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
While we are unable to be together in person, us missionaries have been trying to find ways to stay together and stay united. There is nothing better than spending time with your fellow missionaries; our friendship is really valuable. In order to spend time together and help us overcome stress, we have started meditating over video call together every morning! My companion and I run it and it is a blast! It's a great way to start the day and has gotten me thinking about writing my own meditations to help people relax and come unto Christ.
Due to less people being out and some rain we have been getting recently, the air is so clear here right now! It is the best thing ever. I step outside and the air feels the way it did when I was a teenager visiting California. It brings me so much joy.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
On p-day Sister Powers and I spent the day with Sister Torres and Sister Wall. We got breakfast, went on a walk while our laundry was washing, and got boba!
District council this week was great. I am back in another obsessive baking and cooking phase, but this time I have no one to give my treats to, so I brought them to district council and they helped a lot with the overwhelming amount of cookies I had made. We had a meeting before with President over call too so a lot of that day was talking about good ways to use our time with this new way of doing missionary work.
This week we got some shocking news. Due to the virus, missions are having to decrease numbers, so many missionaries are being sent home. President said he would be calling people about it this week. Many of the missionaries being sent home are my dear friends, including Sister Hopkins and Sister Powers. We were told they would be leaving on Monday.
Last night we had to prepare them for their flights. We took the luggage to the mission office, where President was trying everything he could to help us practice social distancing and avoid large gatherings. They picked up their travel plans and things they needed. I got to say goodbye to some of my best pals who were also departing. Let's just say it was an emo night. I found out earlier that day that my new companion would be Sister John--back at it again! And we will be double covering Palos Verdes and Redondo. We said goodbye to Sister Powers as she was staying in the patron apartments that night. Sister John and Sister Hopkins got to spend one more night together which was great because they are best buds. And I spent the night in a trio with Sister Torres and Sister Wall, which was also great because as you can imagine it had been a roller coaster of a week so I was grateful to just be with two of my really good friends while the dust settled.
FRIENDS:
We taught Craig about repentance and he is obsessed with the concept. He sees how it really makes us better people. WE tied the whole gospel of Christ together and he loved it. We told him that we know about all of this because of the Restoration of Christ's gospel, which made a lot of sense to him.
We got to share a spiritual message with Elizabeth! She is so sweet and knows Jesus Christ is her Savior. He is the reason we're able to get through anything. She is trusting in Him during these difficult times.
We had a great time studying Come, Follow Me with John this week.
Karla is amazing! She is so kind to us and loves connecting with God more and more each day. We taught her the Restoration and she understood it in a way that she has never understood it before! We are so glad about the progress she has made.
Robert and Katherine are an absolute miracle. Robert had been in contact with missionaries before, just invited to a ward party so not much had really come of it. We called him this week and he was overjoyed to hear from us. He is so nice. He said a spiritual message would be great right now. He said he really felt an urgent need to learn more about this gospel. Amazing! We thought it was just him turning to Jesus Christ during difficult times. We were wrong--it was so much more. During our first meeting, we talked to Robert and his wife Katherine. Apparently one of Katherine's coworkers had showed the Book of Mormon to them and read some of it to them, and it was the most beautiful thing they had ever heard. They couldn't stop thinking about it and desperately wanted to learn more. We taught them about the Book of Mormon and they just love the restored gospel even more every time they learn something new. We taught them about the Restoration, and they said it made them feel calm and peaceful. We told them that was the Spirit testifying to them that they were hearing the truth, and we invited them to read Moroni 10 and pray to know the truth for themselves. I can't wait to see what happens!
We met with Eugenia! She is awesome. She met missionaries in a restaurant a few months ago and knew they were good people. She has always taken a great interest in God and has such a beautiful understanding of who He is--that He understands taht we are not perfect, but He loves us still because He is our Father. She says she and her husband pray together frequently, and we are going to do a Bible study together so we can get better at reading and understanding the scriptures!
Our dear Sophia is a strong one. She has been studying the scriptures every day on her own. Her testimony is as solid as a rock. She said she can't wait to be a missionary because she feels that she'll be able to relate to people because the gospel helped her feel better and it can help other people feel better too! Wow we love her.
As you can see, there is no shortage of miracles in the Lord's work. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary. President Cordon has been stressing to us how privileged we are to be missionaries right now and it's really true. I could not be happier about my calling. And I'm so grateful for the technology we are able to use to accomplish our work! As is stated in our missionary handbook Safeguards for Using Technology, we have the grand privilege of getting "to use these tools according to the purpose for which they were created--to further the work of salvation." These advances in technology were literally created for the purpose of sharing the restored gospel! I know this is true. And I feel so fortunate to be a part of it. I am so excited about this work! I am overjoyed that I get to use my blogging talent as a huge part of my missionary work. It's a talent I've been developing for years and is a huge part of my life, and now I get to use it to further the work of salvation. Teaching using technology has also allowed my family and other friends to participate in my missionary work, and it means the world to me that my family gets to see me teach, the ultimate joy of my heart. I am so happy to be a missionary right now.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day
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