Hey everyone!
What's on my mind while reviewing this lesson today is how grateful I am for companions. For those of you that don't know, missionaries teach in pairs (or occasionally groups of three). Some people call them our partners but that is not the right word for it. A mission companion isn't just like a business partner where we work and teach together and that's it. We are never not with our companions. We live together, exercise together, eat together, counsel together, play together, cry together, laugh together. We are not allowed to sleep in separate rooms. We are only on specific occasions able to leave each other's sight. It is the most intimate relationship you can have with a person--except for a marriage, but all of us missionaries frequently say that we feel married to our companions.
A lot of my companions were very similar to me, and a lot of them were very different. I am so grateful for all of them. There were countless moments on my mission that in the moment and looking back I just knew I wouldn't have been able to do certain things without them. I wouldn't have learned a valuable lesson. I wouldn't have thought of what we needed to do to increase our spiritual capacity or help our friend. I wouldn't have felt as loved or supported through the difficult times. So many of my companions I wouldn't have ever been friends with if we hadn't been companions, just because we are so different and do such different things that I would have never talked to them. How grateful I am that God put the expected and the unexpected people in my life that He did. Not having a companion wasn't that hard to adjust to, but it is still something I miss the most. That's why I'm grateful that I have a roommate, because she is pretty much just like a companion to me. I thank God for companionship. We could've lived life all alone, but He intended for us to be with each other and help each other. He intended for us to act the way we actually are deep down: brothers and sisters.
So I guess if you're living in some state of emotional isolation right now, don't. I am here for you. Many others are here for you too. Even if it takes trial and error, you will not regret it.
Also, for my invitation to read "The Living Christ" at the bottom of this letter (spoiler alert I guess), drop in the comments what you enjoyed about it. I would love to know!
Enjoy!
Hello one and all!
(Not actually going to really talk about it here, but the title of this email is because Sister Nault and I said that approximately five hundred times this week for various reasons, including Hilario dropping Elder Jones and Elder Judd, so there's that.)
LA LOVE:
One day in personal study while studying "The Living Christ", Sister Nault felt inspired that we needed to make a Jesus wall in our apartment, of pictures of the Savior and all the events described in the testimonial document. She spent most of Saturday putting it together and it is so beautiful! I spend a lot of time just sitting and staring at it. It's crazy what a difference just pictures of the Savior can make.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
We spent p-day inside because this week the missionaries of the California Los Angeles Mission have had a 12:30 PM curfew.
What a great district council we had this week. We spent a ton of time just talking with our sister training leader, Sister Shay, because this was her last week in the mission. We sure have a good bunch of elders and sisters here.
We had our first Makeup with the Sisters class! I taught an online makeup class for the girls and women of South Bay. This is a great opportunity for people to meet missionaries in a casual and comfortable way, and to hang out with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We all had a great time! I am eager for the next one.
We had a great mission prep class, yet again with Bree and Rohan. We learned about how to resolve concerns and I can't even begin to tell you how amazing these youngsters are at roleplaying scenarios that have really happened to missionaries. The Lord is preparing a great army for coming days.
When we woke up at 6:30 AM on Sundays, Sister Nault got up to turn off her alarm and immediately said "WE ALREADY HAVE TRANSFER PACKET." I was like "WHAT" of course. Apparently the assistants had sent out the packet at 4:55 AM Poor elders. Well, as I suspected, nothing changed for Sister Nault and I. We are staying together and still covering the three wards. However, we may or may not know about midcycles happening in coming days. So stay tuned.
An hour and a half after we got our transfer packet the mission had another update over video call. This one was wild. Many restrictions were lifted, and I hesitate to share any of the changes here all at once, but doors are opening here. I will not get too into it at the moment.
There was a great mission fireside by an artist who found success in painting our Savior! Featuring my awesome zone leaders performing a musical number at the beginning of the fireside.
FRIENDS:
We did an awesome Come, Follow Me study with John this week that had us all pondering the many tender mercies we have seen from the Savior when He showed us His grace.
We had some super intense and amazing talks with Craig B. this week. It was mainly about how the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth, the role that the priesthood has in that, why the question is always whether or not the Book of Mormon is true. It got him really pondering. He hasn't felt for a long time that he needed to pray about answers to big questions, but as we were talking, he said, "Now THAT is something to pray about." He is really learning more about the Restoration of the gospel.
Our poor Mary was having a hard week this week. We talked about how we can find comfort and how much God loves and cares for each of His children. It helped her feel better.
This week with Craig T. was wild. At first (over the course of a wild week my friends) we started by talking about how God loves His children so much and only commands them to do stuff that will make them happier, so what is holding him back? We committed--all of us--to make a list of things that we are having difficulty letting go of and honestly it was really good. We called Craig to repentance and taught him the process of how to do so, testifying of all the ways repentance has helped us. Craig voiced how the problem is that he doesn't want to change, so we told him to pray for that desire, and for a day that he wants to be changed by. We talked a ton about the need for repentance in short. We also had a great Sabbath worship experience with the Anvaripour family about how to gain a testimony, which he definitely really needed.
We met with Scott and Heather! Scott started dating Heather a short time ago and Heather is a member of our church that has recently started returning to activity. Scott has become really interested in Heather's religion! We spent our first lesson getting to know them and talking about the nature of God.
We talked to our dear Sophia about the purpose of life this week. We talked about coming closer to God and helping others come closer to him too. It is not easy for her when she feels like she is walking the covenant path alone, but we talked about how we can stay close to God even with challenges like that.
We taught the Plan of Salvation to Cathryn this week. She is so amazing and she loved how the plan all revolves around Heavenly Father's love. I have seen such an amazing change in Cathryn. She is so prepared for baptism.
We had a great lesson with our new friend Ofelia about how the atoning grace of Jesus Christ is sufficient for all of us! She has a lot of faith and it is so amazing.
We had a really great lesson with Gisele this week about the purpose of life: to be happy! She is definitely wanting to make that more a part of her life.
WE had a lesson with Stephanie, Scott, and Annie! Scott joined the Church two years ago, and his wife Stephanie is not yet decided but loves meeting with missionaries. Annie is their daughter. We love them! We taught about how the Atonement of Jesus Christ cleanses and changes us.
We had the loveliest lesson with Beverly this week. We shared John 3:16-17 and she sang us the most beautiful song and bore testimony of the Savior. It really made my night.
Diana had a pretty hard week this week but we talked a lot about how we can find strength in the Savior. We sure love her.
We had a great conversation with Andre this week about journeys with God and about genuine love. I love Andre so much.
Well my friends, this week we took the sacrament as a zone again, which it looks like we will be doing every week from now on. This week I had done a lot of contemplating about what was making me unhappy and what was making it difficult for me to let go of that. So in other words, I partook of the sacrament entirely appropriately this week. I had been filled with pain. I had been carrying around a burden. And I had been contemplating what could be done. During this process, I tried to rely on God, which I am not always very good at doing. The preparation I did in the week made my sacrament experience incredible. I wept as I sat in a room with seven other missionaries and partook of the emblems of Christ's body and blood, looking at pictures of the Savior and what He did for me, and how He loves each and every person with such a perfect love that He gave us all the ability to heal, to move forward, to forgive and be forgiven. It was almost unbelievable how joyful and light and peaceful I felt after that experience. What a joy to relearn and partake in the healing power and grace of Christ.
For my invitation this week, I desire you all to read the previously mentioned document, "The Living Christ". It was published by His Apostles in 2000 and testifies of the reality of Jesus, who He is, and what He has done for every person--ever. And when you read this, consider this: what do I need to let go of? What is holding me back from happiness? How can my life improve, and what do I need to do to make that happen? The older I get the more I realize change is not bad; it is in fact the purpose of life. There is no stopping point. Why would you, why would anyone, want to hold yourself back from being as happy as you could possibly be? This is what we choose when we choose to not repent. To repent is to make a positive change in which we rely on the Redeemer of our souls. There is so much happiness waiting for each and every one of us. The choice is ours.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day
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