 |
| Midnight on New Year's Eve 2013 with Sister Jara! |
This Monday was New
Year's Eve. We went to the missionary conference, where we saw the
apostle, Elder Christofferson speak. He was really wonderful and shook
each missionary's hand. Something that he said really touched me and
I've been trying to tell everyone about it!! He said that when we return
to our Heavenly Father, we will recognize him and we will know him,
just like He knows us! Isn't that great? I think it's like, you won't
see me for 18 months, and I won't see you (with the exception of Skype),
so we will vaguely forget about each other's details. I won't
forget-forget, but I won't think about the way that you laugh or your
habits or your voice. But as soon as I see you again, all of that
knowledge will come back. Everything will be the same as it always was.
It will feel familiar. And I definitely know that it will be that way with Heavenly Father, too.
 |
| Cheetah onesie from Sister Burtenshaw!!! |
 |
| Sister Burtenshaw and I on New Year's Eve --
Sad that we have to leave each other!
|
Tuesday,
I set some New Year's resolutions and reflected on my goals that I had
for last year. I think that I did pretty good! Some of the things that I
think I did really well on last year.. "Bring Anis to SRU" (Yes!), "Go
on a mission" (Yes!), "Send lots of mail" (Definitely!). I am really
looking forward to this year. It will be the only year in my life that I
am completely dedicated and focused on serving the Lord. My goals are
all mission-oriented, like, "Invite others to come unto Christ," and
"Give, oh give away," which means that I want to be generous with my
time and energy and possessions. I want to completely serve the people
here and forget myself in the work.
I
started my One Line a Day journal over. It's fun to read about the
things from last year. One of the funny ones was on January 4, last
year: "Too many hours at Kohl's with Zooey and Mutti, Starving at
Shane's basketball game, Flat tire on the van from Mutti running over a
curb." haha. Do you remember that?? Another good one is from January 14:
"Blueberry muffins, Terrible movie at the dollar theater, Paper at
Michael's, Vegi-meatball subs, & Trying on mom's wedding dress." I
loved that day!!
On Thursday,
we were tracting (knocking doors) some apartments (it was FREEZING). We
knocked on 305 and a little girl answered the door that I recognized. I
thought, How do I know her?? Her mom came up and I said, "I know
you!.." It took me a minute, but I realized that we had met this woman
while tracting another apartment complex on my first day in Park City.
She had been at her sister's apartment and was nice to us, but wasn't
very interested in hearing our message. So when we knocked on HER door, I
think that we were all surprised! This time, though, she was very very
open and honest with us. She said that she felt comfortable talking to
us. It was a complete change and I know that it wasn't a coincidence. I
know that Heavenly Father had been preparing her!
On Friday
was Sister Zeiner's birthday. Big 22! We all went out to lunch at Ruby
Tuesday's and had a lot of fun. We worked in the Visitor's Center that
night. A recent convert from New York and her member friend came in,
just to visit. The friend lived in Utah but the Recent Convert was so so
excited to visit and see all of the members and all of the temples. She
was glowing. We talked to these girls for quite a while and heard all
about them. The member said that she was trying to decide whether or not
to go on a mission because she hadn't received any answer to her
prayers asking if she should go. I shared my experience with her about
not getting an answer either and I told her that Heavenly Father wants
US to make the decision sometimes. I told her that she should pray for
him to bless her path or block it. She started to cry and I felt so
positive that she needed to hear about my experience.
I
love love love LOVE being a missionary. It was OK my first transfer; my
second transfer I really liked it; and now I absolutely LOVE it. I am
seeing miracles every single day. My companion and I are lead by the
Spirit and we are always laughing and enjoying our experiences. I am
meeting so many people that I immediately love. I am sharing my
testimony about the most important thing in my life. I am learning and
growing and changing. I am so so grateful to be here and I am so happy
that I made the decision to serve the Lord. I am humbled that Heavenly
Father would let me be a representative for his son, Jesus Christ. This
is the best thing ever.
I really love you
and I appreciate all that you do for me! Thank you for your letters and
your love and your support and prayers!
 |
| Sister Garibaldo, Sister Jara, and Sister Piton (she's done with her mission--just visiting!) on New Year's Eve. |
No comments:
Post a Comment