Whatever the Mind Can Conceive and Believe, It Can Achieve

 
WHAT AN AMAZING WEEK!

Seriously,  insanely awesome miracles included. Be prepared :)

Our area has been doing pretty well, we are finding awesome people to teach and have a few people working towards baptism. It's a bit of a struggle helping people come to church but overall things have been great!

But of course there are always ways we can make things better. Last week Sister Tobler received some inspiration from her sister who recently returned home from her own mission. Her and her companion really wanted to find a family to teach so everyday, in every prayer they said, they prayed that they would find a family of five who were prepared for baptism. In case you don't know, we pray a lot as missionaries. We pray when we wake up, before and after we study and plan, every time we go out the door, get out of the car, need help and guidance, before a lesson, before we eat. ALL THE TIME! Well they did find that family of five like they had prayed for and all of them were baptized.

Sister Tobler and I were inspired by this story, so we took this challenge ourselves. In every prayer we would ask to be led to those that the Lord is preparing for baptism. At first it seemed like a little much and I didn't really know what would come of it because I already felt like we were praying for these things. I am so grateful that the Lord looked over my lack of faith in those thoughts. We had done this for five days and on four of those we had found someone to teach and helped them to accept a baptismal date! Four more people are now working towards making sacred covenants with their Heavenly Father because we acted on the inspired words of her sister. I know that it had little to do with us, but because we were humble enough to listen and had the faith to work diligently, we were able to be instruments in the Lord's hands to bring about miracles. 

I know that this is true for each of our lives. I have learned a lot of things from this experience this week. Some of the big  ones are

1) The power of prayer is most definitely real

2) When our greatest desires match the Lord's greatest desires, we will see miracles to make them happen

3) Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve

Number three is a quote by Napoleon Hill that President Stratford loves and has invited us each to live by. I have definitely gained a testimony of that principle this week and I absolutely know it is true. Whenever we put our mind to something, and have enlisted the Lord's help, we can accomplish it.

I love you all! Just keep smiling!

 

 

Multitude of Tender Mercies

 

This week was jam packed, we were crazy busy and saw so many Tender Mercies! We started off the week with an exchange with my good friend Sister Norman :) She is in training and has that greenie fire :) She is so cool, and we met so many awesome people! I love when the weather starts to get warm (don't get your hopes up though because it snowed again later in the week...) One of the coolest people we met that day was Tina. She has a cute little family and as we talked with her and started teaching things began to sound familiar. She was excited to tell us that a few years ago she had actually met with missionaries! They lost contact because life got crazy, she doesn't remember a lot of what they taught but she does remember that it all made sense. How cool is that?! We went back for our return appointment and they are just so sweet! We found a real gem here in Lancaster. We even got to meet their pet pig! haha. I am so excited to teach their family :) It is such a tender mercy to meet people who are so prepared.

 

Exchanges with Sister Norman

Like I said, I love the warmer weather! This week we did our weekly planning outside at the park, and then we climbed mount pleasant and had the picnic we packed as we did our companion study at the top of mount pleasant (don't be fooled, it's really just a big hill. It sure is pretty though :) It is such a tender mercy to be able to enjoy the beautiful weather and God's creations.

 

View from Mount Pleasant

 

We had Another exchange this week! Party! It was with our Gahanna trio, I love those gals :) I had the opportunity to attend two baptisms that day! It was a very special experience to have the spirit witness to me two times in a row the same feeling of confirmation that this is true and that these amazing people truly did make a covenant with their Heavenly Father. One of the baptisms was in Hilliard, my first area. It was really fun to go back and visit almost a year after I had served there! How crazy is that?!

I also learned that day that I have an accent, not really sure where I picked it up or really what makes my speech different, but apparently it is! We had a lesson with one of their new investigators, probably one of the coolest lessons I have ever been a part of. He is from Africa and is English is pretty good but not 100%. Well as we were teaching he stopped us and said to the other sisters while he gestured at me, "This one, with the accent, can you understand her clearly?" Apparently he had the hardest time understanding what I said and we could not stop laughing. The other sisters assured him that I was speaking just the same as they were. We still haven't figured out what my accent it....haha  

Being able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to assist in the work of salvation is a huge tender mercy!

 

Gahanna trio

 The biggest tender mercy we experienced this week was when we got our transfer calls and we were informed that Sister Tobler and I will be staying together!!!! We were so surprised and oh so happy! She has become one of my best friends and I love her dearly. I can tell that this transfer is going to be amazing!

I am always amazed by how merciful the Lord is. He manifests His love for us to often in the simplest of ways. I share the feelings that Jared and His family experience in the Book of Mormon when it says that "they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them." I pray that you each will take the time to look around and appreciate the tender mercies that the Lord is continually pouring over you, because an attitude of gratitude brings more joy to life than anything else.

Love you all! Just keep smiling!

 

Crazy Weather!!

 

"because she loves Jesus"

This week was crazy and so busy but we saw so many miracles!!!!

The biggest thing I would like to tell you about is our little friend Aries :)

She got baptized this week!!!!

It was absolutely incredible! When she was asked by our Bishop why she wanted to get baptized she said because she loves Jesus. How perfect is that? That is what conversion is, doing things out of love for Christ. She may only be eight and doesn't know everything yet, but what she does know are the most important things.

I have loved working with her and her family. There has been such a change in their home since her baptism. A greater peace and a greater evidence of the spirit in their home. It is truly amazing what happens in our lives when we keep the commandments and when we do the small and simple things that invite the spirit into our lives.

This is why I am serving a mission. I am here to help others find joy, greater peace, hope, and unite families. Most importantly, and how all of that is accomplished, I am here to help others come closer to Christ through sacred covenants like baptism. 

I am so grateful for my opportunity to serve. It has changed my perspective on life completely and helped have a greater desire to strive to be more like Aries, and do things out of my love for Christ.

I love you all! Just keep smiling!

 

 

I Am A Disciple Of Jesus Christ

This week was so exciting! We did a lot of walking in the rain, we have had some amazing lessons, we have spent a lot of time with one of our amazing investigators and her fun family, we got pulled over by the police (don't worry, he was just letting me know that I accidentally turned off my tail lights...), and we had another tornado warning (that makes 3 total on my mission) we experienced all four seasons in one week (not even joking), rode our bikes a lot, and we got to celebrate Easter! AND we had the opportunity to hear the words of Christ's modern day prophets and apostles! It has been a good time :)

What I want to talk about mostly is that last one. I just think it is so amazing that God loves us enough in our day to have called a prophet. He wants us to have current, easy to understand instruction on how to follow Christ and be happy in this life, and a living prophet is the most direct way we can receive that. 

To sum up the whole conference (a total of 10 hours of inspired words and counsel directly from God for us) we all received instruction on what it means to be a disciple of Christ, and the encouragement and exportation to go and do.

We learned a lot about love, the important of ministering to the one, forgiveness, meekness, the power that comes from understanding that we are a child of God, and how to better follow the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Following Christ is something inseparably connected to our pursuit of true happiness in our lives, so I am grateful for the constant direction on how to do that more effectively.

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life" (3 Nephi 5:13) 

I think one of the greatest lessons for my life that I am learning while on my mission is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am also grateful to know that even though this commission to declare his word is specifically for me as a missionary, that it doesn't have to stop there. I can continue to help those around me keep their sights on everlasting life. And that is all of our responsibilities as Christ's disciples, because that is what He would do if He were here. We can know a lot about Jesus Christ, but what matters most is that we are continually coming to know Him. How we do that is through very small but eternally significant choices, it comes down to every moment striving to be a little more like Him in our every day actions. 

I am so grateful for my Savior, and especially for His eternal sacrifice that we had the special opportunity to remember and reverence this weekend. Because of Him the ability to change is possible; we can heed to His plea to become perfect even as he is perfect by allowing Him to help us make our daily decisions.

I love you all! Just keep smiling!