Just Love

This week I want to talk about love. Everything in life that means something comes from our loving Heavenly Father. When we understand his perfect love we are better able to love others. Sometimes it's hard to love. It's especially hard sometimes to love yourself. But that's ok, because His love makes up for it. It makes up for everything. It makes up for those times when we don't have the motivation to do anything, when our own fears and doubts keep us from doing anything, or when what we do doesn't seem good enough. But thats ok, just do it anyway. God loves that you are even trying. And the most important thing that He wants us to try and do is to love ourselves and those around us.

Love is smiling at a stranger. It is doing what you know is right. It is lending a helping hand. It is finding ways to serve those you love, and maybe even those you don't. Love is making sure people know how special they are. It is really listening to people. It is buying a slurpee for your companion when they are down. It is washing the dishes so someone else doesn't have to. It is talking to people about Jesus Christ's gospel, even when that task seems impossible, because you know it will bless their life. 

Something I have been reminded of this week is how important it is to just love. Just love myself, love the Lord enough to do what He has asked, and love those around me. When We learn to do that, life is happier. And if it doesn't seem happy right now, just do the things that show love anyways. Christ's love will make up the difference

I love you all, Just keep smiling

The Greatest Battle We Will Ever Fight

I don't have a lot of time this week sadly, because I feel like this week was such a roller coaster. I was honestly very down at the beginning of thi
s week, but now life is looking good :) I don't really like who I was at the beginning of this week, but I am grateful for the lessons that I learned in the process of getting over all of that.

I learned two major things:

1) happiness is a choice

2) that choice is only possible because of Jesus Christ 

If you have read all of my posts you will notice that those are things I have claimed to learn before. Something else that I have learned from my mission is that life is a cycle. We literally learn the same lessons over and over again. Sometimes it's the same exact thing that we just can't get, so our Father in Heaven mercifully gives us more opportunities to get it right, and sometimes we are just prepared to learn a new part of that lesson. I feel like I have experienced both of those circumstances this week. 

Whatever life throws at you, just remember to keep moving forward. When you are doing a good thing you will inevitably receive just as strong of forces trying to push you backwards. Never forget though the strength of who is behind you. Do the Lord's work: serve others, love, forget about yourself, and be happy. The adversary will put untrue things in your head, roadblocks in your path and do anything he can to keep you from spreading good. In those moments, rely on Jesus Christ. He wants more than anything for you to succeed and if you do your part, just your small part to look to Him, you will receive Heavens help in your life and see miracles! This is the greatest battle we will ever fight, the battle for our own happiness, and with Jesus Christ we will always win.

I love you all, have a wonderful week! And just keep smiling!

 

 

Look To Christ and Live

What a week! Here are some highlights:

I finished reading the Book of Mormon again! What was even more fun is that Sister Tobler and I finished on the same day :) I cannot tell you how much I have learned from this book. This time through I learned a lot about how to receive answers to prayers. It has shown me so much about faith, God's plan for me, His commandments. Most importantly it has pointed me continuously to Jesus Christ. Through it I have developed a stronger testimony of who He is and why I need Him so desperately in my life. And through consistent study I am grateful to know that testimony will never stop growing.

 

 

Other exciting news, my friend James got baptized! I first met her in band and she is just so great! She is one of the most caring people I have ever met. Well, while I was still at home I found out she was meeting with missionaries! She was actually preparing for baptism, but the timing wasn't right. A few months ago I felt prompted to reach out to her and discovered she was still meeting with missionaries! She attended church regularly, read the Book of Mormon often. Her testimony had grown immensely, and even though I only had the opportunity to chat with her through Facebook I could tell that she was filled with such a different light than she had been before. This Saturday she made the step of being baptized! I could not be happier and I am so proud of her!

Another highlight of my week was that on Monday I got to go on exchanges with the amazing Sister Clark! Boy have I missed her sweet spirit. It was an honor to be able to serve with her in Lancaster again for the day :) One of the biggest miracles we saw was Amy. Sherry Price, who was baptized recently, had invited her Sister-in-law Amy to attend. By attending that baptism Amy realized that this gospel is what she has been looking for and what has been missing in her life. She is absolutely amazing and so dedicated and excited to learn all she can about Christ's restored gospel. Elder and Sister Thompson have been working closely with her, and Sister Clark and I had the wonderful opportunity to help her accept a baptismal date! She is so prepared and I know this is going to change her life!

Baptism is such a special and exciting thing that helps us to look to our Savior Jesus Christ!

 

 

There have been many miracles that have happened this week, but it has honestly been a crazy one! I feel like we were constantly running all over the place, trying our best to help people, and still never feeling like anything would go according to plan. BUT this week was a great reminder to me that it's not my plans that matter, but it's God's plans that will really make the difference. There were countless times this week that I was stressed feeling like nothing was working out or that I was not being successful. But then right after those moments, or sometimes even during, we would experience some huge miracle like finding three new investigators in half an hour or because we were running later than planned we would pull up at just the right moment to see an investigator we really needed to get in contact with who got home at that exact moment. It is moments like those that confirm to me that I am exactly where God needs me, doing exactly what He hopes I will be doing. 

Sometimes though that confirmation would not come. There were moments that I felt like I was supposed to be somewhere else, doing some other thing, or that no matter how hard I try I can't possibly do the task the Lord has given me. Those moments are really hard, when I know I could be more successful. What do we do then? Well, we learn from our mistakes and keep on trying. This week I have been studying my favorite talk from this most recent General Conference titled "Until Seventy Times Seven" by Elder Lynn G. Robbins. There is a question he poses very early in his message that really related to how I have been feeling lately. He says, "We may wonder—if both Nephi and Moses were on the Lord’s errand, why didn’t the Lord intervene and help them achieve success on their first try? Why did He allow them—and why does He allow us—to flounder and fail in our attempts to succeed?" I have been wondering that same thing, if I am on the Lord's errand and doing His work, why does it seem like everything is against me or that I can't accomplish this work? Elder Robbins made another point that helped answer my question. He teaches us about the necessity of having real intent as we use the Atonement of Jesus Christ to become what He wants us to be. He says that when we do this we change. "That kind of change results in spiritual growth. Our success, then, isn’t going from failure to failure, but growing from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm."

This life isn't about being perfect. That is what we are all striving for, but we will never get there in this life. And we certainly won't get there very quickly if everything is handed to us. That is why, even when we are doing the work of the Lord, it requires great effort and sometimes what even appears to be failure, otherwise there would be no growth. We are successful simply by getting up after we fall. Each failure or hardship that we experience, if we rely on Jesus Christ to give us the strength to rise from it, will be an opportunity to grow one step closer to success. I urge you all to focus on Jesus Christ in your daily lives. As you do so, you will gain the perspective you need to never lose enthusiasm as you are given the experiences necessary to grow spiritually in the ups and downs in life's journey.

Look to Christ and remember, just keep smiling!

 

 

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!