MIRACLES KEEP COMING!

HELLO BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!

Are you bored with my redundant letters using the same words expressing how much I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY?!

It has been an awesome week; tomorrow is my five-month mark!!! cray cray! Some days it feels like I just got here, some days … wow I can't believe everything that has happened. Either way I’m happy as a clam!

I have felt great peace while praying for my visa this week. I know that you think my visa is coming soon so I’ll try to be positive and have faith that God will work a miracle for me - keep praying!

Some highlights of this week:

*We have new zone leaders! They are very disciplined and obedient missionaries and I can't wait to see how we will grow together in service.

*Halloween! Soooo … we were on lockdown after 6 pm. It was super weird because it’s so warm outside and the leaves are still bright green! I’ve heard that it’s been freezing and even snowing at home so that’s kind of strange. The missionaries gathered at the church and watched 17 Miracles. We didn't get to finish it, but I loved what I saw and it was fun to be together.

*Watch or read the CES devotional by Brother Russell T. Osguthorpe on11/3/13 - it was SOOOO good!

One of the greatest miracles from this week resulted from a very difficult situation. I am so grateful for the power of prayer and the peace the Spirit brought to us.

Time for some insights!

After my trying experience this week, I realized again how important it is to have the Spirit with us at ALL times. It is one of my goals this transfer to recognize promptings from the Spirit and to have the courage to act on them.  

I looked up courage in the TG, and the reference that stood out to me the most was, JSH 1: 25

"I had seen a vision, I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it..."

I was very intrigued and struck that this would be an example of courage. I have never thought about it in that way before. The more I pondered this I realized that Joseph Smith's entire life was act after act of courage. Then, I thought of how this applies to me. 

I cross-referenced and studied and found similarities and correlations among all of these words; COURAGE, FAITHFUL, ZEAL, DILIGENCE, FERVENT, INITIATIVE, EARNEST.   

The Bible dictionary defines "EARNEST" as: a pledge, deposit or security. It means that the Lord gives us His Holy Spirit in this life as a foretaste of the joy of eternal life. The Spirit is also the Lord's surety that he will fulfill his promise to give eternal life to the faithful.

After putting all of these things together, I discovered how this applies to me. As missionaries, we must first strive to have the Holy Spirit with us at all times. We must do things to be worthy to have the Spirit with us, and also the courage and the faith to act on the promptings that God gives us. Joseph Smith had visions, received promptings and experiences that he could not deny. He received that "surety" of truth from the Spirit. It certainly wasn’t easy for him to share but he had the courage and the spiritual strength to do so. I love that it defines earnest as a security or pledge of joy for living worthy of having the Spirit with us.  

OK – I LOVE Y’ALL!

I’m sorry if my letters are becoming boring, I just hope you can tell how grateful I am to serve the Lord and learn all of these important things. I am so humbled and grateful that a mission was in the Lord's plan for me and that I am being more refined each day!

I love y’all to the moon and back! Please have an awesome week for me!!

Muah!

Our Choose The Right Pumpkin!

Makin' Jambalaya with Awesome Friends