This week has been great! As of Friday, I have been on my mission for one month! It definitely feels a lot longer than that haha, but I have loved it so far! Something that people always say about time on a mission is that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days, and I could not agree more!
This week I met lots of amazing people and learned a lot! I served at the Horse Farm again and at a Senior Living Center. I did my first exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders in my zone and that was fun! I got to be in a different area with a different companion for a day. I also had the opportunity to learn from my Mission President and his wife at a New Missionary Training Meeting.
Winter in Washington is here, it has been very rainy, but that's what I signed up for, right? I've loved the rain so far, but who knows how I'll feel after 9 months of it haha.
Someone I was able to meet this week is our new friend named J. He is amazing! So he is a former MLB player! He was a pitcher which is awesome. However, he had a stroke a while back and has lost a lot of his physical abilities, so he has a caretaker and she's also amazing. She's a member and is able to add her testimony to our lessons. He's been being taught by missionaries for a while, but has never been close to or willing to be baptized, but for some reason this time around things are different. We met with him twice this week and are continuing to meet with him. It's been amazing to see the Lord's hand in our meetings. One thing I've come to understand while meeting with him is the Lord's timing. The Lord's timing is not always our timing, but it is perfect. He has a plan for each of us and I know that whether we feel like it now or not, things will always work out in the end.
Something I have come to love since being on my mission is studying the scriptures. I loved it before, but I've been able to learn a lot since being on a mission. Something that I think is key in scripture study is pondering and listening. In the MTC we learned a study method where we would read one verse and then stop and try to find a lesson or principle that you could pull from it. I also was reading Elder Johnson's talk from general conference and he suggests to read with a question in mind. I encourage all of you to try either of these study methods, it really allows God to speak to you. I know that daily scripture study is so important. I know that God speaks to us through His words in the scriptures. I know that as you read and listen that God will speak to you and tell you what you need to hear at this time, no matter what you may be going to.
Thought:
- This week I have been reading in Ether about the Brother of Jared. In chapter 3 verses 6-13 and something that I was thinking about while reading them is how the Brother of Jared only saw the finger of the Lord at first and then he saw the whole body of the Lord. It made me think of two questions; what does my faith allow me to see? And what does my doubt keep me from seeing? President Uchtdorf once said, "Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings upon us. It is our fear, doubts, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us." However, God knows we are imperfect and that we will have doubts. I love the scripture Mark 9:23 that is talking about a father asking for the Lord to heal his son. He says, Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief." As we turn to the Lord our faith will grow and our doubts will wither. Hold on to what you know before you let your doubts cause you to fall. "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith."
-Recommended reading: Talk by Jeffery R. Holland titled "Lord I believe"
Talk by Elder Johson from this past conference titled "Power to Overcome the Adversary"
Sorry for always sending such long emails haha! Love you all!
Sister Carlson
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