Changes and Gratitude

This week--

Lots of emotions. Good ones, bad ones, the lot. I said goodbye to Sister Herring and hello to Sister Crossley, a wonderful gal from West Jordan, Utah. She has been serving in Lynchburg, her first area, for the past 6 months, and has come to the best place in the mission just in time for the holidays :)

Speaking of holidays, our mission president has asked us to write down 10 things we're thankful for each day this week with no repeats. I have an idea of what mine will look like:

1. Pumpkin Pie

2. Things that taste like Pumpkin Pie

3. Things that smell like Pumpkin Pie

4. Things that remind me of Pumpkin Pie

5. Whipped Cream (to go on Pumpkin Pie)

Ha, okay, I'm just kidding! Kind of. No, but really, I think my list right now might go a little more like this:

1. The Atonement

2. Prayer

3. The Scriptures

4. The Prophet

5. The Priesthood

6. The knowledge that I have of the Restoration

7. The opportunity to be on a mission

8. A family that can be together forever

9. Jesus Christ

10. Heavenly Father

And let me tell you, that kind of a list could go on and on. This gospel-- it's the reason why I'm here. I am so thankful to have a knowledge that all of this, and much, much, MUCH more is there for me, and for everybody that searches for it. 

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name." --Psalms 100:4

The One Where Sister Nisse Said Goodbye to Her Mama

So, the day has arrived. It's my last day with my mother.

(Mother = a sister missionary's trainer).

I feel like throwing myself on my bed a-la Sleeping Beauty style (post-finding-out-her-true-identity-as-a-princess), but the work must go on.

This week, I wish I could say that the wonderful and glorious Herring-Nisse duo went out with a bang, but sadly, we had a looooot of meetings to attend, and as such, things were not at their most fabulous. 

However, things are looking good for the weeks to come! We have a precious thing to look forward to-- APPOINTMENTS!!! Believe me when I say that such things are rare and marvelous. People out here aren't as fond of set appointments as the missionaries are, but I'll take what I can get :)

Um, ya, Sleeping Beauty definitely had it easier. 

Our Purpose

So, having a member of the Quorum of the Seventy address you and your mission summed up in a word:

Haha! Just kidding, we all know it's impossible to sum up.

But in all honesty, it was amazing. Elder Sitati and his wife came from Ghana, Africa to speak to us for our annual mission conference. You wanna know what he talked to us about?

Our Purpose. 

Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

He taught us about how all the questions that a missionary can come up with can be resolved by a re-evaluation of where we stand in regard to our purpose. And, to extend that to you, whoever you are reading this, the same can be said about where you stand in regard to your purpose. What's your purpose, you might ask? Well, let me tell you:

Your purpose is to come unto Christ by receiving the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism (and weekly renewal of baptismal covenants), receiving and being worthy of the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. 

I promise that by continually working to embed this purpose into our hearts, we will eventually be able to not only come out of the other side of life's storms with deepened faith, but to return to our Father in Heaven knowing that we've done all that was required of us to return to live with Him.

"For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors."

Missionary Work on Halloween?

Ha, so Halloween is totally awkward as a missionary. Sooo many people opening their doors, excited to give candy to trick-or-treaters, and then boom. They see the little black tag and their faces DROP. I wish I could show you, because it really is one of the funniest things eeeever.

In any case, we had a miracle last night! We knocked on the door of this one man's house, and well, he's never home...but for whatever reason, last night he was! I love it when that happens. He has such a testimony of this gospel, and I loved hearing about how having a knowledge about the truthfulness has gotten him through some very hard times. The only problem is that he's not a member.

Ha! Just kidding! Well, kind of. He was baptized when he was 16 and living in Bolivia, and somehow the records of his baptism were lost. And so now he gets to be baptized again, the lucky duck. 

Other than that, it's been a rather uneventful week, a lot of working with the other sisters in the zone, so I'm sorry that I don't have more to report about the people in our area! The sister who committed to be baptized is named Mary Henderson, so please include her in your prayers.  

 

Here are some pictures from the beautiful (and extremely terrifying) roads in Virginia.