Hello Family!!
First of all...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!!
second of all some random things about the week...
-today we hiked volcan Osorno (a volcano). IT WAS SO COOL!! We hiked up, but you can’t get to the tippy
top to look in hahah, and then we took out plastic bags and sled down the
volcano on the snow. It was one of my
favorite memories of my life hahaha so fun!!!
We also went to a huge waterfall and had to cross a river and got
soaked, but it was so worth it!
-We had intercambios with 2 sets of hermanas this week and
an emergency with another sector so I didn’t sleep in my house for 4 days. It’s been good though!
-It’s starting to get warmer and one day I didn’t have to
wear tights! I’m sooo white hahahhaha it’s
so bad.
-I learned how to make lemon pie and chocolate pudding from
scratch
Ya that’s about all the random stuff that has happened. This week was good. A little bit of background...
As a mission we have a promise from the Lord that we can
have at least 80 baptisms a month. We
are working really hard at that but still hasn’t happened. This week I asked for a blessing wanting to
know what I needed to do to complete with the goal personally and how I could
help other missionaries do the same. The
Lord told me to have the faith to see it in my sector, and look for the
miracles that He will work. But that as I love the people and missionaries
more, and as I help other missionaries learn to love others more, we WILL reach
our goal. I was trying to think about
how I could make that happen. One
morning while I was getting ready I was listening to a conference talk and a
line jumped our from me from Elder Uchtdorf.
He said in effect, "as we strive to take upon ourselves the name of
Christ, our love for God and others grows and so does our desire to minister to
them". I’m grateful for the Spirit
teaching me in that moment. It’s true,
as we try to be more like Christ in every moment, then His love for God and
others will fill us. I still need to
seek more revelation on how to help other missionaries learn to take upon them
Christ´s name better, so if you have any ideas I’m very open to hearing them!!
Another thing we have been challenged to do as a mission by Hermana
Isom is talk to at LEAST 10 new people each day. It sounds easy but there are some days where
its challenging. But on Monday we tried
our best to do so. None of the people we
talked with wanted to meet with us, but right as we were going home late at
night a man in his car stopped us. We
were obviously very hesitant but felt like it was ok to let him talk to
us. From a good distanced we talked to
him. He asked us if we were missionaries
from "that church" and pointed to the chapel that we had just
passed. We answered yes, and he asked us
when we had meetings. He proceeded to
explain that he had never been inside, but that it always called his
attention. We were pretty excited and
invited him of course but he was a little hesitant. We wrote down his number
and we´ll see if anything comes of that. But the point is, as we show our faith
by acting, by looking for those who are ready to receive our message, Heavenly
Father guides us to them, or guides THEM to US.
If we act in faith, God will be able to do things that are not presently
in our power.
Another sweet experience from this week was in an
intercambio. We went to visit two
inactive members. They are living
together but not married. We had planned
to share with them the Family: a proclamation to the world. Hermana Peterson explained to me that they
don’t plan on getting married anytime soon and that they are pretty scared of
it. Well, we talked to them and started
teaching, and the whole time I was just listening to the spirit trying to
discern their needs. As I listened, I
was prompted to ask them if they had asked God if they should get married. They replied that no. Then I was prompted to say a few things and
ask a few more questions that were given to me from the spirit. Anyway, in the end they both committed to
read the Book of Mormon together that night and to ask God if they should get
married. They were so excited about it
and they even planned a specific time when they would do so. I know that God knows His children. As we listen with love and listen more
importantly to the Spirit, we will be used as instruments in His hands in
helping His children come closer to him.
I love being a missionary!!
This is the best work!! I’m growing
so much and learning a lot! You are
always in my prayers and I invite you to keep following the prophet’s invitations
that come from Christ! As we do that, we
are happy and blessed!! I love you!!!!
--Hermana West
