Hey ohhh!

It's been another week.. a CRAZYYY week this week. but check THIS out !! 8 investigators came to church yesterday!!!! it was SO COOL. I have to say though, we just taught lessons, and asked members to invite their investigators to our appointments with them. These members are SO INCREDIBLE. They did allll the rest of the work. They know how important this gospel is, they know how many blessings come from it. and how many blessings Heavenly Father is so willing to give anyone who drops the world and chooses Him. And they know, these members truly know where their blessings come from, and they truly know what and Who it is that makes them so happy. So they give it all away to everyone else, confident that that is what Heavenly Father wants them to do.

  We have been spending a lot of time with P*****, our recent convert, and her husband, M*****- who isn't a member. M***** is SO COOL! He still has a lot of questions about the gospel, but whenever someone else will have questions, he'll just completely start testifying to this person. It does NOT matter what we know ! It's what we feel about the little that we do know that shows who we really are, and whose side we're on. A few weeks ago, we came to drop something off at P***** early in the morning after doing service. And we didn't expect anyone to be there, but M**** was there, talking to his nephew. So we started talking to his nephew about church, and he started sharing some things with us about what he believes, and we gave him our card and stuff like that. Wellll. P***** has been praying for her nephew, and out of NOwhere, yesterday, about 5 minutes before they were gonna leave for church, there's a knock on P***** and M**** door.. and it's their nephew !! And he asked them where they were gonna go.. M**** said to church, and the nephew asked if he could come ! SUPER surprise ! So they walked in a little late, and when we saw their nephew walk in, Hermana Henderson stopped everything we were doing with a EN SERIO face.. and I realized once again, that there is nothing too powerful for God not to be able to change.

  We also are starting to teach the L***** family.. they're so cool !! And they brought their baby to church to be blessed yesterday.. and you know what that blessing said? That their baby is gonna be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! SO cool right !! ahahh... welll anyway. I coiuld go on and tell about everything else that's been going on.... but I have a way to upload pictures ! They tell 1,000 words. And that's good. Becaaauuuse. I don't have 1,000 to send. hahah.

 

 

The Church is true ! Keep holding on aiight family. It's worth it. It'll always always be worth it :)

 

 

 

La Iglesia es Verdadera.....

La Hermana B.

Un Titulo Creativisimo

maaann what a week. It's so weird how much quicker we get to P-day every single week.. and  exactly a week from now is Halloween >:O!! CRAZY. Sooo wat in da WORLD do we talk about today. This past week was completely inSANE. On Thursday, we had this special joint Zone Conference, where all of the Northern Zones went to Albuquerque...shoutz to Alvarado what WHATT..! hahhha how lame. But the main speaker of the Conference was Elder Per G. Malm of the Seventy ! It was SUCH an incredible conference.. and what made it the most incredible was that he would talk to us, he would make us laugh, but then he would randomly look out at all of the missionaries, ask a question, and then choose one to come up and bear their testimony. These missionaries that came up had to dig deep and share the testimony about what Elder Malm wanted to share, and it was incredible seeing these 20-22-year old kids sharing their hearts and crying from how good they want to be, sharing how they don't want to disappoint absolutely anyone they have met on their missions, or sharing about how absolutely true they know this church is. It is incredible seeing the depths of people you didn't even really know an hour before. It is so incredible seeing the vulnerability that every single person has. It's incredible being able to see someone for who they really are.

  I haven't been able to cry lately. Maybe because I'm too tired to, or maybe because I just haven't put forth the effort to feel as much as I could, and should. But there was this one point of the conference where Elder Smith sang to "I Know That My Redeemer Lives". And the most touched I have been all week was when he's about to sing the very last word of the song, "He lives".. and his face goes bright red, and his eyes fill with tears, and he baaarrely gets the word 'lives' out of his mouth. . ..... . ...and thinking back to that song STILL makes me want to cry, knowing that this missionary, as young as he may be, as imperfect as he maybe, he knows that his Redeemer lives, so much to the point that it brought him to tears in front of an entire group of missionaries. And that was what it took for me to open my heart and finally feel, and that is when I finally made it so I was able to cry, and not having done so for so long. It was so incredible, being able to see and feel what was going through his heart, and being able to realize that we will never connect unless we feel. The only key is letting your heart stay open to feeling.

  Cool story !! So. On Friday, we had SUCH a good day planned. We had appointments set up, and membersto come to all of them with us, and even our investigator was going to come to our dinner appt. with us. Welll. In the matter of about 2 1/2 minutes, every member called and said they wouldn't be able to make it, AND our investigator said that she wouldn't be able to come to dinner. whatt !! So. We were trying to find the lesson to learn in it. and trying and trying, when all of a sudden our Ward Mission Leader calls us and tells us that he's going to take his family to L*****'s and wants us to come along and see if J****, our investigator and L*****'s husband, is there, so we could talk to him and L*****. So of course we got our stuff and went.. and we got there.. J**** wasn't there, and it was just like normal. L***** made the family food, and we talked to her for awhile and taught her, and then we left, wondering if there was ANY significance of going out there, or any specific reason. But we remembered that L***** was talking to us about her daughter-in-law, and how she had gotten a blessing the night before, and it had said that she needs a framed picture of Christ in her house. So at the end of the night, we decide to go get her a frame, cuz we have a grippp of pictures of Christ that we could frame and give to her. And we're driving towards Wal Mart, when we have a better idea to go to The Dollar Tree. So we get the frame right. I don't wanna make this story longer than it is. hah and we go to pay, and I start talking to the woman, who looks Spanish too. BEAUTIFUL. So we're talking, and I ask her where she's  from. And she says California. And so I said, "Oh my gosh me too !!" and at the same time we both say, "What part??" and I say Riverside. And she's all, "NO way me too!!" And then I say, "Whatt!! Well I'm from Moreno Valley, but nobody knows Moreno Valley, so I just say Riverside.." and she's like, "ARE YOU SERIOUS !! That is SO crazy me too !! I know allll the streets you're talking about, how crazy is that!!" And she starts naming off streets from Mo Val and everything ! WHATT ! haha so apparently she's lived here for 2 years, and she just kept on aying, "this was NOT by chance. This is so crazy how this all happened." And then she asks us if we're Mormon, and we tell her yes and that we're missionaries, and then she's all, "Do you have a card at all that I can have?" One of theee first times in this mission where someone's asked US for a card haha. And she goes on to say that she's going to call us, because she doesn't want to open up and start crying right then and there. I don't know her life at all, but if there's anything I DO know, it was that Heavenly father loves her so much that He went through leaps and bounds, making it impossible in every way for us to have gone to our appointments, since they were all cancelled, because M*****-our new friend :)- needed to know that He is there. He made everything fall apart for everyone else, knowing that they would be okay and He would take care of them, so that He could help another one of His children. I had no idea how much He was guiding us, or what the importance was of our going to visit L***** until that very moment. We never ever would have had a reason to go to the Dollar Tree had our appointments not fallen through. We never would have even been over in that area had we not had the time to go see L*****. Heavenly ather knows exactly what we need in the exact time that we need it, and I truly truly know that, especiallyyy after Friday night. He is in complete control.

  M***** still hasn't called us yet, but ! We're missionaries who don't give up on anybody's potential.. .... and we're allllso missionaries who know where she works. hahahh so please pray for her !!

  Umm funny story before I 'blow this popsicle stand' (Hna. Henderson-hahahaha).. sooo last night we went arouuundd 8ish..? to contact a referral from the Zone Leaders. The referral wasn't home, and so we started walking away, when this kid is coming down the stairs of the apartments. I can't judge.. but it looked like he was 'up to no good'..he had the tattoos and was in a biggg hurry and all of that. But he's a person, so we said hi! And he mumbles 'hey', and then we just started walking away since he was practically running, and then he stops and he's all, "Wait.. ya'll aren't Mormons are you?" And I say, "Ya," and he says something along the lines of, "Aww naww." with this horrible look on his face, like he's looking down at us. hah whatt !! Buuutt afterwards, we didn't feel that safe being there.. so we're on the way to the car.. walking with purpose ! hha and then we say hi to these 2 men that were walking in front of our car, and one asks us how we are, we ask him how he is, and right before we get in the car he just looks back at us and he says, "....hm.!" like he noticed something about us, or was thinking about something. or SOMEthing haha I have NO idea. Buuutt. Anyway. weeeirrd weird things. Gosh Albuquerque. hah

 

  De todos modos, no tengo nada mas que decir. ojala que todo este bien con cada uno de ustedes, y ojala que sepan que tanto que les quiero. nos vemos !!

 

La Iglesia es verdadera.......

La Hermana B.

 

 

 

Casi La Noche de Brujas :0

Mannn what a week. You wanna hear something cool?? M****** FAMILY WENT TO CHURCH YESTERDAY :O !!!! SO COOL hah. I felt like a little kid going to Disneyland for the first time or something when I saw them hah. And afterwards, my girl J**** comes up to us and she's all, "See? We went to church!!" haha it was so cool. soooo so so so cool. We had gone over there to eat dinner with them the other day, and I was teaching J**** some hip hop haha.. but without music. nothing bad. And I really really realized that you have GOT to get on someone's level before they can trust you to reach another one. Afterwards, me and her played companions and shared a message with the rest of her family about just how she was following me, we need to follow our Heavenly Father, who knows what HE'S doing. And it sounds so simple, but it is SO absolutely true..He already gives us what He knows we need, like the scriptures. and prayer. and church. these super super simple things, and we just need to do them, absolutely trusting that He knows what He's doing by commanding us to do these things. Sooo anyway. THAT was really cool.

  We've been having a looott of trouble with our investigators keeping their commitments, especiallyyy reading the Book of Mormon. I COULD say that I don't understand why, because it's a book that says on the front that it's another testament of Jesus Christ, so wouldn't someone be curious as to how ? But I can't judge at all, for all of the years that I didn't read it, or even glance over at it at that. So I understand, and as a result I've been bearing my testimony a LOT of the Book of Mormon, and it's so cool, because I realized how strong my testimony had to, and still has to be to be able to bear it over and over. We have to absolutely know something is true to be able to talk about and defend it constantly. No matter how hard it is.. cuz it'll get hard. But it won't be a burden if we love it.

  I had this dream on Friday night. It was really weird, there was this kind of race that me and a bunch of loved ones were running, but from different places and we were all trying to get to the same 'finish line'. it wasn't really a 'race'..it was more of a race against ourselves to see if we would make it. and i remember going through all of these mountains, with a bunch of red a green and rain and stuff like that, and i was thinking about all my other friends and family, and wondering how THEIR course was.. if it was the same, if they had the same amount of troubles and obstacles that I was having, if they were making it. I was pushing and pushing and pushing, not really thinking about whether I was gonna make it or not. But I was wondering if they were going to. Haha really fast.. we ran in this race like how Edward and the vampires run in Twilight hahah ! anyways. So I remember that I was finally finally seeing the end-which was at the onramp to the 60 freeway from the 90, like you're coming back from the beach haha, and I was looking for my friends all over the place as I was on my way home, and of all the people who had started, you know who the only person was that I saw?? My brotha Zachary Jimenez! And he looked super tired, but I remember how happy I was seeing that HE made it too, through the horrible maze of life he had to go through. And I just hugged and hugged and hugged him, and he knew how worth it that it was to have gone through that race/maze, knowing that he made it.

  So this dream was super cool, and it made me realize how much of a part we act have in helping others realize the help that Heavenly Father offers. Every single one of us is a manifestation of missionary work, whether it be member missionary work or full-time missionary work. We all have a testimony of it, in one way or another, and we all have a responsibility to help others gain a testimony of it. If not, how selfish are we keeping in what makes us happy. There was this movie I was watching the other day, and one of the greatest men from the Restoration said, "Callings are seldom convenient." It doesn't matter at all how much we do or don't want to talk to someone, or pick someone up for church, or invite someone to have a family home evening. Heavenly Father's work isn't supposed to be convenient for us. And quite sadly, I feel that that's why there aren't more people out on missions, because it's not convenient. But either way! Whatever the situation, whatever the circumstance that we are in, there is a way for us to make our Heavenly Father even happier with us when we share our happiness.

  Pondria yo algo mas en el Espanol, pero no tengo la energía jaajaja. Pero así es en la obra del Senor. Tenemos que trabajar hasta que nos caigamos, para que sepamos.. verdaderamente sepamos que El esta contento con nosotros. No hay ningún mejor sentimiento.

Con Amor ! Hermana Lia Batchkoff

"its never too late to be what you might have been"

Which is the quote that I am absolutely living by lately hahah.. well. forever.

  We don't see enough of our potential, and as a result, we end up getting lost in the average things we do. We end up getting lost in how easy it is to stay on the computer all day, or how easy it is to not open up our mouths about something that matters, or stretch ourselves to actually see all that we can become. But after our District Leader texted us that quote the other day, I realized that it's never too late. So ya, we may have stayed on the computer all day yesterday-not us as in my companion and i hah..just people in general :p-but today, there is so much we can do that can be of such good worth. Whether it be just chillin outside of Target and looking for people whose carts you can take in for them. Every little thing that we do ups our potential and starts erasing more things on the list of things we don't feel we can do. Because we'll have more confidence in ourselves, and we'll see, really see, that if we're following the One who has no boundaries, our capabilities will have no boundaries.

  Anyway, it's been a good week, more or less !******* came to church on Sunday.. whoop WHOOPP ! hah I was so excited. SOOOO excited seeing her walk in. I have no clue HOW long it's been since she's been to church. But. Just like the quote says. She didn't let that phase her, and she came. And that was the most important part, and I imagine that that's the most important part to Heavenly Father too.. even though I can't speak for Him.

  ummm funny stuff that happened. Oh ! This isn't the first time this has happened in this mission.. but we had a lesson on Saturday.. at 1 p.m. that we had invited a member to come with us to.. by the way. shouts to ******* ! ..the member.. who's gonna be going to serve in Nicaragua.. tomorrow.! :p but we come up to the house, with an open garage door. So they're home right! So we walk up to the door and hear the t.v. inside and the family and stuff, and we knock. And one of the little daughters opens the door, and her mom asks who it is. So she tells her mom, "It's.. 3 ladies..!" and she goes and her and her mom are whispering, or something like that, and alll of a sudden. the door closes. hahaha. Sooo we're like. we have faith. maybe her mom's gonna come and open it back up. but instead!! The other kids are coming up to the window right by the door and looking through the blinds to look at us..and just laugh. and run away. hahaha !! Sooo. we knock again. justincase x). and then write a note, saying that we're sorry that we must have missed them. ha. hahaha. hah. howawkward.

  buuutt anyway. Other than that, everything's going well. Time keeps going by before my eyes. I just want all of these people to be happy. And it's hard when they don't see that life is going to beokay.. better than okay, if they just do what they need to. It's so easy, but at the same time it's so hard, just because we can't be strong alone. We really really need to help each other, at times more than ourselves if we're already fine, if that makes sense. But anyway. I love ya'll. B who you know you can be.

  que seas la persona que sabes que puede ser.

  la vida es tan cortita.. hay que aprovecharla verdad :) Portense bien :p

 

 

La Iglesia es Verdadera....

La Hermana B.

oh my gosh... a mom

  haha. So I'm gonna be 'a mom' in the mission, startinggg tomorrow ! With a SUPER fresh verdita.. who I know absolutely nothing about haha..covering a stake, the equivalent of 6 English-speaking areas. hahah WHATT am I gonna do !! But it's okay. Because allll day long on Saturday, which is when we get transfer calls, I had felt so much peace about what was going to happen, with the feeling that I was gonna be called to be a trainer. But I didn't want to 'sike' (?.. I can't spell that) myself out. But let me start from the beginning of Saturday and break it all down.. k.

  Sooo it started with the baptism of Lorena. We had visited her Friday night, because she was going to be working at her hot dog stand alone where it's dangerous, so we stayed with her over there. And while she's talking on the phone to her daughter, a customer came up while I was in the hot dog stand, and talking to the Zone Leaders on the phone hahh ! So. I put the Zone Leaders on hold, and this customer just asks for change, so I figured I could do THAT. But THEN she actually orders something. So I had no other option but to be like.. "Welll. I don't work here.. but let me get the person that does ! She cooks good !" ....hah awkward. But anyway, that has no point to the story. So we stayed with Lorena and were trying to help her out, because the next morning was her baptism. So that morning we're getting everything ready, and I just felt like all of a sudden we needed to call her. So we did, and she was abslutely hysterical, crying and telling us about how everything that could possibly go wrong and turn against her did, even her family. So we tried talking her through it all, and she finally calmed down. Her baptism was at 3 p.m., and she was going to be early to change and everything, but she ended up coming right before, alone. but she was there! And we got her changed and everything, and I'm not even kidding you, it was like a movie. I was the one saying the opening prayer at her baptismal service, and after I got done praying, I looked up and sat down.. and I saw her husband, Jose, walking in crying. It was SO incredible. Before she got baptized, Jose asked if he could come up and say some words.. which none of us werethinking as gonna happen. But he got up, and started talking about how right after Lorena had left, some pastors from the church that she used to go to, who had never been to their house before, came by, asking Jose where Lorena was so they could talk to her and see if she was sure that getting baptized would be the right thing for her. It was so incredible, realizing how hard Satan had worked, but Lorena was still being guided to do what the right thing was, without even realizing what would have happened had she stayed a little longer at her house, because who really knows what would have happened had she stayed. Heavenly Father is SO SO completely aware of each and every one of us, and every single thing that we can and can't handle.

  So after the baptism, we went to the Relief Society session of General Conference, which was broadcasted everywhere. And the talk that touched ME the most, as I'm sure is the same one that touched a lot fo people the most haha, was President Uchtdorf's talk, about Forget-Me-Not flowers. I can't remember exactly all of the talk, but it was so incredible,. He ve us 5 things that we should never forget, and in the end he said with the most power and love that I have ever heard, "I want you to never forget how much your Heavenly Father knos and loves each and every one of you, and that not one of you are forgotten to Him." So I was thinking about these flowers right. And I'm thinking about how they're so little, as President Uchtdorf described them, that it's so easy to overlook them, because we're so blinded by the big beautiful roses. And I started to think about how I think of myself. And how it doesn't matter, it really really doesn't, what position I have in this world. How much importance I may have in the yes of that person, or the other person. Maybe sometimes the most important thing really IS that we go unnoticed for a lot, that we may be the little flicker of fire that nobody really really notices, but it still keeps everything a little lighter. Without that little 'unimportant' flicker that we have, everything goes a little bit darker.. the clouds are just a little bit heavier, and the way in front of us is a little bit foggier. But the reality of it all is that we all may be little Forget-Me-Nots that all come together in the most b-e-a-Utiful garden that anyone's evr seen. hah how corny. But it just reminds me of how important every single one of us really really is. I am so thoroughly convinced that the majority of the time we do not see ourselves, talk about ourselves, or think of ourselves in any way similar to how Heavenly Father thinks of us. But we're just the Forget-Me-Nots that aren't ever forgotten. :)

  Soo after the Conference, we didn't have much time, so we did some visits really quick before going home. And then Elder Smith, the Assistant who helps do transfer planning and knows everything about transfers, came by to pick up something he had left at the baptism. So we asked if he would just give us the news, since it was after 9 and..time for news haha. And he turns to me and says, "..Diddd you get a call today ?" because President Miller calls trainers to ask if they're willing to train. And I said no, and remembered the baptism, because President and Sister Miller came, and he came and sat down next to m to ask me something, and all of the missionaries turned to look over at what he was gonna tell me, because they all thought I was gonna train hah ! Even though he just asked me a regular question. And so finally at like. 9:20, I get a call from President, saying that he felt/feels that I'm cut out for this. Haha I haveno idea what is going to go down. But I figure that everything is more in Heavenly Father's hands than it is in mine. I just don't ever ever want to let Him down. That is one of the worst feelings I feel someone can have. Kind of like when you doing something wrong, and instead of getting punished, your mom or dad says to you, "I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed in you." and walks away. HOW TORTURE IS THATT. hah, but we'll see what goes down. Heavenly Father is the most amazing miracle-worker one could ever have.

 

  Nos vemos entonces..? No tengo nada mas que decirles, sino que este tan agradecida por todas sus oraciones. A lo mejor, me estoy repitiendo, pero yo se que cada una de ss oraciones es escuchada por su Padre Celestial, y tal como dijo el Presidente Uchtdorf, "Ustedes estan mas cerca de cielo que piensan."

 

  Les quiero tanto.. y SHOUTS to Momma !! Everyone wish her a feliz cumpleanos manana (9/27/2011).. momma. Gracias por ensenarme mas que yo hubiera podido aprender de una mama. Tu me has creado, me has criado, y me has mostrado como amar con todo mi corazon. Nunca he conocido a nadie como tu, y nadie puede llenar el espacio que tu tienes en mi vida, y en mi corazon. Eres la mejor ama que yo podria haber pedido.

 

 

Hasta Octubre....

La Hermana B.

hitting 13 months ...

body

  Sooo this week. was a WEEK. This is the last week until transfers, and who knows at ALL what's gonna happen haha. But anyway. So yesterday was "Missionary Temple Monday" ! It was the most incredible temple that I've ever had as a missionary. I realized that it doesn't matter where we are.. but when we focus, and reallyyy focus on our Heavenly Father is when we feel Him the most. It's not when we are focusing on ourselves, what others think of us, what our actions may look like to others around us. If our main focus is on our Heavenly Father, THEN He will come. THEN will He be with us stronger than ever. It's just so hard when every single outside thing of the world is competing for attention to take us away from Him. But I could ask any missionary or returned missionary why they love their missions so much. Because it is the opportunity to really really put our focus on Him. I don't see why anyone would want anything else.

  I also learned so much more about love this week. After talking to some people that have had 'good lives', full of vacations, and money, always-clean houses and experiences that they're always gonna remember. But having such a huge lack of loce in the home, where the family has tried to buy love, or provide a way for their children to have these experiences, but without them. At times I feel like parents let their children grow too much from their experiences away from home, rather than growing from their experiences IN the home. Thereis so much more, in MY opinion, that can be gained from being at home, and learning from your family. Sure, I haven't gone on vacations. I've never gone away to go to school. But I would never trade the love that I had felt and gained from my family for any of that. It doesn't matter how much of the world I don't know. It doesn't matter that I've never seen something like a waterfall in my life, or gone on a big rollercoaster, or temporary things like that. I have learned and learned from my family that there is a way to love and be loved in this life when there is nothing left. I love the struggle together, I love the simplicity of everything that comes in a home life, where I would super-selfishly comment about how "we have nothing to eat"..staring in front of a cupboard full of food. But I have learned so much more from my adorable mom asking me over and over again if I wanted cheese and crackers, or french toast, or apples and peanut butter, or any of the simple things-even though I would just say no to be difficult-, than I EVER could have learned from er sending me off to school, or on a vacation. Not that I am saying that any of that is wrong. Everyone needs to have a good balance of growing on their own, and with someone. But I feel that it is most important to focus on the fact that the family is most important to God, so we need to find te reason for it being the most important. We need to find what we need to learn from them, or we will take all of or youth in vain.

  By the way! Our investigator, Lorena, is getting baptized this weekend!! She had been taught for months by the missionaries, and apparently was so hard-hearted, and into the Christian church that she was going to. But since I'm still new here, from what I learned, the missionaries just gave her a Book of Mormon and told her to read it. And she did, and it changed everything. Everything. And now, she tells us all the time, "My goal is to go to the temple. I need to do whatever is necessary to go to the temple, because I KNOW that that is what Heavenly Father wants me to do. I KNOW that I need to get baptized so that I can go, so I'm going." We need to follow her example for following Jesus Christ's. We take the temple for granted so much, and there are people like her who DREAM of being able to enter it. It is such a blessing that we have.. it's one of the infinity that we have.

  Que Dios les bendiga, en cada paso de su camino. o no puedo estar con ustedes ahora, pero yo se que Dios es mad Poderoso que yo. Yo SE que El quita nuestros pecados, y nuestras imperfecciones, pero que seamos mas como Su Hijo Unigenito. Yo lo se. Si nada mas.

 

  Les amo ! Yo hable el Espanol en esta carta whatttt !!

  Portense bien aiight.

 

La Iglesia es Verdadera....

alive !

Missions are just like every good and bad relationship you've ever had haha. You give all that you have, over and over and over and hope that what you get in return will make up for all that you've given. But because everyone has their ability to choose, it just doesn't turn out how we want it to. We don't always get what we feel like we gave. But on the other hand, we can look back at all that we've learned and think, "MAN. THAT'S why I went through that. THAT'S why I've lost the ability to love people how I did, because I can now look and know that I did my part, and now God can help me turn around and learn how to love all over again." Even though all that we've done may have been taken for granted, even though we've given, and given, and given all that we have and STILL feel like we haven't done a thing, we have got to be okay with the fact that our Heavenly Father may be the only One who notices what we do, and loves us for every single bit. Every single smile, every single pencil we've picked up for someone who was completely capable of doing it themselves. Every single door we've held open, every single thank you we haven't received. Heavenly Father notices every single one. And we need to be okay with that. And we need to recognize that He's blessing us for every single thing we do, because if we solely look at the sacrifices, they're going to drown us completely. We're meant to sacrifice, and we're meant to have the hard times in life. But the Godlike quality in us is that we are able to see the beauty of it. We are able to see how pure a handicapped child is, we are able to smile after months and months and months of tears. We are able to talk  to who we 'normally might not have otherwise' and see that this person just needed love, and you were able to give it to them. I probably sound like a Sister Missionary. But as long as I am one. I'll OWN it. hahah

  But it brings me to this story. Yesterday I had to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting. about missionary work! And I had written what I wanted to talk about the other day, but the whole rest of the week was so crazy that I never got to look back on it. All I remembred from it was that I wanted to talk about Enos, from the Book of Mormon. Sooo yesterday came around, and we're sitting up at the stand translating. And I'm thinking. Beautiful. I'm giving a talk today and I have no idea what I had planned. So! I learned early that freaking out does NOT come from God, so I just started praying, and praying, and begging that Heavenly Father would give me every single word to say, and that He would help me give my whole heart to this talk so that the Branch could see how hard we're trying, and so that at least one of them could have their lives changed, or at least their hearts, or perspectives. And so after I was done praying, I had so much 'calmness'..? come over me, and I realized that it was going to be okay. So I went up there and just started talking. And talking and talking, and rarely did I glance over at the talk I had written to know what to say. It was SO COOL. It was one of those moments that foreign language-speaking missionaries talk about, literally opening their mouths and not knowing what they were saying, yet the words just came out. Just like that. Before I knew it, I realized that I was crying and saying what I hadn't planned on saying AT ALL.. but I gave Heavenly Father my heart, and I told Him that I only wanted to do what He wanted me to. And He did it through me instead. As long as we give Him what isn't ours, He will make it better and make it our own. After, so many members were coming up, one in particualr who helps us with our Spanish.. Hna. Rodriguez, comes up to me afterwards and tells me how good my Spanish is, how I didn't make not one mistake. Cool ! She said, "I leaned over to Sister Michel and said, 'THAT girl has the Spirit.' " hahaha it's so crazy, when God works through you when you aren't even realizing it. When He knows the potencial that we don't know we have. When I think back on the handful.. the 3 missionaries or so that completely saved my mission, it makes me wonder if they realized that God was working through them. Because we never ever ever realize it.

  Anyway, I have a timer on this computer and got to get going. But I love you all so so very much, and I think about you in a non-distracting way. ;)

 

The Church is so completely true

 

La Hermana B.