WE MET THE STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE!! We are the first sisters in our missionto do it!! I was pretty excited!! Heavenly Father blessed us so much! All we did was plan more in advance and then everything worked out! Alright I wanted to tell you guys about this week. It has been awesome.
SO! The other day.. On Wednesday we had a specialized training about asking for referrals. During trainings we usually have to do a practice teach at the end to make sure we can put into action the things we learned. So we were doing this practice teach and the Assisent to the President (AP) came and watched me and my companion. Well...I felt a lot of pressure and my mind drew a blank because I was panicking so badly in my head. I ended up stalling for so long that we ran out of time and I didn't finish teaching. All because he was watching me! I felt so dumb and emberassed. I experienced that feeling before when I was doing my dance solo in college and I forgot it halfway through so I just stood there. Well... I shouldn't do that...lol...normally people improvise or do something but I just sat there in silence like a weirdo! So, I was really hard on myself the whole rest of the day. I cried and I felt awful! When I woke up the next morning I had a flood of emotions and thoughts. Just being a missionary is hard and it makes you hard on yourself. Anyways, I prayed to Heavenly Father. I told Him I can't feel this way because I teach people that through Jesus Christ your burdens can be lifted. I teach people that through Him, if you rely on Him, and trust on Him that He will makes you feel better and lift your burdens. I asked Heavenly Father to make me feel better and He did. Instantly I felt better. This is always a cool experience because you think it only happens to other people but I promise Heavenly Father answers prayers. So that was a really spiritual and tender moment for me.
Then!! We had district meeting that day (more training) and we had ANOTHER practice teach, this was similar to the one I failed to do the day before, the one I freaked out on. I was paired with an Elder who had been struggling. So, I started by talking about prayer and I asked him if he ever had a time in his life where Heavenly Father answered his prayer. He said yes and he continued to tell me a really personal story from his life. He had a very powerful testimony of prayer. Well practice teaches are usually hypothetical senarios but he made it real. I thanked him for sharing his experience and I told him about the one I had that morning. Then, we talked some more and somehow we got to talking about the things he was struggling with. He told me that it is hard for him to talk to people and share the Gospel with them. As missionaries we talk to everyone. We talk to all the people we see on the streets and he struggles with that because well its just hard! He said there was a time on his mission when he could do it but now its hard for him again. I told him that Heavenly Father knows what he is going through. I told him that Heavenly Father knows he is doing his best, and doing his best is a state of his heart not a matter of what he is doing. I told him that if all he can do is say,"hello, how are you?" then that is all he can do and it is good enough. Well this Elder broke down in tears. He told me that is exactly what he needed to hear. The amazing part is I feel like I didn't do anything, I was just telling him some of the things I have learned on my mission. But from this Imlearned that Heavenly Father knew that this Elder and I needed to be partners and He knew that I needed to learn these things on my mission so that I could help him. It had nothing to do with me and everyhting to do with him. I feel like my whole mission led up to that moment. It was soooooo cool and spiritual!!
Another experience I had that day was with a less active lady that we teach. She doesn't come to church because she is mad at God because she is elderly and cannot walk. She hasn't been able to walk for 10 years and she feels like it is a waste of life. She wants to die, she has told us this. But I love this lady so much so I wrote her a peom. I haven't written poetry in awhile but I decided to for her. I wrote :
Velda, come sit with me and let me wash your feet, please tell me what you think you need
Master, Savior, Brother, why did you take away my legs?
Why did you leave me on earth for so long, when I had to sit and sit each day?
I lived a good life, I loved I served, I tried and tried
But then I couldn't walk and I thought I would rather die
Velda, I love you and that love with never change
I left you on Earth for only a short time
I took away your legs but Inblessed you with your mind
Each time you almost died, I gave you life
I was there when you cried
Each time you fell and each time you sighed
I cried, I fell, I sighed as well
But when I tried to hold your hand
I waited at the door for you to let me in
You didn't see that I was there
To comfort to guide, to make your burden thin
Please Velda, don't drift away from Me
I am here. I will wait.
Please be greatful, be humble, be kind
Please try to understand, I have never left your side.
When I looked up after reading this to her, she was crying. I knew that Heavenly Father needed me to write this poem for her and that He helped me to write it. It was such a tender experience for me.
So with all of these experiences I have learned that Heavenly Father knows each of us and that He puts people in our lives for a reason. He is involved in all aspects of our lives. My final example of this this week is with Brother McNeely. My MissionPresident's Wife came and did studies with us on Tuesday. While we were talking about Brother McNeely she asked us if we ever thought about inviting Him to go to the LA Temple to go to the visitors center. We hadn't thought about it. Then...we went to his lesson with Sister Weick. After we said our prayer and before we saw Brother McNeely, she asked us if we ever thought about taking him to the LA Temple visitors center. So at that point my companion and I were like,"Ok Heavenly Father we get it" :) So then!! We had an aweosme lesson that night about feeling the Spirit. The next lesson we had be brought Sister Nagel. She was baptized 3 years ago and she shared her testimony of how she knew the Church was true. It was perfect for Brother McNeely! She was on her way to the gym and she turned around just so she could come to our lesson. Pure inspiration. Then we had another lesson with him a few days later and we brought Sister Pugeda. She is also a convert and she recieved her answer that she needed to be baptized at the Temple!!!!! So she shared her experience and it was one of the most powerful lessons that I have had on my mission. At the end of the lesson, Sister Anderson and I promised Brother McNeely that he will find his answer at the temple when he goes. He is going with Sister Weick on Tuesday!!! I'm so excited for him to go!!! Then is yet another example that Heavenly Father knows us and knows what we need.
This week has been so great! The mission is so awesome and this is truly Heavenly Father's work!
Love you guys!
1...ok so sister anderson and i designed our own shirts! arent they cool!!
2...sister anderson and i went to the mall today! i felt like a real girl!
3...and finally that is a picture of sister and brother shirts (the one i wrote the poem for)
:) :) :)
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