I LOVE YOU ALL.

I love you all so much! I really know that the Book of Mormon is true. I have seen the power of it help people to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ. As they apply it to their lives it improves the quality of their existence and gives them hope for the future. This is true for everyone. For we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father. He has promised that as we read it and follow what is taught we will have a stronger desire to be closer to him, to be closer to our families, closer to our friends, and kinder to all that we come into contact with. When we truly understand that we are children of God and all that means.... We will realize that we have divine nature. That we have the ability to bless the lives of others. That we can be eternally happy and most importantly... That we can dwell with God, Jesus Christ, and those that we love. What more could a loving Heavenly Father desire for us?

Sister Ellsworth and Sister Gordon at Trader Joes

New companion

JULY 19, 2011 Well! A new transfer! Sister Humbert is the sweetest and most sincere person I think I have ever met. She is so patient and loving. She has a stalwart testimony of the gospel that cannot be moved! She teaches simply and with love. She is just incredible! I have really enjoyed the beginning of this transfer with her.

Sequel from Book of Mormon Story

 

So, a fun story! I was at the Visitors' Center this week and an Elder came up to me and asked, can you teach about the restoration? I responded, "Sure, when?" "In about 30 seconds? It is kind of an unexpected appointment." I guess someone they have been teaching and a friend of hers came into the Visitors' Center and just happened to run into the Elders! MIRACLE! So I began a tour for the Elders and two women about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. During the tour I felt prompted that the friend of this woman would be very touched by the story of the primary children saving their money to buy a Book of Mormon to send to me on my mission to give to someone very special. I showed them a short movie clip about the 1st Vision. While they watched i rushed down to my cubby and retrieved the Book of Mormon from the Primary. After the clip I talked with the group about the Book of Mormon and what it means... That there is another testament of Jesus Christ, That He is our Savior and Redeemer, that God calls prophets today, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same exact church that Jesus Christ established while He was on this earth. That through a prophet the Gospel of Jesus Christ is restored in its fulness! I then related the story of the Primary Children. I told this woman, "I felt like you were a special person that I should give this Book of Mormon to. I'd like to invite you to read it and to pray about it, to find out for yourself if this is really true." This woman accepted the invitation to do that and also asked the Elders if she could meet with them as well. It was such a beautiful and wonderful miracle!

Book of Mormon from Primary

I got a package today from the Mendon 4th ward junior primary and just wanted to say thanks to them so very much for their thoughtfulness and love! Those are some very dedicated children to bring their scriptures to church every week. I know that the Scriptures are true. I know they have answers for our lives and that they help us to feel the spirit of God when we read them.

They asked if I could please send them a missionary experience... so here we go.

I wanted this experience to talk about how the Book of Mormon changes lives. It is the Word of God and it helps us to know what Heavenly Father wants for each of us. I know that reading it helps us to make changes in our lives and to have the strength to do what is right. I have seen the power of the Book of Mormon in several people's lives, but the one story I wanted to share most is about a man. He was a lonely fellow  that didn't have very much contact with the rest of the world. He would go to the grocery store and sometimes walk outside but he didn't have much else going on. He hadn't been to church for a long time. Well, one day my companion and I stopped by this man's house. He talked about how he had a lot of depression. We talked with him and asked if we could come and visit with him and talk about the Book of Mormon and about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We set up an appointment to go and talk with him the following week. He told us that in 2 or 3 months he would come to our church. We left him the Book of Mormon and asked for him to please read a few assigned chapters. The next week we came back and we asked if he had any questions. He did and we discussed them with him answering many of his questions with the Book of Mormon. We also talked with him about how Joseph Smith was called as a prophet to restore the exact same church that Jesus Christ had on this earth. That Heavenly Father loves us so much that we have a living prophet today. We explained that Heavenly Father loves him and answers prayers and can help him through the hard times that he is going through in life. Before we left he told us that in 2 or 3 weeks he would come to our church. The following week we came to visit him and we talked about the Plan of Salvation. We talked about how we lived with God before coming to this earth, that while we are here we are meant to have faith and follow his gospel so that we can return to live with Him again. We talked about how we can continue to progress and live with our families forever. He said, "ok, so next week when I come to church can I get a ride?" He has been coming to church! He reads the Book of Mormon every day and he is happier. This week he was able to finally feel comfortable saying a prayer in front of us. He is just on the beginning of his journey but you can really see a difference. He can feel God's love for him and that is true joy. Thank you all for your love of the Book of Mormon. It is truly another testament of Jesus Christ and it helps us to feel God's love for us. Read it every day even if you can only read a little bit. I promise that as you do this you will have more peace and happiness in your life and that you will see many blessings come from it.  The study of the Book of Mormon with change behavior quicker than the study of behavior will change behavior." Elder Boyd K. Packer 

Ok, please share that with the Junior Primary.

 

Peace and Joy

And now for a short sermon. Romans 3:23 " For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."  My message for each of you today is that we are human. We make mistakes... if we weren't going to make mistakes there would be no need for a Savior. But we do and so there is.  I know that we cannot be perfect all at once but that it takes steps little by little.  (Moroni 10:32) Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. I know that it takes time and effort to make the corrections necessary or to keep going... but it is unbelievably worth it. If we could understand the blessings that come with living the gospel and keeping the commandments... We would never stray from making those right choices. So, that is my invitation for you this week. To understand better the blessings that come by keeping the commandments that God has given. I promise you that as you live the teachings of Christ you will become perfected and your life will have more peace and joy. I have seen it in my own life and I have seen it in so many others.

I love you all and just know that I want you to be happy. :)

Nationals game and another Great companion

Ok family and friends! What a great day! All of the missionaries went to the Washington Nationals game! Woot! We played against the Seattle Mariners.... end result Nationals won 1 to 0! Woot Woot! So today is a little strange... We get the evening hours to finish up our preparation day things. Which is great because I am tired and it is hot. :) So we are going to have a little roommate party with the Hermanas (Silva and Marcy). It was super weird to hear music and be at a baseball game but we made sure to have a lot of fun! I am really enjoying my time here and learning so much about relying on the Lord through scripture study, prayer, and of course the Spirit! I hope you all are doing well and having a good time. Gosh I miss you all a lot but I keep myself busy so that I don't think on it too much. :) I would love to hear some good stories about people's lives and what is going on! I have gotten several wedding announcements and I am expecting a few more. I hear news about people occasionally and it makes me super happy to see people progressing with school, careers, marriages, etc. Keep up the good work y'all. (I can say that now because my companion is from Texas.)

Speaking of my companion I am going to miss her tons! This is her last transfer in the mission and wow, this transfer has gone by fast. We have one more p-day together (next wednesday) which will include going to the temple! I am so excited to have an extra temple trip this transfer. (They call it the death trip since Sister Ellsworth is "dying" in the mission.) She has been a truly great companion and friend. I love her dearly and she will be greatly missed.

Me and Sister Ellsworth

So today is lessons learned from Sister Ellsworth. Sister Ellsworth loves people. She is so good at unconditional love for people that I am just astounded... she shows true charity in all of her missionary work. She loves all of her companions, including me, and I have never heard her say a negative word about any of them. I love the focus that she puts on the good in people and the trust that she gives to them. She has the faith that as missionaries, we can do hard things and be successful. The trust that she has for the Lord, in the Spirit, and in the people around her has been an inspiration to me and has made me a better person as well as a better missionary. She has so much love for the mission, the people, and for the Visitors' Center. I watched her work dilligently day after day fulfilling the needs of the Visitors' Center and leaving it better than she found it. Every aspect of her mission seems to be the most important part for her and she is able to put her whole heart and soul into everything she does. She also manages to make everything beautiful along the way. It isn't just done right but it is done right with creativity! I love her and her Christlike example.

Our Pain

Our relief society president told a saying from the Phillipines that says "Pain of the pinky is felt by the whole body." President James E. Faust said  "All of experience those wrenching, defining, difficult decision that mve us to a higher level of spirituality... they are the Gethsemanes of our lives that bring with them great pain and anguish..." (October 2000)  At first I thought, how sad that each of us must experience sorrow and pain. Then I looked back on my own life and asked myself when I had grown the most? The real growing experiences of my life have generally come when I or someone I love has gone through something difficult and through those experience have become the people we are today. I have tried to surround myself with great people, and I know for a fact that we would not be those same great  people if we hadn't met obstacles in our lives and been able to overcome them.   My Savior suffered more than any of us will suffer and as Jeffrey R. Holland said "How can we expect to become like Jesus Christ if we never experience a thimbleful of Gethsemane."