Shining Examples

Monday, September 26, 2016

Dear friends and family,

Y'all, mission life is the best. Let me say it again. Mission life is the BEST! :D

This week has been a rollercoaster. We've had a lot of ups and downs as we've gone out and served. We had a lot of hard days because of investigators dropping us, and frustrations, and not being able to meet with everyone, and struggling to get to bed on time, and not having enough time to plan, and and and...

But, the amazing thing about mission struggles is that they never last long! And the other amazing thing about it is... MIRACLES! happen every single day (so they help us to feel better on the hard days). :)

I keep getting reminded of the great importance of being exactly obedient. We have a lot of mission guidelines that are given to us to help us become more successful missionaries. Sometimes, it feels like rules restrict us and make it hard for us to do that. But God gave us commandments to help us to be happy, and to help our lives to be easier! 

The weeks that we've worked really hard at being exactly obedient (like gettting to bed at 10:30pm, getting up at6:30am, and exercising as soon as we're up), we've seen incredible miracles, and we've been so much happier. 

The weeks where we've slacked off and chosen to sleep in, or stay up late, or whatever, we've struggled more. I guess this week has been one of them. Since we're STLs, it's hard for us to get to bed on time because we have a LOT to plan (and that takes a long time). So, these past few days, we've been working harder on getting to bed on time and doing everything we can to be obedient. 

And the Lord has been blessing us!

Here are some amazing things that we've seen as we've sought the Lord's hand in our lives:

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A while ago, we had the opportunity to get to know our investigator Jasmin's parents. They are super awesome! We got to know them better and found out that they both have great faith. Jasmin's mom has been Jehovah Witness for a long time, but she's been inactive in it lately, and she has expressed an interest in our visits. She loves it when we come to see Jasmin and she's sat in for part of a lesson we had. Well, yesterday we called her to ask if Jasmin would be able to come to church, and she told us that Jasmin was working and couldn't. So, instead, we invited her to come to church, and she said that she would love to and that she's been thinking about going to a church soon! We are super excited for her and her family to participate in General Conference so that she can experience the joy of listening to inspired words! :)

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Another thing that I've been learning lately--our influence is great! There are so many people that we pass by each day that we don't see. But they see us. We just don't realize it! As we do our very best to live what we are teaching, and to represent our Savior, others notice. They see the light that we carry. They see our name tags and they see the joy on our faces. Sometimes, our smile and the light that we show can plant a seed in someone's heart! It's amazing the influence we have on others, whether we know it or not. 

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During Gospel Principles on Sunday, the lesson was about missionary work. One of the members made a comment about how much of an impact we have on others. He told a story about how a young man went on a mission, and his mom was really diligent about writing him letters multiple times a week. He was also very good about writing letters in response. The member went on to share that because of the constant letters back and forth, the postal woman who was working there and saw the letters all the time was intrigued and found missionaries! She was later baptized. :) 
So, we don't know who we influence! There are so many people who see us every day, who may later accept the gospel! So it is very important to set a good example, do our very best, and represent our Savior with a big smile on our faces! :)

​My invitation to y'all is to put a big smile on your face, and go out seeking what's good! Share the gospel through your light! Y'all are amazing and God wants you to be happy! So keep smiling, and keep on keepin' on! I love y'all!

Have a blessed week,​