Well friends... the saddest part of this week is that I found out that I will no longer be staying in beautiful Bonners Ferry. I am being transferred to Post Falls. It's somewhere near Coeur d' Alene, so yeah. I am SUPER sad to be leaving Bonners Ferry, but I know that the Lord has called me to Post Falls to be with Sister Erickson, so I will just go with my head held high and a smile on my face for the adventures that are ahead. I'm not sure what my new address is going to be, so stay tuned for next week! :)
Anyway, so last Monday for P-day we went on this SUPER INTENSE 7 mile hike.... 7's the perfect number, so you would think that it would be AMAZING, but after going 2.5 miles on a straight incline, like a ridiculously high incline, we could didn't go any further... but the 2.5 miles that we did make it proved to provide an absolutely STUNNING view of all of Sandpoint and Lake Pend Orille! :) It was super hard to do because of my asthma, so the entire time I was just praying that I would be able to make it through the strength of Christ's Atoning sacrifice, and I made it! It was such an amazing experience - one I don't think I'll ever forget. :)
This week I had such a testimony builder that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are so aware of us and that they love each and every person. It is so amazing how truly, like Henry B. Eyring said in an amazingly powerful conference talk, "Mountains to Climb," "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right to bear us up. And He always keeps His word." What a powerful promise that is! :) I know it to be true!
On Friday, Sister Rogers and I had the opportunity to give a training in District Meeting on "Learning to Recognize and Understand the Spirit." It was such an awesome experience. We did a role play as a District where split up into pairs with someone that wasn't our companion so we didn't know how they taught. One missionary chose a problem (fictional, of course), that they were going through and then the other missionary had to try to discern by the Spirit what the problem was. The Elder that I was with was not really into doing the role play, but he did it anyway. I chose a problem - "my mother has cancer." He was like, "I'm not good at small talk.. I'm not going to be able to figure out your problem." I assured him that he would be able to if he just followed the Spirit. After a few minutes of asking questions, he said, "Alright, time out.. Someone has cancer." "Yes, who?," I asked. "A family member." "Which one?" I asked. "It doesn't matter!... I have no idea," he said, obviously getting a little agitated. "Listen to the Spirit. You'll know." "Umm, a parent." "Which one?" This time, a little more frustrated, he replied again, "It doesn't matter." ... then he paused for a minute and replied, "Your mom." I got all excited that he had finally figured it out. When we were talking about it as a group afterward, this Elder raised his hand and said, "You know, I really didn't want to do this role play." He relayed the information about what happened like I just told you all, and then said, "But, you know.. All it took was listening. When I took a step back and listened to what the Spirit was telling me, each time in the back of my mind the answer came clearly. It was a really neat experience." It was really cool to be able to experience that this week and gain an even stronger testimony that if we listen by the Spirit, we will be able to understand things we otherwise would never be able to on our own... the Spirit is the best companion we can have with us at all times, and it's such a blessing to be able to feel the Spirit so much as a missionary.
It was also really neat this week we were studying and one of the sisters in our ward texts us and says, "Hey sisters, I'm out of town and won't be back for a few months. I want you to go to my house and get my food and have some of it at your house and take the rest of it to a family in need in the ward." So, we did and it was such an awesome experience to bring food to a family in our ward that was struggling. What a beautiful life it is, indeed.
Yesterday for Easter, we went to a member's house for dinner and ate lamb and ham and some other yummy foods... I had never had lamb before though, and it was delicious! I am so grateful for the amazing opportunity we have this week to be able to watch General Conference and hear the words and counsel of a Prophet of God, the 12 Apostles, and other General Authorities. What a blessing that will be. Last conference, I had written down 12 questions that I felt I needed answers to, prayed that they would be answered, and then watched conference with the faith that my questions would be answered.. throughout each session of conference, by the end of all 4 sessions, every single question that I had was answered. This is not an experience unique to me - I have talked to many that have had similar experiences. That would be my challenge to each of you this week. To write down some questions (it doesn't have to be 12 - I'm a little excessive, haha), and then to pray that you will receive answers to them, and then faithfully watch General Conference with the faith that you will receive answers. I can promise that you will. Heavenly Father and Christ love you dearly and will answer your questions because they love you so much. You can watch conference online at (
https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng)! Have a great week, everyone! I love you all! The Church is true! :)
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