Dearest Family,
This week has been the best of times and the worst of times! The people that have helped me have been so perfect and I know that they were placed there by Heavenly Father. I feel so much strength and peace when I pray, and somehow my feet keep walking. All week I just had President Holland's words in my mind of "Don't you give up. You keep walking. There is help and happiness ahead. Trust in the Lord and believe in good things to come.". Good things have already come.
Temple Square on Wednesday was AMAZING. I felt so close to the Lord and had it confirmed to me why I have been chosen for my specific mission. We went through the exhibition about God Has a Plan for Families, and it was SO TOUCHING. Most of us were in tears afterwards. I cannot wait to be the missionary guiding that tour TOMORROW!! I want people to hear that plan for families, to see that it's not the end when they lose a loved one. Mostly I just realized how much of a gift a family is. My family is perfect for me and I show my love for them by helpig other people to be with their families forever. We were looking at the Christus and I just thought about how we all defended the Saviour before we came here, and now is my chance to defend Him again, every day, every minute as I wear His name on my chest and learn through Him how to succor His children. As we were looking at the statue of the pioneers pulling their handcarts, I just had this thought in my head so clearly and directly that said "What are you doing to defend the faith?". Cos I could see that their testimony was burning so bright as to lead them across the country for religious freedom and I wondered what I could do to defend the faith as much as they did. My response to that question was that I'll spend every minute of every day defending the faith. Something that stuck out to me also with the pioneers was how when it got too much for them and life was too hard to bear, the handcart started pushing them. I feel like my handcart was pushing me this week. I honestly don't know how I've survived and am feeling so great, but my handcart was pushing me. Something keeps me walking and smiling.
So we had visitors' centre TRC which is different from what we've been doing before. Before we'd go to their homes and teach, but now we stand in a room and they come to us. We had 5 minutes to get to know them and then 10 minutes to teach according to their needs and offer an invitation and a referral card. It's tough but I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! It just came so much easier to me and felt so natural. We had three people come in last night that we taught, and I honestly felt the spirit working through me for each of them. And the Lord had prepared me in what to say way before they walked through that door. Like all day Sister Pearson and I had been talking about some of the things that they had concerns with. That's how VC Sisters plan for their investigators - most missionaries can plan for their investigators normally by getting to know them and coming to teach them again. We have no idea who is going to walk through that door so we have to pray each time we plan to know what sort of person will be there tomorrow and what their needs will be and study accordingly. And that's what happened yesterday! It was so great. You can see something click in their eyes and you know that the spirit is working with them. I just love being used as an instrument in His hands. Knowing that today you've made a difference in three lives. Two of them said themselves that that was exactly what they needed to hear or that something we'd said struck a chord, and one of them didn't say much but talked with the teacher afterwards and the teacher later told us that she walked out a changed person. IT WAS CRAZY BUT I LOVE IT.
Also we've been doing online missionary work which means that when you go on mormon.org and click "chat with live missionaries" YOU'RE TALKING TO MEEEE. Or if you call in for a referral or any questions about doctrine or want a Book of Mormon you're talking to MEEEEE!! We get headsets and it feels like being in a telesales place! It says incoming call on the screen and then you click accept and a script pops up to start the conversation then it's UP TO YOU! It's so scary cos you can't see their eyes or how they react! But the online IM'ing chat is so great! Even though you can't see them and we do get some innapropriate ones and some trolls and some horrible people, the few that really mean it are so worth it. On the side fo the screen is a bar with a lot of quotes from GA's about sensitive subjects and lots of Mormon Messages etc so its easier than proselyting because everything is there for you to refer to. And you can talk to your companion about what to say which you cannot do when in a lseson haha! We had one really sincere man whose name will remain anonymous whose wife will hate the missionaries but he wants to get active again and didn't know if he needed to be rebaptized. We read some scriptures with him and committed him to read Alma chapter 36 and have a return chat appointment tomorrow before we go to Temple Square. I just was on such a high after doing real missionary work and not just role playing. I think I'm gonna like the next 18 months :)
So the Elders left on Monday morning at like 2am :((((( It was so sad! Elders are just more funny than Sisters haha. But we pray for them all the time. I got my flight info for my flight to St George on Wednesday. We have to be at the travel desk in the MTC at 3:30am. Yay. Haha!
Luke's pumpkin bread came in so handy because we eat dinner at 4:30pm and I'm starving by 10! Pumpkin bread really satisfies that need! Also just Sister Pearson and I are companions now as we do our visitors' centre training. Next time you hear from me I'll be a very tired Sister Missionary in St George doing the real work! I'm going to be so sad to leave the MTC because it honestly has been amazing. It's rough but so refining and so uplifting. I'll miss it here! For Devotional Sister Pearson and I sung in the choir and we sung Consider The Lilies. So beautiful! The words are so true. I've felt it this week. Do we have that song on any of the ones at home? The skin on my knees is getting tough and dry because we kneel down to pray about 47 times a day haha. It's the best. Oh Sister Pearson and I have a new slogan - If you're sweating or get a nose bleed, you know it was a good lesson! Haha every time we teach we sweat a ton haha. Will that ever stop?! Elder F was having a great lesson so got a nose bleed haha because he was feeling the spirit so much.
Lots of love
Sister Nicholls
No comments:
Post a Comment