marrisa millard, a ward missionary, shes going
to leave on a mission soon
birthday of hna lara
going
away party for elder Jerome
Texas!
Wow! what a week it's been! Okay I'm to
excited to hold it in and I know you all want to know what transfers have
brought! So....
The results are in: I am being transferred to
open an area down south called Austin! No, not Austin Texas... or Boston Texas
(a joke between me and Leilla hehe) but, it is the most southern missionary
area in Minnesota! My new companion will be Hermana Maravilla! I haven't met
her yet but I've heard from other missionaries that she is awesome! So I'm
excited to meet her!
It's about an hours drive from where I am now
in Bloomington.
I am very very very
excited to go and see what miracles await in Austin! I'm going to be in a
totally new area with totally new missionaries in a new ward and new
investigators. Who knows what awaits! I'll be sure to send pictures your way
soon! It's also a zebra area which means it will be a Spanish and English ward.
I'm not quite sure what that all entails but there will be more details to come
I'm sure!
As for Bloomington,
I'll be sad to leave, I've come to know and love this ward and these people
here but I know that the missionaries here will take good care of them! I've
learned ALOT in this area, about myself, about others, and about the Lord. But
I've especially come to learn how much my Heavenly Father loves me and knows me
personally and I've learned how to give up my will for His and in that I've
come to find that my will is His will. I really do just want to do what He
wants me to do.
Last night we had the privilege of going to
the Presidents Fireside with an investigator who we met the night before
knocking doors. It was a very inspiring meeting and I gained more of a passion
for missionary work than ever! It was so cool. I got to see the curiosity grow
in our investigator who had only heard our 30 minute message the night before
on the restoration of Jesus Christ and then to have to courage to come with
these new strange missionaries to a church he'd never been to, to listen to
people talk about why they were baptized in a church he'd only heard about the
night before. What an amazing experience we got to see as he listened to recent
converts of the church from Burma, Mexico, and other areas of the world bear
testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon, and the happiness and peace it
has brought their lives and how much it has blessed their families. And then to
feel the spirit working among all of our investigators that were there that night,
to be able to talk with them and answer their questions that maybe they've
never had a clear answer to before. And then on top of that to truly see how it
changes their character for the better, to gain more of a curiosity, a
"spiritual hunger" that maybe they didn't know they had before. ITS
SO COOL!
I want to be a missionary forever.
We also got to hear
Elder Jerome sing at the Presidents Fireside as well! He is going home from his
mission on
wednesday and we got to
have a "going away party" for him at one of our members house this
week and it's been a time for me to be able to see what a mission really is for
me because as we talked with him I asked him questions about how he felt about
going home, what was the first thing he was going to do when he gets home, what
he's most excited about/ most nervous about because I think these things to
about what's going to happen when I get home haha it's weird to think about. I
feel like I'm going to be on a mission forever. But as he answered these questions
you came to see how much he really loves his mission, that it's really changed
him for the better. And I thought to myself about how truly grateful I am to be
on a mission, to be here doing the Lords work, to change, to grow, to live more
selflessly than I have in my entire life and to see that this is true
happiness. What an amazing experience a mission is.
President and Sister
Clements are back as well! They are so great! they are like my mom and dad here
on the mission and all of us missionaries missed them! I'm so grateful for them
and their hard work here! woohoo! welcome back!
So, being on a mission
gives you your highest of highs and the lowest of lows on I think every aspect.
And I've been thinking and praying a lot on how to overcome my trials, but not
only to overcome, but to succeed and excel. Because I want nothing more than to
come away from life satisfied that I did what my Heavenly Father wanted me to
do. I've come to find that Heavenly Father expects a lot from me. Okay, not a
lot, He expects EVERYTHING from me. Which is a hard path to follow. To give
everything I've got. but in that I've found that I can trust Him. If He wants
everything I have to give, I can do it.
President Clements gave me some very inspired
words when we had a zone conference call this week. He talked about talents.
How everyone has a different set of talents that God has given us in this life.
And that we are going to have talents that others do not have and visa versa.
He told us that we are not expected to be perfect in every talent that others
have. That is why we have individual talents, to be able to work together
and combine the talents that God has given us to bless each other and
those around us.
We are, however, expected to perfect ourselves
in the talents and virtues of Jesus Christ, such as meekness, love, patience,
humility, etc. It's interesting to think about how God doesn't expect us, nor
will we ever be perfected in the talents others posses, but He does expect us
to become perfected in the talents of the only perfect being that walked this
Earth. Heavenly Father truly is a man of mysteries!
President Clements also talked about
adversity. Facing trials. He said that we all face dark days and challenging
moments, but the Lord will deliver you. Be patient. Have faith. Faith is what
remains when all else fails. We can endure great adversity!
It's funny because I've had a sentence come
across my mind over and over again as I've come to face my own dark days and
challenging moments here on the mission when I thought that maybe I couldn't go
on and I sort of complained to Heavenly Father of why I had to face such great
adversity when I was doing to Lords work, and then I would always get the
answer, "You are not yet as Job." haha it's true though. I am not yet
as Job. And through that I've come to see how blessed I am in so many aspects
of my life and I change my thoughts towards gratitude for my trials because I
come to see the blessings I have, and I change my complaints to thanks!
It's amazing how the
Lord works.
Trust in Him!
oh! i
forgot to tell you! I ate a jabanero pepper at district meeting this week! its
pretty spicy. to say the least.
Well, until next week!
I'll be in Austin! woohoo!
Love you all!
Love, Hermana Ficklin
the
sign says "feel free to take anything here... minus the table"
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