July 28, 2014 I'm Back in the City, and My New Companion is from Hawaii!

 first plate of african food ever tried! pretty good (:

 nora and hazel (:

The flip side of North Minneapolis!

who would have thought that a year later I would end up back where I started! I'm in the same apartment that I was except now I'm in the English speakers room haha it's so weird! But it's really cool at the same time because I remember having a feeling that I would be teaching English in this area, but I put it out of my mind because I'm a Spanish missionary. Well boy did God show me! haha He always surprises me with these fun curve balls. 

I also got stung by a bee the first day I was here. haha but it only hurt for like 5 minutes.

Okay and my new companion is sister Taito and she's from Hawaii! Haha we both have fun personalities so we are getting along just great!  she is an amazing missionary already and she only just got done training! I can't wait to see what kind of miracles we will experience in this area together (: It's gonna be awesome! 

so it has brought back a flood of memories and made me realize how much I've missed this area. I remember being a newbie missionary struggling to learn Spanish and just being overwhelmed with the gospel. And I now look at where I am as a missionary and as a person and how much I've learned in just a year here. It really astounds me what the Lord can do with you if you let him.

So other than the crazy fun flashbacks I've been having all over the place, I have been having a blast getting to know the African culture! They are amazing, truly one of the most spiritual people I have yet to meet. They raise their children up in the gospel and they know so much about God and who they are and where they came from. I am really loving getting to hear them bear their testimonies and truly desire to learn more. That is one of the most important parts of knowledge. To have a personal desire and drive to know the truth. That goes for anything in life really. If you want to learn something, you will. No one else can learn it for you. If it is a desire you have, you'll do what you can to learn.

So this week I've been thinking a lot about the process of self mastery. Or overcoming the "natural man". The process of becoming like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. That is our whole purpose of having a mortal life. That despite being surrounded in imperfection, temptation and trials, we can overcome all of this through the Plan of Redemption. And we can do it through mastering our "natural man" desires. 

So how do we refine ourselves into the person that we want to be? How can we get out of the ruts that we find ourselves in? How can we avoid all of these forces that are all against us? 

I think it starts simply with thinking about what is truly important.

What will you have left after you die?

your experiences and choices, attitude, knowledge, and your relationships.

that's it.

So, ask yourselves these questions:
what experiences are you having in your life?

what choices are you making?

what is your attitude?

what are you learning?

how are your relationships like?

the answers to these questions will give you the key to where you are in becoming like God. If the things you are doing are not really important, change them! 

be happy! love you all

love Hermana Ficklin