Monday, November 17, 2014

November 17, 2014 More Awesome Multicultural Experiences!


baking Micronesian bread



the Sudanese wedding


notice the henna? all the bridesmaids had them to


it was a mix between a Lutheran wedding and an African party


the church was beautiful-
notice the organist- he was really good at playing



  
Hormel mansion



creepy german mannequin in the shower haha


megan (:

white handbook rule: companions should sleep in the same room, but not on the same bed.


 decorating the apt.


look what we found!


schnow

  a Christmas present from sister anderson


Invierno!!!

It is a lovely 10 degrees in MinneSnowta! It's so pretty here right now! And cold!
This week has been so much fun! We helped one of our members from Micronesia make tons of bread for a family reunion, we got invited to attend a Sudanese wedding, whom we didn't know the bride or the groom haha, we had a Christmas dinner party at one of our less actives house which in and of itself was a miracle!! She hasn't decorated for Christmas since 2009. And we also went on a tour of the Hormel Mansion with Megan.

So needless to say it's been an interesting, adventure filled week, aside from teaching gospel lessons!

But! speaking of Gospel lessons, we saw soooo many awesome miracles this week!

So we are teaching one of the Doctors from Mayo clinic who is just amazing! And the most polite man I think I've ever met. He is a great example to me of fighting for truth. He asks the questions of the soul, and last time he explained to us that his brother has cancer and he's been spending some time pondering about why do bad things happen to good people. He struggles with having faith in Jesus Christ and that is one of his doubting questions he's had. Such a good, and important question to have. We are going to talk about it with him tonight, and we are having one of our members come with us who work at Mayo as well (: We are so excited for him!

If any of you have ever had this question before, there is an answer. My thoughts are this:

Trials are a part of Mortality and agency, they are to make us experience good and evil for ourselves, and having a trial of our faith, we can ask ourselves if we will we trust in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The book of Job in the old testament has some amazing chapters on trials.

We also had a lesson with one of our long time investigators who is faced with many trials having to do with divorce, and losing his job, as well as the challenge of learning English and he's been extremely weighed down by all this the last few weeks and we feared he was at the end of his rope. Let me tell you that I am so grateful for our members. We took one of our members with us, not knowing what the lesson would bring, and she talked with our investigator about trials. The message she shared was one of hope, that we are good enough, even though Satan tries to break us down when we are low.

Sister Peterson has had a lot of trials in her life and she is one of my greatest examples of strength and hope, as well as how things turn out good when we strive to do what is right. She's amazing, and I watched first hand how the spirit spoke to our investigator who moments before looked like he was in utter despair change his outlook on life to one of a light behind his eyes wondering if what she told him was true. I saw that God uses us as instruments in his hands for many different purposes and our trials we face may one day be the testimony that others need to hear to give them hope to get through theirs.

We also have been teaching two Hispanic families who have the cutest kids ever! They are all mothers who want their children to grow in the gospel and learn more about God. We've been doing Family home evenings with the families and they love it so much!!! You know what I'm grateful for? Having FHE's with my family.

There's so much benefit from doing family home evening. Not only does it teach you about God, but it is strengthening your bonds with everyone around you. You are building the kingdom of God in your own home, you are turning your children into the stripling warriors. It's so cool! And you wouldn't even think you were doing such a marvelous work by simply being together learning about simple gospel principles, acting out charades, and eating cookies.

I absolutely love this work and I'm so grateful for my mission, I'm grateful for freezing Minnesota weather, it helps us to get into homes quicker. I'm grateful for my family and the support and example they are to me. I love my Heavenly Father and I love my brother Jesus Christ who through all things are possible. I love the world we live in and I love the fact that we, all individual persons, can make a difference in the lives of others for generations to come!

Love you all! Keep warm!


Love Hermana Ficklin

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