Faith and a Field Trip

This week has been a great week! I am finally feeling settled and FAR less overwhelmed. It is amazing that once you choose to be happy, you will be happy. If you choose not to be overwhelmed/discouraged, guess what, you won't be overwhelmed/discouraged. General Conference was the perfect uplift for me and helped kick me into shape. I realized that I have NOTHING to be afraid of. If someone doesn't want to talk to me, whatever... I did my best by being a friend and sharing what I know. I love talking to people everyday. Really random people.  I get to hear about their lives and get to know all sorts of strangers. It is really fun! It is amazing as a missionary how much you can love people you barely know.

 

So last week I totally forgot to even mention where I am serving! Silly me. I am serving in the Independence 4th Ward and at the Independence Visitor Center. My ward is great and I have loved working with the ward members. They are really involved in missionary work, and SO helpful. My area is really diverse. There are all sorts of people and neighborhoods, so its fun because you never know what you'll get everyday. Overall the people are really nice to us, even if they aren't interested in talking to us. The best address to reach me is the mission office, because its right next to the VC and sisters go get the mail there everyday for us.

 

On Friday we got to go on a FIELD TRIP! It was the best. We went to Liberty Jail, Far West, and Adam-Ondi-Ahman. Most missionaries only get to do it on their last day, but VC Sisters get to go one other time during their mission so that we can tell our visitors about our experiences. I got to see Sister Ogletree again too! It was fun to relive a lot of our inside jokes. Missouri is BEAUTIFUL in the fall and far west was super pretty. There are just rolling hills with green grass and fall leaves. I love it! Adam-Ondi-Ahman was really neat too. The whole area is pristine and pretty untouched. It was cool to think that that was the centerpoint of where everything started and where everything will end. I can totally see why. It is beautiful and timeless. The pictures I'll attach don't do it justice by any means.

 

So we have been teaching the man that I found on chat, Tim! He is SO AWESOME. Seriously he has so much faith.We started teaching him over the phone... which can be kind of awkward, but we are getting the hang of it. Everytime we teach him, he is one step ahead. The last time we taught he set a baptismal date! I am so impressed by how much faith he has to do the things that we ask him to do and try it out. I told him to go into conference with questions, and pray beforehand and promised that they would be answered. He said that three of his questions were answered in the very first talk. Not a coincidence! I was so grateful that he had the faith to try it out and to begin recognizing and learnign how Heavenly Father answers our prayers. He has been making big changes in his life, and keeps thanking ME for teaching him! I don't do anything! It is all between Heavenly Father and him, I just feel blessed to be a part of it.

 

One thing that has really stuck out to me this week is that we all really need to follow the plan that the Lord has for each of us, and be patient with his timing. Example: On Monday we decided to go out to this area we hadn't been. We found some good people to visit in our area book and figured people would be home because it was a holiday. NO ONE WAS HOME. Nobody. We knocked two whole streets and talked to one person. Then we went to these apartments that I felt like we should go to everytime we passed them. They were locked on the outside so we couldn't even get in to knock them. So we started walking down the street and saw this duplex thing and we were like THERE. Lets go there. We met this girl named Katie and she had to go get ready for work but then her dog got out. So we were like don't worry we'll catch him. So we drop our bags and start running after this little doxen. It was SO funny.I was like I am totally a sister missionary right now. Anyway, I think maybe chasing her dog down softened her heart but we get back and Katie just starts telling us her whole life story and about how she met this mormon lady and everything is falling into place and then we show up at her door and she was just really excited. And we were really excited. I was so grateful that we didn't talk to anyone earlier that morning because if we had it probably would have been too late to meet Katie.  Its the same for our lives. Heavenly Father has this perfect plan for each of us. Sometimes we are too stubborn to really follow it, but if we are trying our best to do whats right he will give us the course corrections we need.

 

This scripture is the Visitor Center theme and probably will be one of my favorities throughout my mission:

"But all things must come to pass in their time. Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days." - D&C 64:32-34

The Lord doesn't require a lot of us... just our best, and as we give that we will be happy! I love it!