Leaving Liberty was hard though. Leaving Sister Maxfield was hard. She has been my angel! It's the first time I have cried about a transfer. As I left that house in Liberty I quoted one of my favorite Cds, "Farewell Nauvoo, the Beautiful. The city of Joseph. The city of so much joy, the sacrifice was so great. Farewell Nauvoo." That house WAS my Nauvoo. It was never better or harder than it was in THAT house. Liberty has had my hardest, and best transfers yet. And so as I was leaving I knew that I was about to board a bus for 5.5 hours to an unknown place... UTAH! JK! Not quite Utah... but I'm sure as the Saints were going west the view they had of the flat prairie was pretty close to what I saw on the bus coming out here!!!
I
LOVED THE TRANSFER BUS!!! Mostly because Elders are a very peculiar type of person! Haha! All of the sisters on the bus were sleeping (lame!) but honestly, it was sooo funny to watch these guys in action! They were HILARIOUS! Elder Baird was busy worrying that his girlfriend was going to Dear John him, and Elder Nash was TOTALLY egging him on. It was mean! And Elder Nelson talking about girls he dated before his mission... I won’t go into details, but trust me: it was hilarious! Fastest 5.5 hour bus ride EVER!!! And we passed through a town from a song that pretty much is about my FAVORITE MOVIE EVER, the Notebook. The song is Ellsworth, Kansas 1948 by Rascal Flatts. Yeah. We drove through there! I was STOKED! Haha. I LOVE THAT SONG!
Okay, so now onto more spiritual things!!! THIS AREA OF GREAT BEND IS ON FIRE!!! The Zone Leaders are calling it the new "Pratt, Kansas" which is President VanKomen's miracle area. They had a TON of baptisms last transfer, and now we have more who are still committed for this transfer AND we committed some more this week! AAAHHH!!! It's so exciting!!! Being a full-prosyliting sister feels a LOT different than being a VC Sister. It's going to take some time to get used to, but I know the Lord is blessing me in great ways. In Alma 26:5 it says, "The field was ripe, and blessed are ye." Saying that the field is ripe already to harvest is pretty common amongst missionaries, but this time I MEAN IT! This area has a spirit and an energy! I know that great miracles are about to come to pass! I cannot wait to see them unfold!
This week we met a woman named Tracee. She has a daughter Ashley who is 10. They are darling! She has attended several different churches in the past but said that she always felt like something was missing. Of course, WE HAVE WHAT THEY'RE MISSING! We taught her the plan of salvation and she expressed what an overwhelming peace and understanding she had. She said that many church she had been to made her fear death, but that now she was feeling so much better. I told her, "THIS is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a gospel of hope." And she expressed the great hope that was filling her heart. We could tell the spirit of the Lord had truly touched her. We serve missions to find women like Tracee... to find the elect. I love her. She is an angel to me! I can't wait to teach her again!
This week I was studying in the war chapters of the Book of Mormon. They are great!!! I haven't always thought that way, but this week, they were full of inspiration! They fueled that missionary fire in my heart!!! Alma 26:27-"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions and I will give unto you success." Even though it has been a temptation to turn back around so many times on my mission, I know that I did NOT come out here to turn back, to give up on everything that I believe in! I came here to fulfill my purpose, to strengthen my faith in the Lord, and to strengthen my faith IN MYSELF! I know that with the Lord I can do all things! I know that THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH. That He is my constant. That there is NO ONE who could ever love me more than he does! I will be true to him all the days of my life!
Another great lesson learned was in Alma 46-48 Captain Moroni! Now this man was VALIANT! He trusted in EVERYTHING the Lord said. He was probably not the type of man who would want to back down. HE WANTED TO FIGHT! Yet, he knew that it was ONLY by keeping his covenants, by his faithfulness, that he would be preserved. So as Moroni covenanted to keep peace he "Rent his coat." HE RIPPED IT! And not that he was mad, but he was passionate! He knew EXACTLY what he was doing!!! And he relates it to Joseph in the wilderness as he was sold into Egypt, half the coat kept- the witness symbols were preserved, the other half was destroyed- rent and written upon or dipped in blood in symbolism of sin. A reminder that the LORD ALWAYS protects his covenant people! I LOVE CAPTAIN MORONI! He was strong and mighty, perfect in understanding, cared for others not just himself, a hard worker, and firm in the faith... PERFECT MAN! Jk! Alma 46:18 reminded me that Moroni CAN be duplicated... Christ can't. But ANY OF US can be valiant and faithful like Moroni, or the sons of Mosiah, or the Sons of Alma... "For they were all men (or daughters) of god." That is empowering!
The potential that we all have as Children of God... it's beyond me. But I know with this new area comes a new opportunity for me to learn and grow and stretch even further than I have been before. Elder Maxwell once said, "The Lord loves each of us too much to merely let us go on being what we now are. For he knows what we have the possibility to become." I don't completely understand my divine potential, but I'm starting to... I know that as I read the scriptures, and say my prayers, that I find a strength and an understanding beyond my own. Yet, I know that courage and wisdom is a gift from God. I know that I am clay. I know that I am being molded... It's kind of strange sometimes to look back on who I was just 9 months ago, and although I would say my personality is quite the same, within my heart I am very very different. I am changed.
"He turns not back who is bound to a star." -Leonardo daVinci
DREAM BIG. WISH HARD. LOVE ALWAYS.
LOOK FORWARD... ONWARD....UPWARD...
Love you all.
-Jessica Rose
No comments:
Post a Comment