Trust in the Lord

Hello friends!
I love you all and miss you so much! I hope that everyone is staying warm. I've heard that it's been a cold winter for everyone! We had temperatures in the negative degrees this week. Talk about COLD. School was out for all the kids in Concordia this WHOLE week. So they got an extra week added onto their Christmas vacation. Talk about every kids dream come true! Haha. Sister Smith and I think that they should let missionaries have Snow Days too. It's COLD out there! But alas, Sacrifice, Endurance, and Diligence... we went out anyway! And I felt like we might FREEZE to death! Haha! I guess it must be part of my sacrifice. As my Dad would say, D&C 121 "Many are called, but few are FROZEN." Thanks Dad! Haha!

My dad always sends me great cartoons to make me laugh. Last month I got one from him of Peter walking on water... but it's Winter so the water had frozen into Ice. The caption says something like, "Peter finds his faith to be much stronger in the Winter." haha. Hilarious! I showed it to President VanKomen and he said, "I always wished I could have the faith to walk on water, but I guess I was just trying it in the wrong season!" haha! My goodness! I was reflecting upon that story this week. As I was pondering upon this story, even though Peter didn't stay on top of the water for very long, I thought about how BRAVE Peter was to even get out of the boat! To even have THAT much faith! "And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto the water. And he said, "Come." And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus." -Matt. 14:28-29 The Lord called him to come, and without hesitation he went forward... He TRUSTED in the Lord. For me in my life. I feel like my mission has been getting out of the boat. Going into the unknown. And there have been times on my mission when I've noticed the storms and the wind just as Peter. And there have been times when I have sank in the water. But the Lord pulls me up and tells me to keep going. To never give up... To keep moving forward. To not look back, but to press forward.

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

My mission has been such a great blessing for me thus far. A very difficult, trying blessing... but a blessing none the less! I can feel myself changing so much. Within my heart I know that these new oceans, these new opportunities in my life will be far grander than anything I left behind. They will be far greater than anything I had ever planned for myself. Because I'm following the Lord, I trust that he has great things in store for me.

This upcoming week will be a big week in Concordia. We have some investigators who are going through many great challenges and changes in their lives. So this week will be a turning point for a lot of them. The work is moving forward. The members of the Branch are so great at helping us out! This last week, Sister Smith and I were out in Higginsville without a car and our appointments were falling through, so we really didn't have any place to go inside, unless we could tract into someone who wanted to hear our message. No such luck. But then we received a phone call from one of our members, Sister Day, asking us if she could come out with us RIGHT NOW. -MIRACLES! Tender mercies!- Sister Smith and I did NOT turn into popsicles because the Lord provided Sister Day to be so sensitive to the spirit, that she thought to call us. She saved my life that day! I am thankful for small miracles like that in my life. They remind me that the Lord is very aware of me!!!

It is such a great blessing that I get to serve here in the Missouri Independence Mission as a Visitor Center Sister. Even though I'm in a full-proselytizing area right now, I have had a great opportunity to learn a lot of about church history. This cold weather reminds me of something that they have in Nauvoo called the Trail of Hope. When the saints had to cross the Mississippi River, in the middle of the winter, they had such great hope and faith. It's humbling for me to remember those early saints when I'm out knocking on doors for 5 minutes and I think to myself, I really want to go inside... then I remind myself that I can't complain, the early saints didn't have homes to go into, just wagons, and many of them didn't even have shoes! My goodness! I am humbled by their stories and am empowered by their examples.

I know this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the spirit blessed them with the courage and power to press forward... because I know I feel that same spirit, that same courage, the same power in my life. It is the power of our Savior Jesus Christ. And I know he lives...

I love you all and pray that you might be able to find that courage and power in your lives to keep you warm and happy this winter season.

Dream Big. Wish Hard. Power Forward. Cultivate Faith. and Love always- Jessica Rose