President called me on Friday night and asked me to be a TRAINER!!! ahhhhhhhh!!! So many emotions! So I will travel to the mission home on Tuesday night, be taught how to train by President and Sister Preston, then the next day I will meet the brand new missionary! It seriously feels like yesterday that I was the new one! I can't explain how I am feeling, but it's mostly excitement :) I know nothing about her, it is a mystery until wednesday! :D
So last week I was complaining about how rainy it was even though it's summer, and this week it made up for it with 3 glorious days of sun! I got sunburnt! Haha! I don't think I've ever been so happy to get sunburnt!
I went on exchange with Sister Taylor in Newcastle, and we had a great time together. She is also from Canada, and hilarious! I know that exchanges are inspired, and we get paired with the person that we need at that time. I learnt a lot of important things from her.
President sent us some talks to read this week. They are brilliant! "Trust in the Lord" by Richard G. Scott and "Patience" by Neal A. Maxwell for those who wanna check them out :) So many good quotes, but I only have time to share one: "Too much anxious opening of the oven door and the cake falls instead of rising! So it is with us. If we are always selfishly taking our temperature to see if we are happy, we won't be!" So true! I am definitely learning patience on my mission!
Yesterday was amazing. After church we went to see Teresa, the lady who hasn't been to church in over 15 yrs. We had SUCH a spiritual lesson with her. We talked about Christ and the atonement, and what it means for her... how she doesn't have to carry around the burdens that she has for years. We were all in tears, and the feeling in that room was indescribable. Jesus Christ is REAL. He isn't just a made up character... He is our brother, and our Saviour. What that means is that He can literally save us! Not only from death but from sin and unhappiness. When we come to realise this truth and come unto him through prayer, he will CHANGE OUR LIVES! And when Christ becomes a part of our lives, EVERYTHING is better! I know this is true more than almost anything. I can't deny it because I have felt it so strongly in my life. Teresa asked us for another Book of Mormon and promised to read and pray. She is still working up the courage to come to church, but these things take time. She has a goal to go to the temple, and I know she means it because of the look in her eyes when she said it. I know she will get there.
I was reading in the Bible this morning, and I read a verse that I feel I can relate to. It is in 2 Cor 6:10. It says "... poor, yet making many rich." This is how I feel. When I come home from my mission I will have no money. All my money went towards my mission. But I feel very rich because I am helping others to be rich. No I'm not talking about money anymore... there are so much more important things in life than money. I have seen people go from the depths of despair and step into the warmth and light of the Gospel. There is no greater joy.
I love the feelings I get as I write these things down. My heart is beating so fast and I am just filled with gratitude. What did I do to deserve such happiness? This transfer has been HARD but how I feel right now makes it all worth it. To those who might be reading this who are considering serving a mission... even those that aren't... pray about it! I promise you it will be the best thing you ever do! I never wanted to serve! But through prayer Heavenly Father revealed his plan for me and part of that was to serve a mission. It took a long time for me to agree and align my will with his, but I can't explain how grateful I am that I listened and obeyed. Ask Heavenly Father what his plan for you is and He will tell you! Then the hardest part is to do what he tells you! That's when your life will change and it will be better than you ever imagined!
Love you all so much!
Life is good!
xoxo Sister Riley
 |
| Here's a photo of Sister Campbell, Teresa and me |
No comments:
Post a Comment