I just wanted to say a big thankyou for all the birthday wishes, cards, letters and emails. I really appreciate it :)
I had such a wonderful birthday, Sister Martin the cheeky monkey spoilt me rotten! She secretly told a whole bunch of people it was my bday, so you'll be happy to hear I got lots of presents and cake (4 cakes!!!).
I woke up to a beautiful rendition of the happy birthday song by Sister Martin... she had decorated the flat with hearts all over the walls, "22 reasons why I love you" and "happy birthday mate" in big letters lol. She made me breakfast too! Bacon and egg muffins! and cake! We went about the day as normal, then we had tea at the Lisneys with Fi. She made us curry :) then there was a knock at the door, and in comes Sis Killen, Sis Pointer and Sis Sacramento, armed with cake and presents! it was so nice of them!
Then we were off to the Bensens for round 2. Gemma had ordered me milo and tim tams online! She gave me the milo, but the tim tams are on the way. And we had more cake!!!!
Monday we got together with the other missionaries and had activities and a mini birthday party for me... (with cake :P)
On Tuesday, we had district meeting, and I gave my first training. I was very grateful for the opportunity to speak about the atonement and how it is central to our purpose as missionaries. Sister Martin and I thought that it would be beneficial to share experiences and testimonies about how the atonement has blessed our lives. The spirit was so strong as we did so, and my testimony was strengthened. In preparing for our training, I was searching the scriptures for a 'promised blessing' for our challenge which was to share our testimonies of the Saviour as we teach. I prayed to have help in finding a good scripture, and God answered my prayer. He led me to the perfect scripture (D&C 109:39) and my testimony of prayer was strengthened because of this experience :)
I went on exchange with Sister Tolman at the end of the week, and we had a wonderful time together. She is an amazing missionary, and I learnt a lot from her. I am so grateful for exchanges, and I feel that I learn so many things just from having a different perspective to work with. We did a lot of finding together, and even though our wonderful experiences didn't immediately contribute to the key indicators, I have faith that in the coming weeks they will! We met some great people and they have a lot of potential!
I gave out my first BOM this week! (finally!) Sister Bensen's friend Beryl (old lady) was over for tea, and we ended up chatting about our church and yeah I gave her a Book of Mormon. She's super old and funny... so we will see what happens lol.
So just before we came to the library to email, we were out in the town, standing in line to buy train tickets, and a young boy saw my badge and started pointing and laughing. I didn't feel it was appropriate to say anything at that time, and I must admit it made me feel upset. But a scripture came to my mind: Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth". I am not ashamed to wear the name of Jesus Christ! Yes I am sometimes weak and it was only human for me to feel a bit upset when someone was laughing at me, but I will never be embarrassed or ashamed to be a missionary! The gospel of Jesus Christ is very much a part of who I am and I will defend it no matter what!
Hope you all have a great week! Don't be afraid to share your testimony!
xoxo Sister Riley
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