October 28, 2013

Hola Mommy and friends! I hope all is going well in Utah,

This week was SO rough! I went through a crazy roller coaster of emotions all week long, but fret not because at least it ended on a positive note!

Pretty much there was not much success in the department of tracting. Usually we are able to teach a door step restoration lesson every day, and find a new investigator every other day. But this week there was NOTHING. I joke you not. From Monday to Friday we couldn't find anyone who was willing to hear the gospel. I was so frustrated, and was having the roughest time trying to understand why on earth God wanted me to go on a mission. I have the hardest time explaining the restoration to people in a way that they would understand it, and it just makes so much more sense to have Sister Mansfield say it all. But one night as I was praying and asking why I was called to be a missionary a verse from D&C popped into my head. In my mission we recite D&C 4 every morning and I've been trying extra hard to memorize it this week. That night as I was praying verse 3 came to my mind. It says "therefore if you have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." For me, it was an answer to my prayers. I need to trust God that He will help me, because I do want to serve him and share this gospel!

Also, this week we did tons of Biking! It was crazy, despite all the biking, running, scootering, and roller blading I did before my mission I am still out of shape. haha and biking took quite a lot of effort! But luckily we get to take a break when we pass by people so that we can share the gospel with them! So it's helped me get out of my comfort zone and talk to people because I need a rest. haha embarrassing. We did some raking leaves as well, I miss the pretty Utah trees and fall colors but it definitely brought back fond memories of preparing for Halloween by raking a pile of leaves and putting them in bags with pumpkin faces on them!

And don't worry Riker, Emma, and mom. I'm definitely still getting mercilessly teased for my phobia of spiders and other creepy crawlies. Turns out in Minnesota they LOVE Halloween and all things that apply to it. Every house here has fake spiders on it! And the mom of the family we live with stuck a spider ring in my bag when I wasn't looking. So rude. But I did conquer my fear and knock on a door that had a huge spider on the railing. So props for Sister Terry.

This week I've definitely been thinking a lot about eternal perspective and enduring to the end. It's so funny because miracles happen all the time, but in just a day or so we forget how much the Lord has blessed us and start complaining about why life is so hard. I definitely did that a lot this week as I wondered why we weren't getting success and why this has to happen. But then I got that letter from mom, reminding me that it has been an entire year since I was in a car crash! I remember at that time it was the most frustrating, difficult thing I had ever gone through. I spent so many nights praying to find out why this had to happen, and why God would ever allow something so bad to happen to us. But now that I have the ability to have hindsight and see what has come since that day I'm able to realize how much it has blessed my life. Because I was so concussed and couldn't work out, I wasn't able to deal with my problems the way that I usually do and I had to find another way. And that was by turning to my Savior and finding peace through the atonement. I was able to grow closer to God than I ever would have. And it very much influenced my decision to go on a mission.

It's the same way right now. God sees things in an eternal point of view, and although we haven't had much success this week, it gives us an opportunity to come closer to him, rely on the spirit and have faith that he is preparing people for us to teach.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! And having this wonderful knowledge of the restoration of the gospel and the plan that God has for all of us.



Love, Sister Terry