Hi Family!!!
Just returned from the Temple.........it was absolutely wonderful :) It truly only gets better and better and just means more and more to me :) Today during the session things just really connected with an eternal perspective and how the things we learn there have so much relationship with our lives right now. You can just feel the presence of the Savior, Heavenly Father, and even the pioneers so much in the temple. We had the incredible privilege to do initiatories before the session.......and I did them for sisters from China 200 years or so ago. I love the temple........I know it is the House of the Lord- you can feel His presence there.......and I will forever continue to return there for the rest of my life :)
How is it that this move-call is almost done??? Things are starting to hit a little more that my time is getting a lot shorter, but it's still a lot, and we are just going to keep that eternal perspective! I am super excited for the work, miracles, and people that the Lord still needs me to meet :) I didn't get a chance to mention it last week, but I had a completely different plan in mind for my last two move-calls......when I found out it wasn't going to happen as I expected it really caused me to hold on to my faith in the Savior and trust in Heavenly Father's plan because I know it is perfect. I prayed over and over again in my heart that I would follow His plan for me and put all my trust in Him. It has made all the difference in the world! Although I don't know at all what He has in store in the next few months......I am elated because I have all the faith in the world in the Savior and I know as I trust in Him and do His will, everything will work out exactly the way it should....I know it :) I thought I understood faith before my mission, but I had no idea! Faith has come to mean SO much to me personally........it brings light, power, the Spirit into everything we do and it most importantly brings us very close to our Savior.
Well it's a miracle......HJM is getting baptized on Saturday! and she is probably one of the most excited people I have ever met! I remember the first time I met her at church....she immediately hugged me! and I was kind of surprised but it felt so comfortable and then when I asked her later about it, she said she didn't know why she hugged me, she just did! :) Before every single lesson I would get so excited to share it with her because she was so prepared, so willing, and it felt like we'd known her forever.........it was so real. We just opened up our hearts to her and she opened up hers with us.........and the Spirit was SO strong......especially every time she prays. One of the most incredible things about her is how early on she was able to recognize the Spirit........I have found that this is so key to conversion. She describes the Spirit for her as a very "man" feeling.......it feels that the room and her heart are full :) I love it so much! She always pauses after the prayer and just sits there............she just sits and feels it.......it's been so key to her conversion. I know that she felt your prayers this week and helped her find her own answers :) She has always known it is true from the first time she felt the Spirit, but she had still not received a specific answer about whether the B of M and the Prophet Joseph Smith were true. She LOVES faith and so we told her about Ether 2 and 3 on Monday. On Tuesday night we called her and she said she had gotten her answer and she was so excited! She read the entire book of Ether twice in two hours! and then in Ether she found a reference to the Three Witnesses....she remembered the first pages of the B of M with the Testimony of the Three Witnesses- it clicked, she said a prayer in her heart and she got her answer :) She has so much faith and she can not wait to go to the temple.....she was dying she couldn't got with us today :) Heavenly Father has prepared her so much and she has truly come to know Him........it is true conversion and it's incredible.
Well we are having a make Mexican food party for the ward on Saturday! We are doing super simple Quesadillas and teaching the Mexican Hat Dance.......I have been praying about it and everyone seems really excited so it should be lots of fun......and we are hoping that the members will bring their family members and friends as well! Exchanges have been great.......one was an adventure in Taizhong when Sister Wadsworth's handlebars were stolen from her bike at the train station so we became walking missionaries for the day! Incredible members helped us out too :) I was with Sister Walbrecht yesterday who was in Tainan with me......she goes home in two weeks and so it was a very "Sons of Mosiah" experience as she said.......just as the Sons of Mosiah were reunited on the road as they had not seen another in a long time and shared their mission experiences....so did we :) Every missionary companionship is so incredible....in their own unique way.....they are each so inspired and you can feel their connection to Heavenly Father....so incredible to see the lives they are all touching!
Well I love you all dearly, I love the temple, I love this mission, and I love my Savior. I just have to say.........my scripture study has changed me forever......as I have re-started the B of M I have been reading it very closely with the footnotes from the Bible and it is incredible!!! I have such a testimony now that they go hand in hand....and we truly do need both to understand the word of God. I highly recommend it as you read! I would like to share a scripture from the Bible that touched my heart this week in Luke 15:7:
"I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." The Savior's words of the parable of the Lost Sheep........how merciful He is! The joy of Heavenly Father and our Savior as we make mistakes, repent, change, and turn unto Him......I know that repentance is real and so is the mercy of our Savior. Whatever guilt or burdens we still carry, whether new or old, they can all be lifted and erased! I felt it sooo much! He lives and loves you!! and I do too!! Have a wonderful week!!
Sister J.
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