MTC letter No.5

This week was a very interesting one. Hna. Birch was very sick at the beginning of this week so Hna. Vickers and I had the opportunity to take care of her. There's a solo sister in our zone as well, and in our room, so she stayed with Hna. Birch much of the time while Hna. Vickers and I taught the lessons to our investigators and essentially went about our day without Hna. Birch for a couple of days. This experience helped our companionship to grow even closer.
On Tuesday night, we had a marvelous devotional. The speaker was Richard E. Edgely of the presiding bishopric and who had been on the executive missionary committee for like 18 years. It was VERY good and we all got so much from it. Then, in our district devotional review afterward, I learned even more. The Spirit of the Lord taught me something with a lot of clarity. It was a concept I've known for a long time and have always believed, but the Spirit carried it straight into my heart. All the matters, all that matters, is submitting to the will of the Father. In all of our being reminded to be obedient, to love, to serve, to study, to work, to pray.... everything turns out right when all we are focused on is listening for and then submitting to the will of the Father. I testify that when we are listening intently for it to be communicated to us through the Holy Ghost, it comes--particularly when we listen with the intent to act on whatever we're told, immediately. I really strove to follow this and I was more loving, more patient, for effective, more inspired, more hard-working, more everything-that-I-should-be when I was trying with all my mind, might, heart and strength to live by this knowledge that the Spirit had communicated to me. Yes, I want to be obedient. I usually do--it's my personality. But I am SO much more motivated to be exact when my motives are not just follow-mission-rules-so-I-can-teach-with-the-Spirit, but when that is an apendage and when the actual root of the reason I obey is because I love my Heavenly Father enough to submit to Him, because I know that ..... really, that's the whole point of everything. He's the only one who knows how to bring us back into His presence. Jesus Christ is who knows how to guide me, coach me, lead me to exaltation. Not to mention, the Godhead are the only Ones who know how to best utilize me in order to bring others of their children back as well. That's why I'm here.

There have been many instances this week where the Lord's hand has been so very evident in our lives. When Hna. Birch was first getting sick, Hna. Vickers and I insisted that she rest because her whole body, we could tell, was screaming for it, but she stubbornly refused. That evening Hna. Birch had a dr. appt. before lunch that I went to with her. It lasted a lot longer than we expected and as a result we went to dinner at a later time than is scheduled and missed two lessons we were supposed to teach investigators. It this wouldn't've been the case, we wouldn't have sat down by a senior couple at dinner and long story short, they're going to Oregon when Hna. B's family lives who're inactive (off the deep end in fact) and these missionaries promised to contact her family. Another one, while I was waiting for Hna B in her appt. I was studying Spanish when the sudden inspiration came to pray that the doctor would demand that she go to bed immediately. At dinner, when I asked her what the doctor had told her, she admitted that he'd told her.... to go to bed immediately. PRAYER WORKS. Now yes, the doctor may have told her that anyway... but for some reason I know it was no coincidence that that thought suddenly came to my mind and prompted me to pray. It reinforced my testimony that the Father is eager to bless us, but we do have to ask. Prayer can literally "change the night to day." I learned that through practice and from the Book of Mormon.

I want to share much more from this week, but time is short.
1. Mi Maestra's sister lives in Kansas and we are going to find her and bring her back to the gospel.
2. We shared our favorite scriptures on the Atonement on Wed. in class and I got much more emotional than I expected. I shared Alma 7:11-13. I love the Isaiah 53, but I was reading Alma 7 when the Spirit bore strong witness to me for the first time that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. I again bear testimony that this is true.