Gracious! So much to write in so little time!
First of all, how is everybody..?
So this past week on Tuesday, Elder David A. Bednar came and spoke to us.... We have seriously been on a roll. Four of the Brethren in a row! He spoke on how we need to understand that teaching our investigators doctrine above all else will ensure long-lasting activity and a change of life-style--just like that quotation by Elder Packer, A study of true doctrine will change behavior more than a study of behavior will change behavior. And our teachers were amazed because that was what was on the lesson plan for the coming week--differentiating between doctrine, principle and application--and they were overwhelmed with teaching it to us adequately because it's soooooo important. Elder Bednar looked at the senior missionaries and asked, "Now think about it. For most of your life have you been more concerned with the doctrine or the application? Admit it. You've focused on the application..."
Doctrine - The Why
Principle - The What
Application - The How
This rang SO true with me because literally, when something gets hard or annoying or redundant or whatever in daily life and I need to motivate myself, I ALWAYS have to refer to the doctrine for it to actually motivate me and for my heart to be in the right place as I do it, whatever it is. I can't tell you how excited I am so apply this. To teach my investigators the doctrine. A good teacher enables her students to realize they don't need her to learn.... And now that I leave in just 1 week I'm getting more and more excited to get out there and find those people who've been prepared by the Lord to receive this Gospel. (Goodness, this email can never seem to convey HALF of what I actually feel. It always seems to rote or trite to read it back to myself, but I FEEL what I say so much more powerfully. I'm just just saying it, they aren't just words. There ARE people in the area of my mission that have literally been prepared by the Lord's hand to be taught and brought into the fold and back into the fold by me and my future companions. And I can't wait to find them. And heaven knows I'm determined not to stop until I am literally released as a missionary. I'm not going to stop even as I'm flying home or waiting in the airport. I'm not going to go back to the apartment early because I'm tired. I'm going to find ALL of them that I was sent there to find.)
The district meetings that we have after every Tuesday devotional were an inspired idea, that's all I can say. It's like you really learn a lot in the actual devotional, but the learning curve seems to be exponential because I learn that much more in the review meetings. The power of my district's testimonies are .... I'm not able to describe. Every time I hear them, I get to see a little more into these amazing people and the soul behind the face. And it's interesting to me. That's one of the times when I am the most happy. When I get a little peek into the deepest part of people....
Their testimonies have strengthened mine so much. And again, it sounds trite because we hear it all the time. But they literally have. I have quotations from every one of them and scriptures that remind me of them..... I love these elders. I honestly love them like my family. And they leave tomorrow for their fields. And last night we said bye to another district whom we grew very close to. It is SO hard to say goodbye to them because you get so close. But it's such a good goodbye too for so many reasons.....
But the best time of this entire week and one of the top three best experiences I've had since arriving at the MTC happened Sat. night. We had one last district testimony meeting during our last class with Hna. Scaife (one of our MTC teachers) and I. had. no. idea. how powerful that would turn out to be. I am honestly still on a cloud from it and it's Monday. I just sat there and soaked up the words, the testimonies, the feelings, the Spirit, and the genuine Love that completely filled that room that night. I get teary just talking about it. It was one of the most real, poignant meetings I have ever attended because it reached to the deepest part of everyone present, somehow. I don't exaggerate in saying that at all, either. It's too hard to describe.
In reply to you letter, Mom and Dad, the schedule changes every day here so I can't really reply in the way you set out in your little question answer sheet. They switch up the order, but every day we have...
person study time
companion study time
language study time
class
gym
meals
planning
And on certain days during the week we have
service
Devotional (Tuesday)
laundry (P day)
temple (P day)
And then Sundays are completely different.
But it's silly to tell you this now because our schedule completely changes again on Wednesday. That's when we begin Visitors Center training. And we actually completely change zones and branches when we do this, and then we leave on Monday, Nov 22. We don't travel together, though!! Hna. Vickers leaves at 5 am, Hna. Birch leaves at 6 am and I leave at 10 am. They meet up in Denver and fly to Independence together and then I don't have any layovers, I just fly straight to Missouri. Crazy! So we're really trying to brush up on our contacting skills so we're ready to take on the airport and the people we sit next to on the flight. Can't wait. But so scared haha.
Now it wouldn't be a real missionary email if I didn't end with a commitment. :)
Please go to the temple this week.
And when you're on the Celestial room read Rev. 1 - 4.
It is amazing how much we learn in the temple!!
I love you all!
Hna. Underlin
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
MTC No. 8
iiiFAMILIA!!!
How are you all doing??? I miss y'all so much and hope you're doing well and having wonderful experiences and growing--especially spiritually. <3
This week, as you might've guessed, was another GREAT one.
We got 2 new districts in our zone so that means I oriented them with the zone leaders. One of them, Elder Bell, looks JUST like Daniel. my cousin! So I'm naturally partial to him in a sisterly way. :) He's awesome. Same with all the rest of them. I also get released from being coordinating sister this week because next week we start visitors center training and apparently they don't want meetings to clash times with training so I have to be released. But it has been a very neat experience and I've learned a LOT about correct leadership. Thank Heaven for Section 121 of the D&C, right? If it weren't for that section I would've been lost as to how to handle certain situations that have come up. But the Lord takes care of His children. :) I know that to be true.
So this week I get to train Hna. Lambert as the next CS. She's a darling, wonderful, strong missionary and I have every confidence she'll do great and be a huge strength to those she serves.
On Tuesday, we were once again privileged to hear from one of the Brethren. Three times in a row! We heard from Elder Ballard that day and Hna. Birch was asked to give the benediction so we all sat on the stand..... and he was the first Apostle to turn around after the meeting and shake all of our hands. We were really surprised, but it was naturally really neat. I honestly never thought I'd shake an apostle's hand. His talk was very good. It was on being master teachers and master communicators. Y'all can read my notes later. ;)
During our study times this week, I'm happy to report we've made VERY good use of our time. We always, do fear not, because we know that after all, it's not our time, it's His. But we got even better this week and we plan to keep going at the same rate because if we do we'll be in goooood shape. :)
We're really starting to be better at simplifying lessons, making them powerful and direct, and SPEAKING IN COMPLETE SPANISH. That's definitely the challenge. But it's coming. Because God is Great. And the Gift of Tongues is real. You still have to work your tail off to qualify for that gift, however.
Last night, we heard from Sheri Dew! She is so funny. There were many times during that fireside that she reminded me of myself. At one point she goes, "My personality is not programmed to do well one hold... I don't do well on hold..." as she was talking about calling an airline hahaha. And she's really straightforward, doesn't beat around the bush. She's a neat lady. I didn't know she was like chief editor for Deseret Book and on some national committee for women... She spoke about the importance of
-knowing who we really are
-knowing just what Jesus Christ did for us
-realizing we can receive personal revelation
Before that, however, we had mission conference since it was Fast Sunday. VERY good conference. I loved it especially because the thing actually happened to me that the apostles always talk about, how they hope you're taking notes throughout their talk, but not on anything they say, just what the Holy Ghost is telling us individually. And it happened. I only took about half a page worth of notes on what was actually said over the pulpit. The other 2 pages were things that the Holy Ghost was communicating to me that I needed to remember or continue doing after the mission in order to fulfill my LIFE mission. Thank goodness for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
Christ lives.
His Church is true.
Hna. Underlin
How are you all doing??? I miss y'all so much and hope you're doing well and having wonderful experiences and growing--especially spiritually. <3
This week, as you might've guessed, was another GREAT one.
We got 2 new districts in our zone so that means I oriented them with the zone leaders. One of them, Elder Bell, looks JUST like Daniel. my cousin! So I'm naturally partial to him in a sisterly way. :) He's awesome. Same with all the rest of them. I also get released from being coordinating sister this week because next week we start visitors center training and apparently they don't want meetings to clash times with training so I have to be released. But it has been a very neat experience and I've learned a LOT about correct leadership. Thank Heaven for Section 121 of the D&C, right? If it weren't for that section I would've been lost as to how to handle certain situations that have come up. But the Lord takes care of His children. :) I know that to be true.
So this week I get to train Hna. Lambert as the next CS. She's a darling, wonderful, strong missionary and I have every confidence she'll do great and be a huge strength to those she serves.
On Tuesday, we were once again privileged to hear from one of the Brethren. Three times in a row! We heard from Elder Ballard that day and Hna. Birch was asked to give the benediction so we all sat on the stand..... and he was the first Apostle to turn around after the meeting and shake all of our hands. We were really surprised, but it was naturally really neat. I honestly never thought I'd shake an apostle's hand. His talk was very good. It was on being master teachers and master communicators. Y'all can read my notes later. ;)
During our study times this week, I'm happy to report we've made VERY good use of our time. We always, do fear not, because we know that after all, it's not our time, it's His. But we got even better this week and we plan to keep going at the same rate because if we do we'll be in goooood shape. :)
We're really starting to be better at simplifying lessons, making them powerful and direct, and SPEAKING IN COMPLETE SPANISH. That's definitely the challenge. But it's coming. Because God is Great. And the Gift of Tongues is real. You still have to work your tail off to qualify for that gift, however.
Last night, we heard from Sheri Dew! She is so funny. There were many times during that fireside that she reminded me of myself. At one point she goes, "My personality is not programmed to do well one hold... I don't do well on hold..." as she was talking about calling an airline hahaha. And she's really straightforward, doesn't beat around the bush. She's a neat lady. I didn't know she was like chief editor for Deseret Book and on some national committee for women... She spoke about the importance of
-knowing who we really are
-knowing just what Jesus Christ did for us
-realizing we can receive personal revelation
Before that, however, we had mission conference since it was Fast Sunday. VERY good conference. I loved it especially because the thing actually happened to me that the apostles always talk about, how they hope you're taking notes throughout their talk, but not on anything they say, just what the Holy Ghost is telling us individually. And it happened. I only took about half a page worth of notes on what was actually said over the pulpit. The other 2 pages were things that the Holy Ghost was communicating to me that I needed to remember or continue doing after the mission in order to fulfill my LIFE mission. Thank goodness for the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
Christ lives.
His Church is true.
Hna. Underlin
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
MTC No. 7
iHola mi querida familia!
How is everyone??
This week has been a week of miracles. Prayer absolutely without a doubt works. Fasting also absolutely without a doubt works. I already knew this.... but the Lord allowed me to actually witness the miracles of my and others' efforts this week very blatantly. This week I fasted for a few people... and it was just astonishing the results. It was also astonishing at how my faith grew BEFORE I saw the results. I remember praying the night I began the fast and pleading with the Lord to literally bind Satan in certain people's lives because I was so positive that if he was bound for a short period of time, if he wasn't allowed to destroy what little these people had, they could really use what they had been given and push through and that the result would be wonderful. This is only the third time I remember praying and really being so sure of what I was praying for and not having any idea why I knew it or why I was praying for it because half of the things you pray for when those promptings come are things beyond your capacity to know--you just don't have the background or familiarity with the situation... and yet somehow you hear yourself plead for things in others' behalf. . . . . . . and then a few days later. . . . . I learned that it had actually happened. And these situations that these people were in were honestly impossible. They were NOT easy fixes in the least. BUT
God is Great. He knows His children more than we comprehend. And when we live worthy and seek after opportunities to be instruments in His hands, He DOES pick us up and wield us in whatever way will benefit His other children most, whether we understand how we're being wielded or not.
Another miracle happened this past Tuesday. We were so privileged to hear from Elder Scott at our devotional. These special witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ always speak with such power and authority and love... He spoke to us very personally and individually. He gave us excerpts from his personal journal about how the Holy Ghost works. He talked to the sister missionaries a lot and pronounced apostolic blessings upon us in particular. Then he pronounced more apostolic blessings on all missionaries in attendance. Unbelievable blessings. Then, the most powerful portion of his talk of all, he bore solemn witness of Jesus as the Christ. He said how He is a Personage of Perfect Love. That he, Elder Scott, loves Him. And that he knows Him.
And I add my testimony to his, as I did in the district meeting on Tuesday, that Jesus IS the Christ. And that that truth alone holds more eternal significance for each and every one of us than we yet have the capacity to understand... but which we have an obligation to study and learn about "by study and also by faith". After that devotional, the power of his Special Witness hit me harder than I could've imagined. When he spoke of how the Redeemer is a Personage of Perfect Love, he was speaking from experience. I bear witness of modern-day prophets and apostles. Jesus Christ is at the head of this church and No One Else.
This week Hna. Birch had a tough Thursday. In the middle of class she said she received a very powerful prompting that a member of her family had been hurt and that she needed to fast. It's interesting trusting in someone else's prompting--particularly when you've never received one similar to it yourself. But we supported her and loved her. She also received a blessing. We are simply so blessed to have the Priesthood on the earth again.
There are soooooo many more things I want to tell you, but I'll have to close it up here soon. I'm chopping all my hair off!!!!!! In like 2 hours. So excited.
The Spanish is so hard but it's coming. And the Gift of Tongues is real.
I love you all so very much and am so thankful I have you for my family.
Our Savior lives.
This Church is His and it is true.
Hna. Underlin
How is everyone??
This week has been a week of miracles. Prayer absolutely without a doubt works. Fasting also absolutely without a doubt works. I already knew this.... but the Lord allowed me to actually witness the miracles of my and others' efforts this week very blatantly. This week I fasted for a few people... and it was just astonishing the results. It was also astonishing at how my faith grew BEFORE I saw the results. I remember praying the night I began the fast and pleading with the Lord to literally bind Satan in certain people's lives because I was so positive that if he was bound for a short period of time, if he wasn't allowed to destroy what little these people had, they could really use what they had been given and push through and that the result would be wonderful. This is only the third time I remember praying and really being so sure of what I was praying for and not having any idea why I knew it or why I was praying for it because half of the things you pray for when those promptings come are things beyond your capacity to know--you just don't have the background or familiarity with the situation... and yet somehow you hear yourself plead for things in others' behalf. . . . . . . and then a few days later. . . . . I learned that it had actually happened. And these situations that these people were in were honestly impossible. They were NOT easy fixes in the least. BUT
God is Great. He knows His children more than we comprehend. And when we live worthy and seek after opportunities to be instruments in His hands, He DOES pick us up and wield us in whatever way will benefit His other children most, whether we understand how we're being wielded or not.
Another miracle happened this past Tuesday. We were so privileged to hear from Elder Scott at our devotional. These special witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ always speak with such power and authority and love... He spoke to us very personally and individually. He gave us excerpts from his personal journal about how the Holy Ghost works. He talked to the sister missionaries a lot and pronounced apostolic blessings upon us in particular. Then he pronounced more apostolic blessings on all missionaries in attendance. Unbelievable blessings. Then, the most powerful portion of his talk of all, he bore solemn witness of Jesus as the Christ. He said how He is a Personage of Perfect Love. That he, Elder Scott, loves Him. And that he knows Him.
And I add my testimony to his, as I did in the district meeting on Tuesday, that Jesus IS the Christ. And that that truth alone holds more eternal significance for each and every one of us than we yet have the capacity to understand... but which we have an obligation to study and learn about "by study and also by faith". After that devotional, the power of his Special Witness hit me harder than I could've imagined. When he spoke of how the Redeemer is a Personage of Perfect Love, he was speaking from experience. I bear witness of modern-day prophets and apostles. Jesus Christ is at the head of this church and No One Else.
This week Hna. Birch had a tough Thursday. In the middle of class she said she received a very powerful prompting that a member of her family had been hurt and that she needed to fast. It's interesting trusting in someone else's prompting--particularly when you've never received one similar to it yourself. But we supported her and loved her. She also received a blessing. We are simply so blessed to have the Priesthood on the earth again.
There are soooooo many more things I want to tell you, but I'll have to close it up here soon. I'm chopping all my hair off!!!!!! In like 2 hours. So excited.
The Spanish is so hard but it's coming. And the Gift of Tongues is real.
I love you all so very much and am so thankful I have you for my family.
Our Savior lives.
This Church is His and it is true.
Hna. Underlin
Monday, October 25, 2010
MTC letter No.6
Mi querida familia~
Wow, it has been yet another great week. I am amazed every single day, not only by how much I learn, but by what I'm becoming. The mission seems to take all of your good qualities and blow them out of proportion. Let me rephrase that. The Lord has an amazing way of moulding us into the most helpful people we can be with our given talents and gifts for the benefit of others. And I'm convinced that this is the only reason why--so that others can benefit. I know that I have benefited so much from others' abilities. And once again, I know without a doubt that I am exactly where I ought to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing. I had a thought the other day about my future investigators. I haven't met them yet, but I anticipate it so much. I can't wait to meet these people whom I will love for the rest of my life here and beyond. I have a strong desire to learn this language--although it's soooo hard right now--and get to know these Latino people on an intimate basis. To understand them, serve them, love them, teach them.
This week the hermanas and I have been refining our planning skills and goal-setting and goal-achieving skills. And it has been so rewarding and the Lord has helped us a great deal. We plan much better then we used to, we're more strict about completing the things we've made as goals, we're very specific in what we want to accomplish, and it has made a world of difference. We're a closer companionship (and we were close before!), we're more effective, and because we aren't worrying about those things anymore we are able to move on and focus on other things so that we can become better missionaries and be better enabled to teach these amazing children of God. After all, that's the whole point. :)
So I loved this quotation this week that one of our teachers' dads used to say: "Wherever you go, there you'll be." :) Kinda profound I think. And a good reminder to always do regular 'Check-ups from the Neck-up'.
Now to the blog readers:
Rachel P - I was prepared to say WHERE IS MY LETTER??...... but then it came a couple days ago hahaha. So thank you. I'll write back as soon as I can..... which probably won't be terribly soon sorry because I'm so behind on letters. No time to write! We taught lessons all yesterday instead of slept or wrote letters, bah! ha
Linda C - I hope you got my thank you letter! And I hope you and your family are doing well. I just got a letter from Trev.
Ervin - Yeah, I realize I'm super late on getting back to you, but like I already said, I'm super behind in letter writing!
JP - It's comin'!
I love you all so much and thank you for your support and love and examples.
Hermana Underlin
Wow, it has been yet another great week. I am amazed every single day, not only by how much I learn, but by what I'm becoming. The mission seems to take all of your good qualities and blow them out of proportion. Let me rephrase that. The Lord has an amazing way of moulding us into the most helpful people we can be with our given talents and gifts for the benefit of others. And I'm convinced that this is the only reason why--so that others can benefit. I know that I have benefited so much from others' abilities. And once again, I know without a doubt that I am exactly where I ought to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing. I had a thought the other day about my future investigators. I haven't met them yet, but I anticipate it so much. I can't wait to meet these people whom I will love for the rest of my life here and beyond. I have a strong desire to learn this language--although it's soooo hard right now--and get to know these Latino people on an intimate basis. To understand them, serve them, love them, teach them.
This week the hermanas and I have been refining our planning skills and goal-setting and goal-achieving skills. And it has been so rewarding and the Lord has helped us a great deal. We plan much better then we used to, we're more strict about completing the things we've made as goals, we're very specific in what we want to accomplish, and it has made a world of difference. We're a closer companionship (and we were close before!), we're more effective, and because we aren't worrying about those things anymore we are able to move on and focus on other things so that we can become better missionaries and be better enabled to teach these amazing children of God. After all, that's the whole point. :)
So I loved this quotation this week that one of our teachers' dads used to say: "Wherever you go, there you'll be." :) Kinda profound I think. And a good reminder to always do regular 'Check-ups from the Neck-up'.
Now to the blog readers:
Rachel P - I was prepared to say WHERE IS MY LETTER??...... but then it came a couple days ago hahaha. So thank you. I'll write back as soon as I can..... which probably won't be terribly soon sorry because I'm so behind on letters. No time to write! We taught lessons all yesterday instead of slept or wrote letters, bah! ha
Linda C - I hope you got my thank you letter! And I hope you and your family are doing well. I just got a letter from Trev.
Ervin - Yeah, I realize I'm super late on getting back to you, but like I already said, I'm super behind in letter writing!
JP - It's comin'!
I love you all so much and thank you for your support and love and examples.
Hermana Underlin
Monday, October 18, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
MTC letter No.4
Hola
Yet another week down!
This week was once again full of lessons and Spanish and devotionals etc.
We're currently working on getting the second lesson down... but it's really hard for some reason. Like it just doesn't flow in my head for some reason like the first lesson does. I'm trying to get it so it does, however.
Here, we teach lessons to other missionaries or teachers or volunteers who role-play. It's most effective when they role-play someone they know really well so that it's more accurate. One of the people we teach is a less-active (inactive, actually) named Alex. His dad is LDS and when Alex was a kid his dad severely abused him, his brother and his mother--almost killed them at times, in fact. Alex HATES his father and has based his life around being nothing like his father. His dad is now back into full fellowship in the church, but Alex says he never received an apology. So the big issue with Alex is that he simply does not believe that he can be healed the way we promise him he can. He can't join a church that requires him to forgive his father. And he doesn't deny that Jesus Christ suffered for him, but that He knew that Alex wouldn't really ever come back so.... yeah I don't know. It's confusing.
So for some reason I am soooo emotionally invested whenever we teach Alex. Like we teach a LOT of other people with problems of their own, but for some reason when we teach Alex, teaching about the Atonement of Jesus Christ becomes so much more real to me. Since the subject of forgiving his father is so huge and sensitive, we usually try to avoid attacking it directly and instead focus on other aspects of the Gospel that will help Alex in time forgive his father. We know it won't come immediately--or anywhere close to immediately. But since it's such a huge part of him, we can't help but come around to it during the lessons, which then inevitably leads to testifying of the power of the Atonement. The first time we taught Alex was the first time I teared up while looking into his eyes and testifying to him that the Savior literally has the ability and willingness to take away his burden. I am very sincere in lessons, but I rarely cry. The only other time I have was once again, in a lesson with Alex. This one was yesterday. It was incredible. It was an hour long (double the usual) and the entire time I just tried to listen to the Holy Ghost tell me what the real problem was within him, what I could address to nip it in the bud to be able to better help him know how to come unto Christ with real intent, believing that he could be healed by Him. I teared up sharing with him my own experiences with the Atonement and pleading with him to believe that he could have the same joy that I had experienced when my burden had been lifted. It's amazing what comes out in lessons when the Spirit of the Lord is very present. People share very, very intimate experiences--not necessarily in great detail, but intimate experiences nonetheless with the people who're being taught, the "members" in the lessons included.
When people have sincere questions about the Gospel, I can't wait to answer them to the best of my knowledge. The Gospel just makes SOO much sense to me. Most of the time I half to pick through the doctrine to make sense of it and to walk away with the logic of it all, but when I do it's so good. Like My companions and I were discussing the story of Adam and Eve the other day and I didn't understand some things, but after a couple minutes I felt like I had made sense of the initially illogical parts. Not the I have the whole thing figured out by ANY means....
Love,
Em
Yet another week down!
This week was once again full of lessons and Spanish and devotionals etc.
We're currently working on getting the second lesson down... but it's really hard for some reason. Like it just doesn't flow in my head for some reason like the first lesson does. I'm trying to get it so it does, however.
Here, we teach lessons to other missionaries or teachers or volunteers who role-play. It's most effective when they role-play someone they know really well so that it's more accurate. One of the people we teach is a less-active (inactive, actually) named Alex. His dad is LDS and when Alex was a kid his dad severely abused him, his brother and his mother--almost killed them at times, in fact. Alex HATES his father and has based his life around being nothing like his father. His dad is now back into full fellowship in the church, but Alex says he never received an apology. So the big issue with Alex is that he simply does not believe that he can be healed the way we promise him he can. He can't join a church that requires him to forgive his father. And he doesn't deny that Jesus Christ suffered for him, but that He knew that Alex wouldn't really ever come back so.... yeah I don't know. It's confusing.
So for some reason I am soooo emotionally invested whenever we teach Alex. Like we teach a LOT of other people with problems of their own, but for some reason when we teach Alex, teaching about the Atonement of Jesus Christ becomes so much more real to me. Since the subject of forgiving his father is so huge and sensitive, we usually try to avoid attacking it directly and instead focus on other aspects of the Gospel that will help Alex in time forgive his father. We know it won't come immediately--or anywhere close to immediately. But since it's such a huge part of him, we can't help but come around to it during the lessons, which then inevitably leads to testifying of the power of the Atonement. The first time we taught Alex was the first time I teared up while looking into his eyes and testifying to him that the Savior literally has the ability and willingness to take away his burden. I am very sincere in lessons, but I rarely cry. The only other time I have was once again, in a lesson with Alex. This one was yesterday. It was incredible. It was an hour long (double the usual) and the entire time I just tried to listen to the Holy Ghost tell me what the real problem was within him, what I could address to nip it in the bud to be able to better help him know how to come unto Christ with real intent, believing that he could be healed by Him. I teared up sharing with him my own experiences with the Atonement and pleading with him to believe that he could have the same joy that I had experienced when my burden had been lifted. It's amazing what comes out in lessons when the Spirit of the Lord is very present. People share very, very intimate experiences--not necessarily in great detail, but intimate experiences nonetheless with the people who're being taught, the "members" in the lessons included.
When people have sincere questions about the Gospel, I can't wait to answer them to the best of my knowledge. The Gospel just makes SOO much sense to me. Most of the time I half to pick through the doctrine to make sense of it and to walk away with the logic of it all, but when I do it's so good. Like My companions and I were discussing the story of Adam and Eve the other day and I didn't understand some things, but after a couple minutes I felt like I had made sense of the initially illogical parts. Not the I have the whole thing figured out by ANY means....
Love,
Em
Monday, October 4, 2010
MTC letter No.3
Hola mi familia~
Once again, it is always good to hear from you but STOP EMAILING ME AND INSTEAD SEND ME A LETTER VIA DEAR ELDER DURING THE WEEK SO I CAN RESPOND TO IT DURING EMAIL TIME AND IT DOESN'T TAKE UP EMAIL TIME READING YOUR EMAILS. Get it? Thanks. :)
Being on a mission is truly a privilege, as my Patriarchal Blessing says. You don't realize how lucky you are to be out here until you're actually here, though. Heavens to Betsy! I get to be part of the Greatest Work In The World! There IS no greater work. I get to participate in the work that God Himself called His work and His glory. For a straight 18 months I am able to work among my brothers and sisters doing the work of the salvation of souls. What a privilege. Why anyone would want to go home or to not go if given the opportunity simply astounds me. Yeah, stuff bugs me about it. Yeah, companions get on my nerves and I get on theirs. Yeah, it's super super busy and hard. Yeah the language is tough and half the time I feel overwhelmed. But it's SO worth it. I can feel it, even though I'm not even really out there yet.
Well this week has been another good one! Goodness, what a blessing conference is. I can't imagine NOT being able to hear modern-day prophets speak on a regular basis. As you can probably imagine, I got more out of conference this time than possibly any other time. As missionaries we all meet in the big gym/chapel where we have our devotionals and watched it all together on huge projectors. :) What were your guys' favorite talks? I must say that Elder Holland's had almost every single missionary bawling right off the bat... but my favorite talk was Elder Christofferson's talk on a consecrated life. I LOVE THAT MAN. I couldn't keep up my note-writing with his speaking. Every sentence was note-worthy so I can't wait until I have that Ensign in my hands. As usual. :) Also, the talk that Pres. Monson gave in the General Relief Society meeting on compassion, charity and being non-judgemental was very touching and powerful. I wish I have time here to really explain how I felt while listening to conference, but alas I don't. I did write in my journal, however. :)
This week we've taught many lessons and been trying to refine teaching with the Spirit. It's amazing how the experience of something that you always did believe in makes it so much more real to you. When I read about Jesus' life in the NT and think about it, it dawns on me how incredible His reality is and the fact that He really does lead this church. Also, being able to teach with the Spirit so often and realizing how essential it is makes the concept so much more personal and real to me, even though I always believed in the concept before.
Do you guys ever have like personal testimony meetings just with you and God at night in bed? Maybe that's just an Emily-thing, but I had another one on Friday night. I've already told you a lot of what I pondered about that night. I loved learning how the Lord communicates with us on an individual basis. Many times He speaks to me through my own words, or rather, while I'm praying and opening up my mind and heart to Him, He'll say what I need to hear through my mouth when I'm praying. Hopefully I'm learning the true order or prayer as it talks about in the Bible Dictionary and how prayer is for us to bring our will in accordance with His. I don't pretend for this to happen all the time, but it's definitely amazing when it does. It's a little harder when you're trying to pray completely in Spanish, however. :)
Today in the temple we got to do sealings. My first time! What an interesting experience. It'll be neat to do sealings when I get home.... Not to mention my own, haha. What beautiful blessings and promised to those who are faithful.
One of the reasons Elder Christofferson's talk was so poignant to me was because I had been thinking lately about really keeping temple covenants and what means in the mission field--to give EVERYTHING to the Lord and His church. I guess the mission field is one of the best possible places to learn that concept. It is very easy, however, to NOT keep that covenent in the field. When you feel busy all the time it's easy to justify slowing down or taking a few extra minutes for yourself. But you have to push yourself to keep going because you're on the Lord's time.
Well, I'm outa time!
I love you all sooooooooooooooooo much and miss you terribly. :) <3
Un abrazo!
Hermana Underlin
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