First of all THANK YOU everyone for all of the sweet birthday wishes!! :) I definitely am a lucky girl to have such amazing people in my life :) I'd say 3 birthday cakes makes turning 20 not quite as bad ;) hahaha. Everyone went above and beyond to make my day special!
I've really done a lot of reflecting back this past week on the start of my whole mission journey til now. Exactly 1 year ago I opened my call to find out I would be serving the people of Houston for 18 months, and I swear I blinked my eyes and now here I am starting the second half of this amazing adventure! 9 months can you believe it?! I wish I could just stop the clock for a little bit! I have to say how much I love being a missionary. I love it more than anything in this world. Its harder than anything I have ever done in my whole life! Its hard work and it pushes you way farther than you ever thought you could be pushed. But I've learned that when you are put in those situations, thats when Heavenly Father can work through us the most. Those are the times where I have really developed and strengthened my relationship with Him, and found out who I really am and who I am meant to become. And it is only through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ that we can become like Him. I always grew up understanding the Atonement as the way we are forgiven of our sins. But I have learned that it is SO much more than that! It cleanses us, it heals us, it strengthens us, and it enables us. We become closer to Christ and learn of Him as we develop his attributes and characteristics, and all of that comes through us applying His atonement in our lives EVERY SINGLE DAY. It truly enables us to become even as He is. That is His desire for each one of us! We simply just have to model our lives after His and apply His amazing gift He has given to us. It is available to every one of His children! A mission has taught me that every soul is great in the sight of our Heavenly Father. He loves us equally, no matter our circumstances. I have been blessed with the knowledge of this gospel in my life and the knowledge of my Heavenly Father's love for me, and I want every one of His Children to know of it and feel of that same love for them. That is why I am here and I cant think of a more amazing calling than that!
Probably the most important thing that I have learned though, is to have complete faith in my heavenly father. I will be the first to admit that I am a stubborn girl who hates it when things don't always go as planned. Even when I was deciding to go on a mission, I was too scared to pray to get an answer because I didn't feel like I was ready to act upon whatever answer the Lord gave me. Then when I decided to put my trust in Him and align my will with His, I asked Him what He wanted of me and recieved my answer. It wasn't what was ever part of my plans, but it was in His, and His plans are always much MUCH better. I know that now after being here. I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life! and it is because I acted on my faith and trusted in Him. We have to put our full trust in our Heavenly Father. I know without a doubt that He truly knows us more than we know ourselves. He has a plan for every single one of us and each of those plans are to make us the happiest we can be! All He asks of us is to LET GO and trust in Him! Its hard sometimes. Its not easy to give up what you think you want and go through things that you have no clue as to why you are doing them. But if you live worthy of the spirit, and most importantly act upon the promptings that you recieve, everything falls into place. My faith is tested daily being out here on a mission. I have had to trust more than I ever have before. But it is so comforting to me to know that my heavenly father who loves me unconditionally has a plan for me, as well as those I am serving.
I love being the Lord's servant <3 It is the best thing I have ever done and I know I wouldn't be here without yalls support :) I couldnt be more grateful that the Lord gave me this experience and that I still have 9 more months to give him everything that I have! I've really done a lot of reflecting back this past week on the start of my whole mission journey til now. Exactly 1 year ago I opened my call to find out I would be serving the people of Houston for 18 months, and I swear I blinked my eyes and now here I am starting the second half of this amazing adventure! 9 months can you believe it?! I wish I could just stop the clock for a little bit! I have to say how much I love being a missionary. I love it more than anything in this world. Its harder than anything I have ever done in my whole life! Its hard work and it pushes you way farther than you ever thought you could be pushed. But I've learned that when you are put in those situations, thats when Heavenly Father can work through us the most. Those are the times where I have really developed and strengthened my relationship with Him, and found out who I really am and who I am meant to become. And it is only through the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ that we can become like Him. I always grew up understanding the Atonement as the way we are forgiven of our sins. But I have learned that it is SO much more than that! It cleanses us, it heals us, it strengthens us, and it enables us. We become closer to Christ and learn of Him as we develop his attributes and characteristics, and all of that comes through us applying His atonement in our lives EVERY SINGLE DAY. It truly enables us to become even as He is. That is His desire for each one of us! We simply just have to model our lives after His and apply His amazing gift He has given to us. It is available to every one of His children! A mission has taught me that every soul is great in the sight of our Heavenly Father. He loves us equally, no matter our circumstances. I have been blessed with the knowledge of this gospel in my life and the knowledge of my Heavenly Father's love for me, and I want every one of His Children to know of it and feel of that same love for them. That is why I am here and I cant think of a more amazing calling than that!
Probably the most important thing that I have learned though, is to have complete faith in my heavenly father. I will be the first to admit that I am a stubborn girl who hates it when things don't always go as planned. Even when I was deciding to go on a mission, I was too scared to pray to get an answer because I didn't feel like I was ready to act upon whatever answer the Lord gave me. Then when I decided to put my trust in Him and align my will with His, I asked Him what He wanted of me and recieved my answer. It wasn't what was ever part of my plans, but it was in His, and His plans are always much MUCH better. I know that now after being here. I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life! and it is because I acted on my faith and trusted in Him. We have to put our full trust in our Heavenly Father. I know without a doubt that He truly knows us more than we know ourselves. He has a plan for every single one of us and each of those plans are to make us the happiest we can be! All He asks of us is to LET GO and trust in Him! Its hard sometimes. Its not easy to give up what you think you want and go through things that you have no clue as to why you are doing them. But if you live worthy of the spirit, and most importantly act upon the promptings that you recieve, everything falls into place. My faith is tested daily being out here on a mission. I have had to trust more than I ever have before. But it is so comforting to me to know that my heavenly father who loves me unconditionally has a plan for me, as well as those I am serving.
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