Monday, August 6, 2012 9:25 AM
Family!!!!!!!!
So, yeah. good stuff. :) Alright, expect another
random, no order letter because that's what's on the menu. Speaking of
menu, shrimp actually doesn't taste that bad :) Who would have thought ;)
and the other night, we had fresh caught Flounder. DELICIOUS!!!!!
So I got DJ's letter, Gram's letter, and #7 from mom. and YES, on getting
into the program for Mechanical Engineering. That's super nice and
relieving, not that I didn't think I'd get in ;) Oh, I get an hour to
write family and to write my Letter to the President.
THE...FLOOR...LOOKS...ABSOLUTELY....AMAZING!!!!!!!!! Our house just
got 30 years younger. Beautiful. Tell Velvet I miss and love her ;)
Okay, so yesterday our ward was basically half visitors. Not
kidding. We get a ton of visitors because we are on the coast and people
come here to vacation. We had a little over 200 people in church yesterday and
we were packed including the small overflow. Crazy. ps. They
are about 450 members in the ward...aka if we could help those less actives
return to activity they would have to split the ward...that's without a single
baptism!!!! Crazy again.
So, what else is interesting that has happened to me.
We are seeing some amazing progress with the individuals we are working
with and with the ward. It's amazing to see the Lord's hand in everything
we do. We experience miracles every day. Yesterday, was phenomenal.
The spirit was so strong and our Bishop is amazing. The calling and
position of Bishop is seriously a divine position and as Dad knows and has
said, is directed by the Lord. Our Bishop was seriously one inspired man
yesterday. We're probably going to stop by his house tonight and thank
him for everything he did and is doing.
Yesterday, during testimony meeting, I was debating whether
I would bear my testimony or not, and then the spirit just told me, "You
need to bear your testimony." So, I decided I wasn't going to let
that powerful of a prompting slide by so I got up and bore my testimony.
We had 1 less active there sitting with us, and she is amazing. It
may have been for her, or for anyone else. Either way, I know that the
Lord wanted me to bear my testimony yesterday.
Last night at a lesson, the spirit was so strong. During
the lesson, while my companion was speaking, I realized through revelation that
one of the greatest gifts and blessings that God has given me here on my
mission is charity. I seriously love everyone. And it's like the
love that Christ had and that Moroni
speaks of. I'm not trying to say that I have 100% charity and that I
can't possibly have any more charity, but in times past, I may have judged
people prematurely at times, but as I continue to serve my mission, I am doing
less and less of that, especially once I talk with someone. As soon as I
get over that initial fear and apprehension of talking to a stranger, a love
grows inside of me for that person, where I desire them to have what I have and
what the gospel gives me in my life. I want to help them in any way I
can. I want to help them come to Christ. For example, the other day
we were early for an appointment, so Elder Jensen suggested that we bike around
the neighborhood to see if there was anyone we could talk to. The Lord
placed in our path this man, who has an incredible amount of faith in Christ
and an incredible life story. As he described himself and his life, I
sincerely desired him to know more about the God he so dearly loves, to have
even more truths than he currently has. So, I asked him if there was a
time we could return and share our message. The conversation changed, and
we never received an answer, but right before we parted paths, I
asked again if there was time because I sincerely and earnestly desired
for him to at least have the chance to hear about the restoration of the gospel
. Obviously, everyone has agency and he may choose not to accept it in his life
right now, but that's not the point because maybe he will or maybe this plants
the seed for later conversion. Who knows, but God. :) So, this week
we have an appointment with him, which will provide the spirit with an
opportunity to more fully touch his heart and bring him closer to Christ.
Cross my fingers ;)
I hope that didn't get to drawn out or anything :) I
can't believe it's already the 5th week of the transfer. A couple more
weeks and I'll be in my second transfer. Crazy stuff. It's getting
super hot here. August is brutal. We'll be in the sun for 20-30
minutes and I already am baking. And the sun seriously exhausts
me...makes me sooo tired sometimes.
Anyways, gotta go. Have a good week. I hope I
answered any questions. Life's going well for me.
Stay safe
Love,
Elder Patty
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