Week 58

Hello Family!

Wow! Wasn't that conference amazing??!?!?!?!?! I will be focusing pretty much all of my words on that!  Because that's pretty much all that happened this week :) We didn't have a ton of stuff go on because we didn't have our car, it was in the shop getting fixed, but we found a lot of new and had a lot of lessons! But not much else :)  But one thing that I wanted to tell you about was our investigator Maria! She is one of the most prepared people I've ever met! She came to 3 out of 4 sessions of conference :) she is on date for this weekend! So we are hoping and praying that she will take the big leap of faith. On Tuesday we stopped by the hospital to talk to her (she was in the psych unit for depression.) and while we were there she told us that she had gotten a confirmation that the church was true! It was so cool and the spirit was SO strong! We all started crying! And I shared the story about when Peter walks on the water toward Christ and he gets scared because of the distractions and such around him and he starts to sink, and as soon as he realizes it he cries out to Christ and immediately Christ reaches down to save him :) And I related that to her situation to just be able to focus on the Savior and keep looking at Him as she struggles and trust him. And if she starts to sink then as soon as she cries out for help Christ will be there to lift her up. This is a true principle for all of us in our lives. When we focus on Christ and trust Him we can do anything! We can walk on water! But when we get scared or distracted or frustrated or discouraged we will begin to sink. And as SOON as we ask for help Christ will immediately be there for us. He will go to the end of the universe for us. So trust in Him, rely on Him, and focus on Him. There are many people in the world who don't reach out for the help and they are miserable. But we can't let our pride get in the way of letting God help us. Let Him help you! :) It was very cool! It’s always a sacred moment when someone realizes and gets revelation from God to know that it's true! :) It's AMAZING!!! :) The church is true :) and then on Thursday she got out of the hospital and our bishop checked her into a motel for a week while she looks for a job! :) It was so cool! And then we had a lesson with her on Saturday! And we taught her about the plan of Salvation. She just loves it she loves it so much!!!! It was really cool because while we were there I was just pondering. We’re sitting between tiny walls of a motel room, with someone who has gone through so much, she's here because she has nowhere else to go, and she has every reason to be upset, or angry or discouraged and yet she is full of love and gratitude and she is focusing on Christ. One of her very few possessions are a picture we gave her of the Savior. And she keeps it close. My challenge to all of you is to keep Him close as you go through life and continue to draw closer to Him. I LOVED Elder Holland’s talk; God is not a comfortable God. He does expect things from us, but it is all for our good and learning and if we are obedient we will be exalted and receive eternal joy! This might be a short e-mail.  I've been watching some of the videos mom sent and crying cuz I love it! Thank you! and Elder Genereux is distracting me. Haha And tell the ward I absolutely LOVE them and can't wait to come home and see them all! :) It is crazy how much I miss all of you :) but I want to talk about conference! OH MY GOODNESS wasn't it just the biggest spiritual feast of your life?! Do you like the title of the e-mail? "you are infinitely more precious to God than a tree" oh elder Andersen!  Elder Genereux and I got a good kick out of that one and out of the "One should not roam through garbage" hahaha! :) we were rolling :) those can be likened to the funnies of the newspaper :)  anyways but I think my top 4 favorites were President Monson, Elder Holland, Elder Hales and President Uchtdorf. But they were all so amazing! I took so many notes and am just WAITING for the ensign! :)  President Monsons was good, I have been striving my whole mission to "look through heavens eyes" or "see people in white" and it's not that I can't do that, but there's always room for improvement in everything! But I think that it's so important to strive to have Charity for all men. And to just be kind to one another! I loved when he said "arise each morning determined to be loving and kind" We choose! And that's what I want to choose :) Elder Holland’s was AMAZING!!! haha I laughed, I cried, I felt the spirit like CRAZY!  I think the story he told about the missionary was so hilarious! I was sitting there thinking "I bet mom is thinking that stuff like that doesn't happen to me, but I've had worse"  I loved the advice he gave to defend your faith with love and courtesy and courage. It's hard sometimes to be nice to people. Because sometimes people are seriously rude. I'm not gonna lie, it's so hard! But, self control is a Christ like attribute :) He bore our grief with courage love and courtesy. He never acted out of anger when someone abused or mocked him. He always acted out of love. It IS worth it to defend the faith :) and I love doing it :)  being a missionary is the greatest thing ever! :) I was eating up elder hales talk! I love obedience!!! :) That's the first law in heaven guys! :) I loved when he said "there's no such thing as selective obedience" and we need to obey the commands of God. I feel strongly after this conference that we need to do everything in our power to fortify our faith along with those around us. Just like when Captain Moroni fortified the city of Zerahemla for a war with the Lamanites we also need to fortify our testimonies and our neighborhoods for a war with the adversary. He is fighting strong to win the battle. But guess what? God already won! So as long as we are on His side we will never fail. Rely on Him trust Him. Let Him into your life in all things, pray with your whole heart, be grateful in your circumstances and remember how merciful the Lord has been to you. He loves you so much! You are not just a human being; YOU are a child of God!!! So I have been creating a list of goals of the person I want to be when I get home and I'm starting now to become it. Because as Elder Scott says we become what we want to be by consistently being who we want to become. :) So I am being who I want to become but I'm making a list of guide posts from the conference so if you have any good ones send them to me! :) Last of all I loved the words of Elder Holland when he said something like he was more sure about the restoration than he was sure that he was standing at the pulpit in front of us. The church is true. I know the restoration is real, and we have living latter day prophets and apostles of God. They are real. This gospel is real. I invite you to continually read and ponder their words and you will feel the realness of the restoration. Time’s up!!! The church is true! And I love you all so much! I hope you have a wonderful week!

 

Love Always

Sister Wilkins :)