Week 68

Hello Family!

I feel like I have so much to tell you!!! :) This week was a good one :) It was kind of a huge relief for last transfer to be over. It's like the Atonement, you just get a clean slate and can start all over :) It's wonderful! New transfers are like a big BOOST! haha Sister Boone is great, she's just a sweet child, but she has a sarcastic and snappy side too haha she's 19, an only child and she is smart. She went to George Washington for a few years and her goal is Yale for law school. It's a little different to be with a 19 year old because I hear about a lot of drama! Haha but I just ignore it and focus on what's good. I have heard all week about how some of the sisters in the mission hate STL's. Haha oh the drama! And I don't even care :) One thing that I really appreciate is her submissiveness and desire to be obedient. It is such a wonderful thing to have a companion who is trying to be better every day. I tell her she always reminds me of the scripture "becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." It is going well. I think we'll get along :) Hopefully. Haha I just feel a big load coming off my back and it's wonderful. I made a few mistakes last transfer by becoming angry, frustrated or inpatient with the struggles I was dealing with. But yesterday when I took the sacrament I felt so much better. Repentance is a wonderful thing. :) And I just feel somewhat renewed. :) So I am grateful for that. This week I learned so much! First of all Transfer Meeting was wonderful! I got to sing a song called "Come unto Christ" with a group of people. It has a video to it and you should look it up! It has officially become my favorite song, I wish I had it to listen to, but I just sing it constantly instead :) haha It was a great meeting, but I couldn't help but cry almost the entire time thinking about President and Sister Weaver leaving. It was such a spiritual meeting I felt it so much. On the way home the GPS took us through Chambers and Steilacoom and my heart ached to be there again. I love and miss those people so much! :) I was screaming and jumping up and down while driving through :) It was probably bad to have me driving...oh well! We survived! :) hahaha That night we got home at like almost 7 and we went straight to work. I had overbooked ourselves so we had 3 lessons that night that were short. But miracles happened! We got 4 people on date for baptism! :) N and A are a couple with 3 little boys that were found by the Spanish elders. N used to go to church with his grandparents. And so he knew a little about it. But all we did was "how to begin teaching" where we tell them our expectations and ask them theirs and they said that they would be baptized on the 12th of July. Then we went to Ks. HE has a lot of addictions he has to overcome and so he has to go away to a treatment center for 60 days. He's on date for September 1st :) haha and that may or may not be because I leave 2 days later :D then we stopped at D's house our little 11 year old. And he FINALLY said he would be willing to be baptized! We are shooting for the 8th of July. :) We just have to be able to get him to church! :) haha so we'll see. It was wonderful though It was such a spiritual night, In K's lesson we used some scriptures and it was so powerful, the effect the scriptures had on his understanding. The scriptures are so important! :) On Wednesday we got to meet with S again, she is amazing! She literally prayed a blue night gown into existence, she has so much faith! haha It is so cool to see her changing and coming to church! She makes me think so much, there is so much in life that I don't even begin to understand. I am not much of a deep thinker, except for when we're at S's house. I think deeply about the gospel most of the time, but she just makes you ponder so much! haha I love having lessons with her. We just basically went over there to bear testimony and pray :) it was great! Faith and patience are so key to life. I can't even tell you how much easier they make life. Miracles are wrought by faith, I know that's true. I also learned that I have a huge reputation in the mission, haha for being obedient! Which was as good as getting a gold medal! I think obedience to God is one of the most important things we can do in life. And learning how we can do better and follow His will helps us reach our full potential. I have learned a lot about obedience on my mission. It's not always easy. Sometimes I really want to call my friends, especially when I know they're struggling. But I can't and I know God blesses me for it. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. I full heartedly believe that, because I have seen the evidence of that in my life as I strive to live in harmony with God's will miracles continually happen in my life. I feel that my confidence and happiness has grown and being obedient has contributed to it so much. On Thursday we got to go to S's house. She has a lot of things she is healing from. And we taught her about repentance. She told us of her experience when Sister Flanigan and I first showed up at her house and told her to pray and ask God for forgiveness of the mistakes she had made, they were holding her back so much. And she told us on Thursday that when she did that she immediately started to overcome those mistakes and she feels SO much better about them. Repentance is seriously so powerful in our lives. It’s amazing. This Sunday we are having N and A's baptism!!!! I am so excited! :) It is also the day of the last fireside with the Weavers and it's in Olympia! :) So it will be a great day! :) I can't wait to see those little girls all dressed in white! They are just the sweetest things! I am so grateful I have been able to get to teach them and see them learn and understand the gospel. They are already changing and being great little members of the church, it is such a wonderful thing to be able to see. I am so excited. This week I have thought a lot about President and Sister Weaver. I can't even express how sad I am going to be on the 26th. I might need you to send me some chocolate. haha I seriously love them so much! I was texting President last night and he was telling us how much he loves us and will never forget us. It has been so sad to see things that are normal become their lasts. They have affected my life in numerous ways and I will be forever grateful for them. I love them so much and I am not really sure what I'm going to do when they leave. But I can talk more about that next week :) haha But I really want to tell you about T C. So mom received a letter in the mail from T. And I received it this week It made me cry. I learned that in my mission, no effort is ever wasted. We met T in Steilacoom my first transfer. She was so skinny and a little eccentric! :) ok a lot! :) haha and she wanted to learn about the Holy Ghost. But we could never catch her at home. One day Sister Hall and I were walking to our car and I just felt like we should go see T. We were close to her house so we just walked over there. When we got there we found her shoving things into her car sobbing while a man screamed at her. As soon as she saw us she ran as fast as she could into our arms. We went around the corner and the man left. As we talked with her and calmed her down we found out the man was her boyfriend and he had been hitting her a threatened to kill her. And then we got there. She told us if we hadn't been there she might have died. I learned an important lesson that night to always follow the spirit as well as the fact that God is so mindful of all of His children. The next day was Easter Sunday of 2013. and T came to church. She was so excited, she proclaimed in a loud voice "congratulations" as M N stood as one worthy to receive the Aaronic priesthood. Everyone laughed. She sobbed during the sacrament and afterwards she got a bloody nose and with a terrified look she ran out. We found out later that she was going to go to a hospital to get herself taken care of. WE gave her our home addresses so we could maybe someday know that she was still alive. Over a year later she wrote! After several broken ribs and being on life support she has overcome her struggles of domestic violence situations. And speaks to audiences about it. She feels like she is worth something and reads her scriptures every day. She is still broken, but slowly recovering. She is going to meet with the missionaries :) I love T so much. She taught me a lot of things, but most especially she taught me how much God loves each of us so much. She is an inspiration to me, and I am so grateful to be a part of her life. I now know that even if I don't know what happens to any of these people that I talk to, my efforts are not wasted. I am so grateful to be a missionary and have the sacred opportunity to let God's love show and be an instrument in His hands. I am grateful and humbled by His trust and love for me. I am eternally grateful for every single person I have talked to in the last 16 months. Because they are all children of God. And I love them. I love the true gospel I get to share with them that changes and transforms them. I love you so much and am grateful for your prayers and support. You are missed, but never forgotten. I hope you all have a wonderful week and keep a positive attitude! I love you!

Love always

Sister Wilkins :)