natalie ann: week 59: getting lost in the service of others

Monday, December 12th, 2016

Hola amigos

This week has been pretty good. Holidays are hard though and everyone is getting sick and canceling. Pray we don't get sick.

Monday was pretty crazy. I found out my last companion went home :( and then we found out Sister Szewczyk is going home, she left on Tuesday. So sad. So Sister Gulley is going to have mini missionaries til the transfer ends. For right now Sister Zabariza is with her til she leaves to go back to the Philippines on Wednesday! It's been fun having her. We had dinner with Bishop Genet and got his vision and such. We then had a lesson with Zach. Oh he is hilarious. He isn't getting baptized til April cause that's when he is getting married.

Tuesday we had a lesson with Shel and her kids. It was crazy though cause we got there and she wanted us to move her cabinet that was in the room with bed bugs and it was so heavy. We had a laurel with us and for Shel to sit down and have a lesson was if our laurel made them dinner. Haha Shel is a bit crazy. But we had a good lesson and got to know them better. She says she has seen a difference in her life by meeting with the missionaries. We then had a lesson with Deanna and taught her the law of chastity. She hasn't drank any coffee!!

Wednesday we had ZTM and it was really good. We talked a lot about recognizing the Holy Ghost. It was cool to discuss the ways we can receive the Holy Ghost. There was another training on our purpose and it was so good. We talked a lot about our authority and power, our calling gives us authority and keeping covenants gives us power. We talked about how our authority comes directly from God and it's really cool to think about. We had a lesson with Jesse Hitchcock with the Jex's. We watched the restoration video. He has read the Book of Mormon twice. He doesn't understand Joseph Smith. So I'm not really sure why we are there but the Jex's want us to be there. I love Jesse though!

Thursday I had to go to another ZTM because my companion is STL in two zones. We met with Tewana and she is doing good. We then had a lesson with Zach on temples. They really want to get sealed in a year. I'm totally going.

Friday we had a lesson with Jessica Mejia. She didn't smoke for two days and then had a cig. I don't think she was really doing all the 15 steps but she said she was going to try again. She was really excited she didn't smoke those two days. We then had a lesson with Sister Bottoms, I love her. We then had a lesson with Shel and she was really late. So we read a little bit of the Book of Mormon with her. We then had a lesson with a part member family named the Williams. They aren't actually married, the mom is the nonmember, her name is Joanna and I love them. She said she didn't want to take the lessons, that she wasn't ready for that but that we could come teach their family. So that's what we did. We talked about God, prayer and family. They were crying like the whole time and were so emotional. They really opened up and talked about how they were meth abusers and their kids saved their life. I'm excited to start teaching them and hope Joanna's hearts softens. We then had the Ward Christmas party in Paloma Ward. There were so many people there, it was a lot of fun. They had a live band and it was so loud. Haha for us missionaries, it was really weird. I feel like it's been so long since I have been a normal person. We had a few investigators there so that was good!

Saturday we went to lunch with Brother Phil at R&R, it's a pizza place. So good. We had a lesson with Clarise. Sister Macnielle came with us. When we introduced what the lesson was (the law of chastity), she was like hold on my husband needs to hear this. Haha. They aren't married. So Calvin came and it was really good. We were really bold but loving. We were like basically you need to get married before your baptism date. So we had them pray about it. Clarise was really serious about it but idk about Calvin. Clarise went and put her baptism date on the calender, it was cute. We then had ward correlations and made ward mission plans with our ward mission leaders, it was really good.

Sunday my companion and I gave talks in Paloma Ward about inviting others to come unto Christ. It went well I think. I mainly talked about how to get a desire to do missionary work and where that desire comes from. I shared this quote by Howard W. Hunter. "What does the atonement have to do with missionary work? Any time we experience the blessings of the atonement in our lives, we cannot help but have a concern for the welfare of others." So it is the atonement that motivates us to do missionary work. We need to be experiencing the atonement in our life. A scripture that I thought of when people had this concern for the welfare of others is when Alma and the sons of mosiah repent and experience the atonement in their life. After this change of heart Mosiah 28:3 says "Now they were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble." They knew what it felt like to have that guilt and to not know Christ and they didn't not want that for anyone else. To gain this desire we need to experience the atonement everyday, we need to repent daily. This repentance will change us and it will begin to be natural to want to share it with others. Howard W. Hunter then says, "A great indication of ones personal conversion is the desire to share the gospel with others". We then went caroling with the Macneilles and Butlers, it was way fun. We went to a couple of our investigators as well. We then knocked on a less-actives door named the Williamsons. We had a good lesson with them. We think the youngest who is 10 isn't baptized.

Starting the first of December I started reading the New Testament. I'm reading the four gospels before Christmas, so a book a week. I'm in Luke now. It's been pretty awesome. I really want to get to know my Savior more. It's the most important thing to know on our mission. A scripture I like that I read this week was in Mark.

Mark 8:34-35, "And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it."

This is one of my favorite scriptures. I know that we will find Christ if we do serve Him. And I love this is what the Christmas initiative is about, service. I'm grateful for my Savior and the example He set.

I love you all!!

--xo: sista fisha