This certifies that the bearer, Savannah Leigh Jenne, who is in full faith and fellowship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been duly called and set apart as a missionary of the church and as such has authority to preach the principles of the gospel. We invite all people to heed her message.
Then it is signed by President Monson.
Ephesians 3:8-Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Who else gets this opportunity? All people! Who else actually has a certificate saying that they are "set apart" to preach the gospel? Well...just missionaries. Missionaries are given a whole new standard of obedience and truth. Not only are we to remain in full fellowship with the church and keep all of the commandments, we are to sacrifice our whole heart for other people. PMG says: Virtue originates in your innermost thoughts and desires. It is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards. "Virtue encompasses all traits of righteousness that help us form our character...virtue is our safeguard and our guiding star." [Faust] As missionaries, we learn that there is something more important to focus on. We have to learn to control and guide out own minds to the important task at hand. We are bringing to pass God's work and glory. Because His work is one eternal round, He is being glorified in us as we are becoming glorified in Him. The gospel is beautifully simple and simply beautiful in that way.
There is an activity in PMG that I do monthly. It says to review my ministerial card and record my thoughts as I am reading and pondering the words. In May, I said: what crossed my mind was Ephesians 3:8...and how the apostles in Jesus' time reacted to their calling. They were willing to die because death is better than the fate of one who denies Christ after having known him. If someone saw my ministerial card and abused or even tried to kill me because of it, would I stand true to what it says that I am "in full faith and fellowship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"? Or would I shrink? Whosoever loseth [her] life for Christ will find it.
I don't think there's anything that makes missionaries different. Ministerial certificate or not, we are still imperfect; we still make mistakes. However, we aren't given the option of not progressing. I believe that it would be completely impossible to be in the mission field, even if only for a day, and not progress. If we are doing life right, and if we are doing the gospel right, it will guide us to a knowledge that what are doing is enough...not that we are not enough. I have learned that the path is different for everyone because the rate of progression and acceptance is different for everyone. But, the way is always the same. It will always be the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some of us might keep out covenants differently than others; some of us might not even make covenants in this life, but we don't have to worry so much about where we are at in this moment.
This week we did a ton of service work. Each time, the people with whom we were worked expressed such gratitude. There is one lady, here in Duvall, who has made it her personal mission to keep the sidewalks clean from weeds and cigarette butts. She literally dedicates her life to grabbing trash along sides of roads, making "butt" buckets, and hanging out with LDS missionaries. I found a quote that I think would be her life motto: "Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all." I love getting outside and cleaning things up. I'm getting 'tan', too.
Some of the things that I am learning from [her] include:
1) fabric softeners will give you cancer
2) cigarettes have over 5000 chemicals, and they're affecting baby boys
3) plastic that is hot will leech into whatever is being contained in it
4) beets cure iron deficiency
5) all you have to do to get more napkins is ask if they've just stopped giving out napkins or if they've run out...passive aggressiveness...
6) being 3 minutes late is a sin
7) you can strike up a conversation with literally anyone, and it won't be weird unless you make it weird
8) it's okay to speak your mind because most of the time it's not going to make any difference
9) date someone who works for the vice president, and then you'll get to sit in his office chair 10)make whoever is near you like your adopted family
11) there is absolutely no excuse for littering
I truly have a lot of respect for [her.] Everyone in this town knows who she is, and sh is proud of who she is as well. She will stand up for what she believes, but she still reserves the right to change her mind.
You could say that this was a week of service. We helped someone unload their moving truck, worked at a food bank, spreaded mulch for old people, and worked with [her.] We also met several people who want us to come back and do service for them. Things like chopping wood, weeding gardens, feeding animals, etc. The best part is that people will give us farm fresh eggs or watermelon in exchange for our labors. And they'll usually consent to a gospel message! With the drought going on in this area, we always get asked what on earth we are doing out in the heat (it's only like 80 degrees....) and people tend to be quite nice when they realize how dedicated we are to be out in such "oppressiveness."
Another awesome part of this week was...ZONE CONFERENCE! I learned countless things; however, I will only explain the most awesome things. Sister Schofield was on point this time. She talked about how Jesus Christ is the only way. Now, a little background...on my mission, it's always been hard for me to understand why people talk about having a different path to God and that's why there can't be just one religion that's right. I just don't know what to say in reply to that! In a sense...it's Linda right. Not everyone is going to worship in the same way! BUT, I also know that there's only one way back to Heavenly Father's presence and that's through Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice. Herein lies the importance of a difference between the words "path" and "way." This is what I wrote down in my notebook-"We don't have to worry about where we're at. The [path is different because the rate of progression and acceptance is different for everyone. But, the way is always the same." And, I really do think that it has a lot to do with how we lived our life in the pre-mortal realm. A path can even be different after someone is baptized--they might keep their covenants differently. But, the core commandments are the same for everyone. There aren't exceptions. Dang. God's plan is 100% personalized. Sister Schofield really hit the nail on the head. During President Schofield's training he goes "There are 2 sister training leaders in the audience who haven't had to do a training today...why don't you sisters come up here and do a role-play with me" soooo we go up there...microphones in hand...like...dang it. He was the investigator, and we had to teach him about Joseph Smith and the 1st Vision. As Sister Anderson recited it in English, the spirit was strong! Then he goes "if I told you that I had a Russian mother-in-law, could you do the same thing in Russian?" so then I had to recite it in Russian in front of everyone. It's been a long time since I really used the 1st Vision in either language, but I felt the spirit of it, and I want to use it more.
Then, we go home and meet a babushka! She was from Romania, but knows Russian. It rekindled my love for babushkas <3 They're simply the best. I haven't had much opportunity to use my Russian here, and it's always a treat to meet someone who will speak Russian to me.
We had a big miracle at church! It seems like the ward is really starting to trust us! A man from the ward walked up to us and said that he wanted to schedule us to start teaching and baptize his 9 year old son! it was awesome:)
Shoutout to Jade & her brother & other cousin (I'm the worst because I already forgot their names.....) for coming to visit me! It was so fun to see all of you!
I love you all, and I hope that you have a wonderful week!
Sister Jenne"
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