"We were so blessed this week to have Elder and Sister EchoHawk come and do a mission tour! Basically, it was like a special zone conference, where the west and east halves of the mission had meetings with them for several hours. It was very inspiring and uplifting, and everyone always leaves all fired up to go out and share the truth! Some of my thoughts from the meeting: The Lord is working to change us in this life. We didn't come here to simply stay how we were and then go to heaven! We go through the exact things that we need to in this life in order to return to Him and have learned the things that we needed to! But, we aren't alone in doing this! We have our Savior Jesus Christ, and He will meet us exactly where we are. No matter our challenges or concerns, they will be resolved through Him. I think that that is evidence enough of His love for us.
Something else...think one of my favorite parts was when
Sister EchoHawk had missionaries come up and teach her 15 year old self. That
really made me realize that we truly cannot assume things about people! Just
because someone says something about themselves, it doesn't mean we have a
right to place them in a box based on stereotypes. I think that sometimes I
label people immediately as soon as they tell me that what religion they belong
to or don't belong to...it's like I have this cookie cutter reaction to them
because of their beliefs! However, I know that that's not the right type of
attitude to have and so I am planning on working on seeing people as individuals
and figuring out how to show them my love. Last night, we contacted a referral,
and all she really wanted to do was tell us that we do NOT need the Book of
Mormon. And somewhere in my head, I just thought. "I don't even know this
woman's name, how can I expect her to feel my love when I haven't even asked
her name?" So I stopped saying things to "prove" that we need
the BOM and asked her her name. Then I said that we were very glad to see her
and be talking to her. And then I tried to very personally testify of how the
Book of Mormon is from God and how I personally found out. Of course, it didn't
convince her, but I know that I felt the spirit a lot stronger when I felt
myself trying to see her as an individual.
We met a cool man from Africa who was the caregiver at a
home for older people. One of the men that lived there came out and told us
that he was a missionary like us once and that he had 4 sons who all served
missions. It was cool. We asked if he had any advice, and he simply said "don't
forget that the gospel is true and that we will be happy if we live up to
it." I thought that that was an all-encompassing statement that we all
would do well to remember about many different things in our lives!
This morning I ran into a screen door. I think I've gotten
so used to following Sister Orr around, that as soon as I try to go first I
just run into this screen door instead of opening the door all of the day. It's
a good metaphor. We shouldn't be content with just following people around and
being content with our lives! We have to act and find things out for ourselves
and discover new knowledge and find out more and more every day! Like I said
earlier, we are on this earth to learn, not to follow blindly! Since I've
become a missionary, I've realized that literally everything is a life
metaphor.
Miracle of the week! Remember the van guy? Well we called
him on Saturday and he told us that he watched General Conference! All we did
was text him the link because we knew he was out of town, but he watched it!
Super great news :) How could anyone not enjoy hearing from men of God?
I got to write in Brother Slava's infamous book. I'll attach
a picture. Also, I love my new dress :) Also a picture is attached!
A lot has happened with my personal testimony in my time as
a missionary. I have heard the Holy Ghost clearly speak to me as answers to
prayer. I cannot believe how below my privilege I used to be living. Take
advantage of all of the small blessings that God places in your life every
single day! I know that we are more blessed than we realize and that if we open
our eyes, we will see countless blessings and tender mercies that our Heavenly
Father has given us.
With a lot of love,
Sister Jenne"
LOVELOVELOVE THIS SISTER OF MINE <3
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