The last couple of weeks have been really good - crazy but good! I didn't get emails sent out last week. We really didn't have a p-day and had to use the internet another day in between appointments.
We didn't have p-day for a really good reason! Elder Leal and his wife came and did a mission tour (they are an area 70). They wanted to see all our areas and meet with the leadership. Afterwards we were able to have a training with him and all of the leaders in the mission followed by a devotional with everyone. It was amazing! He didn't end up coming to our house even though I wanted him to just so he could see the conditions we are living in right now..
I really loved the message he gave to the leaders when he talked about the importance of balancing Christlike attributes and teaching skills. One without the other will never work! He talked about how we as missionaries need to be striving to both becoming like the Savior as well as using our teaching skills and techniques to teach people the gospel. Then he gave an awesome devotional on the Atonement. At the end of his talk he said "One day you will look back and see that all the foot aches, headaches, sunburns, stomach worms, any sacrifice we felt we have made while being out here - won't have been a sacrifice after all but a privilege to have worked by our perfect and loving Savior and feel His love and power working so hard in our lives. He said but even so the Lord still promises that He will make up for everything and more. He said that a mission isn't the best two years of our lives - it's so hard, how can it be? But that they prepare us for the best years to come and moments that the Lord prepares for our future. He said there is never a day that he forgets to thank Heavenly Father for having to have passed a certain trial while he was a missionary because every lesson he learned in the mission field he was able to apply in a future situation.
It was such an amazing devotional and training with Elder Leal - I cried the whole time haha.
I've been getting really emotional these last few weeks realizing I only have a few more weeks as the Lord's servant.
After our training and devotional my companion and I came back to our area and finished preparing Jackson for his baptism yesterday! He was so ready and excited. But on Tuesday he said that he still needed help with one more thing before he could be prepared. My comp and I thought, "oh no". But then he said that before he could be baptized he needed to forgive his brother for something terrible he had done to him in the past but that he didn't know how to do this. I remembered the talk given by Elder Kevin R. Duncan called, "The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness". So we watched it together and taught a lesson on the Atonement. In the lesson we talked about how we ourselves can never fully forgive but that through Christ's sacrifice complete forgiveness is available to all that will apply it. It was such a special experience! Jackson said he felt the Spirit so strong and even gave us the address of his brother to start teaching him. Now we are teaching the entire family! It has been so amazing - such a miracle. His brother and his wife have three children and have been very open and receptive to our message. They have also accepted our invitation to be baptized! They will be traveling quite a bit but we will resume lessons at the end of the month.
I also had an interview with my President this week that was so awesome. I just love my mission president so much. He asked how I was feeling about everything and I told him I was ok but feeling sad realizing that my mission is almost over. He paused for a minute and then said that not for one minute should I feel sad because the Lord has been pleased with me and my companions work. He told me many things during the interview that really helped and eased my mind. It was a long interview which I wasn't expecting because I will still have one more before I leave. He asked about my family and if they were excited for me to come home and I said of course and that I was SO HAPPY because I found out that both sets of my grandparents and even some of my Aunts and Uncles and cousins were going to come out to see me!!! He got this huge smile on his face and was like "Really?? Wonderful! You will have so many stories to share!". Hahaha - I've never seen him be so excited like that. It was so sweet.
On Thursday I met Elder Christiansen from the Presidency of the Seventy and this was a really cool experience. His wife hugged all the sisters and told us how beautiful we all were and how much she loved us. When she hugged me she had a high voice and when she told me she loved me it seriously felt like it came from my own mom! I got so emotional meeting her which was ridiculous but I couldn't help it. Her message was what touched me most of all though. I felt like she was talking just to me and she said, "I know it's hot. I know the conditions here are so hard. But I speak for the Savior when I say...you are saving these people. Not only their lives here on earth, but for eternity. I know that many times you might think how easy it would be to turn back and quit. But remember the prophet Joseph Smith. How tempting would it have been for him to turn back too. But then, where would any of us be?".
We had a question and answer period and I was able to ask a question about how we as missionaries can help our investigators recognize the Spirit at work in their lives to testify that our message is true. It was awesome.
Anyways - that has been the last two weeks! This upcoming week we will make divisions with our Sisters and give a training to the zone with the other leaders. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I love you guys so much!
Sister Arbuckle
We didn't have p-day for a really good reason! Elder Leal and his wife came and did a mission tour (they are an area 70). They wanted to see all our areas and meet with the leadership. Afterwards we were able to have a training with him and all of the leaders in the mission followed by a devotional with everyone. It was amazing! He didn't end up coming to our house even though I wanted him to just so he could see the conditions we are living in right now..
I really loved the message he gave to the leaders when he talked about the importance of balancing Christlike attributes and teaching skills. One without the other will never work! He talked about how we as missionaries need to be striving to both becoming like the Savior as well as using our teaching skills and techniques to teach people the gospel. Then he gave an awesome devotional on the Atonement. At the end of his talk he said "One day you will look back and see that all the foot aches, headaches, sunburns, stomach worms, any sacrifice we felt we have made while being out here - won't have been a sacrifice after all but a privilege to have worked by our perfect and loving Savior and feel His love and power working so hard in our lives. He said but even so the Lord still promises that He will make up for everything and more. He said that a mission isn't the best two years of our lives - it's so hard, how can it be? But that they prepare us for the best years to come and moments that the Lord prepares for our future. He said there is never a day that he forgets to thank Heavenly Father for having to have passed a certain trial while he was a missionary because every lesson he learned in the mission field he was able to apply in a future situation.
It was such an amazing devotional and training with Elder Leal - I cried the whole time haha.
I've been getting really emotional these last few weeks realizing I only have a few more weeks as the Lord's servant.
After our training and devotional my companion and I came back to our area and finished preparing Jackson for his baptism yesterday! He was so ready and excited. But on Tuesday he said that he still needed help with one more thing before he could be prepared. My comp and I thought, "oh no". But then he said that before he could be baptized he needed to forgive his brother for something terrible he had done to him in the past but that he didn't know how to do this. I remembered the talk given by Elder Kevin R. Duncan called, "The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness". So we watched it together and taught a lesson on the Atonement. In the lesson we talked about how we ourselves can never fully forgive but that through Christ's sacrifice complete forgiveness is available to all that will apply it. It was such a special experience! Jackson said he felt the Spirit so strong and even gave us the address of his brother to start teaching him. Now we are teaching the entire family! It has been so amazing - such a miracle. His brother and his wife have three children and have been very open and receptive to our message. They have also accepted our invitation to be baptized! They will be traveling quite a bit but we will resume lessons at the end of the month.
I also had an interview with my President this week that was so awesome. I just love my mission president so much. He asked how I was feeling about everything and I told him I was ok but feeling sad realizing that my mission is almost over. He paused for a minute and then said that not for one minute should I feel sad because the Lord has been pleased with me and my companions work. He told me many things during the interview that really helped and eased my mind. It was a long interview which I wasn't expecting because I will still have one more before I leave. He asked about my family and if they were excited for me to come home and I said of course and that I was SO HAPPY because I found out that both sets of my grandparents and even some of my Aunts and Uncles and cousins were going to come out to see me!!! He got this huge smile on his face and was like "Really?? Wonderful! You will have so many stories to share!". Hahaha - I've never seen him be so excited like that. It was so sweet.
On Thursday I met Elder Christiansen from the Presidency of the Seventy and this was a really cool experience. His wife hugged all the sisters and told us how beautiful we all were and how much she loved us. When she hugged me she had a high voice and when she told me she loved me it seriously felt like it came from my own mom! I got so emotional meeting her which was ridiculous but I couldn't help it. Her message was what touched me most of all though. I felt like she was talking just to me and she said, "I know it's hot. I know the conditions here are so hard. But I speak for the Savior when I say...you are saving these people. Not only their lives here on earth, but for eternity. I know that many times you might think how easy it would be to turn back and quit. But remember the prophet Joseph Smith. How tempting would it have been for him to turn back too. But then, where would any of us be?".
We had a question and answer period and I was able to ask a question about how we as missionaries can help our investigators recognize the Spirit at work in their lives to testify that our message is true. It was awesome.
Anyways - that has been the last two weeks! This upcoming week we will make divisions with our Sisters and give a training to the zone with the other leaders. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. I love you guys so much!
Sister Arbuckle