Monday, July 25, 2016

Mon, Jul 25, 2016 1:25 pm With a smile:) I am walking a mile in His shoes.

Dear family and friends,
Thoughts on being happy:
Happiness is a miracle. A miracle that we choose.
We will live this life whether we are happy or not...might as well choose to be happy.
When it comes to being happy, the best time to start is NOW.
The day I decided to be happy was the best day of my life!
One of the greatest lessons I have learned from my mission is how to be happy.


Yes...my focus is still being HAPPY! And why should we not be happy? We are members of the church of Jesus Christ. We have everything to rejoice about. We can live the gospel of happiness. :) So good. 

So along with all of the happiness that the gospel and my mission is bringing into my life and my family's life...I would like to add...that this transfer is possibly been one of my hardest transfers ever. Heavenly Father sees it fit to send me through one last refiner's fire before I start a new mission. So one morning this week, I was praying to start my personal studies and the Spirit whispered to me to study other great missionaries who also had to go through refiner's fire at the end of their missions. Examples: Abinadi, Moroni, Peter and the other apostles, Joseph Smith. All of these disciples of Jesus Christ lived amazing missions. They didn't ask for trials to come to them, especially at the end of their missions, but they pressed forward trusting in God. As for me, I was almost expecting my last transfer to be easy I guess. I am an experienced missionary, I'm learning to have joy and to apply the gospel more than ever before, but trials always seem to come.

Then I thought of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He had a perfect life, a perfect ministry, a perfect mission...it ended perfectly too. It was the hardest ending to discipleship and conversion ever. He had to suffer so much. He didn't want to do it (and I don't necessarily want these trials either) but He said, "nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt." This last, selfless sacrifice of Jesus changed absolutely everything. He became perfected and glorified. He forgave at the very last moment too. So willing to keep His character and remain the perfect Son of God. How will my character be at the end of my life or my mission? I think of Christ's earthly ministry and it was perfect and beautiful, but it would have been nothing without His "last transfer", last effort, LAST SACRIFICE. The last of it truly matters and counts. It's not supposed to be easy, it's supposed to be worth it. It should be hard, it should be a sacrifice. I'm beginning to get a glimpse of what I'm really doing and of who I am supposed to become. This last transfer will change everything.
Did you know that missionary work is driven by our love for God? So if you really love God, you will DESIRE to share the gospel with all. And even better than desire, you will SHARE the gospel with all.
I want to share with you all my testimony of Christ's Atonement. I know that Jesus Christ suffered ffor us. He did so so that He could understand us. And He does. I prayed this week for a greater understanding of the Atonement, and wow, God gave it to me. It is sometimes a hard lesson to learn. But is the greatest lesson to learn that we can change, we can be forgiven, we can become clean through Jesus Christ. I learned that prayer is one of the greatest ways to access the Atonement. I invite all of you to pray to understand the Atonement better. Use it in your life. Every day! Repentance is not a bad thing, it's the best thing. God is so good. 

Some amazing things that happened this week:
1. We have a new investigator named Jenny..she is a young mom who hasn't really believed in God before but she is going to pray to know if God is real. Please pray for her!
2. We had an amazing ward picnic on Saturday...seriously we have the best ward ever! Love them.
3. Sister Esplin and I got to teach gospel principles class yesterday. We taught about prayer! It was so powerful. All of our recent converts made amazing comments. I love them so much. Also, everyone agreed that I draw stick figures way better than Brother Burgess, our ward mission leader! YESSS.
4. Sister Gregory and Sister Ricks ate all of our goldfish...good thing we can buy more today!:) haha
5. God never ceases to amaze me with His infinite goodness and kindness. Every day is a miracle and a blessing. I love life.
I pray that all of you have such a great week!! Keep loving God. And remember, if you love God, you will keep His commandments!:)
Love,
Hermana Hoth!:)