Week #18

Hi Family!

My new P-day is Saturday! :) It was kind of fun to have another p-day this week. Most sisters miss their p-day when transfers happen, but we were able to have two this week. Congratulations Jeff and Emily on another BEAUTIFUL baby girl!!! Wow, she is seriously gorgeous!! So excited for you two. I wish I could've been there with you! :(

My new companion is Sister Natasha Crookston from Bear Lake, Idaho. She is SO awesome!! Very, very sweet girl. It's fun teaching people on the phone with her, because we refer to ourselves as our first names, so its Natalie and Natasha! :) Cute huh? I love Sis Crookston so much already. She is a wonderful girl! She's only one transfer ahead of me, so this is her first time being Senior comp, but she is doing awesome at it!! :) I feel so blessed to work with a Sister who is so obedient and diligent. It helps the work so much.

I have new roommates, too! They're awesome! Sister Kurutz is from Pismo Beach, CA, and she's training a new sister from Latvia!! And guess who she met in the MTC?!!! The one-and-only Sister Madison Gallacher!!! HA! Can you believe that?!! So awesome. I love how small this world is. Her name is Sister Zommerovska (I think thats right?) She gave me Maddie Gallacher's address so I'll be sending her a letter about this fun discovery! :) What are the odds, right?!

So my new schedule is a little disappointing for Sister Crookston and I, but that's okay! We do the Beehive house tours on Wednesdays for the sisters that have P-day on that day, and then we do 2 Welfare Square van tours a week, but only 2 tours a week... :( but I have to say I LOVE Welfare Square!! And, I actually saw Rick Ebert there when I went yesterday, ha! I just didn't realize it was him.  :)

We took the most AMAZING tour yesterday. We had a lady named Carol, who is investigating the church right now.  She wants to get baptized super bad, but is having some Word of Wisdom issues she has to deal with.  We took her first to the South Visitors Center and then showed her the temple, etc. You can see it in her eyes. She LOVES this gospel so much! It is so amazing to see someone so ready to accept truth. She totally knows when she's feeling the spirit, and can very easily recognize truth when she hears it. SO awesome. :)

We then took her up to the Christus statue in the North Visitors Center and played the narration for her. When we were walking up, I had the impression that I should share a scripture with her from the Book of Mormon when Jesus Christ appears to the people in the Americas in 3 Nephi. It took me a second to think of the scripture, but I FOUND IT!! (I have been helped SO much by the spirit lately with scriptures!! I'm starting to remember them better and better.) After the narration she just cried. Sister Crookston asked her how she felt, and she said "Amazing!" And then I asked her if I could share a scripture with her, and she said yes. 3 Nephi 11:14 says:  "14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may ^athrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may ^bfeel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the ^cGod of Israel, and the God of the whole ^dearth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."

As I started reading it, I began to cry. I could hardly even see the words on the page ha! It was one of the very few times that I have cried on a tour, but the spirit was SO incredibly strong. You could feel it’s thickness in that room.

I love this gospel. I know with all of my heart its true!! One of the best things that I have learned while on my mission is how much the Lord loves all of us, his brothers and sisters. My testimony of the Savior has grown more than I could have ever possibly imagined. I am so thankful for all of you, for your love and support during my mission. I pray for you daily, and think of you often. Read the scriptures. there is nothing in this world that will bring you closer to Jesus Christ than the words of his prophets. I am truly humbled and blessed to be here on a mission. As inadequate as I am, as prideful as I can be, he uses me to be His tool, and an instrument in his hands. 

Alma 29: 9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.

Mosiah 23:10 Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his hands in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth.

Scripture for the week: Moroni 7: 48  Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love (charity), which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I love you all. Until next week! 

Sister Savage