May 26, 2012
Hello family and friends!!
Wow, can you believe I only have a week and a half left for this transfer??!! This transfer has seriously FLOWN by. And it's amazing how many things I have learned in such a short amount of time!! Mission life is like an entire life's worth of lessons squished into one... Ha ha! It's so crazy. I LOVE it!!
This week was great. I somehow managed to get sick-- lame sauce! But no worries . . . I am MUCH better now. I drank vitamin C and took Dayquil and all those other lovely things that helped a lot. We even have a humidifier in this apartment which I used as well, so I only missed about 8 hours worth of missionary work. :) I went home and slept for 3 hours straight, which was super nice, and it helped me heal quicker I think. :) Not gonna lie, it was hard to stay home for a day!!
I wrote a letter to you, mom and dad, but I never mailed it.... ha ha. Sounds like me, huh? :) I want you all to check out the MISSION’S BLOG!!! :) Sweet, right?! We have our own blog on this mission-- basically the coolest thing ever! It is: slctemplesquaremission.blogspot.com. Check it out--its sweet! I think there is one picture of me on there.
Shout out to my dearest and loveliest BC, Suzanne Whitehead!! :) I saw her on Sunday and it literally made my week!! It was so fun to see her! And, right after that I saw Megan Sollis. :) Two of my EFY peeps in the same week. Hooray for EFY! :) Sister Crookston and I were able to go to Music and the Spoken Word this week, which was super good. The men sang a way cool rendition of Called to Serve, which I of course loved. :)
Now on to missionary work. :)
Monday was a miracle day for the call center!! I called Austin Garbrick's friend that he referred at General Conference, Robbie. He referred to meet with missionaries!! It was so cool to talk to him. He talked about how much Austin has changed since high school (after his mission), how much he has grown up, how much more mature he is... he said "He's different. Something is different about him." So cool to see how much one friend from high school can impact your life, even when you don't know it!! Austin didn't even talk to him in person, he talked with him over Facebook. So cool. He should be meeting with missionaries soon, and I'll call him and teach him over the phone soon too! :)
Then I called a boy named Michael. He is SUCH a sweet, sweet boy! He's from Montana originally I think, and his best friend Alicia (also referred Michael at General Conference... General Conference is AMAZING!) has been a member her whole life. She shared some with Michael, but he said that there was always something different about her family that he really liked. He's in a military base down in Southern California right now, and for some reason I didn't think he could meet with missionaries, but he actually can!! (I discovered this last night after we taught him on the phone.) So he said that he would really like to meet with the missionaries but doesn't have time right now, so Sister Crookston and & will continue to teach him until his schedule eases up a bit. We taught him the Restoration last night, and WOW! . . . It was such an incredible lesson!! The Spirit was so strong, and Michael understood (and agreed with) everything that we were teaching him! It was so awesome. We also taught another guy named Michael (he's from Texas) last night, too. That lesson started out a little rough, but ended SO great. He's such an awesome guy!! Both of them are super prepared for the Gospel. I love how the Lord prepares people's hearts to receive His message.
I am able to speak in another ward tomorrow :) It is a ward in Murray. We'll see if I know someone that knows someone that knows someone in the ward again. :) ha! The world's so small. I have to talk on Diligence, which has been a little bit harder than I thought it would.. but prayer has helped. For part of my talk I decided to include Alma 32: 37-39, 41, which says:
37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.
38 But if ye aneglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.
39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your aground is bbarren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof.
You might be wondering what this has to do with diligence... well let me explain this to you.
The definition of Diligence is a steady, consistent, energetic effort in doing the Lord's work. I began thinking about why diligence is 1. a Christ-like attribute, and 2. what it has to do with enduring to the end, and eternal life. I thought about testimonies-- how they are never neutral--they are either growing or shrinking. Then I thought about these scriptures on testimony, how when we nourish our testimonies (tree) by reading the scriptures every night, praying every day (throughout the day), going to church every week to renew our baptismal covenants, etc, we are being diligent, and are allowing those testimonies to grow. But then I thought about when we aren't diligent, when we stop reading our scriptures every night, praying every day, etc, our testimonies aren't getting that constant nourishment they need. No, it's not a sin to miss a day of reading your scriptures, but if you allow yourself to continually miss days of reading the scriptures, slowly but surely your knowledge of the scriptures and that testimony that you have of them will begin to shrink. That's why the Lord has given us the promise in D&C 84:85- Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.
When we aren't being diligent in all the things the Lord has commanded of us, the roots in our "tree" aren't deep and strong. They are shallow and weak. They won't hold us up during a storm. Instead, we'll be blown over by "the shafts in the whirlwind" that the devil sends forth. But when we continually-- and consistently-- study those words of life, and give an accounting to the Lord of our day, then we are able to receive eternal life. Then we will have that testimony that will be strong, firm and true. The devil will have no hold on us, our roots will be too strong! And then the promise in verse 41:
41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with a patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.
My dearest family and friends, I love you all SO much and pray for you often. Thank you for your examples to me of diligence and perseverance. I am truly thankful to be here on a mission. I am so thankful for the trials that I have had in my life. I now see that they have prepared me for my mission, and for the rest of my life! Heavenly Father's plan is SO intricate. It's absolutely incredible to see His hand in all things. I know that He truly is our Father in Heaven, that we lived with him before this life, and that He knows us better than we know ourselves... and knows what we need better than we do! I am so thankful for Him and for His plan.
I love you all so much! Have a great week. Look for a letter in the mail from me mama. :)
Sister Savage (Nat :))
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