letter.twenty.nine 10.14.13 "to love another person is to see the face of God"

Well another amazing week has come and gone. I honestly can't believe that we're on the last week of the transfer. This has been the fastest and best transfer of my mission. I honestly don't know how it could ever get better than this. The reason this week was so good was because of Taylor. She is incredible. I feel so blessed to have been a part of her path to eternal life. The last few days we had together were beautiful. We had wonderful studies together and I was able to help teach her how to study on her own so that when she went home she would be able to continue.

 

Sister Tanner, her district and their mini missionaries.

The best part was the closing fireside. We all went down to Mandurah where they had a testimony meeting where everyone could share about their experiences. I asked Taylor if she wanted to bear her testimony and she was pretty hesitant. I told her I wouldn't force her, although I wanted to:) I felt like her mum. ha ha When the meeting was coming to the end I felt prompted to tell her that if she wanted we could go up together and bear our testimonies at the same time and that I would hold her hand. She seemed a bit unsure still but then she finally agreed. I told her that she could pray and ask God for help and to imagine that it was just she and I in the room because she'd born her testimony to me so many times.

So we went up on the stand to wait for our turn, I looked over at her and realized that she was praying. I felt this immense love for her and God's love for her. Then we went up and we took each other's hands. She wanted me to start and finish it. So I start speaking and I couldn’t help but put my arm around her and cry as I introduced her and her experience. Then she very simply and powerfully bore her testimony of Joseph Smith and The Restoration and then told them all that she wanted to baptized. I then finished it off, I had to make it real short because I was crying and my heart was about to burst. I have never felt that happy and grateful. It was beautiful. As we went to sit down again and she turned to me and said, "I asked God to help me and He did! I was able to do it because He was helping me and you and I were doing it together."

 

Sister Tanner, her companion and their mini missionaries.

Honestly, if nothing else happened on my mission it would all be worth it for Taylor. She and I decided that we are going to be next-door neighbors in the Celestial Kingdom. I love her with all my heart. She should be getting baptized soon. She's just waiting to find out when her dad can come. She wants me to sing at her baptism and she doesn’t even live in my zone so I had to ask special permission, but President said it would good for me to go. I am so thankful. I wouldn't want to miss her baptism for anything. “My cup runneth over.”

I also LOVED general conference. It was amazing to me that questions that I have been wondering about for my whole mission were answered so directly. It was a beautiful and revelatory experience. I loved the focus on missionary work and families. That's what we're all about!

One of the very specific things that I felt during one of the talks was how blessed I am to have the parents that I have; who have given me the opportunity to see a marriage that works well, not because either of them are perfect, but because they both put God first. I also felt very specifically that I need to follow mum's example. I have been so blessed to have a woman of faith and covenants as my mother. Mum I love you and I am so thankful for your example of being the kind of woman that God wants you to be. I love you. I also am thankful for you Dad. You always demonstrate the proper way to treat woman and to uphold the Priesthood. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Sorry for getting all mushy on you all... conference makes me miss all of you. I actually suggested that all the sisters make soup for the zone because conference didn't feel right with out some kind of food involved. Oh man, another favorite moment of mine was when the family choir sang "Love at home." Oh man, I bawled. It reminded me of mum and then there was even a cute old man who sang like grandpa. That's when I really lost it. Then there was that adorable little girl who sang with all her heart, just like Livy does. It made me feel so much love for all of you. Turns out it's a bummer to miss your family, but that's ok. I'm back into the swing of things now.

We had an investigator come to conference! She is amazing! She loved it. She said after that she felt a different feeling in this church then she has in any other church. She said that she felt that the people spoke truth. She is so open and receptive to the Spirit. I am excited to get to know her better. While she was waiting for her ride, she and I were able to have a good talk. We are very similar in a lot of ways. She's one of those people that I clicked with instantly. It was amazing. I don't know why God is blessing me so much, but I am so thankful. I have found so many kindred spirits on my mission. It's just a testimony to me that this is where I am supposed to be serving.

I am so thankful to be a missionary. I still can't believe I thought about not coming. This is just so right for me. I love it. It's hard, tiring and frustrating sometimes, but more importantly, it is rewarding, uplifting, and sacred. I am so thankful that God softened my heart so that I could have this remarkable experience. I was reminded again in conference of how much I needed this in order to be prepared for the future, I'm starting to see that even more now. I love The Plan of HAPPINESS. It really does make me happy. It's the way to ultimate joy in eternity and NOW. I can feel it. I have felt a glimpse of eternity as I have seen God's precious daughters learn of Him and come to know

Him. It also helps me see, even more, that He knows ME. Truly, "to love another person is to see the face of God." I'm so blessed.

I love you all more than ever! Thank you for your love, support and prayers!

letter.twenty.eight 10.07.13 ^a once in a lifetime opportunity^

I have had the most incredible past few days. First of all, I LOVED the temple. It gave me a whole new perspective. I am so thankful for the revelation that comes through temple attendance. I'm also especially grateful for the power that comes from it. I felt that power in my life this past week. I have had more self-discipline and been able to be much more in tune with the Spirit, which is exactly what I needed for these past few days.

After the temple we got great news that we would be receiving a mini missionary! Most missionaries don't even get to have one mini missionary experience let alone two! I feel so blessed! They told us we would just be getting one girl and she would be in a trio with us and that she would be from my old stake.

 

Waiting for our mini missionaries with the assistants.

Naturally, we were thrilled! So we get down there (to the train station) and we're waiting to find out who is with us and the assistants get up to announce companionships. They finally get to us and it turns out that we were actually getting two; my companion would be with Tori, the girl whose baptism I sang at not too long ago! I was so excited! I love her! She and I have gotten real close. Then, I found out that I would be with her friend Taylor who is not a member. Yes, ladies and gentlemen you read that correctly, NOT a member. She had only been to church once. In her life. She hadn't even really been religious. She just felt she was supposed to go on this mini mission with Tori because she wants to change her life! Can you say GOLDEN?!?!

With our mini missionaries.

What other missionary can say that they got to bring an investigator to live with them for 5 days? Yeah, not many. She is amazing. I feel so blessed. We still go out and teach even though she literally didn't know anything before we came. I have been teaching her in every spare minute that we have. She is asking amazing questions and is so open to learning. She keeps telling me that she knows she's here for a reason.

I wish I had time to tell you everything about her. She is beautiful and she is just starting to believe in God and know that He is there. She has already had so much experience with the Spirit, she just didn't know it until now. She says the most beautiful prayers and this has been her first time praying. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and she LOVED church.  I cannot even describe how much I love her.

On Sunday we do our studies at night because church is during our normal study times. Taylor and I were studying together and it was one of the best conversations I have ever had. I feel so uplifted from her. I was fasting and praying that I would be able to follow the Spirit and teach her how she needed, since this is a very unique situation and let me tell you, the Spirit has been leading all of our conversations. It has been amazing.

When we were talking Sunday night we talked about God and how He knows and loves us individually. We talked about prayers and how to make them more sincere. I felt God's love for her so strongly that it brought tears to my eyes. It was a beautiful hour that we had and one that I will never forget. I was able to testify of the reality of the Atonement and that through baptism we can be clean. She wants to be baptized and not just for the sake of it, but because she really wants to change her life for the better. She is amazing. She is a beautiful example of courage, faith, and love.

We also had an amazing personal and companionship study this morning where we were able to read 2 Nephi 31 together. It was the picture perfect lesson. We were discussing what each verse meant for her personally. She recognizes the Spirit so well. She kept saying that she has been feeling an amazing happy feeling and like this is just right. I was able to testify that that is the Spirit. She is so excited to get baptized. She doesn't say “if” anymore, but “when”. She said again this morning that she knows we were supposed to meet each other and that now as she looks back she can see that God has been a part of her life always.

We also discussed the commandments and she loved them. She is so anxious to do everything that God wants her to do and she also told me this morning that she wants to serve a mission someday because she has loved it so much. I don't ever want to give her back! I love her!

I am so blessed to be able to have this once in a lifetime experience. After our study last night we both looked at each other and we knew we would never forget each other as we both teared up. She will always hold a special place in my heart. She thinks that I have uplifted her, but in truth, she's the one that's done the uplifting. She is God's beautiful gift of an eternal friend to me.

In other good news! I had my first baptism... well kind of. It wasn't “mine” at all, but a woman that my trainer and I found and then Sister F and I taught and set a date with got baptized on Saturday. Apparently the baptism was beautiful. The assistants texted me to tell me that she was so happy and that she mentioned me in her testimony. How adorable is that? Of course Satan tried to twist this by making me feel bad that I wasn't there for the end of her teaching and that I will never see anyone progress from finding to baptism, but then I reminded myself, that I don't care about that. I just want to bring souls closer to Christ. If I never see someone through the whole process from finding to baptism, so be it, as long as I'm bringing people closer to Christ.

I feel so overwhelmingly blessed this week. God has been so good to me. Lata getting baptized, Taylor being my mini missionary, Tori coming to stay with us as well, and my testimony being strengthened daily. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that He knows us on a personal and individual level. He knew I needed Taylor in my life right now and I am so thankful for that.

I love you all. Thank you for the love, support and prayers. It means the world to me. I'm praying for you all.

letter.twenty.seven 10.04.13 ^too blessed to be stressed^

What a week and a half it has been! Whew! It's been the best week ever, but first let me apologize that I didn't write yesterday like I said I would. Our P-day was supposed to be yesterday, but President changed it again so we can go to the temple! That's right folks, today I get to go to the temple. When we found out I nearly cried I was so excited. Dad you'll be happy to know that I'm much more excited for this than I ever was for any of the Harry Potter movies to come out;) haha. I can barely wait! I love the temple.

 

At the temple.

But anyways, this past week was miraculous. One of my favorite experiences was a lesson with a mother and son we're teaching. I have been trying to be more careful recently that I teach by the Spirit instead of just getting into the routine of teaching and as we were teaching them I was really trying to focus on what the Spirit wanted me to say instead of what my brain thought was best or should normally come next. The lesson was going well and I felt prompted to try to set a baptismal date with them, so I did. And she said no, but then she proceeded to tell all of these reasons why she wasn't ready for it yet. Some of which are things that are very close to her heart. She was telling us things that neither of us could relate to and I had no clue what to say to comfort her as she wept. I prayed very fervently to know what to say and it was an amazing experience. The Spirit told me basically word for word what to say to her, I can't even remember everything I said to her because it wasn't me talking. I was just the conduit that God to speak to one of His beloved daughters and because I let go of myself and I wasn't the one teaching the Spirit was so strong. We were all crying by the end of the lesson and we had gained so much more trust and love for these wonderful people. It was a blessing to be a part of that experience. It's clear evidence that I am nothing without God, but that with God all things are possible.

We also were able to find.... wait for it... 10 new investigators!!!!! 6 of those “newies” were on one day! (And it was the same day we found out we were going to be able to go to the temple.) I about died I was so happy that day. Oh my heck it was so great. Everyone was asking us how we found that many in one day, but that’s just it, it really wasn't us. Yes, we did our part and we talked with EVERYONE. We biked pretty much the whole week, which meant that we were able to talk to so many more people and we were bold and invited everyone to learn. We got a lot of “no's” but also a lot of “yeses”! Four of the six new investigators was an Indian family that just moved here a week ago. It was amazing. I have been praying and fasting for a family to teach and now we have one! We were very blessed this week!

We also went on exchanges, which I always love. I learned a lot from Sister A and we enjoyed the work as well. We were able to find a miracle new investigator. We were talking to someone at a bus stop and then when we finished with him we were about to walk away when a man asked us what our badges were for, so, we told him. Turns out he has been looking for a church and for a way to know God better because his wife is very sick and his son just died. It was incredible to see how much God loved this man, so much that we were there just when he needed it. God definitely led us there. It was an awesome experience.

I am loving my district and companion more and more everyday. They are all amazing missionaries and we all work really hard and we have a good time too. It's been just what I have needed. God knows me so perfectly and He ministers to me perfectly, most often through the scriptures and through other people. What a blessing to have a loving Heavenly Father who is involved in the details of our lives.

I wish I had time to write more, but we're cut short today because of the temple, but I love you all. I know that this work is truly God's work. I feel so blessed to be a part of it. I have never been happier than I am right now because I have never been so close to my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am eternally grateful for His love and sacrifice for me and for the tender mercies He pours on me everyday. I love you my dearest familia! I am praying for you:)

letter.twenty.six "there can be miracles, when you believe"

Wowza kablaowza this week was MIRACULOUS! God was so incredibly kind to us. This week started off soo well with an amazing zone meeting. The stake president came and everything he said was exactly what I needed to hear. It was so inspired. He really helped us gain a more eternal perspective on being a missionary and with working with members. He talked about the effect that we can and should have on everyone that we come in contact with. He also talked a lot about not judging anyone because we are all on a different part of the pathway to perfection. That was a good thing for me to hear again because it's something that is so easy to do as a missionary. We are so focused on missionary life that we forget what it's like to not be a missionary with the focus that we have. I have to remember to be patient.

Then I had an incredible personal study the next day. I have been feeling like I need to be better, more diligent, more focused and have more meaningful studies, etc. It's easy to get too relaxed, especially on a mission. So I started off my study by praying with all of my heart for forgiveness. I wanted to be better and to do more for Heavenly Father. Then I was studying in PMG and it led me to Joseph Smith History, but it was a part of JSH that I'm not very familiar with. I know I've read it before, but I had forgotten about it. As I read it I knew that at least one of the reasons that Joseph Smith wrote it was for me at that time. JS talked about how after he had seen the vision and before he translated the BofM he said that he was too light-minded and didn't take things seriously enough. He talked about how this was not acceptable before God after all that he had been given. I felt like I was reading my own thoughts. No, I'm not to the level that JS was, but God has blessed me with a lot and I now needed to repent and remember to take things more seriously. Now don't misunderstand me, I haven't been doing anything crazy, but I wasn't being diligent enough, especially in my studies, which is something I was really good at before.

Then JS talks about how he repented and how because of that he was then able to translate the Book of Mormon. It was such a powerful experience for me to read that account. I have never felt so loved and rebuked at the same time. I knew that I was right to think that I needed to be better, but also that if even JS struggled with that, that I was probably ok as long as I strive to overcome it. God knows me so perfectly and personally. I couldn't help the tears from flowing as I read and felt Heavenly Father's love and understanding of my situation. And from then on I have done so much better again, and I have felt the difference. It's incredible.

We also had a specialized sister's training this week. Oh. My. Goodnight. It was amazing. They had all of the sisters from the mission go up to Warick for a training in the morning. The training was awesome! It was all about becoming more effective teachers. We did TONS of modeling in small groups and we received training from President and Sister Lindsay and the assistants. It was so helpful. Sister L and I were able to grow so much from it.

Then after the training we had lunch (fish and chips, which I loved!) Then we all loaded up into cars to go to Kings Park for the wildflower festival. It was SO MUCH FUN. We all walked around and enjoyed the beautiful park and gorgeous flowers, but more than that we were able to have a great time with each other. It was so fun to see all of the sisters again. I haven't seen Sister V since we split up, I think being away from everyone in the country has been hard for her, but it was good to see her again. I felt so loved and I felt so much love for the sisters. It was exactly what I needed, I was surrounded by sisters that love me.  Plus it's just nice to be around Sisters. It was just what all of us needed I think.

Sorry this letter is so long... but there's even more! We were worried that we weren't going to meet our goals this week because we lost so much time with an extra long zone meeting and the training, but God poured out His blessings on us. We found 5 new investigators! That's huge for us. And they aren’t just so, so investigators, they were all miraculous and very solid. I'll just tell a few quick experiences.

One we found through tracting at night, one of my least favorite activities because it's cold, you’re tired, and people generally get mad, but my comp and I are trying to be diligent so we did it anyways. We knocked on tons of doors with no success. Then an African girl opened the door and she said we could come in and teach her right then! We taught her the Restoration and the Spirit was so strong you could have cut the air with a knife. When we told her about the BofM she was super excited and asked where she could buy one. When we told her she could have a copy from us she was ecstatic! She started reading it straight away. She also started watching the Restoration DVD before we could even get out the door. She told us that she didn't even realize that she needed to know God more, but that she knew that God's timing was perfect and that through reading the BofM that she could come to know Jesus Christ and God more. It was incredible. God is so good to us.

Then we got an amazing referral from the assistants. She is also African. I love Africans:) Her son was baptized quite a few years ago but she wasn't and she also has another son who is 9 that wasn't baptized. We went over and had an amazing lesson. Another lesson where the Spirit really did the teaching, the little boy, after we told him about the BofM, asked if he could start reading it now. So we had him read the introduction. After he finished he said, "I like this book!" and then he held it close to his heart and said, "I'm going to read it everyday."

It was adorable and the best part is that when we invited them to be baptized at the end of the lesson they said they want too! God is so good to us.

Then when we went to church on Sunday two Asian girls we didn’t know showed up. When we introduced ourselves one told us in broken English that she is a member but her friend wasn't. We asked her friend what she thought of the meetings and she said she felt something special in her heart. We scheduled an appointment to go and see them both this week, which will be awesome. God is so good to us.

This week has been a testimony to me that God is really a God of miracles. It is only through Him that we were able to find these people who have been prepared for this. And the best part is that my comp and I have so much fun doing it. "We laughing everytime" as my comp would say. We dance and sing and work hard. I have never been happier on my mission. I am so thankful for weeks like this. They make everything else worth it. I'm not sad that I had a harder time last transfer. I'm thankful because it makes this transfer all the sweeter. It also helps me to remember that it is never me the causes the miracles. It is always God and His loving kindness.

I feel so abundantly blessed. I am thankful for the power of the Atonement that I have felt manifest in my life. I am thankful for God providing so much good to us this week and I'm so thankful for the love and support that I get from all of you. Thank you for seeing me in an eternal perspective. I love you all and send my prayers and love to good ol' AMERica.

letter.twenty.five 09.16.13 "the best thing I never knew I needed"

Dearest family,

This week has been INCREDIBLE! God was so kind to me. First of all, I was able to have a great last couple of days in Halls Head. I love the people there. It will always hold a special place in my heart as my first home in Australia. Some of the ward members there are like family now. I love them with all my heart and I miss them, but I KNOW this is where I'm supposed to be.

Transfers were fun. It's always good to see other missionaries. And good news... Sister E (Lexie's MTC comp) is my sister training leader now! I am soo excited! She is one of my all time favorite sisters. It will be fun to finally be in the same zone as one of my MTC sisters!

Heavenly Father knew that I needed this area and this companion. I didn't even know that I needed this. My companion, Sister L, is incredible. She is so humble and such a hard worker. She has had terrible migraines but she goes out to work anyways. She has so much faith and she works diligently even when it gets hard. She's also hilarious and crazy. We are laughing and smiling all the time. We have a car but not many k's so we bike a lot and we always have a good time, even while we bike in the pouring rain. I can't even describe how happy I am! Ah! I can't stop smiling! I love my companion!

We have had so much success. We smashed our goals! It felt so nice to just work our tails off and to talk with literally everyone, no matter how awkward. We come home exhausted every night, but happier than I've been for a long time.

We also have a bomb district! Our district leader is from the Cook Islands and he is really good to us and he loves to work hard. I also love my new zone leaders. This transfer is just going to be the best!

 

Como

Heavenly Father has blessed me with a beautiful area yet again. If you look up pictures of Perth it will come up with pics of the city near water... that's the view from the street that my flat is on. It's gorgeous, especially at night with all the lights on the water. It's a different pretty than Halls Head, but I love it. The assistants told me that we have the best view of the city in the whole mission. What a blessing. It may not matter to some people, but I love it.

 

Como at night.

I loved our ward and church meetings this week. It was amazing. I heard exactly what I needed to. This ward has a lot of elderly people, but I love it because I've always had a special connection with older people, ever since Dad took me with him to visit the widows in our ward. My last ward usually had about 300 in attendance and this one has about 50 so it's really different. And the chapel is weird, but in a good way. I'll have to send pictures. It's rad.

We were blessed with amazing miracles this week. We were able to find several new investigators through teaching English. We also found one through talking with everyone on the street. He is amazing. He's an Indian and he's very receptive. Then we found one new investigator through tracting. I was praying hard that we would find someone because we were tired and cold and we just wanted it to be worth it and it was! We set up an appointment for Sunday and it went so well. He was so open and willing to find out for himself. He is such an incredible person. He's from Vietnam and he just gets life. I can only imagine what adding a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will do for him because he's already so good.

I love being a missionary! When I hit my 6 month mark on Friday I looked back and reflected on how I have changed, I can't even believe how much I have already changed. I am still amazed that I thought about not coming on a mission. God has made it so clear time and time again that this is where I need to be. I think one of the biggest changes for me is my perspective on being a member of the church. I view it all so differently and just in changing my views and shifting my perspective I have been able to become much more than I ever thought possible. Mostly, God has shown me my true potential, which motivates me to give everything to Him because it's only through giving everything that I will be able to become what Heavenly Father has in store for me. I am learning so much about myself. Most of all, I am coming to know the Savior on an even more personal level than ever before because He and Heavenly Father are the only people that I can always rely on. I am so thankful for the privilege and blessing that it is to be a missionary. I am excited to continue to give more and more of myself to the Lord as my capacity to give grows.

letter.twenty.four 09.08.13 ^transfer time is secret time^

Drummmmmm roooooolllllll..... I'm going to COMO! You're so lucky you didn't have to wait for that. Finding out about transfers was a long, drawn out process. President called us last night to thank us for our service as Sister Training Leaders and to make sure that we both knew that we'd be doing this again soon but he needed us doing other things at the moment. Then he told me that I was leaving... but he didn't tell me where I’d be going, just a few things about the area that left me guessing like crazy. So when we were talking with the zone leaders I was trying to get them to just tell me, since they knew already, but the punks told me to wait until 7am. ha. I didn't sleep most of the night... but that's partially because I haven't been able to sleep lately. haha such is life. Then when the zl's called this morning they wouldn't tell me for a full 5 minutes on the phone. They are punks. ha. But finally they told me and I'm super excited!

I'll be with a sister from Samoa that I've only met once and I don't know how to spell her name. I honestly don't know anything about her, except that she doesn't really speak English... that should be an interesting adventure for us, ha ha. I am excited to be going. It felt like it was time. I'm leaving my zone too, which will be weird because Rockingham zone is all I've known so far but I'm going to a zone that's on fire! I'm sad to be leaving all of these people that I love so much, but we're having a district p-day today and the zone leaders said they are going to come down so they can say goodbye.

This week started off amazing with our trip to Kalgoorlie! I LOVED it there. We took heaps of pictures and I'll try to send them all. It was so fun to be with Sister A again. Oh man, I love her! She's awesome and we were able to go out together and teach and it showed both of us how far we've progressed since we were teaching our fake investigators in the MTC. It was great. We saw many miracles throughout the exchange it was incredible.

That exchange took up a huge chunk of our week though. We traveled up on Monday and then we got back Wednesday evening. It takes 8 hours from where we're from so that was interesting. The train was really nice though and Sister F and I had a good time together.

We also did a lot of service this week for less-active members, which was fun. Service feels like a break on a mission haha. I've never enjoyed weeding so much. We have had beautiful weather this week as well. I ended my time in Halls Head on a beautiful note.

Another thing I loved this week was our zone meeting. It was a little different because we had the high counselor over missionary work come to it. He was inspiring. It helped us all catch the vision of what we can do as missionaries and how we can work in unity with the members. He also reminded me of me of some things that I had already been trying to work on.

But the best thing that happened this week was on Sunday. Our investigator, Lata, who is set to baptized came to church! AND she LOVED it! It was like she was already a member. Everyone treated her really well and made her feel welcome. Her daughter loved it too. They are both really excited to come back. I get to see her one more time before I leave. I'm really bummed that I'm going to miss her baptism, but I'm just glad she's choosing to be baptized. She is so golden. She loves everything that we teach her. She is eating it all up. It's awesome! 

Thank you all for your love and support!

 

letter.twenty.three 09.01.13 "on the road again"

On the way to a mission leadership council with our zone leaders.

Well the reason I'm emailing earlier this week is because we're on the road again! We're going out to Kalgoorlie today. Look that one up on the map! It's a 7-hour train ride and we are super excited. We're doing exchanges with the sisters out there! President said he normally doesn't let people do this because it takes so much time and it's expensive, but he thinks that these sisters will really benefit from it. Most people never get to go to Kalgoorlie on their mission, especially sisters, so we're feeling very blessed to have this opportunity. President and Sister Lindsay both are really excited for us to be able to go out. And one of the sisters out there is Sister A (my MTC comp) so I'm THRILLED to be able to see her again! It's going to be a blast. We're going to work out tails off! We'll be gone until Wednesday. It feels like all we've done this transfer is travel, but I love it! It's always fun to be with other sisters and the sacrifice of our time is worth it and not many people get this opportunity on their missions. It's an incredible learning experience. We love it. I should be sending heaps of Kalgoorlie pics next week!

This week has been a great week! We had, yet another, exchange which was amazing! I was up in Golden Bay, which is in our district still and I was with two wonderful sisters who I learned a lot from. We were able to see some very simple, but real miracles. It was great. It left me feeling great! Then we met back with the other sisters and they had set a baptismal date, which is amazing, and I really was so happy for them, but Satan knows me so well... All the sudden I started to doubt my ability. I started to think that maybe it really was my fault that the area has been having a rough patch.

I was trying to pretend like everything was ok and that it didn't phase me, but I felt like all of my love was for nothing and then I remembered the Savior and that He was "despised and rejected of men" even though He gave all of His love and His life for them. I'm not claiming that I am like the Savior or went through anything even in the same ballpark as Him, but I felt the smallest of small tastes of it. I realized, once again, that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Just that my Heavenly Father is pleased with what I am doing.

So I poured out my heart to my Heavenly Father. I wanted to feel His love so badly. I felt a flicker of peace and love, but not the overpowering love that I wanted, but it was enough to get me by. It was enough to help me get up and keep moving. But I'm doing my best to love and not worry about what anyone else thinks.

Then we had mission leadership council on Friday and it was amazing. The best one I've been to yet. President addressed so many answers to my prayers I have wanting to have more faith and know better how I can do that. It was powerful. I felt so pumped up at that meeting! It was amazing.

Another tender mercy of that meeting was that I was able to see two of the sisters I was in the MTC with. I always love seeing them.  I always feel so much love from and for them. God's timing is perfect.

Then we got home and my comp got a chunk of her ankle taken off by our screen door so we spent 3 hours in the hospital, which was an interesting experience, we definitely bonded. She'd never gotten stitches before so I was able to hold her hand through it all. It was good to bond.

Then Sunday was amazing. It was fast Sunday and I was so grateful because there were so many things I wanted to fast for. One person I was fasting for was Lata (our investigator with a baptismal date) and of course that morning she texted and said she couldn't come to church. I was so bummed. I felt frustrated for a minute because I was trying so hard to have faith, but I decided it was just a good experience to stretch my faith. We also went over after church to her house and had a beautiful lesson with her. It turns out her daughter had gotten her fingers stuck in the door and wasn't really in a state to come to church. She even prayed and asked God to forgive her for not coming to church and to help prepare the way for her to come next week! It was amazing. She is so prepared.

I also had an amazing experience at church. All throughout the whole 3 hours of church God gave me answers to my prayers and fasting. It was incredible. He went all out to help me feel loved. Even though in the moment when I prayed to feel His love I didn't feel it very strongly, it just prepared the way for me to feel it more strongly on Sunday. It was incredible.

The Sacrament was especially meaningful to me this week too; because I've been wanting to be better, and I was able to feel the power of the Atonement as I prayed for forgiveness for my inadequacies and for help to do better this week. I felt an overwhelming love from Him. I knew that God loved me in a deep and personal way. I could feel it acutely. I love church, I have never appreciated it so much as I have on my mission.

All in all this week has been AMAZING! I honestly loved it. I love my area, my comp, my ward, and all of the missionaries I have the opportunity to serve with. God truly is good to me.

I love you all. One of the things that brought me the most comfort while I was struggling was envisioning in my mind our family together, when we're all there, kneeling around mum and dad's bed. I knew that we weren't all together but that each of you were praying for me on your own and I could feel the support. Thank you for your prayers. They make all the difference.