Well bueno gente, here goes nothing.
It has been an adventure, I just finished crying through my final interview with President Mcmullin, and it officially just became real. It has gone by so fast, and I am grateful to everyone for their love and support. Without it I would not have made it this far.
Now looking back, I am so glad I came. President just asked me, ¨If you had stayed home, would you have been able to invite people to be baptized and to repent and obtain their salvation? I was like....no. I can`t imagine my life without my mission, it has been such a blessing. I know that it is the work of the Lord. He is in charge and I know that He is aware of the needs of every single one of us.
I had a pretty cool experience this last week, I was able to go do divisions in my first area, Marambure, and I was able to see someone that I had taught WAY back when. Maria Lopez wasn't baptized while I was there, but a little while after. Anyway, I was talking with her and she told me that she wasn't the same that she had been when we had found her last. When we began to speak with her she was having a hard time because her son was in jail. That just destroyed her, and we were able to help her get out of it a little. Now, a year later, we went back and she said, I am not the same person that I was when you found me. I am better stronger, and firmer. Those words were so powerful for me, and I loved hearing them
I love being in the mission, and I have been able to learn so much. I love this gospel, I know that it is true, and that after a long period of apostasy it was restored to the earth by Joseph Smith. I know that the Savior is all powerful, and that if we follow Him, we will be received into His presence. I love this work. I love it, and I have been so privileged to be able to participate in it. I am not the same, still quirky, still weird, still imperfect, but I have been able to feel the power of the Atonement in my life.
Thank you for your love, thank you for your support, and see you in 4:)
Love,
Hermana Farish
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Monday, January 25, 2016
Monday, January 18, 2016
Goodness in Everything #Godnevermakesmistakes
This week was CRAZY, we went to Itagua (about 2 hours away) on Tuesday and our PJC loop through Horqueta, Ybyjau and PJC Rama 4, getting home on Saturday morning at 10. WHEW.
SO to be able to get to the faraway places, we have to take a cool double-decker tour bus thing, so we got on one, got settled in, and we realized we were right next to the trash can. We were like, GREAT!! That means that we won't even have to get up to throw things away! Haha, it was so funny when Hna Noorda looked over after a few minutes and saw a few cockroaches...haha. We looked at each other and busted a gut and then said a VERY VERY heartfelt prayer:)
Itagua: I went with Hna Diaz, and we had a good day, with lots of contacts and we went to contact a new part of her area, and there were a ton of cool people, I am excited to see what happens with that.
Horqueta: I was with Hna Ross, but when we got there they told us that she was sick, so I ended up staying in half the day to clean their house and study. From what they told us, they have had some interesting experiences in the last two weeks that have been challenging, so I hope that in some way we were able to help them.
Ybyjau: I was with Hna Chamberlain, One thing that I really do like about her is that when she gives her testimony, she does it in a way that invites the Spirit, which is, ya know, kind of essential.
PJC Rama 4: I was with Hna Ashby, and we had a good day. We contacted a lot, and it was so nice.
We left Pedro Juan at 10:30 Friday night, and then about 2 hrs in our tire went flat, so what usually is a 7 hour trip ended up being a 10 hour one, but it was really nice, because I was able to see some parts of Paraguay that I had never seen before, and we were able to do everything that we needed to do on Saturday, even though we ended up getting home at 10:)
There were so many experiences this week that helped me to realize that God's hand is literally in everything we do. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, and a few did, but in the end, they were what we needed, and I know that God is aware of us and that He knows what we need and when we need it. We just have to have the patience to hang on a sec and see what He has in mind.
Home again, home again jiggity jig. We had a couple of awesome days here in Salado. We have some great investigators, one of which is on track to get baptized this Saturday, and even though the majority didn't come to church, we went afterwards and had some great lessons on the dia de reposo and the Book of Mormon.
I asked for a priesthood blessing yesterday, just to help me stay focused. I haven't had one in 18 months, so I had missed the priesthood A LOT. It was so nice and sweet, and, like usual, I cried my eyes out. I know that everything will turn out okay, and I am going to miss these people so, so much. Not the third worldness, though, I am SO EXCITED for a few things like:
carpet
a decent piano
central air conditioning
did I mention carpet?
and a washing machine #smallthings
Yeah, I am scared, but excited. I have learned so many new things in the last few months, and I am interested to see what kind of differences there will be because of the new things I have learned. Its gonna be interesting.
But I am doing so well, we are so busy and it will keep me running until the very end. That is what I want, and I hope that everyone knows that I am so grateful for this experience. I love this gospel, and I now can apply it in my life and continually strengthen my testimony of the truthfulness. It is the greatest.
We are both learning so much, and I am happy where I am at. Thank you for your time and have a great week! I love you all!!
Hermana Farish
SO to be able to get to the faraway places, we have to take a cool double-decker tour bus thing, so we got on one, got settled in, and we realized we were right next to the trash can. We were like, GREAT!! That means that we won't even have to get up to throw things away! Haha, it was so funny when Hna Noorda looked over after a few minutes and saw a few cockroaches...haha. We looked at each other and busted a gut and then said a VERY VERY heartfelt prayer:)
Itagua: I went with Hna Diaz, and we had a good day, with lots of contacts and we went to contact a new part of her area, and there were a ton of cool people, I am excited to see what happens with that.
Horqueta: I was with Hna Ross, but when we got there they told us that she was sick, so I ended up staying in half the day to clean their house and study. From what they told us, they have had some interesting experiences in the last two weeks that have been challenging, so I hope that in some way we were able to help them.
Ybyjau: I was with Hna Chamberlain, One thing that I really do like about her is that when she gives her testimony, she does it in a way that invites the Spirit, which is, ya know, kind of essential.
PJC Rama 4: I was with Hna Ashby, and we had a good day. We contacted a lot, and it was so nice.
We left Pedro Juan at 10:30 Friday night, and then about 2 hrs in our tire went flat, so what usually is a 7 hour trip ended up being a 10 hour one, but it was really nice, because I was able to see some parts of Paraguay that I had never seen before, and we were able to do everything that we needed to do on Saturday, even though we ended up getting home at 10:)
There were so many experiences this week that helped me to realize that God's hand is literally in everything we do. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, and a few did, but in the end, they were what we needed, and I know that God is aware of us and that He knows what we need and when we need it. We just have to have the patience to hang on a sec and see what He has in mind.
Home again, home again jiggity jig. We had a couple of awesome days here in Salado. We have some great investigators, one of which is on track to get baptized this Saturday, and even though the majority didn't come to church, we went afterwards and had some great lessons on the dia de reposo and the Book of Mormon.
I asked for a priesthood blessing yesterday, just to help me stay focused. I haven't had one in 18 months, so I had missed the priesthood A LOT. It was so nice and sweet, and, like usual, I cried my eyes out. I know that everything will turn out okay, and I am going to miss these people so, so much. Not the third worldness, though, I am SO EXCITED for a few things like:
carpet
a decent piano
central air conditioning
did I mention carpet?
and a washing machine #smallthings
Yeah, I am scared, but excited. I have learned so many new things in the last few months, and I am interested to see what kind of differences there will be because of the new things I have learned. Its gonna be interesting.
But I am doing so well, we are so busy and it will keep me running until the very end. That is what I want, and I hope that everyone knows that I am so grateful for this experience. I love this gospel, and I now can apply it in my life and continually strengthen my testimony of the truthfulness. It is the greatest.
We are both learning so much, and I am happy where I am at. Thank you for your time and have a great week! I love you all!!
Hermana Farish
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| Hammock in the kitchen. The best! |
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| Flooding in Paraguay. |
Monday, November 23, 2015
With Eyes Of Faith
As a mission, this week we have been studying the faith and how it is much more than something that we believe in but that we don't see. We have been able to talk with a lot of missionaries, and it is such a privilege to hear the different things that they have been learning this past week about faith and how it has changed their perspective.
Here in the mission, we have the opportunity to exercise our faith in a unique way: finding people who will accept the baptismal covenant and the restored gospel. We have to look at the people with the eyes of faith, as people who have eternal potential, and as people who the Lord loves very, very much. After studying about the Atonement last week, and how he suffered for EVERYONE, because he loves everyone without exception, I have been able to see a change in my attitude towards the people, because sometimes you just want to not love them and punch a tree or something...haha, not really, but it is interesting sometimes. If we look at people how the Lord does, they will be able to feel our love and if they choose, they will want to always feel that. Looking at them with eyes of faith makes a big difference.
Haha, my comp and I were talking about how using faith in the mission as compared to real life is kind of different. But...to not be too trunky....we will just leave it at that;)
The scripture that we all ponderized this week was Alma 32:40:
40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life.
I really like it because it makes faith into an action word, and becomes something that we live every moment, not just in the bad ones. I love this gospel, and really, from what I have been able to learn in the past yearish, faith is what sustains us and is a precious gift from God that we receive according to our desires and works (1 Nephi 2:16):
16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
Nephi didn't rebel against his father like his brothers did because he had gained the necessary faith. He wanted it, and did what was needed to be able to get it. I have a lot of work to do in this area!!!
I do have to tell you the most awkward moment of my week. I was so just like....what....? We went to an investigator's house, but she wasn't there so we contacted the house in front and they let us in. The lady told me, "I've seen you walking in front of my house for a while now, you have lost a lot of weight!! You were a little fat before, and now not so much!!!" I was like...well, at least someone is noticing #onlyinlatinamerica. I am going to miss these people. And then she told us that she is lesbian...we were like...WHAT...yeah, Atonement much.
But anyways, I love you all so much and I am grateful for your good examples!!! Have a wonderful week!!
Love,
Hermana Farish
Here in the mission, we have the opportunity to exercise our faith in a unique way: finding people who will accept the baptismal covenant and the restored gospel. We have to look at the people with the eyes of faith, as people who have eternal potential, and as people who the Lord loves very, very much. After studying about the Atonement last week, and how he suffered for EVERYONE, because he loves everyone without exception, I have been able to see a change in my attitude towards the people, because sometimes you just want to not love them and punch a tree or something...haha, not really, but it is interesting sometimes. If we look at people how the Lord does, they will be able to feel our love and if they choose, they will want to always feel that. Looking at them with eyes of faith makes a big difference.
Haha, my comp and I were talking about how using faith in the mission as compared to real life is kind of different. But...to not be too trunky....we will just leave it at that;)
The scripture that we all ponderized this week was Alma 32:40:
40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life.
I really like it because it makes faith into an action word, and becomes something that we live every moment, not just in the bad ones. I love this gospel, and really, from what I have been able to learn in the past yearish, faith is what sustains us and is a precious gift from God that we receive according to our desires and works (1 Nephi 2:16):
16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.
Nephi didn't rebel against his father like his brothers did because he had gained the necessary faith. He wanted it, and did what was needed to be able to get it. I have a lot of work to do in this area!!!
I do have to tell you the most awkward moment of my week. I was so just like....what....? We went to an investigator's house, but she wasn't there so we contacted the house in front and they let us in. The lady told me, "I've seen you walking in front of my house for a while now, you have lost a lot of weight!! You were a little fat before, and now not so much!!!" I was like...well, at least someone is noticing #onlyinlatinamerica. I am going to miss these people. And then she told us that she is lesbian...we were like...WHAT...yeah, Atonement much.
But anyways, I love you all so much and I am grateful for your good examples!!! Have a wonderful week!!
Love,
Hermana Farish
Monday, August 31, 2015
"In Summerrrrrr!!!!"
Y bueno, I am now dying of heat again, seriously, I had forgotten how it felt. Today it is 100 degrees, and we are still in winter, sad day. AND our air conditioning just went out...great.
This week went by really fast, we contacted a lot and are doing well with our two Books of Mormon every day. We were thinking on how we could find more quality people to accept the baptismal invitation, and we decided that we are going to knock at least 20 doors every day. Here in Paraguay (all of South America), it is really easy to let yourself get caught in the trap of working only with inactives, that let you in the door but don't really have the intentions to return. So, new goal, 20 doors every day at least, and from there we can work with recent converts and inactives.
Apart from that...we had an area-wide stake conference, with Elders Cook and Hales, and they spoke on the Sabbath day. It was so interesting to me, how they said that by keeping the Sabbath day we become who we want to become. And then, we went to a member's house for lunch afterwards and they went and bought everything to make us dinner. We were like...we need to tell them that we are not going to eat if we are the cause of them breaking the Sabbath day. Dangit.
Yesterday we had a great lesson with an inactive family, the dad is a returned missionary but they still haven't been sealed. I was thinking that he stopped doing the small things like praying and reading the scriptures and that is when he fell. I was thinking as well that the mission has made me somewhat of a cynic...haha, I don't trust ANYONE apart from Heavenly Father, Pres. McMullin, and a few others. Even if they have a plaque, it doesn't guarantee a thing.
About the food thing, I was just thinking about that this week as well. I was thinking about the Sunday dinners, the hours peeling potatoes and laughing and making rolls will always be a highlight of my life. I loved it:) That being said, how many more people would we be able to visit if dinner was more simple? How could we include more people in our Sabbath day activities? If we have a big dinner, who could we invite to share it with us so that they have a good experience? I think (my personal opinion, totally 100% biased) that as a missionary, we eat as fast as possible so that we can visit more people. That being said, maybe continuing big meals is a good thing, but how could we help others to share in the spirit and the love that we feel for each other as we prepare and share over dinner on the Sabbath Day? Many people watch tv or are on facebook becaue they don't have anything better to do. Just some thoughts.
I was talking to mom about Josh, and that I am so incredibly glad that I am not in training. Those first few months were kind of hard. But, to answer your question, I have been able to change so much, and I love that I am not the same person.
How has my relationship with the Savior changed in the past year???
Well, to answer your question, before my mission, I knew that the church was true, and that it was taking me in a good direction, but I had never really knelt down and asked God if He was there, I always just knew, but after reading Preach My Gospel, it says that we need to ask every so often to confirm the answer that we have received. So, I knelt down and asked, and from the experience that I had, I know that he lives, I know that He loves me more than I can even imagine, and I know that I am nothing without Him and His atonement. Later, in April during the General Conference, during the talk of Elder Bednar, I had the thought that I will never deny what I have felt and what I know. I have received my own personal witness, and it is like drugs, I decide beforehand that I am never going to take them, and I have decided now that, no matter what happens, I will not deny what I have felt, the miracles that I have seen, the covenants that I have made, and what I know to be true. I love Him, and sometimes I am frustrated because my weaknesses are in the way, but I know that through Him, I can do whatever He needs me to do. It all just depends on what I do and if I do it with all of my heart.
But hey, life is good, a little hot, but that's okay, the worst thing that happens is that I lose a little weight;) I love you all and hope that you have a good day!
Hermana Farish
This week went by really fast, we contacted a lot and are doing well with our two Books of Mormon every day. We were thinking on how we could find more quality people to accept the baptismal invitation, and we decided that we are going to knock at least 20 doors every day. Here in Paraguay (all of South America), it is really easy to let yourself get caught in the trap of working only with inactives, that let you in the door but don't really have the intentions to return. So, new goal, 20 doors every day at least, and from there we can work with recent converts and inactives.
Apart from that...we had an area-wide stake conference, with Elders Cook and Hales, and they spoke on the Sabbath day. It was so interesting to me, how they said that by keeping the Sabbath day we become who we want to become. And then, we went to a member's house for lunch afterwards and they went and bought everything to make us dinner. We were like...we need to tell them that we are not going to eat if we are the cause of them breaking the Sabbath day. Dangit.
Yesterday we had a great lesson with an inactive family, the dad is a returned missionary but they still haven't been sealed. I was thinking that he stopped doing the small things like praying and reading the scriptures and that is when he fell. I was thinking as well that the mission has made me somewhat of a cynic...haha, I don't trust ANYONE apart from Heavenly Father, Pres. McMullin, and a few others. Even if they have a plaque, it doesn't guarantee a thing.
About the food thing, I was just thinking about that this week as well. I was thinking about the Sunday dinners, the hours peeling potatoes and laughing and making rolls will always be a highlight of my life. I loved it:) That being said, how many more people would we be able to visit if dinner was more simple? How could we include more people in our Sabbath day activities? If we have a big dinner, who could we invite to share it with us so that they have a good experience? I think (my personal opinion, totally 100% biased) that as a missionary, we eat as fast as possible so that we can visit more people. That being said, maybe continuing big meals is a good thing, but how could we help others to share in the spirit and the love that we feel for each other as we prepare and share over dinner on the Sabbath Day? Many people watch tv or are on facebook becaue they don't have anything better to do. Just some thoughts.
I was talking to mom about Josh, and that I am so incredibly glad that I am not in training. Those first few months were kind of hard. But, to answer your question, I have been able to change so much, and I love that I am not the same person.
How has my relationship with the Savior changed in the past year???
Well, to answer your question, before my mission, I knew that the church was true, and that it was taking me in a good direction, but I had never really knelt down and asked God if He was there, I always just knew, but after reading Preach My Gospel, it says that we need to ask every so often to confirm the answer that we have received. So, I knelt down and asked, and from the experience that I had, I know that he lives, I know that He loves me more than I can even imagine, and I know that I am nothing without Him and His atonement. Later, in April during the General Conference, during the talk of Elder Bednar, I had the thought that I will never deny what I have felt and what I know. I have received my own personal witness, and it is like drugs, I decide beforehand that I am never going to take them, and I have decided now that, no matter what happens, I will not deny what I have felt, the miracles that I have seen, the covenants that I have made, and what I know to be true. I love Him, and sometimes I am frustrated because my weaknesses are in the way, but I know that through Him, I can do whatever He needs me to do. It all just depends on what I do and if I do it with all of my heart.
But hey, life is good, a little hot, but that's okay, the worst thing that happens is that I lose a little weight;) I love you all and hope that you have a good day!
Hermana Farish
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| Too Much Study! |
Monday, August 24, 2015
Faith
So, this week was pretty great. We have made a goal to give out two Books of Mormon every day, and we have been able to see miracles from that.
Something that I would like to focus on is a talk that a friend (Sister Jones!!) sent last week, by Elder Bednar. He talks about a scripture found in D y C 19:18, which says:
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink
He talks about an experience of a young couple where the husband had just been diagnosed with bone cancer after 3 weeks of marriage. Elder Bednar asked them if they had the faith to not be healed. I was like...say what? Do I have the faith to submit myself to the will of the Lord like they did and like Jesus did? Because of His love for us he did not shrink, He did what he came to do. I started to read the Book of Mormon again with this theme. looking to find the examples of people who didn't shrink, and see why they were able to do what the Lord expected of them. The first example that I found was in 1 Nephi, where the Lord tells him to kill Laban:
10 And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban; but I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him.
And...Nephi, knowing and being led by the spirit, didn't shrink. Haha, now my whole life is finding people who don't shrink. My ancestors, my present family, and so many others who are firm examples of not shrinking. I am so grateful for the Atonement, and for all of the strength that is given to us so that we don't shrink. I love you all and hope that you have a good week!
Love,
Hermana Farish
Something that I would like to focus on is a talk that a friend (Sister Jones!!) sent last week, by Elder Bednar. He talks about a scripture found in D y C 19:18, which says:
18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink
He talks about an experience of a young couple where the husband had just been diagnosed with bone cancer after 3 weeks of marriage. Elder Bednar asked them if they had the faith to not be healed. I was like...say what? Do I have the faith to submit myself to the will of the Lord like they did and like Jesus did? Because of His love for us he did not shrink, He did what he came to do. I started to read the Book of Mormon again with this theme. looking to find the examples of people who didn't shrink, and see why they were able to do what the Lord expected of them. The first example that I found was in 1 Nephi, where the Lord tells him to kill Laban:
10 And it came to pass that I was constrained by the Spirit that I should kill Laban; but I said in my heart: Never at any time have I shed the blood of man. And I shrunk and would that I might not slay him.
And...Nephi, knowing and being led by the spirit, didn't shrink. Haha, now my whole life is finding people who don't shrink. My ancestors, my present family, and so many others who are firm examples of not shrinking. I am so grateful for the Atonement, and for all of the strength that is given to us so that we don't shrink. I love you all and hope that you have a good week!
Love,
Hermana Farish
Monday, August 17, 2015
The Wheels On The Bus...
Hem...this week was amazing. I have never been so tired in all of my life. We have been working so hard to open our mouths and make quality contacts. We set a goal to give out 2 Books of Mormon every day, and so far it has made a difference. We contacted a house on Friday, and we clapped and then looked at who was inside. We saw a little old lady in a wheelchair. She couldn't talk, but motioned us in. We asked her her name and she (obviously) couldn't tell us, so we had to change up a bit and go with yes or no questions. She accepted the Book of Mormon, and it was so interesting to share with her; not through words but through the Spirit. This week we are going to follow up and see if she was able to read.
Another contacting miracle was on Thursday. We were struggling with investigators, because there aren't many who are progressing, and we prayed to find a family. I know that answers to prayers like that aren't really supposed to come so easily, but an appointment fell through so we decided to contact the entire street. The third house that we contacted had the windows open, and the mom was ironing. Normally, that is a pretty good excuse to say no, but she looked out at us and stopped what she was doing, came out, and accepted a Book of Mormon (we were so confused...:)). We will be heading back tomorrow to see how it went.
Also...We had our first Family Home Evening Guazu (Guarani for "big") and we had 50 people come!! That is like half of sacrament meeting. Our plan is to do one every week, once in the elder's area and once our area. The members did their part, and some of the people received 5 visits in one week! It was such a miracle. We were hoping that the attendance would go up, but it went down....dangit, but we are praying and working hard. We are going to start English and piano classes this week, and we are hoping to find quality new investigators through them.
Today my companion had to go to immigration, so I was stuck in the offices all morning, and I was able to see my old companion, Hermana Francani! She had just come out of an interview with the Mission president, who told her that her grandma had died. She had been listening to the missionaries and was planning on being baptized. Hermana Francani was so strong, she was crying but she bore such a powerful testimony of the plan of salvation, and said that it was another test and that Heavenly Father will help her through it. It bore me up, I was so proud of her and her ability to press forward ,even with all of the trials that she has. She came to the mission with her mom inactive, and just lots of things like that that have strengthened and refined her. I love this gospel, I love how it refines us to be more like Christ.
I hope that you enjoyed the package. It isn't a lot, and there wasn't any other color of ties. I hope that red is okay. As far as the weather goes, it is beautiful. All of the trees have purple, pink, or yellow flowers. I love this time of year. Thankfully, my raincoat isn't too heavy so I can wear it most every day.
I hope that you all have a good week!
Hermana Farish
p.s. oh, and the subject line. We were coming to the offices today and we had to ride in collectivos (city buses) for almost 2 hours. standing up. so fun. and the greatest part is that our driver was like off-roading to go faster, so we almost tipped over like 5 times. Life is good....Paraguay at its best:)
Another contacting miracle was on Thursday. We were struggling with investigators, because there aren't many who are progressing, and we prayed to find a family. I know that answers to prayers like that aren't really supposed to come so easily, but an appointment fell through so we decided to contact the entire street. The third house that we contacted had the windows open, and the mom was ironing. Normally, that is a pretty good excuse to say no, but she looked out at us and stopped what she was doing, came out, and accepted a Book of Mormon (we were so confused...:)). We will be heading back tomorrow to see how it went.
Also...We had our first Family Home Evening Guazu (Guarani for "big") and we had 50 people come!! That is like half of sacrament meeting. Our plan is to do one every week, once in the elder's area and once our area. The members did their part, and some of the people received 5 visits in one week! It was such a miracle. We were hoping that the attendance would go up, but it went down....dangit, but we are praying and working hard. We are going to start English and piano classes this week, and we are hoping to find quality new investigators through them.
Today my companion had to go to immigration, so I was stuck in the offices all morning, and I was able to see my old companion, Hermana Francani! She had just come out of an interview with the Mission president, who told her that her grandma had died. She had been listening to the missionaries and was planning on being baptized. Hermana Francani was so strong, she was crying but she bore such a powerful testimony of the plan of salvation, and said that it was another test and that Heavenly Father will help her through it. It bore me up, I was so proud of her and her ability to press forward ,even with all of the trials that she has. She came to the mission with her mom inactive, and just lots of things like that that have strengthened and refined her. I love this gospel, I love how it refines us to be more like Christ.
I hope that you enjoyed the package. It isn't a lot, and there wasn't any other color of ties. I hope that red is okay. As far as the weather goes, it is beautiful. All of the trees have purple, pink, or yellow flowers. I love this time of year. Thankfully, my raincoat isn't too heavy so I can wear it most every day.
I hope that you all have a good week!
Hermana Farish
p.s. oh, and the subject line. We were coming to the offices today and we had to ride in collectivos (city buses) for almost 2 hours. standing up. so fun. and the greatest part is that our driver was like off-roading to go faster, so we almost tipped over like 5 times. Life is good....Paraguay at its best:)
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| Noche de hogar guazu!!! |
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| Small but tidy |
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| Kitchen area |
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| Empanadas! |
Monday, August 3, 2015
WHEW...
This week has been CRAZY. With a capital C. R. A. Z. Y.
We had two baptisms this week, the Arrua Family (well, half) was baptized this Saturday!!! We didn't know if they were going to be able to until Wednesday, when she told us that her husband had given her permission!! Thank you for your prayers, and we have officially decided that we are going to fast every weekend, because it has brought us such miracles.
Another miracle that happened was yesterday. Background: Last week we contacted a member referral, and she came to church! On Tuesday, the member told us that she had fought with her and that she wasn't too interested anymore...we were kind of bummed. A lot. To make it even worse, this week we literally had NO TIME to contact Jessica (the referral) again, but we called to see if we could pass by Saturday night after the baptism, and she didn't answer, so we left a voice mail. We weren't expecting too much, but hey, fasting is awesome. We had to go bring someone to church, and on the way, we found Jessica, walking to go to church. We were like...I stand all amazed. She now has a baptismal date for August 15th, and we hope that we can help her to continue to have a good experience at church and progress to baptism.
Something that I have learned this week...lots:) But the main thing that I learned was that it doesn't hurt to have a little faith in the Lord. Lots of times during my mission things have happened where I thought...wait. I totally expected that NOT to happen. I had faith that what I wanted to happen would come to pass. But...unfortunately, it just doesn't happen that way. Heavenly Father knows us perfectly, He knows how we have felt, what we are feeling, and what we are going to feel, and, according to that, will put us in situations that will help us to improve the most. Lots of times when the people tell us their problems, or some trials that they have had, I think on what my mom told me..."Sometimes as a missionary we feel like we need a degree in psychology." which is totally true. I have felt so inadequate sometimes. Luckily, we have our Heavenly Father, who knows the other person perfectly, and will help us to say the right things through the Spirit. One of the ways that we can know that we are a successful missionary is if we feel the Spirit testifying through us. I am not perfect, but there are moments when my testimony is strengthened as I try to help others feel what Heavenly Father feels for them.
I love this work, and I love the people here in Paraguay. I hope that you all have a good week, it looks like last week at the reunion was a party! I love you!
Love,
Hermana Farish
We had two baptisms this week, the Arrua Family (well, half) was baptized this Saturday!!! We didn't know if they were going to be able to until Wednesday, when she told us that her husband had given her permission!! Thank you for your prayers, and we have officially decided that we are going to fast every weekend, because it has brought us such miracles.
Another miracle that happened was yesterday. Background: Last week we contacted a member referral, and she came to church! On Tuesday, the member told us that she had fought with her and that she wasn't too interested anymore...we were kind of bummed. A lot. To make it even worse, this week we literally had NO TIME to contact Jessica (the referral) again, but we called to see if we could pass by Saturday night after the baptism, and she didn't answer, so we left a voice mail. We weren't expecting too much, but hey, fasting is awesome. We had to go bring someone to church, and on the way, we found Jessica, walking to go to church. We were like...I stand all amazed. She now has a baptismal date for August 15th, and we hope that we can help her to continue to have a good experience at church and progress to baptism.
Something that I have learned this week...lots:) But the main thing that I learned was that it doesn't hurt to have a little faith in the Lord. Lots of times during my mission things have happened where I thought...wait. I totally expected that NOT to happen. I had faith that what I wanted to happen would come to pass. But...unfortunately, it just doesn't happen that way. Heavenly Father knows us perfectly, He knows how we have felt, what we are feeling, and what we are going to feel, and, according to that, will put us in situations that will help us to improve the most. Lots of times when the people tell us their problems, or some trials that they have had, I think on what my mom told me..."Sometimes as a missionary we feel like we need a degree in psychology." which is totally true. I have felt so inadequate sometimes. Luckily, we have our Heavenly Father, who knows the other person perfectly, and will help us to say the right things through the Spirit. One of the ways that we can know that we are a successful missionary is if we feel the Spirit testifying through us. I am not perfect, but there are moments when my testimony is strengthened as I try to help others feel what Heavenly Father feels for them.
I love this work, and I love the people here in Paraguay. I hope that you all have a good week, it looks like last week at the reunion was a party! I love you!
Love,
Hermana Farish
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| The Arrua Family |
Monday, July 6, 2015
(Hashtag)flabbergasted
Bueno...
Lots of you guys asked me how the transfers went...let me tell ya...flabbergasted would be the word I would use to describe the transfer.
I don't know why our zone leaders thought of this, but to give out the changes this time they had little objects that represented what would happen with the changes. So...when I received a binky and a pink bar of soap, I was like...WHAT?? So, now I am training and doing a pinkwash, which is when hermanas open a new area or replace the elders. What fun.
My new companion is Hermana Còrdova, from Peru. She is 21 years old, and is a lot of fun. She played libero on the Peruvian National Volleyball team, and is one year away from graduating in civil engineering (Joel!!!). It is a little different training a 21 year old than a 30 year old, but hey, lots of fun. Our new area is in Salado, in a city called Limpio about 35 minutes away from Luque and Palma Loma. Super far. It is way different, a lot of green and cleanliness, which is awesome. The ward functions decently well, which is also an improvement, so we will have fun going around, getting lost, and talking with everyone we happen to see.
At first, I was really worried about how ON EARTH I was going to be able to do this, but I know that Heavenly Father (and President McMullin) know what I can do, and that even if I make several hundred mistakes, I am where I am supposed to be. We are the first hermanas ever to enter...so we will see how everything turns out. Pretty good thus far. AND we found an old semiautomatic airsoft rifle with bbs and everything in our house. Someone had an interesting Pday:)
So, this week, we had goodbyes on Tuesday, which was rough. I grew to love Palma Loma, even with all of the fights between members, gossip, and all of that fun stuff. I learned a lot, and I should have known that when I said I wanted to leave the area (this was in December) I would stay there half my mission. I would say that the biggest thing that I have learned was to be humble and to listen to the Spirit. It was something really interesting to make mistakes and to keep trying to learn how to do the things right. Hermana Francani stayed in Palma Loma as the senior companion. She will do great:)
Apart from that, this week was just getting adjusted, cleaning up after the elders (it was DISGUSTING), and enjoying freezing to death. Seriously, I told someone how much time I had in the mission and she told me, wow, you are almost done! I was like...um...no. I don't want to be almost done. I am so happy here, I love being a missionary and sharing with others what we have to say. I love this work, I love my Heavenly Father and am grateful to Him for trusting me enough to let me bumble my way through this adventure. I hope you all have a good week, and that you can enjoy the rest of summer!
Love,
Hermana Farish
Lots of you guys asked me how the transfers went...let me tell ya...flabbergasted would be the word I would use to describe the transfer.
I don't know why our zone leaders thought of this, but to give out the changes this time they had little objects that represented what would happen with the changes. So...when I received a binky and a pink bar of soap, I was like...WHAT?? So, now I am training and doing a pinkwash, which is when hermanas open a new area or replace the elders. What fun.
My new companion is Hermana Còrdova, from Peru. She is 21 years old, and is a lot of fun. She played libero on the Peruvian National Volleyball team, and is one year away from graduating in civil engineering (Joel!!!). It is a little different training a 21 year old than a 30 year old, but hey, lots of fun. Our new area is in Salado, in a city called Limpio about 35 minutes away from Luque and Palma Loma. Super far. It is way different, a lot of green and cleanliness, which is awesome. The ward functions decently well, which is also an improvement, so we will have fun going around, getting lost, and talking with everyone we happen to see.
At first, I was really worried about how ON EARTH I was going to be able to do this, but I know that Heavenly Father (and President McMullin) know what I can do, and that even if I make several hundred mistakes, I am where I am supposed to be. We are the first hermanas ever to enter...so we will see how everything turns out. Pretty good thus far. AND we found an old semiautomatic airsoft rifle with bbs and everything in our house. Someone had an interesting Pday:)
So, this week, we had goodbyes on Tuesday, which was rough. I grew to love Palma Loma, even with all of the fights between members, gossip, and all of that fun stuff. I learned a lot, and I should have known that when I said I wanted to leave the area (this was in December) I would stay there half my mission. I would say that the biggest thing that I have learned was to be humble and to listen to the Spirit. It was something really interesting to make mistakes and to keep trying to learn how to do the things right. Hermana Francani stayed in Palma Loma as the senior companion. She will do great:)
Apart from that, this week was just getting adjusted, cleaning up after the elders (it was DISGUSTING), and enjoying freezing to death. Seriously, I told someone how much time I had in the mission and she told me, wow, you are almost done! I was like...um...no. I don't want to be almost done. I am so happy here, I love being a missionary and sharing with others what we have to say. I love this work, I love my Heavenly Father and am grateful to Him for trusting me enough to let me bumble my way through this adventure. I hope you all have a good week, and that you can enjoy the rest of summer!
Love,
Hermana Farish
Monday, June 1, 2015
with WAFFLES and stuff
Dear Family,
We had a crazy crazy week. BUT. It was awesome, a lot less rain, which was definitely a blessing.
We have been struggling with investigators here in Palma Loma, mostly because our focus has been on strengthening the ward and helping them to function well. ANYWAY, we have been so blessed this week, we put 2 baptismal dates, which to be honest, isn't a whole lot, we need to do better, but we are really excited with what we have. The first one, Eduardo, was a contact from months ago. We had a lesson with him on Saturday, and we put his baptismal date after watching the talk by President Uchtdorf called, "How to obtain a testimony of light and truth." It was so powerful, and the Spirit was so strong. Eduardo's main concern is feeling the spirit, it is really hard for him to feel it and to be able to recognize what it is telling him. When we listened to this talk, the Spirit was unmistakable, you couldn't miss it. There are 4 things that this talk tells us to do in order to obtain our own testimony:
1) Search and study the scriptures
2) Meditate, think, ponder,
3) Pray sincerely with true intention
4) LIVE what we are learning.
We were able to bear a strong testimony to him that if he will do these things, Heavenly Father will give him his answer in a way that will be recognizable to him. We are so excited to help him to progress, the Lord has blessed us so much. And we had waffles for lunch, which just topped off the day as a success:)
ANNNNDDD......wait for it....the bishop's wife is ACTIVE!!!! yayayayayayayayayaya!!! We are kind of really excited.
Other than that, we had an open...church on Saturday, where everyone could go and see what the Mormons really do. I honestly think that the best thing was watching the members get together and work to make it happen. They did it, and it looked so awesome:)
I hope that everything is going okay with work, school family, callings, and the other hundreds of things going on. Hermana Betancourth wrote me and told me that she doesn't want to be home. When she got home she found out that her niece had been sexually assaulted and when her dad found out he almost died of a heart attack, and she didn't know anything until she got home. Her mom died when she was ten, and...it made me sad. She didn't want to leave, and more than ever she wants to be back here in Paraguay. I miss her a lot, we went through a lot together. It hurts to hear her talk like that.
On Sunday, we received a call during lunch from one of the relief society counselors who said that the president wasn't going to be able to make it to the training of the visiting teachers, and there wasn't anyone to help, so we went and helped with the training of the visiting teachers, which was a party and a half:)
This week was the first week that I really felt cold...I kind of laughed because I received a letter from a friend in Canada, and she said that they were dying of heat with 30 degrees, and here I am dying of cold at 50:) I usually study with a sweat shirt and go out with lots of layers, because during the day it is pretty warm but at night we are dying. The humidity is RIDICULOUS. I still love my companion. I feel like this week was the first week when we were teaching as equal partners. Before, I had always led out and had always looked for the scripture to share or whatever, but this week she is holding her own, and is doing really well. As far as the area goes, I hope the president gives me one more transfer, but now that I say that I think I am going to go this transfer. Dangit. I honestly don't know what is going to happen. We think that we are going to finish training and then president will take out both of us and put in elders. Dunno. And honestly, I don't think I have done that much here...I think president sent me here for a clase de humildad (humility class). I think the biggest changes that have happened here in this area have been in me:)
Something that makes me really happy is when the members come and tell us that they gave a Book of Mormon to someone or that they talked to someone about the church. I think it is so awesome because if they are talking with people about the church, it is because they have a strong enough testimony. Woohoo!
Anyway, that is basically all for this week. I hope everyone is doing all right!
Love,
Hermana Farish
We had a crazy crazy week. BUT. It was awesome, a lot less rain, which was definitely a blessing.
We have been struggling with investigators here in Palma Loma, mostly because our focus has been on strengthening the ward and helping them to function well. ANYWAY, we have been so blessed this week, we put 2 baptismal dates, which to be honest, isn't a whole lot, we need to do better, but we are really excited with what we have. The first one, Eduardo, was a contact from months ago. We had a lesson with him on Saturday, and we put his baptismal date after watching the talk by President Uchtdorf called, "How to obtain a testimony of light and truth." It was so powerful, and the Spirit was so strong. Eduardo's main concern is feeling the spirit, it is really hard for him to feel it and to be able to recognize what it is telling him. When we listened to this talk, the Spirit was unmistakable, you couldn't miss it. There are 4 things that this talk tells us to do in order to obtain our own testimony:
1) Search and study the scriptures
2) Meditate, think, ponder,
3) Pray sincerely with true intention
4) LIVE what we are learning.
We were able to bear a strong testimony to him that if he will do these things, Heavenly Father will give him his answer in a way that will be recognizable to him. We are so excited to help him to progress, the Lord has blessed us so much. And we had waffles for lunch, which just topped off the day as a success:)
ANNNNDDD......wait for it....the bishop's wife is ACTIVE!!!! yayayayayayayayayaya!!! We are kind of really excited.
Other than that, we had an open...church on Saturday, where everyone could go and see what the Mormons really do. I honestly think that the best thing was watching the members get together and work to make it happen. They did it, and it looked so awesome:)
I hope that everything is going okay with work, school family, callings, and the other hundreds of things going on. Hermana Betancourth wrote me and told me that she doesn't want to be home. When she got home she found out that her niece had been sexually assaulted and when her dad found out he almost died of a heart attack, and she didn't know anything until she got home. Her mom died when she was ten, and...it made me sad. She didn't want to leave, and more than ever she wants to be back here in Paraguay. I miss her a lot, we went through a lot together. It hurts to hear her talk like that.
On Sunday, we received a call during lunch from one of the relief society counselors who said that the president wasn't going to be able to make it to the training of the visiting teachers, and there wasn't anyone to help, so we went and helped with the training of the visiting teachers, which was a party and a half:)
This week was the first week that I really felt cold...I kind of laughed because I received a letter from a friend in Canada, and she said that they were dying of heat with 30 degrees, and here I am dying of cold at 50:) I usually study with a sweat shirt and go out with lots of layers, because during the day it is pretty warm but at night we are dying. The humidity is RIDICULOUS. I still love my companion. I feel like this week was the first week when we were teaching as equal partners. Before, I had always led out and had always looked for the scripture to share or whatever, but this week she is holding her own, and is doing really well. As far as the area goes, I hope the president gives me one more transfer, but now that I say that I think I am going to go this transfer. Dangit. I honestly don't know what is going to happen. We think that we are going to finish training and then president will take out both of us and put in elders. Dunno. And honestly, I don't think I have done that much here...I think president sent me here for a clase de humildad (humility class). I think the biggest changes that have happened here in this area have been in me:)
Anyway, that is basically all for this week. I hope everyone is doing all right!
Love,
Hermana Farish
Monday, May 25, 2015
Would you just look at that light:)
Dear Everyone,
This week just flew by!!! It seems like every week just goes by faster and faster.
We had transfers this week, and I stayed in Palma Loma to finish training, going on 7 1/2 months here:) Who knew, Right?:) Name that movie!!!:)
We had a crazy change in Palma Loma, we had a whitewash, which means that they took out the other sisters in the other half and put in elders. At first, we were a little bummed, but I think that this is what Palma Loma needs. They are pretty chill, Elder Ramirez from the Dominican Republic and Elder Jewkes from West Jordan.
We had a couple of rather large miracles this week. We have been working for about 2 months with a family where the mom, Teli, is inactive and her partner, Eduardo, isn't a member. Teli grew up in an active home, was sealed with her family and everything, but her parents separated and afterwards her dad committed suicide. After that, she didn't really want anything to do with the church, and on
Sunday, (drum roll please!!!) she and Eduardo walked up to church, hand in hand with their 4 year old son. I was like...AAAHHHHH!!! You need to get sealed! Of course, my opinion doesn't really hold a lot of ground, but..igual no màs, it would be awesome:) We are working with Eduardo so that he can read the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of the doctrine as found there.
Another miracle is that we looked up another member's referral, and found the Diaz Family. We had a couple of amazing lessons with them, but they weren't able to come to church because of the rain:(
I was actually thinking this week, I am so old. There are so many new missionaries, and after being here in Palma Loma for 7 months, I am very used to being the person who knows what needs to happen, or where the people live, or all that. I thought the other day...how crazy is that. Seriously, the time is FLYING, and Hermana Betancourth finished her mission last week, and my trainer goes home this transfer. SANTA VACA. Seriously, I am like freaking out. When Hermana Betancourth
came early in the morning she was going to leave, she stopped by to tell me goodbye and it was SO HARD. I learned to love her so much and I miss her a lot.
I am loving the mission, it is my life. It is my comfort zone, and it is so freaking hard. But I figure that if it is hard, Heavenly Father thinks that I am strong enough to get through it and learn something
important. I love talking with people, and having a new missionary as a companion has showed me how far I have come, and how Heavenly Father helped me to overcome all of my many fears. I love these people, even if they are drunk, on drugs, lo que sea, les amo.
De la historia familiar, si, estamos trabajando mucho con ella. Casi cada domingo llevamos a los miembros, menos activos, conversos recientes, quien sea, porque si ellos hacen su historia familiar, se
van a ir al templo, y todos necesitan esta experiencia. Nuestro presidente de misiòn nos dijo que usàramos los folletos de mi familia en los contactos. Me gusta mucho eso porque es diferente, y las personas no lo esperan:) (In essence this paragraph says that they use family history to work with the members to help them make it to the temple, and also use the familysearch booklet "My Family" in their contacting.)
Saturday night, we had cleaned the church and our lessons fell through, so naturally, it started to rain and it was the biggest lightning storm that I have ever seen. We had one hour left and we were trying to follow up on some contacts that we had made. We were kind of bummed, and we were the only people on the streets, so, to cheer ourselves up, we just started to sing a hymn that talks about light (I don't remember which one) and when we got to the part where it talked about how we always have light in our lives, there was a rather huge lightning strike, and I said, "would you just look at that light" My companion looked at me like I was nuts, and then we just started to laugh and we were able to go to another lesson with an investigator who ended up giving us food, which was just great.
Anyway, the point is, sometimes we are in a time of darkness and storms. There are things that happen that are scary and we feel like we are alone and that there isn't anyone who pays us attention or who we feel like understands us. However, there are always blessings. Sometimes they come in a form that we don't expect, but they are ALWAYS there. I was reading in 1 Nephi the other day, in chapter 18, and it is when Nephi is tied up on the ship for so many days, and nothing that he or his family does can change the hearts of his brothers. I love Nephi`s reaction to this trial. he says:
14 And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceedingly sore.
15 And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the
judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.
16 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.
He was hurting, the ship and everyone on it was about to drown, and even with all of that, Nephi never let that interfere with his relationship with Heavenly Father. Afterwards, Laman and Lemuel
finally realize that they need to change something so that they don't die. In verse 20 it says,
20 And there was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts; wherefore, when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea they repented of the thing which they had done, insomuch that they loosed me.
21 And it came to pass after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass, and it did work whither I desired it. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did
cease, and the storm did cease, and THERE WAS A GREAT CALM.
I know we have storms, we have trials, things we can't control, like Nephi. But if we can look for the blessings, and praise our Lord all the day long, he will bless us and give us the strength to endure until we have that great calm. I love this gospel, I love the Book of Mormon, and I love sharing it with people so that they too can have that calm in their lives. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and that you can always look to your Lord and praise him for all of the blessings that He has given you. I love you all!
Love,
Hermana Farish
This week just flew by!!! It seems like every week just goes by faster and faster.
We had transfers this week, and I stayed in Palma Loma to finish training, going on 7 1/2 months here:) Who knew, Right?:) Name that movie!!!:)
We had a crazy change in Palma Loma, we had a whitewash, which means that they took out the other sisters in the other half and put in elders. At first, we were a little bummed, but I think that this is what Palma Loma needs. They are pretty chill, Elder Ramirez from the Dominican Republic and Elder Jewkes from West Jordan.
We had a couple of rather large miracles this week. We have been working for about 2 months with a family where the mom, Teli, is inactive and her partner, Eduardo, isn't a member. Teli grew up in an active home, was sealed with her family and everything, but her parents separated and afterwards her dad committed suicide. After that, she didn't really want anything to do with the church, and on
Sunday, (drum roll please!!!) she and Eduardo walked up to church, hand in hand with their 4 year old son. I was like...AAAHHHHH!!! You need to get sealed! Of course, my opinion doesn't really hold a lot of ground, but..igual no màs, it would be awesome:) We are working with Eduardo so that he can read the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of the doctrine as found there.
Another miracle is that we looked up another member's referral, and found the Diaz Family. We had a couple of amazing lessons with them, but they weren't able to come to church because of the rain:(
I was actually thinking this week, I am so old. There are so many new missionaries, and after being here in Palma Loma for 7 months, I am very used to being the person who knows what needs to happen, or where the people live, or all that. I thought the other day...how crazy is that. Seriously, the time is FLYING, and Hermana Betancourth finished her mission last week, and my trainer goes home this transfer. SANTA VACA. Seriously, I am like freaking out. When Hermana Betancourth
came early in the morning she was going to leave, she stopped by to tell me goodbye and it was SO HARD. I learned to love her so much and I miss her a lot.
I am loving the mission, it is my life. It is my comfort zone, and it is so freaking hard. But I figure that if it is hard, Heavenly Father thinks that I am strong enough to get through it and learn something
important. I love talking with people, and having a new missionary as a companion has showed me how far I have come, and how Heavenly Father helped me to overcome all of my many fears. I love these people, even if they are drunk, on drugs, lo que sea, les amo.
De la historia familiar, si, estamos trabajando mucho con ella. Casi cada domingo llevamos a los miembros, menos activos, conversos recientes, quien sea, porque si ellos hacen su historia familiar, se
van a ir al templo, y todos necesitan esta experiencia. Nuestro presidente de misiòn nos dijo que usàramos los folletos de mi familia en los contactos. Me gusta mucho eso porque es diferente, y las personas no lo esperan:) (In essence this paragraph says that they use family history to work with the members to help them make it to the temple, and also use the familysearch booklet "My Family" in their contacting.)
Saturday night, we had cleaned the church and our lessons fell through, so naturally, it started to rain and it was the biggest lightning storm that I have ever seen. We had one hour left and we were trying to follow up on some contacts that we had made. We were kind of bummed, and we were the only people on the streets, so, to cheer ourselves up, we just started to sing a hymn that talks about light (I don't remember which one) and when we got to the part where it talked about how we always have light in our lives, there was a rather huge lightning strike, and I said, "would you just look at that light" My companion looked at me like I was nuts, and then we just started to laugh and we were able to go to another lesson with an investigator who ended up giving us food, which was just great.
Anyway, the point is, sometimes we are in a time of darkness and storms. There are things that happen that are scary and we feel like we are alone and that there isn't anyone who pays us attention or who we feel like understands us. However, there are always blessings. Sometimes they come in a form that we don't expect, but they are ALWAYS there. I was reading in 1 Nephi the other day, in chapter 18, and it is when Nephi is tied up on the ship for so many days, and nothing that he or his family does can change the hearts of his brothers. I love Nephi`s reaction to this trial. he says:
14 And on the fourth day, which we had been driven back, the tempest began to be exceedingly sore.
15 And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the
judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.
16 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.
He was hurting, the ship and everyone on it was about to drown, and even with all of that, Nephi never let that interfere with his relationship with Heavenly Father. Afterwards, Laman and Lemuel
finally realize that they need to change something so that they don't die. In verse 20 it says,
20 And there was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts; wherefore, when they saw that they were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea they repented of the thing which they had done, insomuch that they loosed me.
21 And it came to pass after they had loosed me, behold, I took the compass, and it did work whither I desired it. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did
cease, and the storm did cease, and THERE WAS A GREAT CALM.
I know we have storms, we have trials, things we can't control, like Nephi. But if we can look for the blessings, and praise our Lord all the day long, he will bless us and give us the strength to endure until we have that great calm. I love this gospel, I love the Book of Mormon, and I love sharing it with people so that they too can have that calm in their lives. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and that you can always look to your Lord and praise him for all of the blessings that He has given you. I love you all!
Love,
Hermana Farish
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