This past week has been wonderful! I hope you all had a fun Memorial Day! We decided to change our Preparation Day to today as more people would be home yesterday. We were able to contact a lot more people!
As many of you know, I have been going through a pretty rough time the last few weeks, but this past week has been fantastic! I am so grateful for my leaders and for the comforting words of our General Authorities and scriptures. The gospel is so true!
Well, the week started off well with a nice "hike" on Monday for last preparation day. (Virginia has no mountains!) We had a nice time walking through one of the local neighborhood forests. I am loving the nice weather!
On Tuesday afternoon we had our once-a-transfer Zone lunch provided by the Stake President. Always great to meet all the new missionaries in the zone with the start of a new transfer! My last District Leader, Elder Page, is now one of my Zone Leaders! Pretty fun! That day we also got a new dishwasher installed! Yay! No more washing dishes all by hand! :) ha. In the evening we had a nice visit with the Knight family and the kids are back on date for baptism on June 6th! We're excited!
I had one of the most amazing experiences at District Meeting on Wednesday. We discussed the importance of bearing bold testimonies. The best moment during DM was when we did practice teaching. That is one of the things I have been trying to find a love for... It's not my favorite thing in the whole world to pretend teach to another Missionary. ;) But I have been learning to love it! I had the opportunity to practice teach with an Elder who was just in our District Meeting for the day. *I'm sure it was no coincidence in the eyes of God!* After I taught, he gave me the best feedback ever. He told me that I had the most loving and sincere testimony ever. He told me that as the investigator, he could feel the charity I had for him. He also gave me some pointers on what I could do better -- that was the best part! It was exactly what I needed to hear! He told me that if I will keep eye contact with the person, I will be given the words to say in the moment I need them. The eyes are the window to the soul. -- It was as if Heavenly Father were telling that to me! It was an answer to my prayer. I have been struggling to know how I can become more confident in my teaching, and as I have applied that counsel I have felt so much more self-assured. God loves and knows each of us personally!
As I have been struggling during this harder time on my mission, I have had the chance to receive so much revelation and light during my studies. One talk I came across was "Come What May, and Love It" by Joseph B. Wirthlin. It is amazing!! Elder Wirthlin gives such great counsel. We must learn to laugh when we are tempted to groan. (This is hard to do!) We must seek for the eternal and remember that these trials are only for our good. We must know the principle of conservation, and remember to always trust in our Heavenly Father's timing. My favorite line in his talk is: "Adversity, if handled correctly, can be a blessing in our lives. We can learn to love it." These difficulties I am going through have undoubtedly been tough, but I have come to see many blessings as I have endured.
Friday was a special day. We had interviews with President Riggs!! I had the opportunity to tell him everything that has been on my mind the last couple weeks. He was so grateful for the love and patience I have had through everything. He later gave me a Priesthood blessing of comfort. I am so grateful for the Priesthood and for my Mission President! Nothing was more comforting than the kind, complimentary words from him. I can't believe it is his last transfer here! I'll sure miss him.
Later that night we had a fun game night with the Knights! We had a blast playing Pictureka and Apples to Apples! :) We love that family!! They are hilarious.
On Sunday we had a super fancy pre-Memorial Day dinner at one of the members' home. It was so great! She totally got all decked out for it. (You might think she's from Utah or something!) ;) Their house is also super cute. Fun night!
Yesterday was a great day for us! We went to seek out all the potentials in our area book that we haven't been able to contact. We had a super great experience while talking to Tony. He was very upfront to us about how he is a very devout Catholic and won't ever change. Sister Thomson was super bold and even got loud with him when he wouldn't just stop talking and listen. She was awesome! I would never have the guts to yell at someone, ha! He actually smiled and seemed to enjoy the need for control she had. I didn't quite know what to do as I watched them. I stood on the porch in silence most of the time, until the conversation neared the end. I looked him in the eyes and gave him my most sincere testimony of the restored gospel and how it has blessed my family. I even started to weep! The Spirit was very strong and he agreed to research the Book of Mormon! As we left, we both couldn't help but laugh at how great of a team we make. We need each other's personalities to compliment! I need her boldness, and she needs my meekness. ;) We work pretty well together!
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Well, to close I want to share a part of Ether 6 that I love! I read it during my study yesterday and found a treasure. In this chapter, we read about the Jaredites' journey to the promised land. They are sailing in barges that they built. Verse 5 states: "And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind." When I read that, I realized that God *pushed* them to the promised land. They tumbled and they tossed through the sea, but they were on their way to happiness! I know that the trials and hardships we face are just God's way of pushing us to our promised land! "Joy always comes after sorrow" (President Eyring).
Another quite insight.... Elder Pino's talk this past General Conference goes so well with this topic as well! He describes the tv show his kids liked to watch: "I remember that on one occasion they were watching that program and it showed something very close up that looked very ugly to them, even repulsive; but as the image widened, they realized that it was a very appetizing pizza. Then they said to me, “Daddy, buy us one just like that!” After they understood what it was, something that at first had looked unpleasant to them ended up being something very attractive."
If we were to have the opportunity to look into the future and witness the challenges we will have to go through, I'm sure most of us would be disgusted and displeased. Just like the children in his story, at first glance we would not be very excited. As we widen our image of the circumstance and begin to see the eternal scheme of things, we will begin to desire that experience! We too will ask our Father to give us that blessing.
I know that in the beginning of this new area, I would have never asked Heavenly Father for the challenges I would undertake. Now that I can look back on some of it, I am SO grateful to have had this time to grow so close to my Savior, Heavenly Father, and the Comforter.
Sorry for the novel this week! ;) I hope you all have the best last few days of school!!
Thank you so much for all of your support throughout the week. Your words of encouragement have kept me going! I love you all so much.
Love,
Sister Winterton
♥♥♥
Picture:
Me on the "hike" :)
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