I am so grateful to be a missionary!
You know I wish that I could describe exactly why, but honestly I can't! It's not that everything is perfect and it's not that we're having a lot of "success." It's just that somehow every day is a good day! Logically that makes absolutely no sense. I'm away from all those I love, away from any place I call home, my schooling, my job...even my clothes haha. I really do feel like Peter and the apostles in some ways when Christ says for them to leave their nets and follow Him. It's taken a lot of faith and a little heartache, but once I got on the road very little has obscured the way. That doesn't mean that things don't go wrong. I think it just means that we're given the extra strength to handle whatever it is we've got going on.
Mosiah 24:14
"And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."
So...this week! Haha. Even just considering what I should write for this week kind of makes me laugh. It was...a strange one. We spent Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon in Palmyra for a Visitors Center training, got back, and I spent the rest of the weekend throwing up in the bathroom. No clue what that was about. However! Now that I am all cleaned out, I feel a lot better. Just spending today rehydrating and whatnot. It'll be a good week. It was really good to see everyone in Palmyra! I really love the people who serve here. I am so blessed to have gotten so close to so many so quickly! (Too many "so's"- duly noted).
A little ray of sunshine for this coming week and the weeks to come will surely be Leila! We just started meeting with her and she is an absolute gem! Leila is giving, faithful, loving, positive, happy...she's just wonderful. She talks a lot about how she's always looking to learn more and is grateful for her Catholic roots and how they've gotten her through so many things! She is a breast cancer survivor as well as some of the other beautiful and strong women we've met, and it's been such a blessing to talk with her about her experiences so far in her life. She also reminds me a lot of Donna, so selfishly it's been really nice to have that! You both even talk similarly :) Woo!
President Christianson offered some really great advice this weekend that I feel like I should share. It stung a little bit when I realized that it was exactly what I needed to hear, but hey that's how I've grown, right? Reading in Doctrine and Covenants 117:11, it says to get rid of "littleness of soul." Kind of a strange phrase, isn't it? What does "littleness of soul" mean? For me in most cases it's seemed to mean pettyness. Comparison, envy, even self hatred? I'm cringing as I write this. It means coming to understand what my Heavenly Father created me as and what he intends me to be! In those times where we (meaning I) belittle ourselves- we question our purpose or our potential- we can diagnose ourselves as giving way to "littleness of soul." This week I am trying to stay away from that! Instead, I want to be strong, capable, focused, happy, and grateful. Truly, there's no reason to be anything else. Don't be little this week! Be big! Do something great!
Welp that's pretty much it for this week! I'm just so happy to be able to spend all of my time helping and uplifting anyone who will let us. There is no reason to walk in darkness at noonday! The gospel of Jesus Christ is on the Earth- the fullness, the joy, the understanding. And I get to share it with people! So good. I hope everyone reading this is looking forward to a good week, too.
Love, love!
Seester Raines
You know I wish that I could describe exactly why, but honestly I can't! It's not that everything is perfect and it's not that we're having a lot of "success." It's just that somehow every day is a good day! Logically that makes absolutely no sense. I'm away from all those I love, away from any place I call home, my schooling, my job...even my clothes haha. I really do feel like Peter and the apostles in some ways when Christ says for them to leave their nets and follow Him. It's taken a lot of faith and a little heartache, but once I got on the road very little has obscured the way. That doesn't mean that things don't go wrong. I think it just means that we're given the extra strength to handle whatever it is we've got going on.
Mosiah 24:14
"And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."
So...this week! Haha. Even just considering what I should write for this week kind of makes me laugh. It was...a strange one. We spent Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon in Palmyra for a Visitors Center training, got back, and I spent the rest of the weekend throwing up in the bathroom. No clue what that was about. However! Now that I am all cleaned out, I feel a lot better. Just spending today rehydrating and whatnot. It'll be a good week. It was really good to see everyone in Palmyra! I really love the people who serve here. I am so blessed to have gotten so close to so many so quickly! (Too many "so's"- duly noted).
A little ray of sunshine for this coming week and the weeks to come will surely be Leila! We just started meeting with her and she is an absolute gem! Leila is giving, faithful, loving, positive, happy...she's just wonderful. She talks a lot about how she's always looking to learn more and is grateful for her Catholic roots and how they've gotten her through so many things! She is a breast cancer survivor as well as some of the other beautiful and strong women we've met, and it's been such a blessing to talk with her about her experiences so far in her life. She also reminds me a lot of Donna, so selfishly it's been really nice to have that! You both even talk similarly :) Woo!
President Christianson offered some really great advice this weekend that I feel like I should share. It stung a little bit when I realized that it was exactly what I needed to hear, but hey that's how I've grown, right? Reading in Doctrine and Covenants 117:11, it says to get rid of "littleness of soul." Kind of a strange phrase, isn't it? What does "littleness of soul" mean? For me in most cases it's seemed to mean pettyness. Comparison, envy, even self hatred? I'm cringing as I write this. It means coming to understand what my Heavenly Father created me as and what he intends me to be! In those times where we (meaning I) belittle ourselves- we question our purpose or our potential- we can diagnose ourselves as giving way to "littleness of soul." This week I am trying to stay away from that! Instead, I want to be strong, capable, focused, happy, and grateful. Truly, there's no reason to be anything else. Don't be little this week! Be big! Do something great!
Welp that's pretty much it for this week! I'm just so happy to be able to spend all of my time helping and uplifting anyone who will let us. There is no reason to walk in darkness at noonday! The gospel of Jesus Christ is on the Earth- the fullness, the joy, the understanding. And I get to share it with people! So good. I hope everyone reading this is looking forward to a good week, too.
Love, love!
Seester Raines
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