Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Gretchen Wieners was Born in Purvis, Mississippi

Hello, all! This e-mail might be a little weird. I forgot we were e-mailing today, so I don't have my planner, journal, camera, or scriptures. Whoops. 

It's transfer week! I thought this last transfer was the seven-week transfer, but it turns out this one is! How exciting! Everyone's missions have been extended a week to accommodate the new MTC policy for English-speaking, stateside-serving missionaries; instead of twelve days, missionaries will be in the MTC for at least three weeks. In order to line up with the transfer dates, our transfer has been extended one week! Exciting, right?! 

There's a lot happening in the Purvis district! I am now taking over Purvis. I have not yet received my new companion, but I do know her name! Sister Barney! I've talked to her at the transfer point in Clinton a few times. I can't wait to be her companion! We'll have a great time. Elder Stokes has been transferred to the Clinton Zone, and Elder Dobosz has been moved to the Gulfport Zone. I wish them well, and I know they'll do well in any area they go to. The Lord knows exactly what He's doing; He has so much in store for these missionaries. 

However...I have to say goodbye to my dear Sister Matealona. She's being transferred to the Shreveport Zone. Where? I have no idea! She began in Louisiana and that is where she will end. I'm going to miss my small, Hawaiian friend. I know she has touched so many lives in Purvis, and the Lord has so much waiting for her in the Shreveport Zone. 

Finally, Sister Kelly and Sister Garner will be sent home and released this week. I want to thank them for their service, their positive attitudes, and their love for the fellowmen. I only knew them for a short while, but I am so grateful to have known them. Y'all were wonderful missionaries, and I can't wait to see what you do in the future! 

(Also, Sister Harrison has been called as a Sister Training Leader in Monroe! I AM SO PROUD!) 

Things have been picking up a little in Purvis. It's a sleepy town. The cows moo more than the people talk. Everyone here is friendly, kind, and loves the Lord with all their heart. I sometimes get hit with waves of how grateful I am to be in Mississippi. There are those who look down on stateside missionaries, and even some who get the call to the states and feel resentful for not being given the opportunity to leave the country. 

I remember opening my mission call and reading aloud my mission's name, the Mississippi Jackson Mission. Something in me just hummed, and I knew that this was home. This was where I belonged, even if I didn't know quite why yet. This was going to be my home for the next year and a half of my life, and I am still so very grateful to be here. Mississppi might feel like an oven from time to time; it might have very angry ants; it might be full of hills that hurt my legs after four miles. But even so, I love it. Mississippi is full of loving, tender-hearted people who absolutely adore the Savior. 

Amongst those who have strong testimonies of the love of Jesus Christ, there are still those who are quietly struggling in the nighttime when the throngs of adversity hit their souls. It breaks my heart when I hear someone we're teaching ask if the Savior has time for them. The Savior has time for all of us, brothers and sisters. He gets it. Whenever I feel blisters on my heels, I think of the wounds Christ bore on His feet. When I run out of water, I think of the Savior on the cross, having to be given vinegar during His suffering. Sometimes I get too hung up on His suffering, on all the pain He endured for me. It pains my heart to think of it. I went through a time believing that I could get through my life without using the atonement; that if I had no true need to repent, then I did not assist in His suffering and that I would be rewarded for that. 

That is not how this works, brothers and sisters. 

Christ gave us a gift, and that gift was the atonement. But you have to remember that Christ's atonement did not end on the cross.

Do you remember that in three days, Christ rose? At one point, that sepulcher was empty, and Christ was walking among men in a glorified, resurrected body that was never to be separated from its soul ever again. Our loving Savior rose so that we could no longer be held down by the chains of death; we can now overcome physical death because our Savior rose. He gave that to us. That is the greatest gift of all, and all He asks is that we use that gift to make ourselves happy. 

I've probably gone on about the Savior's atonement before, but the more I study, the more I realize that it is so central to everything that we do. He asks us to follow Him, just like He did to His fishermen disciples. 

"And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 

And they straightway left their nets, and followed him" (Matthew 4:18-20). 

As a missionary, I take this following almost literally. We are asked to cast our nets aside and follow Him. My net has been my home in Colorado, my family, my friends, my worries, my personal affairs, my infirmities -- everything I thought was most important about life was required to be cast aside. 

Why? I wondered. My family needs me. My friends are my sanity sometimes. What about school? My life? 

But the call came, and I had to cast my nets aside. 

We don't have to be called as missionaries to have nets that are keeping us from following the Savior. While Christ was referring to missionary work when calling the apostles, I know that He has much in store for you if you heed His call and follow Him. 

Since making this decision, I have witnessed so many miracles. The world is much bigger, brighter, broader than you'd ever expect it to be. I always think the sky is much bigger in Mississippi, but the Spirit that is here is what truly touches my heart. The Spirit has led me to people who need love and help. The Spirit has told me to do things I didn't understand, like knocking on houses we might have already tracted. Christ knows what His sheep need. 

What is important is what happens for eternity, brothers and sisters. The decisions you make here are what will affect you for this life and more. The world is changing, but Christ never does. He is waiting for you to take His hand, to lean on Him, to cast your net aside and follow Him. 

Seek Him, and He will come. 

I love y'all. I will have more to tell you next week with Sister Barney! 

Godspeed!

Sincerely, 

Sister Rose 

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