Monday, August 29, 2016

WHOA! WE'RE AT A YEAR!

Do I live on a prayer for that, too?

Gooooooooooood (mythical?) morning, y'all! It's a bright, sunshiney day here on the gulf coast. We received quite the storm yesterday! It was certainly awesome to drive in.

Yes. Driving.

WE HAVE A CAR NOW.

The D'iberville elders were kind enough to give us the brand new car they'd retrieved from Brandon. Hilariously, the day we got the car, we were asked to drive to Brandon, Mississippi the next day so that it could get a Tiwi.

Don't know what a Tiwi is? It's basically Satan, but it helps prevent accidents, ticket-receiving, and speeding. It's a really nifty idea, but for some people it's probably the biggest challenge of their missions. (I mentioned and explained Tiwi's in a previous blog post. Y'all might have to do some digging to find it.)

Anyway! After running into a guy who's translating the Bible from Hebrew, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes (WE WEAR MOSQUITO REPELLENT. PROMISE.), and loading up on snacks, Sister Jones and I roadtripped all the way to Brandon on Thursday. What an adventure! After three hours in a car, I finally got to meet the infamous Elder Edwards in the flesh, and see the church building where my mission began a year ago.

That's right! I've officially been a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for twelve whole months. TWELVE! It's been an entire year! WHAT! This time last year, I was being educated on the ins-and-outs of missionary work in Provo, Utah at the Missionary Training Center. I remember sitting in a room with the elders who would be accompanying us to Mississippi -- Elders Webster and Clark. I remember sitting beside my two companions, Sisters Maughan and Elliott. I remember those classrooms like I stepped out of them this morning. It still feels like I did -- except now instead of chuckling when I tell people how long I've been out, they look at me with wide eyes and say, "Oh. You're almost done!"

What.

Weird.

It's been a fast year. It's been a year of ups and downs, growth and climbs. This has been the most challenging, terrifying, most awkward year of my life -- but it has also been the happiest, and the most rewarding.

It's too soon to speak of the end; my work has only just begun. It's not even mine, either; this is the Lord's work. This work is true, brothers and sisters. This gospel is true. I cannot think of a greater task than to be engaged in preaching the gospel side-by-side with the Lord. There is no greater job, no greater work, no greater feeling than to tell those of the happiness Jesus Christ can give them through His gospel, and watching them change because of it.

I feel like only Alma can truly explain my feelings on this subject: "I know the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy" (Alma 29:9).

The Lord has commanded me to preach His gospel to the people of Mississippi. Weird sentence, I know. But, I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

I am not a perfect missionary. I think a lot of people feel like once you put on the nametag, most of your natural man is washed away, and you are carried away in the work of the Lord.

While that latter part is true, your natural man is still loud and growling. Infirmities still bear you down; sometimes you're unsure, sometimes you don't know what to do, sometimes you feel like the most inadequate, under-qualified missionary ever.

But, the Lord does not call the perfect, nor does He call the qualified.

We are all called to preach and teach. You do not have to have a nametag to do this.  "Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor" (D&C 88:81).

As a member of the Church, you have been warned. And if you had a message of danger, of warning, how quickly would you run to be sure everyone knew of what was coming?

What is coming is not scary for those who have a testimony of the restored gospel. I know my Savior. I know my Heavenly Father. I know my place as a daughter. And although I may get confused, I may stumble (and I will), I may cry, I may hesitate, I may not know everything, but if there is one thing I know it is that this gospel is true.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's true Church once again on the earth. There is no stronger conviction in my body than that. I know with a surety that Joseph Smith knelt in a grove of trees and saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Peter, James, and John as resurrected beings did in fact confer the keys of the priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. The Book of Mormon is another testament of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and it contains the fulness of the gospel. It is the key to eternal happiness. It is the stick of Ephraim, and combined with the stick of Judah -- the Bible -- it creates a unified, completed testimony of Jesus Christ.

I know this Church is true. We hear this a lot, but my goodness, it just is. I cannot deny what the Spirit has confirmed to me, or else that would be utter blasphemy. I cannot deny that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father. I am destined for greatness, and guess what? So are you.

Stand firm in your testimony. Make it unshakable. Find one. Build one. If you think I sound crazy and completely out of my mind, then goodness gracious, read the Book of Mormon and take Moroni's promise into your heart!

Because this is true. The work in which I am engaged is completely, one hundred and ten percent true. And I cannot deny that.

Thank you for sticking with me for an entire year. My mom has made aware to me those who read this odd blog, and I don't know where y'all came from, but I'm glad you're here! All I do is talk about Jesus and complain about the heat, but I guess if that's what you're into then you're at the right place.

Thank you for your support, for your love and dedication. Thank you for everything y'all have done for me, my family, for the Lord, and for your fellow brothers and sisters.

I hope y'all have a good week.

Godspeed!

Sincerely,

Sister Rose

 I decided to take some hipster name tag photos #CouldntPickOne


 

This is what a doctor's office looks like while you're companion is getting x-rays #Awkward



My family was SUPER NICE AND SENT ME SHOES -- so I thought I'd contrast Toms when they first arrive against Toms after you've used them in missionary work for five months (THANK YOU, FAMILIA)      






Road tripping to Brandon and it was weird, zombie apocalypse foggy. Also, some of the scenery somewhere in Mississippi.

 




AN ABANDONED GAS STATION. YES.

 I took a selfie with this sign a year ago; I thought it would be fitting to do it again, a year later :)


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