Week 59

September 22, 2009

Well this week has been amazing! I have definitely seen and felt the love of a Heavenly Father. He is always there helping us along the way. At church we had 9 investigators at church. The entire Beaudoin family came! It was so wonderful to see them there! They are progressing well and we continue to teach and prepare them. We reset their baptismal date for after transfers. I am hoping that we will both still be here. I know that they want us both here but we told them that there is chance we won't. They asked if we could come back and we told them that we couldn't. I told them that I could come back after my mission though and spend as much time as I wanted. I promised them a sleepover and they were jumping up and down. It was pretty funny. It made me feel good. The highlight of the week though was yesterday. We had a mission tour and it was AMAZING! It was exactly what I needed to boost me up! It came straight from heaven. Elder Craig C. Christensen of the seventy came to speak to us. We met with half of the mission in Westminster. 6 of the 8 sisters were there. It was fun to see them! Such sweet spirits! Before the meeting started we all lined up in zones in the gym. We sang some hymns while we waited. President and his wife came and greeted us and asked how we all were individually and then Elder Christensen and his wife did the same. Sister Christensen gave us big hugs and thanked us for doing this hard work. She held our hands and just told us how much she loved us. Tears filled my eyes and I felt such a genuine love for and from this great woman! Elder Christensen asked where we were from and how long we had been out. He also asked me if it was what I expected. I told him no, that it was much better than I expected. It is the truth. We waited in the chapel until he was done greeting all of the other missionaries. We heard from a member of our mission presidency and then from Sister Sexton. Then Elder Christensen talked to us. He is an incredible man. He is so full of the spirit. One thing that I really loved was he talked about our calling. He told us that we had been called and prepared from before the foundation of the world. He told us that Heavenly Father knew where we would serve. Someone asked him how the timing worked if a young man didn't go when he was 19. He said that timing doesn't matter to God. We have time in this world to help us have structure and to learn. God doesn't need that. He adjusts when we mess up. His plan is still perfect for each one of us and He has it all planned to succeed. Even if and when we mess up He is right there to help us back and to bless us. I thought that was incredible. How blessed we are to have someone in control who is merciful and loving and always waiting to bless us. He told a story about when he was first called to be a mission president in Mexico City. He told us that he got several phone calls about missionaries that had been assaulted or injured in some degree. He finally told Heavenly Father that he couldn't do it. It was too much. He said the answer came like this, "I am doing the work, all you have to do is listen." It is true. I have seen it in my own mission. Any baptism you can see that God placed that person in your path and you were just the mouthpiece of the message. It is incredible. I love this gospel. He told us that we all have to do the same thing to know the Lord's will for us. He said "President Monson doesn't wake up with a to do list on his pillow in the morning from the Lord." He has to study it and ponder it and ask just like the rest of us. It is always reassuring to know that we are all the same and the God takes time to talk to me just as much as anyone else. It is all dependent on us. We talked about being sanctified and how we get the glow in our eyes when we walk off that plane. He told us that its not by studying deep doctrine but by living by the spirit. The more we trust in the spirit the more we have the spirit upon us. We receive Christ in our countenance. One thing that struck home was he said that you can't apply the world to a mission. The way we succeed in the world isn't the way to be a good missionary. I have always known that but when he said it I felt the truth of that statement. The greatest calling in the world is to be a missionary. He is a true servant of God. I felt the love of my Heavenly Father as He spoke. I know that he was answering my prayers in the words he said. He was speaking by the spirit. His wife talked about the Articles of Faith. She told us to teach them because they came from a man that was closest to God. They explain the doctrines of the gospel more than I could. They are things that the world doesn't know but are what they need to know to make it in the next life. President expressed his love for each one of us. He said that he didn't have us shine our shoes and get haircuts because he wanted to impress Elder Christensen. He wanted us to look as good as we are. He wanted to inside to show on the outside. Every time I hear him speak I know that this is the mission I am supposed to serve in. I sang in a quartet. It felt good to sing. I am amazed that we could meet together in the morning and practice for 5-10 min and be able to sing. The Lord helped us because he knew that we wouldn't be able to take the time to practice because we had a more important work to do. After we finished we ate lunch. One of the stakes had prepared a Thanksgiving meal for us. It was really good. They brought out pie and I wasn't going to get any. President saw that none of sisters were going to get pie so he came over to tell us it was there. We said we know and he said do you want me to bring the cart over? We told him no. He was worried that the elders would eat all of it and that we wouldn't get any. So we got some and ate it. I couldn't eat it all. I didn't even eat my whole plate of food. Elder and Sister Christensen sat with us. It was very enjoyable to sit and eat with them. They are great people. They told us about their schedules and how busy they are. He said that Mondays are their "P days". She said, "He is spending his 'p day' with you". It was a lovely experience. When they got up and left, Sister Haycock said" We just ate lunch with a general authority! That is so cool!" I just laughed inside. It was an incredible experience! I love all you and hope that you have a wonderful week. I know that this gospel is true with all my heart. I have seen evidence of it everyday of my life. Until next week...Love Sister Mickelsen