Companion: Sister Espiritu
HELLO my BEAUTIFUL family! How is everyone doing this fine and lovely Monday?! This week has been wonderful and full of sunshine and sunburns! :) I am so happy this morning! I am not completely sure why, but I am! :) I guess I am just happy that it is Monday and that we get to go hiking again and also, that it is the start of another wonderful beautiful week and that means, another work of full missionary work! YES! :) Well, I hope everyone is okay with the whole questions thing because it kinda helps me to keep my week organized! Lol :) So, I thought I would do that again today. And I thought I would also add something that I learned this past week! :) So, I guess that I will start with what I learned! :)
So, yesterday before Stake Conference I had a very good personal study and it was all about prayer. And I thought that I would talk about that because prayer is so important in our everyday lives. I read a lot in preach my gospel and in PMG is had a section of where you could rate yourselves and see how well your prayers are. So, I took those, and I made a list and I called it...
Elements of a good prayer:
1) Strong faith in Christ
2) Full of thanks
3) Mind focused on the work
4) Actions fulfill prayers
5) Focus on today's needs
6) Edifying, refreshing
7) Focus on pure thoughts
8) Mindful of other people
9) Specific, not general
10) The spirit guides the prayer
11) Confident that God answers prayers
And also in PMG there is a list of scriptures and they tell you of things that you should pray for... So I made a list and called it...
Pray for:
1) Others who know not God (Alma 6:16)
2) Strength against temptation (Alma 13:28)
3) Protection of home
Welfare of others (Alma 34:17-27)
4) Direction in all things
Protection in sleep (Alma 37:36-37)
5) Answers (3 Nephi 18:20)
6) The Holy Ghost to be with you (3 Nephi 19:9)
7) Forgiveness (D&C 50:29-30)
I encourage each of you to look up these scriptures. They are so good and give so much guidance! But, last night as I was saying my nightly prayers, I had these lists in mind and at the very beginning of my prayer, I asked that the spirit would lead and guide my thoughts and my prayer. And just starting with that made a huge difference in my prayer. And I could feel a difference when I was done praying. I felt like I had truly had a conversation with my Heavenly Father and that He was listening to everything that I had to say. I am so grateful for prayer and for the chance that I do have to talk to my Father in Heaven. And I am so happy that I know that it is not just a one way communication. It goes both ways. He wants to answer our prayers as much as he wants to hear from us. This week, think about your prayers with you say them, and think about what you really and truly need to say to Heavenly Father. There are also some quotes that I would like to share with you...
"The trouble with more of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the telephone and ordering groceries - we place our order and hang up. We need to meditate, contemplate, think of what we are praying about and for and then speak to the Lord as one man speaketh to another." - President Gordon B. Hinckley
"If prayer is only a spasmodic cry at the time of crisis, this it is utterly selfish. and we come to think of God as a repairman of a service agency to help us only in our emergencies. We should remember the Most High day and night - always - not only at times when all other assistance has failed and we desperately need help." - President Howard W. Hunter
I hope that you will sit and ponder the words that the prophets have said about prayer and think of how important prayer really is. :) I know that prayer has blessed my life so much and again, I am so grateful for the communication that I have with my Father in Heaven.
So, now on to the questions...
Q. What has been your biggest trial this week?
A. Well, I feel that a trial should have to do with some of our investigators, but really, they are doing fabulous and there have been no hard times with them. But, guess what one of my trials have been... It has to do with me getting hurt! Surprised! Haha I didnt think so. Well, on Wednesday night, we were playing soccer with some of the Peruvians and some of the Peruvians from Soda Springs came down as well, so it was only right that the Zone Leaders from Soda Springs come as well. So, Elder Haws and Elder Todd come and play soccer with us. It was a lot of fun! But, as I was going to kick the ball, an elder (name has been withheld you have a 50 50 chance of getting the right Elder) wanted to kick the ball as well. He kicked me right in my shin haha It was not pretty. I was laughing so hard because I did not want to cry. :) I am getting super tough! But, I had to sit out along with him because he hurt his toe really bad. I would not be surprised if he broke it. But, my leg swelled up and bruised pretty fast and my whole leg turned purple. Well, as I was sitting there talking to this Elder, the ball came flying at me and hit me right on the side of my head and that hurt just as bad as the leg. I then again to laugh because I did not want to cry. Haha But, I couldn't walk on my leg fully until Friday. :) So, needless to say, I am doing a lot better and you don't have to worry about me! There is just not a dent in my leg! But, I will be okay! :) Haha this story probably did not come as a surprise to you. So, That would have to be the biggest trial, because the next day I had the worst headache and my leg was really bad so we had to go in early. :/
Q. what has been your biggest concern?
A. Hmmm... I have to think about this one. I don't usually worry or am very concerned about things. I usually just come up with something on this one. But, I would have to say that I didn't really have anything to be concerned about this week. I have really learned that in missionary work you need to put your trust in the Lord and have faith in Him and rely on Him that everything will be okay as long as you do His work according to His will. So, I have been really working on that one this week! :) So, no concerns!
Q. What has been your greatest blessing?
A. I would have to say that the greatest blessing this week would have to be the fact that we had the wonderful opportunity to go sheer some sheep. Okay, we didn't do the sheering but we were able to help. They have professionals that do the sheering. It was not only a blessing because we had the chance of learning and doing something new. But, it was a huge blessing in the fact that we were able to be around a lot of non-members. And all of the workers were Peruvians. They would ask us a lot about the church (mostly Sister Espiritu since I dont speak good Spanish) and we had the chance to introduce them to the gospel. And you want to know the wonderful thing about that is? They were interested in learning more, and because of us going out and helping to sheer sheep, we have two new investigators, sadly one of them is going to Utah, but t least we shared the gospel with her. And there are also more Peruvians that want to learn more. We are working with Dennis Hunzker who is a member and working on getting him to let the Peruvians get off work for at least one hour on Sundays so they can go to church. Because, all of the Peruvians that we have taught want to be baptized and in order for them to be baptized, they have to go to church. So, we are working on Dennis! Lol But, sheep sheering, even though it was hot and tiring, it was a great blessing to us!
Q. Who has been your favorite person this week? Why?
A. I would have to say that my favorite person this week would have to be Roger Hunzeker! He is the brother to Dennis and he is so on board with us teaching the Peruvians. He invites them into their home and he tries so hard to get hem to come to church on Sunday. He just needs to stand up to his brother. But, he has helped us out so much. And he does what every member should do.... He sets up an appointment with the investigator and calls us and tells us about it and we are there! He has been such a huge help to our area!
Q. What are you looking forward to this coming week?
A. This is really exciting! So, in Paris, they have a tabernacle and they are wanting Sister Espiritu and I to do some tours there! So, we have a meeting on Thursday to be trained on how they want us to do the tours. They are wanting us to come over Tuesday thoughFriday. But we are thinking that we will start with just Wednesday's and Friday's I am really excited and it will give us a new experience! :)
Q. Do you have a goal set for this coming week? Tell me about it.
A. The goal that I have for this coming week is to have more productive personal studies. I really wish that we had more than an hour to study in the mornings because an hour is just not enough time. We actually sometimes go into our companionship study to have a little more extra time on personal study. But, now is the perfect time to learn more about the gospel, and I want to take every opportunity that I have to learn more and more each and every day. I feel that I can never learn enough in just one hour. So, I want to take that hour and make it as productive as I can. :)
Q. What was a tender mercy this week?
A. I would have to say that a tender mercy this week was the fact the we had the wonderful opportunity to go to the temple with all of the Sisters in the mission. It was a tender mercy for more than one reason. We were able to get a ride from some members in my first area from Pocatello up to Idaho Falls and that was so good to be able to talk with them and to catch up and to hear how the area is doing. And I look forward to seeing them again in about 5 months. But, at the temple I was also able to see some of my past companions! They are all doing so great! I am so grateful for all of the many beautiful and wonderful sisters that I have had the opportunity to serve with! They are all so great and I have so much love for them and I know that we will be friends forever! :) And, I was also able to see Bishop and Sister Rocknak from my last area! They are the ones who we lived with! They are so great! I miss them so much! It was so good to see them again. And there was also another Sister that I was able to see from my last area as well. Sister Sever. She is such a sweetheart and she is doing great! And, I was also able to see Sister Huntsman! She served in the Mission Office and I would see her about once a week and whenever we would go in there she would always give us hugs and kisses! I was so sad when she was released and I was so happy to see her again! I for sure want to go see her after the mission. And the best part of the day was the fact that we were able to go to the temple. The temple is a beautiful place and so peaceful. I am so grateful that I am worthy to enter into the Lords house and to take upon myself the covenants that come with entering into the temple. What a wonderful blessing the temple is to all of us. :)
Well, those were all of the questions... I guess I will add a few more things. This week we received a call from our Zone Leaders and they gave us a referral for a lady that had just gotten our of prison. We received it last Monday from our ward mission leader but all we knew was that she was a member and that she wanted to get back on the right track. But, our ward mission leader forgot to mention that she had a nine year old daughter that wanted to get baptized! :) YAY! So that was very exciting.
Something else that is exciting is that our district leader and his companion have a man that they are teaching, and he is actually moving into our area and he is wanting to be baptized and he has a date set in June! :) How exciting! So, we can potentially have two baptisms in June! I am sad to say that we will probably not get a baptism in the month of May, but that's okay because we are working with a lot of people and we are helping them understand the gospel more and more each time we visit with them. The work has been a little slow lately, but we are working on getting it going again! :) And I know that as I keep the faith, that we will be so blessed! :)
Well, Kaitlyn is being Kaitlyn and has not really improved any. But, her dad is doing great and he has stopped chewing and he is well on his was to receiving the priesthood! We still just need to get him to come to church! But that will come with time! :)
John, the guy that I talked about last week and how he wants to get baptized. Well, we went and met him last Monday, the day we received the referral and he was so excited to see us and he was all happy to get baptized and we tried to set a date with him but he said that he wanted to talk with his kids about it first. So, we told him that we would be back the next day. We went back and he told us that he was not interested at the moment and that he still had things to learn and we tried to tell him that that was the reason we were there. But he said that he did not want to take up our time. So, we are still going to go visit and hope that he becomes interested again! :)
Well, I think that this is long enough for today! :) I hope that you are all doing well and that you are always looking for ways to share the gospel! I love you all so much! And I want you to know that you are all in my prayers! I can not wait to see you all again soon! :)
Love,
Sister Ashley Halbison
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