Mothers day

Area: Montpelier/Cokeville

Companion: Sister Espiritu

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-01-1010-to-every-mother?lang=eng

I wanted to start off by saying Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there! :) I found this video and I loved it, so I thought I would share it with you all! I am so grateful for my mom and all that she has done for me. She really truly has been there through all of my tough times and also through the good times. There is no other person that understands me like my mom does. She knows me better than anyone. She is the one who helped me come on my mission and encouraged me... even when I was annoyed. But I will forever be grateful to her! I love you mom! You are wonderful! :)

Well, this past week was.... Im not going to lie... a WONDERFUL WEEK!!!! :) Of course, there are ups and downs, but the ups make up for the downs! And let me tell you, the weather in Montpelier and Cokeville have been to die for gorgeous! I love this time of year here in Idaho. And all of the crops are getting started and the grass is growing and there is so much GREEN everywhere! I love it so much! It makes me so happy! :) Well, I thought that I would add something in that I learned/have been studying this week along with some of the other questions that mom asks me.

Something that I have been studying the last couple of weeks is about trials. There are so many good articles about trials and I would like to share some quotes with you that I have! 

"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is waster. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up out characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God... and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation that we gain the education that we come here to acquire."   -Orson F. Whitney

"Trials give us opportunities to show the Lord and ourselves that we will be faithful. We can choose to feel sorry for ourselves and ask 'Why me?' or we can grow from our trials, increase our faith in the Lord, and ask, 'How can I be faithful in the midst of this trial?' We can let adversity break us down and make us bitter, or we can let it refine us and make us stronger. We can allow adversity to lead us to drift away from the things that matter most, or we can use it as a stepping-stone to grow closer to things of eternal worth."    - Larry Richman 

"Yielding to adversity makes us weaker. Keeping the commandments - no matter how trying - makes us stronger and helps us to overcome every challenge in life. Through faith and obedience, we qualify for the divine spiritual guidance we need to guide us along unknown roads."-Larry Richman 

I love these quotes and they make me so happy! :) I know, without a doubt, that Heavenly Father does not allow us to go through any trial that we can not handle. I know that He will always be there for us when we do go through these trials. Someone told me that Heavenly Father does not give us trials, Satan gives us trials and Heavenly Father allows us to go through them. The thought came to me that the bigger the trial you receive, the stronger the person you must be! So, be grateful for the trials that you have in your life! Another thought I have had is, when we are allowed trials in our life, Heavenly Father trusts us that we are going to turn to Him in time of need and we also need to trust in Him and turn to Him when we are facing trials. He will ALWAYS be there for me. 

 

So, on to the questions... Well some of them at least.. :) 

Q. What has been your biggest challenge this week? 

A. I would have to say that my biggest challenge this week would have to be that my Spanish is not good at all! I am getting so frustrated! haha We have about five or six, sometimes more, Spanish lessons a week and I dont ever know what is going on in them! And, we also play soccer with the Peruvians and they are always speaking Spanish! I mean, granted. I know more Spanish now than I did when I first came out, but I still don't know enough. I know how to pray in Spanish, bare my testimony in Spanish, and ask someone to be baptized, and I also know some little words like eyes, lips, nose, ears, and skirt. But, that wont really get me anywhere in the lessons. Haha I do know that they really appreciate it when I do try and speak Spanish, maybe a little too much because there is a Peruvian that is starting to like me.... Super duper awkward.... Oh yeah! I also know how to say some of the vegetables in Spanish... Only because they use every vegetable name as my nickname. My nickname is growing from just carrot to potato, tomato, lettuce, onion, and many others. Its wonderful :) I think that If I were Spanish called I would be more willing to practice Spanish, but I wasnt haha. 

Q. What has been your biggest concern? 

A. Look above. :) 

Q. What has been our biggest success? 

A. I would have to say that our biggest success is that we got two more investigators! YAY! And guess what! They are Peruvian! Haha its great! I cant communicate with them! :) Haha But it really is great. I just hope that when they do get baptized that they are getting baptized for the right reasons. There are some Peruvians up in Soda Springs that their boss makes them get baptized and when they are baptized, that night, they go and have a drinking party... Not okay. So, we are going to make sure that they are getting baptized for the right reasons and make sure that the know and understand the word of wisdom! 

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... Mama Henderson! She is wonderful. She is our Cokeville mom! She has been out of town for about a month and she is finally back and she is the one that keeps me connected to mom! And I was able to talk with her this week about how much I miss home and how excited I am to get to talk to my mom and dad and my family! By the way, can you believe that we will get to talk in about 6 days and that this will be my last phone call home until I am home! YAY! so way exciting! :) 

Q. What are you looking forward to this coming week? 

A. I dont think that that question needed to asked haha. I am so so so so so way excited to call home! :) It doesnt feel like I really will get to talk to the family this week but it is going to happen and I am so excited! :) 

Well, I guess that I will tell you a little more about our investigators. Kaitlyn is doing great! I think that her dad is doing better than she is though. haha But, I know that as they work together as a family that they will all be blessed. We still need to get them to church though. We are working on that! We just have to take it one day at a time and one addiction at a time. :) 

Betty is doing good. She is holding in there. We still visit her about three times a week. I think that it is funny, everyone is giving her as a referral now and they dont even go see her. I think that it is sad that they think that sending the missionaries over to see her will make it okay for them not to go see her. I think that right now is the time that she really needs friends and she needs the church to help her through this hard time of her losing her husband. I think that next time someone gives us her as a referral that we should just tell them to come along with us and come visit her! :) 

We saw Eli and his family yesterday and they are doing good! We have not yet asked them if we could teach them the lessons. We are trying to build that friendship before we spring the lessons on them. We do share short messages with them when we do go over there though. They really enjoy us coming over and they look forward to us coming over. :) 

Well, those are the people that we meet with the most that are not members. We meet with a lot of less actives and recent converts and they are all doing really well :) I am so happy for the work that we have been blessed with and I know that as we continue to do the Lords work and be obedient, that we will be bless with many more people to teach! :) Well, I hope that you all have enjoyed this email. And I look forward to talking with you on Sunday! I am so way excited! :) This is my last phone call home! :) YAY! 

Well, I love you all and I hope that you all have a wonderful week! :) I pray for you always! Love you bunches and bunches! 

Love, 

Sister Ashley Halbison