Christmas continued

Dear Family-

It was so good to hear your voices!! so surreal it was weird...haha but I hope you all know how much i love you and I hope you guys had a merry, happy, restful christmas! things here were busy- we shared the "candy cane" message with as many people as we could and we wrapped up little presents for all the people we saw that day and handed out 4 Book of Mormons! so Christmas was good- honestly it didnt really feel like christmas it felt like every other day of work bc for us everyday is christ centered and full of people to share it with. so yes- that was christmas, after i talked to you guys we went straight to a recent convert's house, she has a lot of disabilities but she is truly the sweetest, cutest little thing so it was good to share that day with her. then we had a big (very southern) christmas dinner full of cornbread stuffing, and corn souffle, sweet potato pie and a bunch of other things that just screamed, "I'm in the South" haha so i loved it..it was very memorable. But the rest of the week- wow a lot hapened.

I did a tradeoff this week with a new sister who has been struggling a lot. She has only been out 2 weeks- so I went with her to her area to do some training with her for a day and she is a campus missionary so we went out to FSU campus to do some contacting after we did training, studying, area book updating/organizing, and appointment making- and guess what! haha so of course- we just so happened to arrive just as the FSU football team was leaving practice and doing all these interviews- it was so weird we just walked there and there were all these crowds of people (perfect for us as missionaries!) and i had no idea what was going on (i have never been on campus before as a missionary) but apparently they are undefeated right now and their quarterback just won the Heisman so it was pretty cool- and random.I took some pictures just for dad and jared- but heres the really cool part- we ended up placing a book of mormon to this guy there after talking to him about it and then we talked to the assistant coach and gave him a mormon.org card and had a good discussion with him. Then we ended up talking to one of the players and teaching him about the church and the website and he was genuinely interested and accepted a card haha it was awesome!! so yeah- now one of the FSU football players is being taught by the elders :) pretty sweet!

We had something else cool happen this week- one of our investigators Cierra, 22 yrs old, she has some slight autism, and she is truly one of the sweetest and most gentle daughters of God I have ever met. I love her. Well she came to church for the first time this sunday (she was nervous to come) but we assured her she would be treated kindly and we would be there with her every step of the way. well she came and after sacrament i asked her how she felt and she said she felt more comfortable and less nervous- then after gospel principles she said, "I am really feeling good!" and then after 3rd hour it escalated to her saying, "Ok- how do i join this church?" I told her, "You just keep meeting with us to learn and reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church and then you get baptized!" she just said, "Ok- when can i get baptized? I want to get baptized. I feel home." :)) I just gave her a big hug- we are setting a baptismal date with her for the 18th of january. It's pretty cool because she has been looking for a "church" for a long time but she said something always held her back from baptism until now- her dad has given her permission to choose for herself- he is a very kind man so yes- its a miracle- we actually met with her bc she saw an add on tv and called to answer a "joy to the world" dvd. the world works in mysterious ways!!

    Some sad news however- our investigator lashawn- who I am VERY close to and who has a baptismal date for the 18th as well, and who has been progressing so AMAZINGLY- we have not been able to meet with all  week and she didnt come to church- we had an appointment set up with her but she moved after our last appointment, which she told us about- but we dont have a number for her bc she doesnt have a phone and she didnt tell us the name of the complex she moved to bc she wasnt sure at the time- we only know the rough location- so after she missed our appointment and we realized we had no way of getting ahold of her (and we had an amazing lesson prepared) we went out and searched, on foot, every apartment complex in the vicinity asking for her but to no avail...she is gone with us having no way to contact her....but i know God saw the effort we put in and we have been praying to find her some how so please family if you could join us in praying to find LaShawn so we can continue to work with her and prepare her for baptism- she was so genuine- i don't know what happened but I have faith we will find her and see her again.

On thursdays we volunteer at a homeless shelter where we give out food and supplies and we met a man there named David who has just gotten out of jail and is now a volunteer there. He is awesome- missing teeth, tattoos everywhere, and huge- mom i couldnt help but think of you and what you told me...haha i am sure you remember without me having to say!! haha but anyways- we got into a really good discussion with him and he is searching for "truth and light" and he said, "I just want to do God's will now" so he has been filling his life with service ever since he got out of jail and he said he has never been happier- well we testified to him of why we were out here as missionary's and how we have found truth in light in His gospel- he was riveted- we gave him a pass along card and invited him to church next sunday and he was quiet for a minute then looked at us and said, "i will. why not? I will." it was pretty cool. well- i am out of time but I love you guys so much. the mission is flying...i treasure these experiences and pray that God will help me be the best i can. write soon!

love sis b

Merry CHRISTtmas from Tally!

Dear Family <3

well first of all I want to wish my one and only big sis Ashley Happy 23rd birthday!! I confess it was hard for me to wake up saturday morning knowing it was your bday and not being able to see/talk to you- it made me a wee bit homesick for you! my poor companion i think i told her 20 times that it was your birthday haha it became a joke to us i said it so much...but know how much i love you!! seriously- you are in my thoughts and heart more than you know. love you. I havent struggled with feeling homesick on my mission and I really feel the Lord has blessed me in this capacity but im not gonna  lie this sunday was hard and a little tearful for me and my comp- in rs this woman came up to us and read a poem about a "missionary christmas" and how she knows that we are "someones daughter and sister" and yeah- she basically made me feel really homesick for the first time on my mission- it was bad!! but i was sitting next to our investigator LaShawn who I love with my whole heart- so when she saw me crying she said, "you my family" and it touched me so much I just hugged her and felt such deep joy. 

It's hard being away at christmas yes- BUT it IS worth it- I truly know that I am where I need to be, and I love it- I know this is where i need to be right now. Me and my comp have planned a full day of glorious work visiting people who are without family on christmas eve and christmas day- so both days we will rise and go to work like every other day- we have decided not to spend it with members and relaxing and celebrating- we have decided the best way to honor our Savior during this precious time we represent Him is to spend that day working and serving His children, "the fruit that hangs low". We have a lot of opportunity for that here in Tally too, there are so many who have nothing- one old woman Eulys, said she will be home alone on Christmas, we looked at each other and said, "no you won't! we will be here with our scriptures, and a christmas message on Christmas day!" she was so excited...we are seeing another woman Kim with disabilities who is alone, and many others.

I want you all to know I have truly been pondering in my heart the gift I want to give my Savior this Christmas...I am giving Him the best thing I have to offer Him because it is the hardest thing for me to give- He already has my heart...but the gift I am giving Him this Christmas is my WILL. I am very strong willed, and like to have control of my surroundings but I know that I have given everything else but my will and desire to have my way in certain things, but after much studying, prayer, pondering and spiritual experiences- I relinquish that and give my will fully to Him and seek to do His will in all things. That is why I am not homesick, or focused on relaxing on Christmas- I just want to do what He would do if He were here! I'm a missionary! That's my job and I love it.       

 

Also- we are being so blessed- our investigator LawShawn came to church again and we met with her 2 times this week (restoration and BOM is what we taught). we committed her to be baptized on January 18th!! she is seeing miracles in her life- she is reading the BOM everday! we are also going to begin teaching her boyfriend.        Our investigator Peggy received a priesthood blessing for the first time and came to church for the first time and surprised us!! So much progression going on with so many people- the Lord is working miracles through us and through these people. I trust Him fully. I do- that is also why I am at peace giving Him my will- its truly the finest offering I have ever given Him- He's been waiting for some time. i thought going on a mission was giving Him my will- now I see that was only the beginning. I am now more easily entreated, more patient, more at peace, more trusting-about a million other things- I am amazed at how He's refining me- I know I have lots more to go, but now I know obedience is how its done so I have peace for the future and the present because He has shown me His power time and time again. My prayers are even different now. when expectations or situations are asked of me that make me feel overwhelmed/ or are unknown, instead of stressing or questioning I just go straight to Him and tell Him I will do it, I just need Him to be with me and change/strengthen me so I can- and then I just do it. Without questioning or even knowing how it will work out- I just trust and somehow every time it goes even better than I could have imagined!! Like nephi 3:7 says- God never asks something of us without providing a way for us to accomplish it. I have a testimony of that and He is letting me put that to the test!

This week we had our 1/2 mission conference- it was such a spiritual experience. All the missionary's were there and President and our mission presidency- there was a Christmas program put on by any missionaries who had a talent to share- well I was on there as the last performer, singning "Silent Night" with Sis. Gossling playing the piano for me. We hadn't had any time to practice bc I was transferred away from her, and I gave her my only sheet music so I was flying blind with only my little hymn book! yeah- I was stressing. I realized all I cared about was being able to bring the Spirit there so I prayed for that and then all fear left me only peace calm and faith remained- even though i still had no sheet music, or practice- I knew that God was with me as was the Spirit and with that I knew I couldn't fail. Walking up there I and looking at the 100+ missionaries I felt complete calm and was bursting with a desire to sing! Well- i have never sung like that before- what came out was not my own it was a very spiritual experience for me- I felt I could barely contain all the power i felt inside me from on high! I have never felt so full of the Spirit. I give it all to God- and that experience only taught me again that I dont need to rely on me, I dont matter half as much as what God can make of me- what a thing He's teaching me! even through one simple silly singing performance.

    I also had my first exchange with a sister, who came to my area for training, I was her comp for the day- I was nervous bc I have only been here for a week and now I had to drive around big highways and lead out in this enormous area?! overwhelming- so what did i do? I thought about my singing experience and knew I was unprepared- but I also knew that I was doing what my Heavenly father called me to do, so if i am trying to do His will no matter how impossible or unknown the task may seem- I knew I was entitled to His help. I thought of Nephi and what He did when God asked Him to build a ship without any tools! So I didnt stress or question- I just prayed and told God I trusted Him and asked Him to lead me and lead our day just like He has in times past. I told Him I trusted Him and that any success we had that day I would give to Him. WELL family I am here to tell you that that day on the exchange with Sis. Fuja (shes only been out 4 months but is awesome!) went amazingly! We shared some of the most spiritual expereinces I have ever had on my mission together that day! we found 4 new investigators and placed 4 Book of Mormons in one day!! we had amazing lessons, one every hour of the day, and afterwards sis. Fuja said she has never had such a spiritual experience on her mission as she did today- we met a girl Ciara who was referral who is handicapped and so sweet, and her niece harmony is AMAZING! She joined us in our lesson and said, "this is more than just a church, this is Christ's home." me and sis. Fuja just looked at each other and tears filled our eyes. I have never heard such a response after reading the BOM introduction- it was choice. She then said, 'I already know this book is true" and she took notes on everything we taught! God led that day IMMACULATELY. 

I would go on and on but time is short- one funny thing- we taught this lady Emily and she was such a hoot she lives in a rough neighborhood and every other word out of her mouth was, "bless you chyle! Bless you chyle!" or randomly, "praise the lord praise the lord!" just totally randomly throughout the lesson hahaha it was hilarious i love these people.  anyways so yeah things are going great, but pray for me! I have never worked so hard in my life but what miracles we see...thank you so much for the package!!  It was so exciting seeing presents- it doesnt really feel like christmas to me I just feel like a missionary so that was really fun to open something that had my name on it and was actually for me- it felt weird! I love you guys so much. I have tons of pictures I need to send...eventually I will. did you get my christmas card? :) love yall.

sis. B

"Do my will and ye shall know my doctrine" John 7:17

Dear Family-

I'm in Tallahassee now! I cannot tell you how different it is- totally different world/experience than the first year of my mission my whole world is different but my work and my purpose is the same so i'm just fine. I have actually NEVER been anywhere like Tallahassee before- the college part of it with all the campuses and restaurants and city parts reminds me of Provo which is weird because I feel like my "college life" is a dream and I have really just been a missionary my whole life- so its weird haha. but the other parts? wow...hoods. a lot of ghetto areas oh dad you would die if you saw some of the areas we go into!! so would you mom- it is a whole other world like I have never seen before and we are the only 2 white girls in it and we have skirts and name-tags to complete it ha- its crazy!! I know if I were not a set apart missionary I would never be in this place but because I am I get to and I love that- its amazing. I love these people!!!! I fell in love with them! and I'm glad i did because leaving Gulf breeze and those people that i gave my heart to was HARD. Hernandez's was hard. Jaecy was hard..sis. stubbs. Carla...I didnt cry saying goodbye to anyone until her- i was fine until i walked down the steps of her trailer and looked behind me at her in the doorway holding braedon- sobs just rose out of me I could not control! I ran back to her and she started sobbing too it was pretty bad- i thought my heart would burst- she has changed so much! she said, "Im gonna prove you right sis. B! Im gonna prove you right and make you proud and not give up. God wont give up on me either." she will be okay i just told her how much i love her. always will.

However- I was ready to leave and have a new adventure and go where God wants me and where people need me- i felt great peace as I prayed and relied on God he gave me strength. Also some more news- I didnt know until transfers- but I am actually the head sister training leader along with my companion sis. Harris. we are basically the female AP's of the mission and over all the sisters (that is how its been described to me) and our responsibilities include not only training the sisters in our zone, but training all the other sister training leaders of the mission! we also work closely with the mission president and His wife, the AP's, and teach at zone conferences and attend the leadership meetings. what an honor- so much work and responsibility- I cannot express how busy we are and how much we do in addition to our missionary work responsibilities working with all the sisters- but I LOVE IT!!!! 

The Lord knows me well- he knows what I need- this leadership responsibility motivates me and helped me to be excited to leave Gulf Breeze and take on this new world- how President put it- "this is going to change your mission experience." leadership. I love it. I am fully incapable without the Lord and rely on Him fully- I cannot stress this enough!! I would be lost without His blessings and the guidance and direction and inspiration of His Spirit. But I am honored and humbled for this leadership opportunity and trust. It has caused me to really step up my game- the Lord has let me know how I can improve- we need to be model, ideal, example sister missionaries because literally every sister in this mission looks to us as an example and sister Harris is AMAZING- exactly obedient to EVERY mission rule- there is nothing we let slide or be sloppy i have never lived to tightly in and regimented in my life. we even wake up earlier than everyone else just so we are exactly on time. we work 13 hour days...at first i was panicked and felt i could never truly live this way everyday-  but I made a decision- I would not be called to this position if I couldn't do it- God is trying to mld me and He does this through asking us to submit our will and obey him in ALL THINGS- so I got on my knees, cried, prayed, and prayed and prayed. I asked Him to strengthen me and told Him I was willing to do it if He would just be by my side the whole time and help me love the people and find the people he sent me here for. then I got up and wow- did He show forth His power!! He has never left my side since. I feel enhanced patience, and my headaches have subsided, He literally has enhanced my endurance and attitude and mental clarity. And on top of that? We have already seen miracles!! 

I love sister Harris she is incredible- our apartment is only one room, one bathroom and a kitchen. I love sister Harris and we are such good friends that we truly strengthen each other. We have less time than other sisters to work- and sis. Harris was worried our area would suffer but I said that God would bring us people and help us in our work as He sees us doing our other responsibilities- and He did!! we received a referral saturday night- her name is LaShawn- and guess what?! she came to church the next day and after church we had the Plan of Salvation lesson with her and it went AMAZING!! I have never seen such a powerful lesson- she is SO prepared. 

I sat with her all day in church and we just talked and talked and I just fell in love her! we have another appointment with her Wednesday. Miraculous. Humbling. Incredible. This is God's work- I love being a part of it. At the end of the lesson she was baffled and said she had been looking for these answers for 10 years and couldnt believe we just answered them all. we have sisters on FSU campus and they gave her bf our card which is how she got ahold of us!! at the end of the lesson she gave the prayer- the most beautiful prayer i have ever heard, it was like a whisper..and she cried the whole time- after we were hugging and she looked at me and said, "I swear I know your face- I know you from somewhere...I know your face" i just looked at her and sister Harris pointed to the picture of the Spirit world and she cried and said, "oh sista I knew you there!!" and she cried and hugged me more. wow. LaShawn is a young, beautiful black woman with a 2 yr old daughter. I love her. There are many other stories but I am out of time. 

 We are not taking a break for Christmas we decided we are going to make a list of lonely people here and spend all day seeing all of them- I am SO EXCITED!! we are going to find the mr. Kreugers of tallahassee :))) also! funny story- we were going to contact another referral (we get tons :) and on our way there we were shocked to see a police man there arresting her for battery!! she wasnt there but we gave him her info so he could find her...haha welcome to Tallahassee!! guess we wont be teaching her...haha we had a good laugh. I really want pictures and letters from yall- my new address is:

1900 Centre Pointe Blvd. #213

Tallahassee, FL 32308

we also volunteer at a shelter that gives out free groceries to homeless people- we do it 2 hours every sat- I have NEVER seen such poverty- I felt in another world it made me cry to see person after person, family after family in the cold, and have to check them in, and see their joy and gratitude after receiving a bag of food- it made me cry. I love this work though. My favorite thing to be called is "Sis. B" other than mom or wife- I think 'Sis. B" will always be my favorite title because of the people who have called me by that name. I love you all and look forward to skyping with you next week. Merry Christmas! I love you family so much.

Sis. B

"My Cup Runneth Over"

Dearest Family-

 It's official- I am being transferred to Tallahassee to be a Sister Training Leader!! Also I will be reunited with my beloved Sister Treiber! :D It feels so right! I am excited for this leadership position and the spirit has been preparing me to leave my beloved gulf Breeze for 6 weeks so I have said my goodbyes all along.  

We had a baptism and let me tell you- it was AMAZING!! The Spirit was sooo strong....I have never known such joy. truly. truly. to see Lisa be baptized and to see her progression in just 6 weeks from start to finish? this is truly a gospel of change. This tells me the Lord accepts our service here and is pleased with our work- it also leaves me motivated to be even better and be an even better missionary for such a Gracious Glorious God. Words fail to convey the smallest part of what I feel- my cup runneth over. this sunday Laura and Lisa received the Holy Ghost and were welcomed in as the newest members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- truly Christs church restored in full to the earth! I felt such peace and joy and Heavenly Fathers joy, and I just felt so humbled and overcome with the Spirit. Lisa was so happy and her son is so excited to be baptized in March. Also another miracle- my dear friends the Stubbs surprised me at the baptism by bringing their sweet 16 month old adopted daughter Makena!! To see Sis. Stubbs do what she does best- be a mother- I could not stop crying for joy for her. What a miracle to see her as a mother and to see her righteous desires she so deserves fulfilled. I love her so much and her daughter Makena is BEAUTIFUL. I can truly leave in peace. I will be saying goodbye and taking pictures with everyone all day.

Also I got to sing one last time- I sang the First Noel- I was grateful for the Spirit and power I felt while singing- I know I wouldn't be able to sing without the Spirit. 

   Some other amazing things happened this last week- we went to dinner with some young women, Ari and Kara they are both seniors and my dear friends. Ari wants to serve a mission and kara is considering it- they were asking us lots of questions and for advice but the amazing part was when kara said, "I want to serve a mission but I have a problem- I have to work out everyday. I can't let that go." ha! I couldn't help but laugh! She sounded jussssttttttt like me before my mission- and I knew the Lord had placed me here with her to be able to help her overcome a struggle so near and dear to my heart- I testified and shared with her how I came to let that go, and realized the eternal perspective and how we are given a body to be on earth to progress so to let your body which is a gift from god hold you back from spiritually progressing...that makes no sense! man she was riveted- she was listening. then at the end she was just silent. "that makes perfect sense..." she said then she was just looking down and we all carried on with other conversation. Well 2 days ago I got a text from her saying that what was said that night what what she needed to hear and it really resonated in her and silenced her fears and answered her question, she said, "I know I need to serve a mission. I will." I was so touched...so overjoyed because I know that she just made the best decision of her life. When faith overcomes fear progression ensues. 

I recently got a blessing- in it it said, "Do not stress about your future- He is in it." when I heard this I felt a power enter into my whole soul that drew tears from my eyes because I could feel the reality of this truth...the Spirit truly bore witness to me of that. He went on to say that, "You are serving here and now because the Lord needs you here and now," Oh to be needed and used by the Lord! That is among my greatest desires and joys....He again repeated that I need not stress about the future because I am doing what He needs me to do, and as I strive to be celestial and submit my will and love His Children as Christ did- "blessings will ensue and you will see miracles in your areas and in yourself. Your Heavenly Father wishes you to be comforted of the future and wants you to know He is taking care of you. He is proud of you. He loves you. Blessings will come." wow. this was especially amazing to hear because of the phrasing that "he is taking care of you". Weeks previously I was in deep prayer with God concerning matters of my heart after grandpa's passing, which was truly one of the most painful difficult times in my life, I remember distinctly asking God, "Why do you want me to just take care of your Kids- who is taking care of me?" well....this was a pretty direct response to that. And He has shown me in a million other ways just how silly that question was! I will never question that again. 

 i will give you my new address next week. I love you all tons. I want you to know I have a estimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I just want to talk about Him for a moment- in my personal studies I am at 3 Ne. and I am reading the saviors words to the people in the Americas when He appeaed after His crucifiction. I have LOVED starting my day of with reading His words- it has softened my heart, inspired my mind and ennobled my soul to read His words- that is why the Book of Mormon is so amazing- we have so much more of His words and teachings straight from His mouth...I have most especially been touched to read how frequently and easily the Savior wept. Hope you are having a merry christmas season so far- I love being a missionary during this time of year. I love how Christ centered everyone is now- my heart is really touched and I am excited to serve the people and sister missionaries in Tallahassee- I have a feeling much awaits me there :) love you guys.

Sis. B

Thanksgiving

Dearest family-

I hope you all had a very good thanksgiving! you will be very entertained to hear that we had 3 thanksgiving dinners!! lol AND i had my very first deep fried turkey- a southern favorite at thanksgiving it was pretty cool to watch him make it- and not gonna  lie! it was amazingly delicious- i just didn't eat the fried part lol but all in all it was a really great thanksgiving. we had our second dinner at the fillmores house with the barclays (both of their husbands are deployed right now) and the Magers came too!! so that was a dream come true, to have thanksgiving with a family being baptized this week :) what a blessing.

 me and sister schmidt made a really cute activity /lesson to bring into the homes we went to- we cute out a tree and a bunch of leaves we drew, and then we had all the families write what they are thankful for and put the leaves on the tree- everyone loved it! very fun to be a missionary during the holidays- i love seeing all the christmas decorations. We got to help lots of people cook and even do a little christmas decorating which is good bc we have no decorations in our apartment. (which is fine bc we are NEVER home always out working:) 

Transfers are next monday. so  will know where i am going in a week and then on wednesday the 11th i will move there. I know this is my last week so i am trying to really savor every little thing, person place and experience. This week is just us seeing all the people i want to say goodbye to and have one last lesson and bear my testimony to them. we have Lisa's baptism this saturday at 11 am but her husband's date is being moved to Januay 2th- its really cool to pray about when someone should be baptized and then to have a clear and specific date come to your mind immediately after- its just cool to see how the spirit works. 

   So this sunday i bore my testimony in Gulf Breeze for the last time- i focused on the savior's love for each of us and of our divinity and identity as children of God. Elder Sanders bore his last testimony too- really powerful- on the atonement and repentance. really powerful. I have loved Gulf Breeze. this morning we went running on the beach and a little miracle happened- a tender mercy- i have been looking for a whole sand dollar for the past 10 months- i have never been able to find one that isnt chipped or broken- well this morning as we were running on the beach, i was so overwhelmed by the beauty and so grateful to be there and marvelling all over again about the fact that I am 2/3 done with my mission here in Florida...so surreal...and i thought to myself, "I never did find a sand dollar...i only have one more monday on the beach to find one..." then i looked down and to my astonishment- there was a perfect pristine whole sand dollar in the sand!! I found one just in time!! that is always how the lord works....he lets us be tried and pushes us to the very end- then if we endure it well and hold out faithful- he always delivers. God always keeps his promises to the faithful. anyways i was overjoyed!! haha i have it and took a picture of it along with some other amazing shells i found and kept from the beach today. today was warm. 75 degrees! gotta love florida....I have a lot of pictures for you guys. 

Last night we watched the Joseph smith movie with Carla and it was almost like a movie night!! then we read General conference talks with her on motherhood and womanhood and honoring our moral authority- I really have a testimony of that.
Preparing to leave is difficult- i dont think about it- just enjoy the time i have. dont even want to talk about it really :( it just is what it  is- we are the lords servants we go where he needs us. and anyways i feel really fulfilled here- i know my work here is done and i cannot express how good that feels. peace. all the ward members are really sad and our meal calendar is packed lol everyone wants to have us over before i leave which really touches me and means a lot...i really love all these people i really do. I know that there are more people, experiences adventures, relationships, joys, miracles nd mountains to climb ahead though! that is exciting! and i know the Lord will lead me as he has in the past- so i am at peace. leaving certain people i am very attatched to is.....difficult. truly- a trial of my faith, discipline, obedience, and submission of my will to His- but I have to trust Him- i have no reason not to...I know He wants me to trust him so I am really learning how to let things go and just be more trusting in my Heavenly Father with my heart, hopes, dreams, desires, goals, and life. I want you all to know how grateful I am for you- this gospel- the scriptures that have been preserved over the course of sooo many years- it is a miracle we have the book of mormon truly. I am grateful to be serving as a full time missionary for our father in Heaven- i am forever grateful for the knowledge I have of His eternal plan,that helps me to be motivated and strengthened to live my way in such a way that will lead to attaining eternal goals- i want as many people to have that same knowledge and assurance and that is why i am out here and that is why I love what i am doing. I am grateful God is so patient with me...I hop eto learn all of the lessons He has for me wel, to be able to be fullly used by him, and to be able to have the strength to endure. I love you all so much- and Kristen- your letter meant the world to me!! I love you! thank you so much!! Love you all!!

much Love- sis b.