The Plan of Salvation: more than some cutouts

SAN DIEGO — Heavenly Father has a way of bringing me to my knees. Today, Sister Kennington left (I'll write about that later) and I just received a call: after only one transfer in Avocado, I am leaving.

I am training and white washing (Which means you open up a new area).

The experiences I have had this week have all drawn my mind back to the Plan of Salvation. As I tell you about these few experiences, I want to share with what I have learned about that plan.

Getting transferred out of Avocado:

Leaving an area is kind of like leaving earth, I suppose. When the time starts running short before an end of the transfer, I always think to myself, "Did I do my best? Did I work my hardest? Did I accomplish what God expected me to?" It is the very best feeling knowing that you have done what God has sent you there to do. 

I know that I have done what God expected me to do in the Avocado Ward. It is back up on its feet, miracles are happening, two families are being baptized by the beginning of August! Heavenly Father truly is a God of miracles. No one can tell me otherwise. 

I love being an instrument in his hands. I think the same expectation God has for His full time missionaries, He has for His member missionaries. I would suggest you ask yourself these questions now, as you don’t know when your time will be. "Did you do your best? Did you work your hardest? Did you accomplish what God expected you to?" There is still time, but get to work!

Sister Kennington leaving:

You all know how much Sister Kennington means to me. 

Well, that’s probably not true.

Me with Sister Kennington, of Layton, Utah

I don’t think anyone can truly understand what Sister Kennington means to me. I wish you all could meet her. She is my best friend (Besides of course you Sara. You’re an automatic best friend)! I’ve been hovering around her for the past week, knowing that each day she was getting closer and closer to leaving. This morning, we had to say our last good bye. All the sisters had their luggage out on the front step, we all cried, took pictures, laughed, and hugged. I imagined this was what it was like for Sister Kennington and I in the pre-earth life. Heavenly Father both needed us to have our own sisters, Sara and Paige, but he promised us we could serve missions together. I am sure there were lots of tears shed as we hugged and wished each other well as she went to earth. 

I had a Déjà vu moment this morning as we both cried and hugged, and didn’t want to let go. I sat staring at the white van taking her to the airport. I was full of happiness for her to be able to start her new adventure and of course, really sad that I had to let her go. Oh how great the reunion in heaven will be when we can all see each other again!

Taking the tour in Mandarin:

I have one last experience I want to share with you. Yesterday, I took a tour of 32 twelve-year-old Chinese students through the tour. I sat in the enlistment room, where they sit underneath the trees and watched them clapping their hands to the sound of Zamira's fiddle. 

I looked at these children sitting on the logs, and it hit me full force that only 12 years ago, Heavenly Father sat them down and told them that part of their plan was to live in a country that wouldn’t even teach them about His Son Jesus Christ. I imagined these precious little faces a little dismayed at the task that was given them, but because they loved Father, they accepted that calling. Heavenly Father gave me a glimpse of what His heart feels, watching His children not know who He or His Son is. It made me so grateful to be a missionary and to be able to be sharing this message with the world.

I guess the short version of what I am trying to say is that the Plan of Salvation is more than some cutouts you tape up in a Sunday School lesson. It is real. It can be seen in every aspect of our lives.

Please, please, please don’t take it for granted.

"Different than any other book"

SAN DIEGO — I have a few things I want to share with you that happened this week. 

First was on Sunday, we had a mission president's fireside. Every other month, President Clayton has a fireside where recent converts share their testimonies. Musical numbers, Mormon Message videos are played and then president gives a short talk. I was truly touched. 

One recent convert, Satera from Iran, got up and shared her story. She went to the Mormon Battalion and was given a Book of Mormon, which she put on her shelf. A while later, she was looking for a book, and the Book of Mormon stood out to her on her shelf. She started opening it, and in her own words in broken English she said, 

"The Book of Mormon has something special. I felt a power when I read it. It is different than any other book". 

My heart pounded in my chest as the Holy Ghost reaffirmed my testimony of the Book of Mormon. Just by reading the words from its pages, Satara requested to learn from the missionaries, and was baptized. I have witnessed time after time, the power of the Book of Mormon testifying of the truth of the Restored Gospel. It is so true!

That night, there was also a musical number that was sung by our assistant, Elder Call. I wish you could meet our last three assistants. They are so different than what we have had in the past. I think if you knew of their character, you would understand how powerful it was to watch a humble, powerful, kind servant of the Lord get up and bear his testimony through his talent of music. He sang an EFY song, "One Voice". I can’t remember exactly how the words go, but just imagine one Elder standing up, with the choir seats full of missionaries and our mission president behind him as he sang these words.

"I am just one voice, but one voice can still be heard,

I have made the choice, to seal my witness with his word,

I've been changed by holy fire, that has burned into my soul....

.... One but not alone, a thousand voices sing

Praises to the Lord, to our master and our king

With one voice, one voice."

I wish the angels of heaven could have been his back up singers, even the Mormon Tabernacle Choir would do!:) Those are the precious moments when I remember who I am and what I am doing as a servant of God. I have just one voice, but with God's help, my voice will be heard. You have only one voice, but you too can seal your own witness with God's word.

We were able to seal our witness of God's word yesterday. Miracles happened. It was so great because last week was the worst week I have ever had on my mission in regards to teaching lessons. We had every slot filled with scheduled appointments, and every single one fell through. That is what happens when miracles are close. Yesterday, we added four new investigators, and have two little 9-year-old girls with a baptismal date! The Taylors are so excited to be baptized on the 28th, and we are trying to get Sean to meet with us so he will be ready to be baptized too. When I started working in Avocado, I knew it would be hard work, I just never knew Heavenly Father would allow us to see the fruits of our labors so quickly!

I just want you all to know I love you. I have confidence in you. We all can continue to change and become better. There is no need to be hard on ourselves. God expects persistence, not perfection.

Keep sharing your light!

Laborers in the Vineyard, changing habits

SAN DIEGO — Happy Fourth of July tomorrow! I hope you have some fun:) You all saw the picture of Karen and me; it was so good to see her yesterday!

I have been pondering what I want to tell you about this week, and my thoughts are kind of scattered.

I guess I can start first with an update on our ward. The plants are sprouting here in Avocado!

Thanks to Dad teaching me how to set goals and make plans, we have come far in the ward council in just a few weeks. Of course, it's all Heavenly Father, but He helps a lot more and a lot faster when things are organized. 

I have been taught on my mission what a ward council is supposed to be, and I realize that many times we miss the mark of the Brethren’s vision. It's hard to help ward councils understand what God expects a ward council to be like. It’s all about missionary work — reactivating, finding, retaining. It should be focused around the ward mission plan and how to accomplish those goals, not just to talk about activities and the drama/needs of individuals in each auxiliary, (that’s for presidency meetings) but missionary work as a whole. Church is a tool God uses for missionary work — Relief Society, Young Men's, Young Women's, Sunday School, Priesthood quorums,  all of the activities, service projects — all of that is a tool to help us be missionaries. 

In our ward council this week, we remade a progress record sheet, with our progress as missionaries for the week with less actives, investigators and members. We made a grid of our weekly, monthly, and yearly goals and how the ward's progress was. We then had assignments for each member of the ward council, as well as follow-ups from the previous week. It was amazing to watch these members volunteer to invite their friends to the 4th of July activity, to pray about someone they could have for us to teach by next week, to assign us members from their auxiliaries to teach. There was a fire and an excitement about missionary work! I realized this is what it's all about! I hope that we all can catch the vision, and help revolutionize the way we do missionary work. We need to be Moroni's. And just like Moroni revolutionized war, we can change the old habits of the church and make new more effective ones.

Enough said about that. I also wanted to share a few thoughts from our Zone Leader council this week. Once a month, Sister Tanner and I meet with President, the Assistants and the Zone Leaders and talk about how to continue improving our work. This month, President talked about the urgency of missionary work. He told us this story: He was doing anesthesia on one of the Apostles, and as the Apostle was waking up, he kept trying to get out of bed, squirming and looking very uncomfortable. President asked what he needed, explained that he was just coming out of anesthesia and needed to rest. The apostle responded, "I don’t have time, I need to go, there is so much work to do!" 

President related that story with tears in his eyes, as he explained that in order for us to be disciples of Christ, we need to catch the urgency of this work.

It made me think of the Ensign article from General Conference about the Laborers in the Vineyard. I was reading it this morning and a few things popped out at me. I guess before I share that, I should give background of the story (found in Matthew 20:1-15):

A householder went out early in the morning to hire laborers. After employing the 1st group at 6 in the morning, he returned at 9, noon, and 3, hiring more workers as the urgency of the harvest increased. In the Bible, it says, "he came back a final time about the eleventh hour" which would have been 5 pm. Just an hour later, all the workers were gathered in and received their day’s wages, all of them receiving the same pay.

Elder Holland talked about how it shouldn't make anyone jealous for god to choose to be kind.  And how it was not too late for these laborers who waited all day, with sorrow in their hearts, feeling hopeless and thinking that they would have to return to their families with no way to feed them that night. The householder gave them a great gift. An opportunity to work, even if for just an hour, still it was something. To everyone's surprise at the end of the day, all the laborers received pay, and all of them received the same wage.

To all of you reading this: as I sat today at my mission president’s feet, and as I read the words of an Apostle of God, I was taught from on high that no matter who you are, no matter what you have done, this work is urgent. We need everyone we can! In Elder Holland’s words:

 "However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.... If you have made covenants, keep them. If you haven't made them, make them. If you have made them and broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master of the vineyard says there is time. Don't delay. It’s getting late"

I testify to what Elder Holland and President both taught me this week. God needs everyone He can. Come join the ranks! And don’t give up or give in if you have been fighting, no matter how long it has been. We will win. We are on the Lord's side.