Christmas Miracles are Awesome!

December 23, 2013

I don't even know what to say this week! I love it! its going to be the best transfer ever. sister Hilton fell out of bed a few days ago and the lamp came crashing on my head and it was quite funny. HAHA she fell out of bed. that's the only thing I can think of when people ask us what happened this week. ahhaha just kidding missionary work happened.

Christmas miracles are awesome. our investigator came to church and made friends and also a whole family that hasnt been in a long time came too. everyone was so happy to see each other at church and it was just a joyous day.

Since its Christmas, we've been sharing a lot of Christmas messages with different families. that was an obvious sentence but im going to keep it. its been really cool though because we've been focusing on how Christmas does not just include His birth. His birth means SO much more. It includes everything from the Atonement to the Resurrection to what that means for us and our eternal salvation. there is an amazing quote that we've been thinking about a lot. its by one of the quorum of the 12, and he was talking about gifts we could give to the Savior at Christmas. he said, the Savior is the SON OF GOD. He has everything, doesn't He? no. He does not have us in His arms. That is what He truly wants. and He knows that that cannot be given to Him in one day, or even in one Christmas. He knows we are each on our individual journey home, so THATS what we can give to Him this year. and dedicate ourselves to returning home to Him with our families and those around us. we really are here for each other.

Its been a good week because our ward finally wants us. Just kidding but we got to help set up the ward Christmas party! sooo much work went into it and it was a great party. and someone invited us to their house for a relief society dinner so we could share a Christmas message! it was really fun and there were some people we didn't know as well and don't come to church as often so it was perfect. I really don't have much to say this week! everyone keeps asking us if this is really hard being away from home for Christmas and to be honest its not! I mean yeah I miss my family, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to really have no job or school to distract from working with Heavenly Father. I absolutely love it and i'm excited for this week. love you!

HE LIVES

December 16, 2013

As you have all probably heard, there was a shooting this week at the high school in our area.  It's the school that all of the kids in our ward go to, and we drive past it every day! It's still so unreal and weird because I feel like I cant even begin to know how to relate to how they are feeling. Sure, there were bomb threats and stuff in high school, but NOTHING compared to the real terror that these kids faced. There are so many who heard the voice of the shooter, or ran through the blood to get out of the school. BUT. the cool part of this all is to see the strength in the youth of the church. We were at dinner the other night and one of the girls who was there broke down and just said, during this all, I sat and wondered if it would be okay if I left this earth now. She said, because of the gospel, I know that it would be okay.  This sounds kind of harsh at first, but really we are so blessed to have the knowledge that we do. Russel M. Nelson said that truly our gift to Christ is that we love Him, and keep ourselves 'unspotted from the world, worthy to enter His Holy Temple,' and with that, one of His many gifts to us is to know that we are worthy to enter His presence. The knowledge of the Plan of Salvation is truly the most comforting thing, and sometimes the only thing you can hold onto in these times of hardship and death, because Christ is the AUTHOR of it. Christ is the author of our salvation, which is also a very comforting thing, because He knows each of our backgrounds. He knows exactly how to nurture us according to our needs. HE KNOWS HOW TO GET US THERE. That is why we have to pay attention to the little things in life, the people that we are blessed with, and the small bursts of happiness that happen daily. HE LIVES. He lives and Russel M Nelson said, 'if we love him, He will love you, lift you, and manifest Himself unto you.'

SISTER HILTON AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER AGAIN! best news of the century? I think so. Orchard Ward for life.

I lied, there is better news of the century. We have been having family home evening with this less active family for about 4 months now, and the mom and kids have recently started coming back to church, but never the dad. Every time we asked him he would decline. BUT GUESS WHAT HAPPENED THIS SUNDAY? he came to church! it was the biggest answer to prayers that has ever happened! We had fasted in the beginning of the transfer that we would be able to bring someone back into activity in the church by the 15th, and even though the mom was coming, the fact that the whole family came was the biggest Christmas miracle.

Also we got to go shopping this week for all of the people at the rehab center where we volunteer! It was so fun! We have been volunteering there for a while so we know most of the residents and they don't have much at all. They wear pretty much the same thing every day, and really don't even have warm enough blankets. so we got to pick out clothes for them! now we are wrapping them and I feel like Santa and its great.

The longer I'm out here the bolder and bolder I'm getting. Except sometimes I think its just my impatience showing through and I just tell them that the church is true and the book of Mormon has all the answers. Just kidding I do it in a really loving way and OH I thought of something else. We taught this lady that a less active family in our ward invited to be taught, and we read the book of Mormon with her and it was the best ever! The first chapter of the book of Mormon is the most golden chapter of all time. If you think about it, the Book of Mormon brings people nearer to God than any other book, so the first chapter must be the most brilliant chapter of all time! Those weren't my words, they were some quote I heard one time but I forgot by who. Anyway, everyone should read it while thinking about the Plan of Salvation. It has a lot in there!

LOVE YOU ALL! 

Click here for a free copy of the Book of Mormon  http://mormon.org/free-book-of-mormon

EVERYTHING IS GREAT

December 9, 2013 

I don't even know where to begin, I think this was the best week of my entire life. seriously. Sometimes its dumb because I get scared for a second to do things and then I get over it and miracles happen. SO. we visit this one guy's dad who is 93 because he's lonely and we always liked talking to his son so we kept going to his house and once we taught him the plan of salvation but then we were stuck in this rut of not exactly teaching him but just sharing scriptures every time we went haha. so we were like, WE HAVE TO INVITE HIM TO BE TAUGHT. so we showed up to his house and we ended up talking to him for a while, and we shared a scripture and asked if he would want to learn more about what we shared with him before. he kind of didn't answer the question and talked about how he was really searching for a church but he was scared and wanted to kind of take it slow in his search. I was thinking in my head I AM NOT LEAVING UNTIL HE SAYS YES. so then I kept bringing it back and saying on this search we really would love to come talk to you. as missionaries we really love to talk to people about Christ and help them figure out what they believe because really that is most important to us. we don't ask you to just believe what we say, but to pray and develop that relationship with God yourself. he said he'd meet with us! we were so excited. he has had such a lonely and tough life, and I just can feel how much God loves him and wants him to be happy! so we went back to his house a few days later and he ended up asking US about the restoration! he loves pioneers and says that their faith was the most amazing thing ever and we just had the best conversation about it. the whole time we were talking I was thinking in my head, I HAVE to invite him to be baptized. and set him on date. and I was like WHAT Ive never done that before! but the whole time he was talking I just KNEW that I had to do it. it was the most calm prompting I had ever felt. we asked him to pray about the book of Mormon and he was like yeah I will do that! then we asked him, if you came to know it was true, would you be baptized? and he sat and thought about it and he was like, yes I would! and then I was like OKAY HERE GOES NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE and I said we'd be holding a baptismal service on jan 4th, would you prepare yourself to be baptized on this day? and he sat there and thought about it and said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  If he got the answer, he would. he said he still wanted to check out other churches a little to see how he felt, so we weren't really expecting him to come to church on sunday. BUT HE DID.  We were walking on clouds for the rest of the day. HE CAME TO CHURCH AND THE TALKS WERE SO INSPIRED FOR HIM. everything that was said was so perfect for him to hear and we just wanted to scream. the Lord really knows what He's doing.

ALSO. we felt prompted to go see this less active family earlier in the week, and we really didn't know why and we didn't know what we were going to do there. so we went, and we ended up inviting them to be taught the restoration because we are going around teaching all the members to get them psyched about missionary work. they said yes! so then we went back to teach them and when we got there they were like, is it okay if we invite our neighbor over to listen? we said no. HAHA NOT WE SAID YES OF COURSE YOU CAN A MILLION TIMES! so she came and it ended up being the most spiritual lesson ever! it was so cool. it was the best sister Hilton and I had ever taught as a companionship. the lady said that she wasn't sure at first about meeting us, and so she prayed about it and she felt this overwhelming sense of peace and calm that confirmed that she should come. and then at the end we read Moroni 10:3-5 and we asked her what she thought it meant and she was like I AM GOING TO READ THE BOOK OF MORMON AND PRAY ABOUT IT! she said she wasn't just accepting this to be nice, but she really felt so calm and loved our message and felt the Spirit so strongly. she has such a testimony of Christ and it was so cool to be able to tell her that there is more about Christ in the Book of Mormon! also it was awesome because the family offered such great testimony and the dad who hasn't been at church in forever told us his whole conversion story and how he had such a strong testimony of prophets. he said he needed to go back to church to take the sacrament. there were just so many miracles in this one night and we walked away feeling so happy. we knew that it really wasn't us who did anything in that meeting, it was the Spirit. It is the best feeling to know that you are working as an instrument in the Lord's hands and doing what He NEEDS you to do!

Also the Christmas devotional was the best thing ever.

I LOVE IT HERE AND I'M NEVER COMING HOME

December 2, 2013

THIS WAS THE BEST THANKSGIVING EVER! okay wait no i'll start with the beginning of the week. I got my turkey breads from boudins in the mail and it made our life. It was great. 

Sister Hilton was sick this week, so I got a lot of time to read the book of Mormon! and I noticed something that I never noticed before. In the beginning of Moroni, he said that the things he was about to write he didn't think he was going to, but then the Lord told him that he should and if you look at those last 9 chapters of Moroni, ITS EVERYTHING IMPORTANT! He talks about the sacrament, baptisms, holy ghost, gifts of the Spirit, ordination, and a lot more. I sat there and thought, HE WASN'T GOING TO INCLUDE THIS!? What would we do without those things! thank goodness he wrote them! also if he wrote a lot in the Book of Mormon and then all of the sudden was like, oh I guess I could share these things too, he must have known a lot more. I still can't wrap my head around why he almost didn't write those things. The whole book of Moroni is a blessing!

Okay so then thanksgiving. We offered to help at Pearl Rehab Center with their Thanksgiving meal, and it was really the best experience. the resident's families came in and ate with them and it was so fun to see who everyone was related to. but also it was sad when people sat alone and ate. it really made me thankful for what I had, especially that I even had family that would come and see me. (I think..haha) the staff was so grateful for our help because they were short staffed! We got to be the waitresses of the tables and talk to everyone and they were so happy and it was just a great day. It made me think..why did I never do anything helpful before my mission!? hahahaha. but really. Then we came home and helped finish making dinner at the Krell's and then we had thanksgiving! it was really fun. the elders also came over and we played settlers of catan after dinner and I was really bad. ive lost all ability to win or think about games. but it was a really cool day because it just made me happy knowing that I could give up a few thanksgivings to help with others, and then ill get to go back to my family once im done doing what the Lord wants me to do. it made me excited for Christmas because I think itll be really focused on Christ and seeing others in a Christlike way more than ever.

so we have this new goal to talk to EVERYONE that we see. because sometimes we chicken out and think, oh well, they're getting in their car and its too late. NOT ANYMORE. its never too late! On Saturday we really tried to talk to everyone. Before dinner, we had an awkward 5 minutes that we didn't know what to do with. we were driving around, and sister Hilton said "I wonder if we should just stop on this street!" and I had been thinking the same thing but then we kept driving cause we didn't know where to stop. then I saw a house at the end of the street and thought GO THERE. but then we kept driving, haha but then I just kept feeling sooo strongly that we should stop and turn around so I was like TURN AROUND! So we did and we knocked on the door and no one was home. but then we turned around and we saw a man walking to his car and he was about to get in it. I ran across the street and was like WAIT! sorry I know youre leaving, but we just wanted to leave you with this card! then I told him we were missionaries and had a message about Jesus Christ and asked if we could come back and share it. He said yes! so we set up a time to go back and meet with him! he said he works with a lot of Mormons and really likes what we do. we are so excited to go back!  Sometimes its hard to just randomly start conversations with people. I'm getting better at it. kind of. We were going to visit this less active lady and there were two guys on the driveway so we went to talk to them and I asked how they were and he was like ...good.....and looked really scared and then I started laughing and he was like uhhhh why are you laughing?! and then i didn't know what to say so i said because you looked extremely scared. and then he relaxed and smiled and we became friends and talked about the Word of Wisdom.

This Sunday was one of the best Sundays ever. It was fast and testimony meeting, and we were sitting by one of our investigators at church. She's the one that has a daughter on a mission and comes to church every week that i talked about last week. so during the Sacrament i was thinking, what the heck do we do next for her!? and the thought came into my mind, do what your dad always did. Say "i'll go up if you go up"! and I was like okay cool thought..but really? then I felt the Spirit SO STRONGLY. as i sat there and pondered this, i was like..okay but what do i say up there! i felt like i should bear my testimony on fasting because i love Isaiah 58. so i leaned over and told her that id go up if she would. she said no promises hahaha. so as i sat there pondering what the heck to do, the Holy Ghost was SO STRONG and i just felt like i needed to jump up and run to the stand. i was actually uncomfortable sitting there, i thought my chest was going to explode. i have never felt the Spirit so strongly in my entire life. i thought someone was going to come down from heaven and pick up up and throw me on the stand. so when the lady was finally done talking i went up to talk and said, "i told her that if i got up she had to, but she didn't agree, but i thought id try anyway." hahaha. she never went up. but it was okay. i just talked about how Isaiah 58 is so real. it tells us that if we cry, Christ will answer and say HERE I AM. i have never been so thankful for Christ in my life. He is so real. The Spirit is so real and i am so thankful for it.

 I LOVE IT HERE AND IM NEVER COMING HOME

I HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO SAY!  
November 25, 2013

This week has been full of.. everything!  There is this lady that we absolutely love to visit. she has a daughter on a mission and she has been meeting with missionaries for a few years now. but the problem is we have been kind of stuck, and we didn't know what to teach her or how to help her feel God's love more in her life. so we fasted for her last week, and we fasted that she'd know that the Atonement was for her and that she could realize the blessings of the gospel that she could have NOW in her life. so after that fast we met her a few days later, and it was AWESOME. before we even really started talking about what we had prepared, she shared with us her whole story. she told us all about her witness a few years ago that the Book of Mormon was true, and how she and her daughter were going to be baptized. she told us how her husband didn't agree with them doing that, so they just worked on getting their daughter baptized. (and now shes on a mission!) but the whole time she was telling this story the Spirit was SO STRONG. we then went on to talk about the scripture ether 12:4-6, and getting a witness after the trial of our faith. I asked her what that witness from God would have to be to be baptized. she said she really didn't know, she thinks when an opportunity presented itself after her son graduated and stuff would be a good time. we just bore our testimonies on how it really is hard to show your faith even when those around you don't support you, but God loves her NOW. and doesn't want her to have to suffer without the full blessings of the gospel. the greatest thing that we have is the Holy Ghost. think back to a time when you have felt the Holy Ghost in your life. I read In the bible dictionary that the GIFT of the Holy Ghost is a "foretaste of the joy of eternal life." IT CLICKED FOR ME when I read that. the feeling of the Spirit can be so strong sometimes, and it is the best feeling! FOR ETERNITY we get to feel that. I was so amazed by this definition. anyway, so we ended up asking her in the end to pray for a witness and to be baptized. she said yes. it was such a strong lesson and such an answer to prayers!

We have started this new thing in our ward called member blitz. just kidding its not really called that but that's what the elders said. we are going to start meeting with all of the members in our ward and teaching them 30 minute lessons, so we can improve our teaching but also so the members can know what are in the discussions. so we did that for the first time this last week. we taught this lady the restoration, and at first we were like.. how the heck do we teach a member the restoration! BUT it is truly the most amazing thing. we talked about the first vision, and it was so powerful. hearing Joseph Smith's testimony of the First Vision word for word brings SUCH a sweet and distinct Spirit in the room that is undeniable. after we said it, we just sat there in silence. the lady said, if I were an investigator, I would want to feel this all the time. I would want the gift of the Holy Ghost. again it clicked for me. that feeling that was in the room was so powerful and so strong and comforting, again a foretaste of the joy of eternal life! We then asked her how she came to know that the Book of Mormon is true. She absolutely bore the most beautiful testimony ive ever heard, and it brought her to tears. in her 20s she wasn't very active, and was scared to progress in the church because she hadn't read the whole book of Mormon. this is where I learned a lot. she decided to keep going, and go with what little she knew. she made the decision to start reading it then she said since she was in her 20s she has read the book of Mormon every single day, and she is so thankful for it. it wasnt just a one time thing where she knew it was true, it was over the course of a long time. we left her house feeling on top of the world.

I don't know if I mentioned this guy before, but there is a 92 or 93 year old man that we visit. he lives with his son and his son takes care of him. we always saw his son, but never really talked to him much. we visit him weekly, and THIS WEEK WE GOT TO TALK TO HIS SON! oh my gosh everything about it was so amazing. we started talking to him and learned a lot about his life, and we ended up teaching him the Plan of Salvation by the end of it. he said it seemed 'peaceful', and he kept saying how he was looking for a church that took care of the elderly, or the singles, or the sick, and all of these things (visiting teaching!? home teaching!?) and how he wants to serve others all the time (callings?!) and how he wants to donate but its so sad because so many churches ask for too much money and they thrive on it (tithing?!) and how he believes in God and wants to give his soul to him. he said a lot of other things that I forgot. so we ended up inviting him to church. the next morning was kinda a rough morning and sis Hilton and I were in really bad moods for some reason haha and we really could not snap out of it. we were sad and frustrated for some reason. but we went to church, and HE CAME! we were soooo excited and happy. the talks were exactly perfect for him, one of them was about the plan of salvation! everything that we had talked about yesterday! so it reiterated it perfectly and the speaker ended with one of the most powerful testimonies of Christ and the plan of salvation. he said that it was HE who made it all possible, and talked about a scripture in the Bible where we were all shouting for joy when we found out we got to go to earth. he told us to imagine EVERY single person shouting for joy. he told us to think about a football game and how loud that is, but then imagine every Spirit being so happy about coming here. and then he challenged us all to really sing the last song like we were shouting for joy. it was "I know that my Redeemer lives". It hit me. everything made sense. my Redeemer LIVES. THATS WHY ITS SO IMPORTANT TO KNOW HE HAS A BODY OF FLESH AND BONE! He is a resurrected being that we can have a RELATIONSHIP with because He lives and He knows us and is actively involved in our lives. HE brought our investigator to church and gave us the plan of salvation and He gives us those witnesses after the trials of our faith. it made sense then what it meant when everyone said that you needed to have faith in CHRIST to bring to pass miracles. Christ loves every one of His sheep and if we have faith in Him, He will minister to His people. HE WILL.

Okay after that story, I have one last story that's the complete opposite but probably the funniest thing that's ever happened tracting. we knocked on this door, and a man answered. normal, right? so far. we told him we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that we had a message about Jesus Christ, and asked if we could share it with him. still normal. but THEN hahahhahaha he looked at us, hesitated for a split second, and started yelling, YOUR BELIEFS ARE AS QUEER AS A THREE DOLLAR BILL. (he said this as if it were the biggest insult he has ever come up with) (I accidentally laughed out loud) (but then he kept going) JESUS TOLD ME THAT THERE IS NO MARRIAGE IN HEAVEN, AND THERE ARE NO CELESTIAL WIVES! (what is a celestial wife, Id like to be one) then he said a ton of other things and probably went on for like 5 minutes straight except I forgot what he said except for the end. "I WISH YOU NO SUCCESS." *slam*  hahahahahahahaha it was great.

 It's 17 degrees and snowing HELP!

WE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE THE BOOK OF MORMON

November 18, 2013

This week we had  a different adventure every day! Not really because we tracted most of the week and did a lot of service. We have been volunteering at this rehab place every week. and the best thing is happening! The lady that we help called us one day saying that her husband had taken her kids to church and they had homework so they needed some Books of Mormon! and she wants to go to church too but she has to work every Sunday! but just us being there serving has made the biggest difference in the world.

This week sister Hilton gave an AWESOME training on relying on the Spirit at our district meeting. She came up with this analogy that you can't just "flop" on the Spirit and expect Heavenly Father to do everything for you, but you also can't do everything yourself. She did this demonstration where she needed two companionships, and they were going to pick up their companion- one of them would be a deadweight so it was hard for their companion to pick them up, and the other one would stand up with their companion. HAHAHAHA except one elder picked up his companion fully and didn't even give him a chance to stand up with him, and the other elder flopped around like a literal fish out of water and we couldn't stop laughing. BUT, if you think about it, it is a very true message. We cannot do everything ourselves, but we also cannot expect God to do everything for us. We can't just sit there waiting for an answer, because Heavenly Father trusts us, and if we are close to Him in prayer He will not let us go the wrong way.

WE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE THE BOOK OF MORMON.  Before my mission I don't think I realized how special it is. It is another TESTAMENT of Jesus Christ. We get to learn more about Him. We get to have this record of so many prophet's testimonies, telling us that they have seen our time and tell us how to stay close to Heavenly Father and endure to the end. Christ and Heavenly Father LIVE. Something I really liked that I studied this week was in 3 Nephi. Every time that I read Christ talking it hits me hard. He TRULY was talking to these people in the America's, and it is the most amazing thing in the world if you really think about it. To learn MORE about Christ and His character is one of the greatest blessings that we have. My favorite part is where He is talking with the people and they cried and didn't want Him to leave He had compassion on them and invited ALL the sick and afflicted to come unto Him to be healed and then blessed each of the children. It reminded me of all of the times that I thought I didn't have time to help or serve someone. Or the times I thought it was too hard to be someone's friend or to do something in a calling. Or to even go to a church event. CHRIST ALWAYS HAD TIME. If we really truly were trying to be more Christlike, we'd give all we had to others. There are so many sick and afflicted people around us, and Christ had enough time to speak to them individually before He went back to Heavenly Father. We are all eventually returning to our Heavenly Father, but before we do, we have time. We've been given the time and strength to help every single person in our paths. It is so amazing to be able to look at every person as a child of God, who He wants BACK with Him.

The best day this week was the day we had exchanges. I LOVED THEIR AREA. We went to  visit this lady and teach her for the first time, and she soaked up every word of the restoration. She asked questions and when we answered them it made sense to her, we bore testimony and she LOVED it, and by the end of it she wanted to be baptized so she could finally give all her burdens and sins to Christ! She kept saying how badly she wanted to go to church and be a part of it and bring her granddaughter along. She talked about how when we came in she just felt so "Spirit filled". Then her son walked in when we were talking about baptism and he was like oh yeah I need to do that, and I think hearing this today is God speaking to me saying that I need to do that! I'M SORRY WHAT?  It was the most exciting thing! I have never seen anything like it. Then we got to teach this other family- we just knocked on their door and they let us in and they wanted to go to church and their 4 girls absolutely loved the message. This all happened before noon and it was just the best day of my life. The sister I was with was so great at just talking to everyone. She made it a point to skip over to everyone person she saw  as fast as she could to share the message of HOW MUCH God loves His children. It made me realize that really, EVERYONE deserves to be "skipped after", because Jesus Christ wants every single one of His sheep and wants them to know of the happiness they could have. God wants us all back and He's given us the Book of Mormon to learn even more about Him and His character. We are so blessed to have the Spirit in our lives and to have the Book of Mormon.   Also, every one of you that know missionaries in your area, go up to them and ask for the names of their investigators and pray for them by name every day. It makes the biggest difference in the world because prayer is a powerful thing, and this hastening of the work is real! I've seen it here in my mission and I know that it is. Elder Tom Perry said that it ranks in church history with the first vision and coming forth of the book of Mormon. WE LIVE IN THAT TIME.

I LOVED THIS WEEK
November 12, 2013

We had a mission fast that we'd all "open our mouth" to every person that we saw, so I really took that seriously this week and we saw so many miracles! We were tracting one day, and I saw this lady with a stroller walking around and I was like we should probably go talk to her. Then I sat there and thought... ehh... but then I remembered the fast and decided that it would be a good idea. We walked towards her and we tried to talk to her but she kinda just brushed us off and kept walking. Then I looked up and saw a house and got a distinct impression that we NEEDED to go there. We walked up to the door and asked if we could share a message of Jesus Christ and the man looked at us and was like, um.. sure! So we went in and his whole family was home! They all sat around and we just didn't know what to do with ourselves because we had never been invited in to teach a FAMILY just by tracting. They didn't end up wanting a return appointment, but I felt really strongly that that was supposed to happen. Every day I am so amazed by the Spirit and how it leads us to people!

I had a really big realization this week about Christ's Atonement. This week it has been so interesting trying to help people recognize and feel God's love in their lives. I've never felt so blessed to be able to say that I do feel it and I am so blessed because of it. I remembered an experience that I had around my sophomore year in high school. there was a lot going on in life and it was scary and I didn't know how to handle it. a lot of my friends and family members were going through hard things and my eyes were really opened to a lot of the scary and serious things that happen in the world. I remember thinking I felt so helpless, like I couldn't do anything. I would sit there and listen to everything they were going through and see their pain and I felt responsible, like I needed to do something. one night when it was especially hard, I remember my parents sitting in my room with me. they sat there, and it was just enough to know that they were there, but what they said to me is what stuck out to me for the first time a few days ago. They said, it is not your responsibility, its ours. You are such a good supporter of your family, and it is great that you care so much and you should, but it doesn't have to all be in your hands. you don't have to take everyone's problems on yourself.   THAT is what Christ did!  He took ALL of our sorrows upon him. As simple as it is, I could not believe my discovery. I finally understood firsthand how He helps us through our sorrow and pain. He does not make the problems go away, because that would take away the learning experience. We wouldn't know joy without sorrow,  but what He does is exactly what my parents told me,  that we don't have to take it all on ourselves. Something sister Hilton shared with me is whenever we hear the scripture about Christ making the burden lighter, He isn't necessarily taking the burden AWAY.  He is strengthening our backs so we can't feel the burden as much. This is the center of our message as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. HIS gospel, the fullness of what He taught has been RESTORED. that is and should be the most important message in the world.  This is not just a "new church" established by Joseph Smith. The Priesthood that Christ had is literally here on the earth again and it has so much healing power.

This week on Sunday, I started feeling sick again, similar to what I experienced when I was first out on my mission. It scared me, because I did not want to leave our investigators alone. I wanted so bad to be better, and throughout the day it got worse. I thought about what I had been teaching our investigators, that the POWER OF GOD was back on the earth. I knew in my heart that in order to be able to get better, I needed to have faith in that. the elders came over and gave me a blessing, a blessing to be healed by my faith. I completely witnessed a miracle firsthand. When I stood up from the blessing, my fever and chills were gone. The pain was gone. I jumped up and shook his hand and knew that I had important work to do this week. Christ loves each and every one of us and He is there always.