Dear Family and Friends!
Its hard to believer that this is my last letter to you all!! This week
has been a good week. Crazy and full of goodbyes.. But good. We have
been able to teach so many people and to feel such a strong spirit. If
anything I know that God's plans for us are always better than our own
plans.
Honestly, I didn't want to come on a mission and I
felt like I was giving up so much by doing so. But, it has been so
wonderful... And now I don't really want to leave and I feel like I am
also giving up so much by doing so. But, I know just like with what
happened when I came out on my mission, Heavenly Father will let me know
of his plan for me and it will be much better than the plan I had for
myself would be.
I have such a strong testimony of this
gospel. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet I know that President
Thomas S. Monson is a prophet today and that God still speaks to his
children. I know that this is God's true church once again established
on the earth. I know that we are God's children and that He loves each
and everyone of us. I know that we can make it back home to him one day.
I am so grateful that God is aware of us and of our needs in this life.
He places each and everyone of us where we need to be. Because he knows
who we can help and who can help us. I also know that the Book of
Mormon is the word of God and we can receive answers to our prayers if
we search in it.
I love this church and this gospel
with all of my heart. And I;m so glad for the privileged that I have to
know of the truth. I'm so grateful for all of you and for the influence
that you have had on my life and my testimony. I am so grateful for the
support I have received on my mission. Thank you all for your help! I
love you all and am excited to see you soon.
Love,
Sister Bice
Dear family and friends,
So, my companion just leaned over to me to remind me that this will be
my second to last letter to you all.... Hopefully it is a good one... I
may be to emotional to be able say all that I want. But, this week was
really good. Sister Perrin and I have been teaching a youth for a while
now. I'm sure I have mentioned it to you. But, we have had a hard time
getting him to choose a date. Mostly, because his fellowship wasn't sure
he could make it down to actually perform the baptism. But, this week
Sister Perrin and I fasted as well as our investigator that everything
would work out.... And it did! So, now Cameron will be baptized on
September 20th. I'm so excited for him. I has been fun to teach him and
watch him gain a testimony of this gospel. I know that he is ready for
this and that it will make such a huge difference in his life.
Also, I would like to thank everyone for the birthday
wishes. It was a fun week full of brownies and cake... In fact, our
Preach My Gospel class was on Thursday so our opening hymn was 'happy
birthday' I'm sure my companion got me to turn 22 different shades of
red this week. But, such is my life... Sister Perrin and I have been
together so long we are more like siblings than companions... In fact,
we have had random non-members come up to us and ask us if we were real
sisters for about 2 weeks now. Its kind of funny! I will miss her even
if she teases me WAY too much!
So.... This week in church all of the talks in sacrament
were on enduring trials and difficulties well. I love this topic because
no matter who we are we are all facing some type of trial. So, this is
something that can apply to pretty much everyone. Well, there is an
example in Helaman where the people of God are being persecuted for
being ... Well, for being people of God. So, they are essentially being
made fun of for bring righteous and following God. Which I don't know
how it is back home, but here in Colorado more and more religion is
being looked down upon. There is a church on every corner of the street
in the springs but there is a difference between going to church and
being righteous. People who are following God not just on Sunday seem to
be looked down upon.
What I like about this example in Helaman is what the
people of God do about it. They are being persecuted and made fun of
probably by people that they care about. But, instead of doing what a
lot of people would have done and just giving in the the pressure and
adopting an everyone is doing it attitude they turn to God even more.
They become STRONGER. " 35 Nevertheless
they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their
humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling
their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and
the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because
of their yielding their hearts unto God."
I was thinking a lot in sacrament meeting as they speakers
were speaking about how I face my trials. Those both before my mission
and after. Do I give up and blame God? Or do I realize that by turning
to God and asking for his help I can gain something from the trials I am
going through. I know that at times in my life I have been the first
one that gives up and doesn't want to read my scriptures or talk to God
because I am mad at him. But, I have also seen how when I turn to God I
have gained so much and become more able to handle the future trials I
will face.
Honestly, as crazy as it may sound, I am so grateful for my
trials! For the times in my life where I struggled and hit rock bottom.
Because, those times have made me into who I am today. And I am really
glad to be me:) I love watching God's had work not only in my life but
in the lives of all those who I teach or even just see. He is present
and he is working to make us into the most beautiful masterpiece. I
love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week. Thank you again for
the Birthday wishes!
Love,
Sister Bice
Dear Family and Friends,
This week was so good, it went by way to fast... but it was a good
week. We were able to teach our investigator his final lesson this week.
He is amazing and it is so wonderful to watch someone full heartedly
accept the gospel and the truths that are in it. Our new mission
president has been talking a lot about how we are here as ward or branch
builders. Meaning that our job is to help people be strengthened in the
gospel. That can be non-members, members or less active members. I
love that , and I love being able to see the process of change that
someone goes through as they accept the gospel more fully. It is
apparent even in the most active members that we teach. This gospel
changes people.
This week I got to read my favorite chapter in the Book of
Mormon which is in Alma chapter 36 and in verse 5 and it says "Now,
behold, I say unto you, if I had not been born of God I should not have
known these things; but God had, by the mouth of his holy angel, made
these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself." And in
Mosiah 28:4 talking about the sons of Mosiah and Alma it says "4 And thus did the Spirit of the Lord work upon them, for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them; nevertheless they suffered much anguish of soul because of their iniquities, suffering much and fearing that they should be cast off forever."
Now, I bring up these scriptures because I have been
thinking about it lately, people they knew who Alma was and they knew
who the sons of Mosiah were. They saw them going about destroying the
church and those very things that both of their fathers stood for. I'm
sure that even the people that didn't know them knew of them. But, as it
says in Mosiah by God's infinite mercy they were changed.
One thing that the gospel has brought into my life that
has affected me is the atonement. The atonement has so many wonderful
aspects, and I'm sure so many more that I can't even begin to
comprehend. But, the ability to change is one of my favorites. The
scriptures talked about how they were the vilest or worst of sinners,
and yet they became the best of missionaries. They changed lives for the
better. In another scripture Alma is speaking and he says " 24 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.25 Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors;"
Alma, didn't
just have this great experience and say 'well that nice' and never go
past that. He changed not only who he was but who everyone saw him as.
He went from the kid who was the troublemaker to the one who was
influencing hundreds for good. One thing I have seen a lot of on my
mission is change. I've seen it in those that I've taught, I've seen it
in my companions, I've seen it in other missionaries, and I've seen it
in myself. There is nothing that can and will bring us more joy than
this gospel. I know that for a fact and I know that as we follow Christ
we will change for good and others will see that change in us and more
importantly we can and will see in ourselves.
I will stop my
rant now. But know that I love all of you so very much and I pray for
each of you every night. I wish you all a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Bice
