Another week!!

Dear Family and Friends! 

     So, I'm trying to remember what happened this week! I think of all these things that I want to write you all about and then Monday comes and my mind just goes blank! Well, first off we had a Less-Active member come to church yesterday. That was so good! We have been working with her for over a month now and EVERY week she has promised us that she was going to come to church and every week we were a little heart broken when she didn't come. But! This week she was there! We were so excited to see her and for her to be able to partake of the sacrament and at least take one step to coming back. It is always such a good moment when you go to church and see someone that you have been working with and that you love come. That doesn't mean that hey are not going to continue to struggle or to have a hard time. But, it does mean that they have made one step to be closer to God and that He in turn is now allowed to come closer to them. Also, since the weather has been nicer this week we have been doing a lot of walking... Which I didn't think I would miss after my last biking/walking area... But, I really have and I was just having a blast. Poor Sister Bristow though is still getting used to the elevation difference... But, she managed well and slept like a rock that night so it all worked out. Overall though, it has been a good week! We have been working hard and we are seeing blessings that are coming to us from doing so. In fact, I was getting pretty discouraged because we have been working hard and trying our best to find those who will be willing to hear the message of the restored gospel but we were not seeing any success and I was just getting frustrated and discouraged wondering if I was doing enough. But, then I was reading the story of the Sons of Mosiah as they went to preach unto the Lamanites and in chapter 21 of Alma verses 15-17 it says:

"15 And they went forth again to declare the word, and thus they were delivered for the first time out of prison; and thus they had suffered.
16 And they went forth wither-soever they were led by the Spirit of the Lord, preaching the word of God in every synagogue of the Amalekites, or in every assembly of the Lamanites where they could be admitted.
17 And it came to pass that they Lord began to bless them, insomuch that they brought many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, they did convince many of their sins, and of the traditions of their fathers which were not correct."
     And before this even we learn that the time when they left and the time that they came back off their missions was fourteen years! So, I was getting discouraged and thinking that I wasn't doing enough or that something was wrong with how I was doing things. But, after reading these scriptures I was comforted. Everything happens in the Lords time... Even when we want it to happen in our time, it wont. The Lord knows what he is doing and sometime we will struggle with something and just want to see the blessings that come from being diligent. But, while they do come sometimes they take a while. In fact, there is a talk by Jeffery R. Holland where he says almost that same thing! "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come." So even though we may not see immidiate blessings they do come. As we are faithful and we follow our Savior we are blessed immeasurably! I am so grateful to be a member of this gospel and to recognize the Lords hand in my life. I am always amazed at how well he knows me and at how he knows how to talk to specifically me. I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Bice

Some Pictures... Sister Harrop and I, then me and sister Bristow, then me and Elder Wooley(he was my first zone leader and went home last transfer) and finally the super yellow house that we discovered...

Transfers... Again...‏

Dear family and friends,

     It doesn't seem like its time but this week was transfer week! I got a brand new baby girl fresh out of the MTC. Her name is Sister Bristow and she is from Vancouver Washington .... So that makes my 3rd companion from Washington state!! I'm beginning to see a pattern her! This week was good though:) We were able to get in and see a lot of people. We unfortunately don't have any progressing investigators at the moment. So a lot of this week was spent finding. There is someone in this area that is waiting for us... We just haven't found them yet.... Keep us in your prayers? This week I have been pondering a lot on a scripture found in Mosiah 26:18 "Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called; and they are mine." So this is Christ speaking, and he is specifically speaking of the members of the church. I really love the language that he uses ....' for in my name shall they be called; and they are mine.' this scripture really makes me think of how privileged we are to be members of this Church. We are The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints!! We all get to bear His name and be examples of him. It is so amazing to see how much of a blessing that is. Being on my mission I have had the opportunity to bear his name in quite the literal sense. Every day I go out with his name on my name tag and I invite others to come closer to him. But, as I have done this for almost a year now I have come to realize that even before my mission I bore His name and was His hands here on earth. We are all HIS, and we are so blessed to know who we are as well as whose we are. We learn it as kids 'I am a child of God, and HE has sent me here has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear.' This is a truth that I have personally found God wants ALL of his children to know. He wants them to know they are His children and as such He loves them with a love we can only imagine at this time! I don't have a lot of time today but I love you all so much. Remember who you are and whose you are! :)

Love,

Sister Bice

Another Cold Week!!‏

Dear Family and Friends,

So, I don't think I've told you all about this but in Colorado we have this crazy thing called a wind chill factor.... This is something that makes 10 degrees -1 degrees and -10 degrees -20..... I had the joy of experiencing that this week. I was not very pleasant. But, other than all that this week has been great! The only sad part is that it was Sister Harrop and my last week together so we were pretty sad about that. I am super excited to be training again though.  Mostly, this week consisted of making sure every thing was updated as well as just visiting people as much as we could. We were able to see another miracle this week that came from the Lord just knowing people's needs WAY better than we do. We went to dinner for an active family in the ward on Tuesday and had a good dinner and visit with them. They have a teenage son who was there and we were just able to have a really good talk and their son contributed a lot to the thought we had. Well, he had a basketball game and he left and we were with the mother and she opened up to us and thanked us for being there. She said that we had witnessed a mini-miracle that her son even opened up and talked that much to us. Apparently, he has been struggling a lot this year with some things that have happened and this has worried the parents. But! It was also a mini-miracle for not only the mother but for my companion, Sister Harrop. She has a brother right now that is struggling with a lot of the same things as this kid was. It has been so hard on her not to be able to be there for her brother. But, it helped her a lot to be there for someone who was going through what she was seeing her brother go through. This week I had the opportunity to read Alma chapter 5 again, which is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon and in Verse 7 it says talking about Christs redemption for us. "Behold, He(Christ) changed their hearts; yea He awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word..." I love the wording that is used in this scripture. 'their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word." That is something I see in everyone. Even this kid that had kind of lost his way. As he talked about the gospel you could see a change in his countenance and his attitude. This gospel and the way that we share it has the power to bring others from darkness into the light. They are more able to face the path before them because they can SEE it! They know who they are and where they are going, and those two truths alone are so imperative and powerful to our lives! I love you all so much and I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Bice

Let it Snow??‏

Dear Family and Friends,

    This week was a good week.... Though our cars did get parked for the last bit of it! We got bunches of snow on Friday and Saturday! I think it was about 8 inches or so. According to some members though we have a lot more to look forward to this week! To start off, on Wednesday I got a text from the AP's saying 'Sister Bice do you have 10 minutes or so that we could call and talk to you?' I think my heart just about broke! I was convinced that they were going to ET me out of Jackson Creek!! Luckily though that wasn't the case. Instead they called me to tell me that they had forgot to send me my training call and didn't realize they had forgotten until I didn't show up to the Trainers meeting. That was a relief.... Then the rest of the week was full of miracles. In fact, crazy story! We went tracting on Thursday and had no luck and we were feeling numb from cold and a bit disappointed. Well, it was dark and we didn't have any more appointments and we are not allowed to contact so we went for some hot chocolate to warm us up. So, we walked in to McDonald's and I order and then Sister Harrop goes up to order and the cashier asks us if we have a spare Book of Mormon he could have. Needless to say we were happy to oblige and we talked with him for a bit (it was busy so we didn't get to long) But, he gave us his name and his number so we could contact him! It is fun to see how aware our Heavenly Father is of us. Usually, we would have just gone to the gas station and grabbed some hot chocolate there but, last minute we decided to go to McDonald's and meet this man who had been curious about our church for a while now. But, if we had gone to the gas station we wouldn't have been there when he was on shift! But, our week has been crazy! Our cars got parked Friday so we went tracting in our area... Which is super super spread out so we made it to maybe 6 houses and it took us 2 hours and only about 3 of the doors even opened. But! I can tell you now that was enough experience to convince me that I never want to live in a snowy place for any extended period of time!! So, in recent months since the age change we have been hearing a lot about the 'hastening the work of salvation' and the other day I came across a scripture that reminded me of it. Its in Mosiah 18:21 "And he commanded them(Priests that he ordained to teach the people) that there should be no contention with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another." In this scripture Alma is talking about priests specifically, but, I think this applies to every member of the church. it mentions at first that he commanded THEM but then they were to go forth with ONE eye. The work that is being done right now is a work that everyone in the church is participating in whether they know it or not. As we go forth and preach the gospel by word or by deed we are joining the groups we are knitting our hearts together with one purpose and that purpose is to bring others closer to their Savior Jesus Christ. How amazing is it that we have that opportunity and the privilege to help others come to a better sense of self? It is such a comfort for me to know that I am a child of a God and that He loves me. But, it is an even greater comfort to me to be able to tell others that very same truth. I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Bice