Hello my friends,
I got a lot of emails this week from people i haven't heard from in a while. just wanted you to know that I was so excited to hear from you and I will try to write back soon. Whatever soon means in missionary time... I love hearing from you all and learning what is going on in your lives. It's always good to know what's going on, good or bad. I hope that these emails will do some good for whatever comes your way. I know I'm not the best writer and I'm probably confusing, but I hope at least some of the joy and amazement that I experience here will shine through these emails. There's so much we can learn from simply living the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this ward they put weekly quotes from the missionaries in the Sac. Mtg Programs. This week mine was "True and lasting happiness can only be attained by immersing yourself in the gospel of Jesus Christ." I know it's true. I've really come to know and understand that a little more since i've been on my mission.
This week was a little rough. We had really been trying to increase our faith in helping our investigators progress in the gospel. We had set a district goal to get investigators and church and we were doing really well the whole week. We had 6 solid commitments to come to church. We had rides for the ones that couldn't come. We contacted them several times, if not daily, throughout the week and all of them still said they were coming. Then Saturday we did a "round-up" where we contacted everyone again just to reinforce it one more time. Two couldn't come b/c they were sick, which was legit, but still. Then one more had something come up, but we still had 3 solids and a few other semis. Sunday morning the others called us and said they wouldn't be there either. So, for the third week in a row...NO ONE at church from us. It was kindof depressing I admit. Really there's only so much you can do though. It was sad though and I guess on top of a few other things but I kept shedding tears in sacrament meeting. Not crying...just a few tears :) But then i forgot, but the Relief Society was supposed to sing a song in sacrament meeting so I had to go up there. We sang Because I Have Been Given Much and I lost it. From the first line on I couldn't even see the words and had to make it up. And I was in the front row. That song really meant a lot more to me at that moment.
I realized that even though we may not see success right away, we still have so much to be grateful for. Even when we give all we have we can never give enough to compensate for our blessings. Our homes and families. Friends, talents. And of course the gospel. When I got home I read in Preach My Gospel in chapter 1 under A Successful Missionary. It talked about how even when we do all we can we will be disappointed, but not do get disappointed in ourselves. People still have their agency and even when they feel the spirit they will choose to put off their feelings. It then said that we can know that the Lord is pleased with us when we feel the spirit working through us. I know more now about working with the spirit and how we really can determine our status (if you will) with God by how much you can feel it's direction. When we choose wrong, we feel less of the spirit to help us recognize that. When we repent we're able to feel the spirit stronger again. It's real. As long as we try to stay worthy of the spirit and strive to follow its promptings the Lord will use us and bless us.
We found a new investigator yesterday though. She was just letting us in to warm up, but then we got really interested in our message. She was in awe of everything we said. It was amazing. We taught her about the Restoration and have another appointment tonight. And she's coming to church. And she will too. Things always look up, even when they seem down for a really long time.
It's getting cold here now. I'm learning how to wear several layers of clothes and not really look like it. You just look a lot bigger than normal, but nobody really knows what's normal anyway.
We went on exchanges this last week with the Kent sisters. They cover Kent State University and I've been wanting to go talk to all the college kids. When we covered Kent there were no students. But, we ended up doing exchanges on Saturday and there really wasn't anybody there. Plus it was homecoming weekend so everyone we did see said they were too drunk to talk about God. It was kindof interesting. Ahh. College life.
Elder Hoyt is my Zone Leader and he's pretty cool. He's waiting for me to get off the computer right now, so I told him I'd put in a good word for his patience. We just got done playing volleyball with the zone. It's always fun.
Welp, thanks for listening. I love you all. Thanks for all you letters and thoughts and everything else. Best wishes.
Oh, has anyone ever heard of Sweetest Day? Apparantely it was last Saturday or so... Supposedly another Valentines day. Just wondering if anyone know why it's necessary. Everyone I've asked has no idea. I think this one might really just be for the chocolate and flower companies.
Anyway. That's all. Really.
Love,
Sister Salisbury
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