Week 47: God doesn't care where we have been, only where we are going.

Well yet another week in the mission life here in Oklahoma. The weather is quickly getting colder and colder. I feel some days like the freezing wind is cutting through my body and is going to knock me over! There is nothing quite like the weather here in Oklahoma. It is a killer. But we are still going out and doing the work of the Lord! And there is nothing else I would rather be doing! 

Monday: We had our first Family Night or the year as a group and it was way fun! We had a lot of less actives and investigators come, so that was amazing. It is fun to have a good time with these people. We watched the churches new years video. If you haven't seen it, watch it! 

Tuesday: The two highlights from tuesday were probably, #1 Brother Pestridge (a british man in the english ward) called us up and asked if he could take us out to lunch! So we had a surprise lunch with him at Mcalisters. That was fun. He had a crazy life growing up in England. #2 We met with our Group leader and talked about the year plan for the group. Man. It is so good! We bounced around ideas and solidified a few things.

Wednesday: I had an interview with my mission President. I want to share with you all what he taught me and what I learned. Well  I walked in there and we started chit chatting and eventually the conversation lead to talking about the atonement, what it is, what it means, and how we use it. He shared a lot of scriptures with me. To summarize what I learned is that I am God's child and I can't bear the pains of this world on my own. I just can't. But luckily I have an older brother who loves me so much that he "bought" me with a price.(Doctrine and Covenants 50:40-44) The atonement. His life. He did that so I can repent. So what is repentance? Repentance is to have a desire to change. It is me turning my desires back to Christ. He talked a lot about how the truth makes us free. Truth is what frees us. So before we repent, what comes first. Faith. So what is faith? (I have been trying to answer this question for forever!)  President said that faith is experience. We learn through experience which grows our faith. So how do I strengthen/have faith? I read and study the scriptures. When times get hard and your faith is attacked, just keep reading. Pray. Read. Pray. Read. Pray. and never stop. Even when we fall.  If we didn't fall, we couldn't be redeemed. (think Adam and Eve. Without the fall, we wouldn't need a savior) So in this life we are expected to fail. President said, "No one is surprised that you make mistakes. You made a mistake, all well! you learn from your mistakes that that's not the way I want to live and you change! So don't worry about making mistakes, it happens!" So what do i do? I find balance.  I learn. I keep getting up and trying to be better. No one expects us to be perfect in this life. The Lord has compassion on us. Compassion means that He is willing and going to help us. (Doctrine and Covenants 64:2) He will help me. He has bought me. I am His. I cannot fail. God doesn't care where I have been, only where I am going. 

Thursday: Good old weekly planning. If you don't know what that is, it is exactly what it sounds like. We take about 2 hours of our day and plan out the next week. We make lesson plans and set up times to go see people. It is a very necessary process. At the end of that we have what is called companionship inventory. That is where we talk about how we can improve our companionship and we make goals. I learned so much about my companion during that this week. We made some really good goals. The rest of the day was spent trying to find new people to teach!

Friday: We had another lesson with Doris. Man. she is amazing. we talked to her about the atonement and how we use it. Even though her little kid was crazy, the spirit was really strong! Side note... I think her two year old son might have a crush on me because he won't leave me alone! ahh! \

Saturday: We were invited to go to a Catholic Baptism!  A member's sister's son was being baptized and we were invited. I was really able to get perspective on what our investigators are used to when we say baptism. I wish yall could have been there. After the baptism we went to the party that they had for the little boy. We met Mario and Judy there and they are supppppper cool! man. We talked to them and they told us that they are looking for a church and that they want to get involved. They are on their own, reading from the bible daily! I am super excited to meet with them because they want to know about Christ. They are looking for Him!

Sunday: So I am going to go straight to the point. As a group we have made goals and plans to become a branch by the end of next year right? So Bishop Holyoak got up in Spanish Sacrament and boldly testified of the need that we have for the members. He said, "we are happy when Rolando and Lorena and Giselle are here. We are happy when Edit is here, but we are much happier when Rolando and Lorena and Giselle are here every week. We are happier when Edit and her husband Hugo are here. You guys are my spanish family (he doesn't speak a lick of spanish) and I love you. We need you!" He called out specific people and expressed his love and how much the church needs them. I wish I could describe to you the love that I felt as Bishop was saying all of this. After Bishop closed, Giselle (a less active who has been to church about 2 times in 3 months) leaned over to Sister James and said, "I want to start coming every week, for all three hours." Holy miracle!!!! There are people in your wards that really do care and love for you. They want the best for you. I learned that this week. We need you.

I hope you all have a blessed week and that you all have a chance to share your love with someone this week. 

Love you all so much!

Hermana Hilton