Today was a Holiday in the Philippines, it is Independence
Day so that means, no alarm clocks, Yay!!!
except for the phone call we get religiously from Ani, and that was a
good thing because we decided to take advantage of the fact that
we were awake and went to an open house they were having to tour the new MTC expansion
and what a treat! We are glad we went!!
Touring this facility made me realized how fun it is to be a
missionary. I know it’s hard, everyone says that, but what an incredible
experience for these lucky missionaries when you get to have your days filled
with incredible spiritual experiences with some of the most amazing humans from
all corners of the world who are only focusing on one thing and that is to
serve!
A woman I know posted some highlights of her daughter’s
emails over the last eight months she has been on her mission. It amazes me all
the wisdom that is shown at such a young age.
Here they are:
(note they are in her exact words and
punctuation…hashtags and all)
END OF WEEK
ONE (MISSIONS ARE HARD):
October 17 2015: worst. day. of. my. life. And
the longest…FOR ANYONE WHO HAS THEIR MISSION CALLS: MISSIONS ARE HARD. Like,
you think you know… but you have no idea until you actually get out here! I
definitely thought I knew what I was getting into. Dude. Just make sure you are
doing it for the Lord and all of the right reasons! Because there is absolutely
no way you can make it through even a week in the Mission Training Center if
it’s for anything or anyone else!
Friday Oct.
20 2016: I’m learning so much patience. With myself mostly…. If you
don’t have faith on a mission you’re toast – Learning a language is harder,
feeling the spirit is harder, everything is harder. SO FAITH IS KEY!!!!
Saturday Oct.21 2016: BEST DAY OF MY LIFE !!!
Sunday
Oct.22 2016: Just know i could go on for days about how great it is,
and hard it is, and funny it is! The emotional rollarcoaster is so real! But
for the most part it is SOOO GOOD!… Missions are amazing! love you all so so so
much and miss everyone like crazy!!!!!!!!!!!! But a mission is exactly what I
am supposed to be doing right now! I know that! ———A FEW WEEKS LATER (ATTITUDE IS
EVERYTHING)
Nov 7 2016 “Some people see the glass half
empty. Good people see the glass half full. But extraordinary people are just
grateful for the glass!” Heavenly Father will never take our trials or
hardships away from us – But He WILL give us the strength to carry our burdens!
Geez i love that guy. Keep your head up, chin held high, and walk through Heck
with a smile!…Attitude is everything…the gospel is amazing! ONE MONTH MARK:
(EXACT OBEDIENCE BRINGS JOY)
Dec. 12 2016 This week our District goal was
EXACT OBEDIENCE! yikes. ya it´s harder than it seems! But it was so good! And
the blessings are real! Our first morning we had that goal I was asked to
say the prayer for district meeting… and in my prayer I asked to bless
us to have fun while still being exactly obedient. tee hee when i said that
everyone started laughing!! look... it´s possible to have fun while
being exactly obedient!! Holy cats read ALMA 26!!! It talks all about how the
gospel is full of JOY!!! and how HAPPY it makes people!! It says happiness and
joy like 10 times!! Look… if we aren´t laughing and having fun
everyday…we´re doing it wrong! The whole point of Heavenly Father´s plan is
HAPPINESS!!! Hence, the Plan of Happiness!!! COME ON! THATS SWEET!!! I think we
sometimes lose sight of that and think of the “rules” that we follow. But in
reality the whole point of this gospel is to make us happier than we´ve ever
been before! So it´s okay to have fun and laugh a little..All while being
exactly obedient!!!
———THREE MONTHS
IN – (REFINER’S FIRE)
January 16 2017 COOLEST STORY EVER ALERT*** In a
Book of Mormon class at BYU they kept talking about the refiner’s fire. One
girl wanted to learn more about what that meant… so she went to a legit
silversmith place to watch as they refined the silver. First, the silversmith
held each individual piece of silver over the fire BY HAND, not a machine. Then
when they were ready, he took them out. The girl asked, “when do you know when
it’s ready to be taken out?” and the silversmith said, “When i can see my
reflection in it.” …… DUDE! COME ONE!!!!! SO COOL! God hold each and every one
of us over our own “fires” or trials and afflictions by hand. He watches us
carefully and is always there. Then once we endure our trials well and with
patience, and actually start to “reflect” HIS countenance, we are ready
to be taken out of the fire.
———FOUR MONTHS IN
(POWER OF
ENTHUSIAM)
Feb 6 2017 This was the BEST WEEK OF MY LIFE!!!!
Can we all just take a second to LOVE THIS GOSPEL!!??? gosh dang it!!! THE
CHURCH IS TRUE! #knowit #liveit #LOVEIT!
(Today is a
continuation of yesterday’s blog sharing some favorite snippets of my daughter
Ashley’s emails she has sent home over the course of her 18 month mission with
the valuable life lesons she was learning along the way – these lessons are
such relevant lessons for all of our lives and I hope you enjoy reading them.
They are continuing from yesterday’s blog in chronological order to help
illustrate the growth that takes place over the 18 months of serving othersJ)
———FIVE MONTHS
IN – (IT’S THE SMALL THINGS THAT BUILD CHARACTER) March 13 2017
Subject line:
Lose yourself That moment when one of Eminem’s best lyrics
fits perfectly as the subject line for an LDS mission email home. #lifegoals #winning
– We ran into a
lot of really cool character building moments this week. I’m learning that it’s
NOT the big things that build us. But the TINY minuscule things. Like when a
member asked us to come help her move some furniture around… then two hours
later she wanted to switch it all back again! At that very moment I had to
stand back and think, “dude. am i telling her the couch looks good here just
cuz i wanna get outta here!? Or am i really trying to help this woman feel good
about her house and make it look good.”…. SOOOO SMALL! right!? hahah! but it’s
all about our intentions and those TINY character building moments! Everything out of love!
**I love the message of that email because it is a simple example
that every single one of us can relate to…especially the husbands who have ever
moved furniture for their wives….**
———SIX MONTHS –
1/3 OF THE WAY THROUGH- (CHANGE AND AGENCY) April 17 2017
“When
you do what you’ve did, you get what you’ve got!”
This week I’ve
studied a lot about CHANGE! awe yes. Change. The ironic concept that we
hate in the moment, but when we look back we are happy we did it…
Another thing
I’ve been studying about is our will. Because God loves us so much, He gave us
agency and our will.
That is the ONE thing that we have, that
God doesn’t already. So when we give our complete WILL to Him, we
have given God EVERYTHING………And it’s as easy as a change of mind! #2seconds!
———SEVEN MONTHS
– (BLESSINGS OUTWEIGH HARDSHIPS)
May 8
2017
So this week we
have been completely exhausted… have huge bags under our eyes… Every now and
then we twitch a little… And the tension in our neck and shoulders from the
stress is killer…. And yet somehow this is the HAPPIEST IVE EVER BEEN!!!
The blessings
on missions FAR outweigh the hardships. I have never regretted my decision to
serve a mission for two seconds.. and I know I never will! Once again.. If anyone is on the fence about serving… GO!
It truly has been the best time for my life so far. I am so grateful for my
savior Jesus Christ! I know he lives. I know he loves us. He gives us new
opportunities every single day, even when we disappoint him. He is our perfect
example. I am grateful that he pushed me just far enough to be able to turn in
my papers to serve a mission. I know that a lot of the time that is how He
works. No strikes of lightning.. No earthquake shaking moments… He taps the domino just light enough for it to be able to start
rolling.
. ———ABOUT THE HALFWAY MARK of her mission on June 5
2017 Ashley sent a letter to me – and
this letter is one I want every young man and every young woman out there
to listen carefully to because it is about the KIND OF HUSBAND A GIRL
SHOULD WANT TO MARRY there is nothing more that i love than working side by
side with President Wakolo [her mission president] and the Aps [the assistants
to the president]!!! goodness… those guys are AMAZING! seriously mom… my level
of caliber for my husband just went soaring! like… now that i know the potential
that boys actually have… i am not wasting my time on dweebs!!! gosh. i just
want to marry a freakin rockstar of a guy! ya know!? I’ve started my list of
qualities that i want my husband to have some day… like not the stupid list
that you make when you’re little and just care about looks and laughs.. like im
talking detailed traits and characteristics that I’m learning that I need!!!……
so I’m pumped for my future fam one day…… being a mother is the MOST important
thing i will ever do!… and I’m just preparing and learning for it now!
[**As a parent, I have to say that
having your daughter recognize the type of man she should marry is worth every
second of every day she is gone**] ———
I was so touched by these amazing missionaries
serving all over the world who are having similar experiences. What I learned
today is that there are 70,926 young men and women serving a mission to be
exact!
There are 422 missions and 15
Missions Training Centers. In addition, there are also 10,238 welfare service
missionary couples serving in 189 countries. The Church membership is close to
16,000,000 and there are 30,304 congregations. Here in the Philippines we are
very closed to reaching 100 stakes and for that event there is going to be a
celebration planned with Elder Andersen and our dear friend, Elder Soares in
September so as you can imagine, Daniel is working very hard as the Director
for Temporal Affairs getting everything ready for when they come.
Con amor,
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