Tuesday, October 29, 2013

LETTER 16: The one where Tessa stands out on the deck

STORIES

--Thursday we had my very first Missionary Leadership Council! We met with the other Sister Training Leaders, Zone Leaders, Assistants, and President Hall. It was incredible brainstorming and learning about what is going on in the mission, and what is going to happen. Amazing things are going down here! It really is the best mission in the world (:

--We met with one of our investigators, Adeline! She is super sweet, love her already. We taught her about Baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. It's amazing how much the gospel just makes sense. Teaching it to people all the time really makes you appreciate the beauty, simplicity, and truth of it all! And Adeline totally appreciates it, too. I feel so blessed to be able to share this message with people and see how they respond hearing it for the very first time. So special!

--Went out knocking, and talked with this one man named Steve. He was busy at the time, so we just said a prayer with him on his doorstep. I felt the spirit so strong! He started crying during it as well. How can you NOT love it? 

--Met with another investigator, Bri! She is the spunkiest lady, I love it. And her 4 year old daughter Adrianne is the most adorable thing.

--Saturday morning, we made some treats and took them around the valley to meet all of the Sisters we have stewardship over. I love each of them tons! We talked with them, and worked with some one-on-one. It's different being a Sister Training Leader, because our number one priority is the sisters. We can (and should) drop anything to help the sisters. I love being able to serve these sweet sisters and be their friend. So fun!

--Our ward had a Chili Cook-off on Saturday! It was a blast, everyone came all dressed up in Halloween costumes. It was a perfect place to meet a whole bunch of the ward members, and our ward is HUGE! Feels like I'm back in Utah! Haha it's the weirdest thing. Apparently in the Santa Clarita valley, there are a lot more Latter-day Saints. We'll see how long it takes me to remember people's names...why can't everyone wear a name tag? haha

--My first Sunday in the new ward went super well. Our ward name got changed to the Wiley Canyon Ward, random but good. I've received so much love from the ward members already, they are incredibly missionary-minded and kind!! It's fun working with them. People LOVE missionaries here!


FUNNIES

--Basically, Sister Naylor is super funny. We are always laughing. But a lot of it, you just have to be there for, so writing down the funny moments don't do them justice! Haha but we've been laughing because our apartment always smells like drugs...no joke. What the heck?? We think the guy under us is to blame. So Sister Naylor always jokes, "If I seem extra-happy, you know why!!" haha


LESSONS LEARNED

--In missionary leadership council, we talked a lot about the faith cycle. Sometimes, we think that our faith leads directly to a miracle, or blessing. But this is wrong!! If we have this view, then when a miracle or blessing doesn't happen, it leads us to think that we did something wrong--didn't have a strong enough faith, weren't obedient enough, etc. In reality, faith just means doing everything we can to work hard, do our best, and show God our faith--no matter what. God controls the miracles and blessings we receive. He will ALWAYS bless us for our faith, but often times it's not in the way we expect. For example, He will bless us with peace, happiness, and increase of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He will not always, however, bless us with exactly what we want. I won't have every person open their door for me, even when I go out knocking all day long. I will, however, be happy at the end of the day and have peace knowing that I worked my hardest and did what God asked. Once again, God controls the 'harvest,' so to say. We work hard and keep up our end of the bargain, and we will be blessed in some way. It shouldn't matter if it's the way we want to be blessed, and we can't get discouraged if we are blessed differently than hoped.

--God's whole purpose--His work and His glory--is to bring us back to Him! Of course He is going to do everything He can to help us along our way. He is so happy when we ask Him for help, because by being open with Him and turning to Him for help, He is able to bless us more and help us, which is His whole purpose!! Just think about it...how cool is that? (: 


Well that's about it for this past week, a lot of things came up so we weren't able to just be out hitting the pavement and working hard! We worked hard in other ways, but not with finding. This next week we'll have more time though and will do work! I'm just loving Santa Clarita, my companion, the work--everything is just too good. I'm incredibly blessed. I love you all tons!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN (:

xoxo
Sister Bishop



 We have a deck in our apartment looking over the valley, and I swear every morning we see the coolest things! This particular morning, it was semi-foggy


Biiig thank you to my family for sending me a Halloween package!!! I loved it so much (:



This morning it looked like we were in the middle of a cloud!! Craziest thing. Couldn't see anything, just a white wall of fog!


The normal view from our deck (:



Sister Naylor with cute Adrianne! 



Rolled out of bed to the greatest sunrise, don't mind my bed head and sleepy face (: Sister Naylor teases me that it looks like the world is ending and I'm just sitting there smiling, taking a picture haha


The goodies we made for our cute sisters! 


This morning, woke up to the craziest clouds and streaky sunlight...way better in person!



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