Charity Never Faileth

Hello!!!

 

This week has been pretty crazy!! First off, we had Zone Conference, and got to meet our new mission president, President B, from Utah!! He is great! He was in the Air Force for 25 years. In his introduction, he made it clear to us that he was a "fighter" pilot, not one of those that just haul trash around. He is a pretty funny guy! 

 

Things that have happened this week:

-A random man asked to ride my companion's bike. (It is a bright yellow & pink beach cruiser, by the way.) 

-A drunk lady kissed us on the cheek.

-Met President & Sister B

-I ate a grilled cheese donut (It actually was good....)

A Grilled Cheese Donut!

 Oh! And thanks everyone for all the birthday emails!! I didn't have time to reply to very many because we had a survey we had to do, but I really appreciated them!! :) You all are the best!  As H pointed out, I'm now 1/2 way to 40.   -__- We bought a cake to bake today, except we forgot to buy oil/eggs, so we'll have to go back and get those! haha :) 

Chair Yoga---when life is stressful and there's not a good outlet for it.
#sistermissionaryprobs

Things have been a little crazy with getting a new mission president. Everyone in the mission seems to be running at full-speed ahead. And we are all getting a little commitment-happy, so I have been trying to not be overwhelmed with that. 

Here are the commitments that we have been extended:

-Read BOM in 120 days (5 pgs a day)

-Re-read PMG front to back (5 pgs a day)

-Study the faith ladder everyday in personal study
-Start a 40 day fast (Obedience fast---to give up something that might be distracting them from the work.)

-Do an obedience checklist every night for 40 days

-Do a 'Vision to Baptise' checklist for 40 days

-Fast for how you can be more obedient

-Study charity everyday

-Have 3 baptismal dates by the end of the transfer

-Life Calendar (personal daily goal setting)

And those are just what come to mind. So, needless to say we have been a little overwhelmed this week!!

 

One thing that I've been really trying to work on this transfer is charity. It is one quality that I really admire in other missionaries and want to further develop. Sometimes it can be really difficult to love people who don't treat us kindly or people who are strangers. Jesus Christ is truly the center of developing charity. I've realized what a difference it makes in how I feel when I make a conscious effort to love whoever I am talking with or teaching. In reflecting back to the beginning of my mission to now, I realize that having charity is all about turning outward. The more effort I make to turn outward, instead of thinking about myself, the happier I am and the more love I can feel. 

We came to the awful realization this week that we had NO junk food in our apartment!!!! The junkiest thing we had was whole-grain goldfish. For reals. So, we tried to get creative. Sister B made a blueberry bagel pizza. :p

Sister B and her pizza.

We've been doing a LOT of contacting and it's been neat to see all the little miracles that come from that. Even when people are rude, talking to them always invites Spirits more into my heart. It's neat how you can really tell if the Spirit's present.  It should be a consistent thing. Sometimes we look for the bigger spiritual feelings in our heart, but it should be a continuous undertone. The verse in Galatians has helped me to recognize that. 

 

I feel so privileged to be able to be a missionary. There are so many people who need Christ. By our words and example, we all can work with Heavenly Father to bring souls to him. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary. I love the Gospel and know that this is Christ's true church.

 

Love,

Sister Ashlyn Galloway