Week 9

My life flipped upside down today...So it started off like any normal day, we went for a run, showered, got ready to go study...and then President Eaton called (mission president) We were confused because he never calls unless there is something important going on. So we answer the phone and he asks us to get the other sisters (Sisters Zavala and Heiner). He tells us about one of the sisters who has been sick for the past 2 weeks and they've decided to send her home on medical release. (BAD NEWS) He continues in ruining our day by informing us that Sister Dodson is going to be emergency transferred to be with the other sister who is losing her companion and Sister Zavala, Sister Heiner, and I are going to combine our wards and be in a trio. I guess you could say that there was a lot of shock and a lot of crying. It's pretty tramatic to lose your companion in the middle of a transfer, I knew we wouldn't stay together very long, but I definitely thought that it'd be longer than this...

But on the other hand, Sister Zavala and I are companions again :) Good thing we get along!! ;)

Besides this morning, Christmas week has been great! Nobody has really wanted to talk to us because of the Christmas season, but it's been awesome because of how great the members are. Highlight of the week was skyping my family and having Christmas Eve dinner at the Halle's house :) we had a Bethleham dinner and we ate scones and grapes on the floor by candle light. Super cute! Not to mention all of the random Christmas gifts that we've gotten. Needless to say I have lots of socks!!!

With Christmas coming to an end and the new year beginning comes the season for people to "start over" and make outrageous goals that wBut as you're making your goals for the new year, I'd urge you to consider what you could do to more fully "Come Unto Christ". As part of our contacting approach we've been sharing Moroni 10:32. Christmas celebrates the birth of our Savior, but Christ wasn't just born for us, He lived for us! My invitation is that as we set our goals, think of ways in which you can strengthen your relationship with Jesus Christ and "be perfected in him, [denying] yourself of all ungodliness...and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ." 

Happy New Year! I love you all ♥

PS-Shout out to Shaylee Hatt because she writes some of the best emails ;) ya'll need to be writing me back! haha ;) merry christmas shaebae

          The Halle family :)

            Sister Gillespie!

                      Christmas day :)

Week 8

Merry Christmas!! We had our ward Christmas party this week. Oh my goodness, our bishop went ALL OUT! Apparently he has connections because it was probably the coolest Christmas party I've gone to. There were crazy lights and a projector that played Christmas mormon messages, and even an ICE SCULPTRE! It was pretty awesome :) 

Sister Zavala's new companion is pretty awesome. (we live in an apartment with another set of sisters) her name is Sister Heiner and she's kinda crazy. Like no joke. She makes me laugh so much! She's decided that we're all a family: she's the dad, my comp is the mom, and Sister Zavala and I are the children. It's great because she even has us do family prayers and fhe. 

I've decided that I want to do a 'deep doctrine dive' into humility this transfer. I chose this topic because all throughout the scriptures it talks about humbling yourself before the Lord. God can't work with an unwilling heart. When I finish my mission I don't want to come home the same person. My mission president suggested that we write God's purpose on our hearts. His purpose is found in Moses 1:39 - "For behold, this is my work and my glory: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." The Bible Dictionary has synonyms for humility, my favorite one was 'teachable'. I pondered that for a minute, what does it mean to be teachable? Some thoughts that I had went along with the scripture Mosiah 3:19 "the natural man is an enemy to God" The natural man inside of us often makes us believe that we know it all. We don't need God's help because life seems to be going great right now. False. 2 Nephi 9:28-29 says that being learned is ONLY good if we hearken to the counsels of God. We need our Heavenly Father in everything that we do. When we are humble we are able to recognize that we can do nothing without him. I just want to leave one more scripture with you, it's Alma 26:12, "yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." This is Ammon speaking. He's seen so much success as a missionary, but he also recognizes that it is all because of the Lord. 

This Christmas season I hope that each of us can recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives. As we humble ourselves and draw closer to Him, our hearts will be opened and he will pour out blessings that there will not be room enough to receive them.

love you all!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Week 7

I survived my first transfer! And I love it so much. I don't have a lot of time left, but I want you all to know how much I love you and how incredible missionary work is! One of our investigators started to share the gospel with her family and now they are starting to come around. Her granddaughter even sat in on our last lesson! 

My goal for this transfer is to "Fear No Man". I've found out that i'm actually not very good at opening my mouth. I'm so shy! So I read this talk by President Uchtdorf called "Fear Not, I Am With Thee" and it talked about having faith in the Lord. Missionary work doesn't progress until you actually have people to teach. You can't have people to teach until you've actually talked to them. Yesterday during tracting I took the lead in knocking on doors. I felt like a real life missionary because I wasn't afraid to talk to them! Seriously the power of prayer and the Atonement is real. When you put your heart and mind into something and have the Lord on your side, you cannot fail! :)  

I want you all to know that I know that this is the true church. Nothing that happens in my life will ever make me question that because the spirit has testified of it to me and I can't deny the spirit. Put your faith in the Lord. Pray and ask Him questions! If there is anything that you are questioning in your life, do what James directs and ask God (James 1:5) even if it's for another witness that the Book of Mormon is true. Moroni promises that if we ask with a sincere heart and with real intent then the spirit will testify of truth. 

Stay strong and remember Christ in Christmas!! love you all :)

Sister Dodson is my companion (red sweater) Sister Zavala was my MTC comp (in the back)

(the flash scared me...but we got a pomegranate that was huge!)

Week 6

Hey!! Hope everyone's having a great week! Christmas is in 18 days and I'm so excited :)

Last week we met this woman, I think I mentioned her in my last email. She's had a tough life...but we had one lesson with her and she came to church the next day. We've had about 4 lessons now and I can't believe how incredible she is. My testimony of the Atonement has been strengthened so much. She genuinely wants to change and everything that we talk to her about she wants to know for herself. Her faith is increasing and we can see it through her actions. Before we even taught her about the word of wisdom she's thrown out her smoking stuff, she just keeps saying that she wants to be "clean". She's also sharing what she's learned with her daughter and granddaughter, who live with her, coming to church, and not being ashamed of what she's learning.

My testimony of the power of change through the Atonement has grown because, after only knowing about this for a week, she has made such a dramatic change in her life. There's a talk by Elder Holland called "Missionary Work and the Atonement". He says, "...the essential message of the gospel, the starting point for all other truths, is this from the Master's own lips: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.' Thus the Atonement of Christ, which makes that return to the Father possible, is rightfully seen as the central fact, the crucial foundation, and the chief doctrine of the great and eternal plan of salvation--'our Heavenly Father's plan,' which we are called to teach."

As missionaries our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the e​nd. All of this is centered on the Atonement. As we each have a desire to change and be better we can grow in our faith because of the sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I love you all and hope you have an amazing week, I'm super excited for the Christmas season and remembering the birth of our savior :) Watch the new Christmas video if you haven't yet, it's on christmas.mormon.org

((this is the neighborhood that we live in)