Week 54

8/7/17

TRANSFERS!!

Well, on Saturday at about 8:30pm, we got a call from President Tateoka. He said that he had a new assignment for both of us. Sister Williams will be staying here in Salem and she will be training Sister Butler, straight from the MTC. I will be going to Lebanon to follow up train Sister Blair. We are both excited for our new assignments and for the opportunity to train new missionaries! I will be in the Pioneer Ward and rumor has it that every Sister that serves there either starts her mission there or goes home from there. So it could be my last area, or else I will break the record haha. I'm sad to be leaving Sister Williams. She has been an awesome companion. She has been a great friend and we have had so much fun together. I know she is going to do an amazing job with her trainee and Sister Butler is going to love her!

So the rest of our week was mostly us doing lots of proselyting. We have not seen any success from those efforts yet but at least we were out planting seeds! :)

We met with Millie a couple times this week. She is doing so great! She has such a strong desire to go to the temple so she is doing what she needs to so she can be worthy of that. What I think is so great is that she made this decision on her own. We never invited her to. She felt the Spirit and started to recognize how the Lord had been preparing her to come back so now she is doing what it takes!

Since I don't have much else to report from the week, I would like to share some things I studied this week.

I only have about 5 or 6 months left of my mission so I've been thinking about what I want to accomplish before I go home. I counseled with Sister Tateoka a few weeks ago on setting goals for the rest of my mission so I have been praying and studying, trying to know what the Lord would have me work on. Elder Gary E. Stevenson gave a wonderful talk in Conference titled, Stand Up Inside and Be All In. I absolutely love this talk and wanted so share some of my favorite quotes.

"When my dad was 90, we were in an airport and I asked him if I could get him a wheelchair. He said, “No, Gary—maybe when I get old.” And then he added, “Besides, if I get tired of walking, I can always run.” If we are not able to be “all in” the way we are presently walking, then maybe we need to run; maybe we need to recalculate our route. We might even need to make a U-turn. We might need to study more intently, pray more earnestly, or just let some things go so we can hang on to those things that really matter. We may need to let go of the world so we can hang on to eternity. My father understood this."

"As we are faithful, we can have equal certainty that things will work out well for us in the end. The Lord’s promises are sure."

​​​​ "In our premortal life we shouted for joy at the opportunity to experience mortality.​​​​ We were “all in” as we excitedly made the decision to be valiant defenders of our Heavenly Father’s plan. It is time to stand up and defend His plan again!" Elder Stevenson

I have obviously set some specific goals for things I can work on, by my overall goal and theme for the rest of my mission is to Be All In!

I also found this quote from President Hinckley. I know this to be true because I have experienced it so many times in my own life.

“The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best medicine for despair is service. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired” (“Words of the Prophet: Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel,” ​New Era,​ July 2000, 7).

Work hard and serve others this week!

Love,

Sister MacKay