Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Last Week in the MTC

Howdy there my family and friends!!
I am literally here 4 more full days. What is even happening?! 

I've been a missionary for a month now, and I made a very short list of some things I have learned so far... I literally feel like I could have gone on with this list forever, but I'll keep it brief. 

1. Time really is going to fly on my mission. 
2. I do not have a Mexican stomach. 
3. Fresh mangoes are life. 
4. My mission is going to require a daily effort and a lot of work. 
5. Scripture study is SO important!! For EVERYONE not just missionaries! 
6. I need the Spirit every day at every single moment!
7. The power of the Priesthood is SO real
8. I. LOVE. LATINOS. 
9. The Atonement can and will give me strength when I need it because...
10. I AM NOTHING. On my own, I could not do ANY of this. But thankfully I am not left on my own, and I have received strength countless times.
11. God is looking out for me and He KNOWS AND LOVES ME. 
12. The Gift of tongues is making the impossible possible... I am learning SPANISH! 
13. Prayers are answered- not always in ways we expect, but God wants to bless us! We just have to ask in faith! 
14. My mission is going to affect the rest of my life
15. "The temple or nothing" This is what I want for my investigators and what I absolutely am having for me. I am getting married and sealed in the temple, nothing less than that. 
16. I have been given specific gifts to help me in this work, and although I don't know what they all are yet, I am learning that God has prepared me to be here. 
17. God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies those He calls.  

I will stop there, but this is just a few of the things I am learning---- aside from everything in all my classes and lessons with investigators!! I really could go on forever. And I could explain each of those things more!! 

So yesterday, I had a minor panic attack... I think literally. But I'm fine now- Some Elders I didn't even know walked up to me and asked if I was okay, that they saw me crying and wanted to know if I needed a blessing. (Sidenote, this panic attack was in the middle of the comedor, everyone was walking past and lots of people tried to comfort me- it was bad...BUT God is looking out for me and EVERY person I know here at the CCM happened to be there at that time so I got to see friendly and familiar faces- it was a tender mercy. Anyone can tell me things will be okay, but seeing people from home and from school was SO good) Granted, I still couldnt control myself, but I love my friends. Anyways!! Me and Hermana Sainsbury went with the Elders, and 6 of them stood in on this blessing. All I had told them was that I was anxious and couldn't seem to be comforted. 
In this blessing, they brought up things that they couldn't possibly have known for themselves and I KNOW it was God speaking through them to bring me comfort I couldn't have found anywhere else. I wrote two pages in my journal just of things they said to me that I exactly needed to hear, and it was INCREDIBLE. I know that Heavenly Father knows me and He knows my needs. I felt His love so strongly through that blessing, and I know that those Elders had the power of God and they are using it to bless His children. 

I am so grateful for all the things I have learned here at the CCM. I love the people I have met and come to know and there are SO many things I still need to work on, and it is EXTREMELY overwhelming, but God doesn't demand perfection from me. He wants me to continue improving and learning! Thats all I can do! I'm nervous beyond words for the field, but I know that God knows me and loves me, and that if I put my trust in Him, He will take care of me. I am feeling so blessed. 

I love my Savior Jesus Christ. He is MY Redeemer, and through Him I can receive the strength I need to go about this work. He is transforming me from little weak Shaelyn into the powerful missionary and Representative that He needs me to be. I know this church is true and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to proclaim this to my soon-to-be-friends in Houston Texas!! :) 

Have a fantastic week!! Love you all, 
Hermana Rogers

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