It’s the real deal now!!! Sorry my email is a day late. Although yesterday was our Preparation Day... we used it to do service. So we ended up not having enough time to email. But hey! I'm here! I'm in my area! And I must say... it is the most marvelous area on earth. I am in the smallest town in the mission in an area called Loomis. It’s really close to Roseville and Rockland towards the bottom of the mission. I. LOVE. IT! No seriously. This is not just "pumped-on-life-mission-positivity." This town is seriously the BEST! It’s gorgeous. Everything is green. We have dinner appointments with the members EVERY night. And get this... the food we eat...almost ALWAYS grows in their backyard! What? I didn't know that really happened. The "Clements" are one of my favorite families. Brother Clement saw me drooling over all the green things in his backyard and took me on a little tour. By the end of it I had stacked piles of grapes, tomatoes, ASIAN PEARS, apples, zucchini... you name it, we picked it! It was funny to see me walking around out there in my dress and dusty shoes with blackberry juice smeared all over my face.. It was quite the sight. They spoil us. He is big into construction and is just all around an awesome man. He makes these awesome necklaces out of whalebones and antlers. Just the kind of stuff I like you know? Man. I have met SO many amazing ward members. I never realized what a blessing it is to be able to go to member’s houses for dinner. To be honest, I thought it was just because Elders didn't know how to cook, haha. (Just a joke) But it truly is a blessing to be able to feel of the spirit of these members. To get to know them. To gain their trust. And also to be able to leave a spiritual message with them. It’s uplifting. I have not gone one night without a meal from a member in our ward. I honestly don't know where I would be without it. As we get to know the members, our ward grows stronger and it’s AWESOME! I have only been here a week but as I sat there in church on Sunday looking around at all the people who had let me into their home, I felt the deepest love for them. It felt like home.
Well... and now the question you've all been waiting for... what is my trainer like? SHE IS THE MOST AMAZING PERSON ON EARTH!!! Her name is Sister Adamson. (Laura) And she is from Orem Utah. Seriously... I don't know how I got so blessed. Heavenly Father is really making things easy on me right now. She has only been out for 6 months and she is already training! She knows the people in this town sooooooo well and they LOVE her. As we make the rounds to our investigators and less-active members I get threats of.... "Sister Adamson is amazing! You better take care of her Sista Mitchell..." Haha. And I hope that I have. I have so much to learn from her. She really knows how to listen. (And not talk all the time...like I do....) She is really out here for the right reasons. Not because of appearances or because she wasn't doing anything else but because she wants to work! And man have we been working. I have never been so tired in my life, but I love every minute of it. When my muscles ache... my heart is content because I know I am doing all I can.
Oh! Random side note.... The first day I arrived. We drove to Loomis. Put my suitcase in the house and literally two seconds later were out the door. Sister Adamson sure doesn't mess around. We got to the Rackham’s house soon after. (After driving through gorgeous stretches of green trimmed roads, that is, and seeing turkeys on the road...) Brother Rackham is our ward mission leader. His wife made us a marvelous "Greenie Dinner." I'm not sure if you know all the crazy nerdy mission lingo but "Greenie" meaning fresh/new missionary. EVERYTHING was green haha. Jello, mashed potatoes, salad, dressing. It was hilarious. They have three young kids and they are adorable! Now... that name might sound familiar to you...maybe not. But I had a Bishop in Ephraim named Bishop Rackham. I took a shot in the dark and asked if they knew anyone in Manti with the name Rackham. Guess what? It’s his DAD! Haha. So we had a few laughs about that. I am sure that the Francois remember him. You should ask them about that. I seriously find these connections ALL the time. It’s insane. And by NO means a coincidence. Also... Sister Rackham has a picture of a bride up on her wall by the name of Ashley Kersey. She is a good friend and roommate of Meredith's that I knew. Craziness.
We have some AMAZING investigators. One of whom has been on my thoughts every waking hour of every day since the first day I got here. She is, like me, a veeeeeeeerrrry logical thinker. I will read the scriptures sometimes and my mind will go rampant. Sometimes I find things that, to my understanding, don't exactly make sense. And so I ask questions! You know this mom. I am never one to....how you say... blindly follow? I'm a question asker. This investigator does this same thing. She has been coming to church with us for a while now. She will scribble notes down in church with questions to ask us when we come see her. So here I am... on my very first day as a missionary. (Wednesday) And she has her questions. I love her. But anyways, point being... she's awesome. She's curious. She just wants to KNOW things. With this concrete knowledge that can't be shaken. Lets just say that the first lesson we had with her... didn't go the way we hoped. And it KILLED me. I just... I want to know more. I want to be more so that I never have lessons like that again. So I flopped. I flopped big time and it has been the greatest thing for me. It has helped me grow and learn in ways I could never imagine. I know exactly how she feels because I've felt that way! But when you have that roadblock in your head, that question that you’re stumped on... it means you've closed your heart. As you open your heart to the feelings of the spirit and pray to your Heavenly Father for the answers you are seeking...your mind will be opened. The heart is the key to the mind. We have several other people we meet with but man... she NEVER LEAVES MY MIND. I love her. Its crazy to meet with someone for only one hour on only one day and still love them. That’s the love of our Heavenly Father.
I never really completely realized the gravity of my call until I was sitting in a lesson with another woman. She is a less active member. She has had some... very rough patches in her life and has endured a lot of painful experiences. As human beings, we naturally sympathize with people. We see others in pain and we want to comfort them. I have felt that before for my friends or family or even strangers at times. But it wasn’t until sitting in this lesson with this woman that I really realize the full extent of how much our Savior loves us. But as I sat there with her, I felt this physical feeling of love wash over me. This all-encompassing, unconditional LOVE for her. I just thought... I want to do whatever I can to take away the suffering that she feels right now. It was almost uncontrollable. And in that moment... I realized the smallest portion of how much our Savior loves us. INDIVIDUALLY. How much he truly cares about all his children. Even the ones who have gone astray or who blaspheme his name. Even the ones who aren't as patient or as kind or as loving as they should be. He loves us so much. That feeling I got that night changed the way I see this world. Like I said in my talk before I left. These are the people we walk amongst every day. These are the people we see at the grocery store. The people we might avert our eyes from because we don't have the time or the patience to give a friendly smile. We need to love everyone that we come in contact with. We need to reeeallly love them. We need to show it in everything we do regardless of our circumstances.
Sooooooo many people have been awesome about writing me. I really can't tell you how much your advice and council really lifts me. Things are not easy. But I got an email from Tammy Schick that really just...wow. Just helped me a LOT. She talked about planting seeds and harvesting. I'm here for both. But if there were no seed planted... there wouldn't be a harvest. Because you invest yourself so fully in this work. Because you put your whole heart into it... its hard not to let it effect you. You love these people and you want the best for them. But I cannot ever be disappointed! Disappointment is wasted time. You have to just pick yourself back up and keep going. Its such a fine line between disappointment and success. Because this thing with that first investigator... she is CONSTANTLY on my mind. But I think it’s a good thing. We just have to keep that balance. We have to be sure that we care deeply enough to let it effect our life. But you have to use those times of slight disappointment to push you forward. I don't know. Does that make sense? This church is true. I have FELT it’s power.
There is a quote by Spencer W. Kimball that I read every morning before I go out. (We tapped it into our shower) It says, " If only you could see the vision as I have. I wish I had your bodies to do this work. I would run from house to house telling everyone of the gospel, and after I lost the strength to run, I would begin to walk, and after I collapsed from walking, I would begin to crawl, and after my knees were so bloody that I could not use them, I would use my arms to drag myself, and once every muscle in my body was gone, I would begin to yell! Oh, if only you could see the vision as I have.
Serve others. Work with every fiber of your being to be a tool in the Lords hand. I am so happy to hear that you are all reading from Preach My Gospel. I know that will really bless you. I miss you guys and hope everything is going well. I didn't have time to write ANY letters this week. But I love you all and am so grateful for all you do for me. When I got to the mission home there was a letter waiting for me from Montana (Jessica Stoneman) and it made my whole life better! I love you all and hope I get this whole P-day thing figured out soon so I can write all you wonderful people back!!!!
Love,
Sista Ash Mitch
P.S.S.S. We used to be in charge of Loomis 1st and 3rd ward but now we are just Loomis 1st! There are two other sisters in the 3rd ward so it means we can get sooooooo much more work done! Yay! Sorry if I didn't answer some of your questions.... next time for sure. Love you!
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