Wednesday, February 11, 2015

As I have loved you, love one another

So sorry that I wasn't able to email yesterday. We had Zone Conference which WAS AMAZING!!!! So today is our pday!!!!!! 
Let's talk about zone conference first. Oh my goodness. I am obsessed with this mission and the people in it! I love President and Sister Hanks SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!! I had my first little break down during a musical number because I realized it would be my last zone meeting. Ugh. I hate it so much, but life goes on... 

ANYWAY, this is what we learned....
-Acts 5:29;38-42 Suffer shame for His name! Obey God rather than man.
-There is power in our name tags!!! People DO notice.
-"Assume the sale" Assume that members are just dying to go out with you on team ups!!! Don't let them say no!!!!! (y'all. Please work with the missionaries in your home ward. Show them you care and that you want to help them out! Give them rides. Feed them dinners. Go to lessons with them!)
-If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you.
-Real deep penetrating prayers are important. Missions are supposed to be tough.
-Create a personal brand! What is the first word people think of when they hear our name? Have a personal legacy
-Tell the baptists that there is MORE to what they already know. Grow a polite spine and tell them what we have to offer!!!!!
-You can't help but love the ones you serve and the ones you serve, you will love fiercely.
-One of the gutsiest things you can do as a parent is let your children fall. Heavenly Father was gutsy because He loves us!!!! 
-How to make the atonement effective? 2 Nephi 31 

It was just a really good meeting and the spirit was really strong the entire time. We are so blessed to be serving here :) 

This past week was a little "off". Everything just kept going wrong. People were never home when they said they would be. No one was answering our calls/texts, but we did have some tender mercies that make me smile. The Lord is so good. 

-While contacting at walmart, I felt like we needed to be somewhere else, but didn't know where to go. We got a call from the Elders while we were contacting and they told us to come over to a certain home and meet someone that they were with. WE WERE SO EXCITED TO LEAVE WALMART. We hopped in our car and drove over to the home. An adorable girl named Kris opened the door and let us right in!!! She told us that she had been praying that night for help on moving all of her stuff in her home and then the Elders just knocked on her door after she was done saying her prayer. She told us that she took it as a sign that God was aware of her. We were able to help her fold laundry and clean up her room. While cleaning, we talked to her about religion and about how she had met missionaries all growing up and how she never really listened to the lessons. She told us that she is really confused about her purpose in life and is even confused about who God is. She said, "I don't even know what God is. A boy? A girl? or just an it? I have no idea. It all confuses me so much, but maybe y'all can help me?" UM. YEAH WE CAN. She is so excited to learn more and we are going over to her home tonight to mainly focus on who Heavenly Father is. We are so excited because this is the first time on our missions that we have taught someone about Heavenly Father. Everyone here knows who He is. I feel so blessed for this opportunity to help Kris draw closer to her Father in Heaven and let her know of His love for her. :) 

-We visited with Erica and her sweet boys again. I love them so much. Erica and her boys all got baptized last November!  we played football with them because we thought it would tire them out.... It didn't....and then went inside for a lesson and asked "trivia" questions. Before meeting with the missionaries, these boys didn't even know how to pray. THEY ANSWERED ALL OF THE QUESTIONS RIGHT!!!! After they got it right, we would give them a piece of candy. Erica joined in on the fun and felt so confident in all of her answers. It was the cutest thing ever. They are so eager to learn and so excited when they get things right! We then reviewed the lessons with them and asked them who the prophet was who split the red sea. They all confidently yelled, "LEHI! LEMUEL! NEHI!!!" They were naming all of The Book of Mormon prophets that they had heard of before. It was the cutest thing of my life. 

-We have been striving to work with the members more on their missionary efforts because the members truly are the ultimate source for finding people who are ready for the gospel. We have presented a Family mission plan with most of the families in our ward and it has been such a great experience for us as missionaries to just be in the members homes and feel of the spirit that is present there. We had a little "testimony meeting" with one of the families and we went around and shared reasons why we loved Jesus Christ. We then all knelt down in prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help this family find people who are in need of the gospel. The hastening of the work is such a beautiful thing to be a part of!!!!! PRAY FOR MISSIONARY OPPORTUNITIES Y'ALL!!!! 

-There is an ADORABLE lady in our ward named Mable. She is absolutely hilarious. She got baptized a good minute ago, but no one in the ward can find her records and she doesn't even remember what day she was baptized or where she was. haha she is the most precious human being ever. We went over to her home to bring her a bible because she has been wanting one for the longest time. She sang to us a song about John 3:16 and mumbled things she loved about Jesus. She faithfully comes to church every Sunday and participates in all of the discussions. She is the first one to get up EVERY fast and testimony meeting. She is striving to go to the temple, but she can't until they find her records!!! Poor poor Mable. She makes me smile! Heavenly Father always gives us such amazing people in our lives to make us happy. If they can't find her records, we might have the opportunity to teach her all of the lessons again!!! WOOT WOOT.

-I got a text from the Gadsden Sisters telling me that the homeless guy that Sister Bailey and I found on exchanges has been coming to church for the past month and has a job and a baptismal date this month!!!!!!!!!! Do y'all remember the story I told of him? ah. Definitely one of the best experiences on my mission :) WHAT A BLESSING TO SEE GOD'S HAND IN THIS WORK!!!!!!!!!!!! 

-We tracted out in the middle of the country and it was BEAUTIFUL WEATHER ALL WEEK. SO MANY PRETTY SUNSETS. Ah. It was simply breathtaking and I was screaming with joy the whole time. I couldn't help but smile as we taught people out on their porches and people who were sitting outside with their dogs who wanted to kill us. I couldn't help but smile when we tracted homes near a beautiful lake. I couldn't help but smile when we drove past a huge field of cotton. Oh. I love  this place so much. It is breathtaking. The people. The weather. The sound of the frogs at night. The humidity. The porch swings. The sweet tea everywhere you go. Ah. It's so much happiness bottled up in my soul!!!!!!! 

-A girl from the ward came up to me and said, "Are you ever not happy?" I just laughed and said "sometimes". But honestly, how can we NOT be happy? Heavenly Father has created such a beautiful world with such beautiful people!!!! I have realized how much happiness I have gained on my mission. It's so crazy to see how much Heavenly Father molds us missionaries. Holy cow. I still feel like the same person, but I know I'm not. What a blessing!!!!!!!!! 

I would LOVE to talk about LOVE right quick because Valentines Day is coming up so I thought it would be appropriate. 

Everyone here in the south LOVES John 3:16. It's the scripture that everyone says is their favorite. I love it as well. God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten son. What a beautiful thing. Ah. Heavenly Father's love is amazing!!!! 
President Uchtdorf said:
"God does not look on the outward appearance.  I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely. He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked. What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us. "

obsessed with this quote. Heavenly Father loves us no matter what. We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and yet, He still wants to bless us!!!!!

How grateful we should be to Jesus Christ. He just makes all things possible. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

I still don't know/ can't comprehend how He did what He did. All I know is that He did it because He LOVES us. It's pretty amazing to think that as He was suffering on the cross, He still pointed His arrows out and was concerned for the thief next to Him. What an act of LOVE.

I would like to invite y'all to think of the Love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have offered you so freely and how you can show that love back to them. How do we show our love to them daily? Monthly? Yearly? Do we think of them as our Father and older brother? Do we TRULY rely on them??? 

 Moroni 7:48 helps us know how to show that pure love. Read it. Live it. Let it change you!!!! 

This past week, I have truly learned that Heavenly Father has given us SOOOOOOO many things to love that there shouldn't even be room for hatred in our hearts as long as we focus on the good. (Matthew 5:14). 

I LOVE each of you so much. 
I LOVE my family.
I LOVE my friends.
I LOVE Alabama.
I LOVE our Savior, Jesus Christ.
I LOVE Heavenly Father.
I LOVE The Plan of Salvation.
I LOVE the scriptures.
I LOVE the knowledge I have gained.
I LOVE the temple.
I LOVE pecan pie.
I LOVE sunsets.
I LOVE puppies.
I LOVE how we can be forgiven for our wrongdoings.
I LOVE being happy.
I LOVE the beach.
I LOVE school.
I LOVE going to church.
I LOVE scrapbooking.
I LOVE teaching.


What things do y'all love? Who do you love? HOW do you love? LET ME KNOW WHAT Y'ALL LOVE!!!! 


In other news....
-If you can drive in Montgomery, you can drive ANYWHERE. (Scariest drivers/busiest roads ever)
-We tracted a neighborhood last night at 8 pm. EVERYONE went to the same baptist church. One of the guys who answered said, "Just to warn y'all. My preacher lives down the street from here." Our response? ..."PERFECT!!! We will go meet him! We love everyone!" (the preachers wife answered the door and was REALLY RUDE)
-Giving a talk this sunday. The topic (for the first time on my mission) is NOT on missionary work!!!!! #mixingthingsup I got assigned the topic of Following Jesus Christ. So excited!!!!! 
-We have literally knocked on every door in Wetumpka.... 
-Braydon. You still have time to write me. YOU CAN DO IT! I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!!! TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!!!! ;) 
-Our bishop here is 36 years old. His name is Troy. #crazy #soyoung
-I am not coming home. I made an arrangement with a girl in the ward to stay in the extra room in her home. Sorry y'all. #onlyinmydreams
-MOM! Last night, I had a dream that you came here and I wanted you to go tracting with me and you did!!!! You hated it. hahahahaha 

LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!! GO OUT AND SHOW SOME LOVE TO YOUR FELLOW MEN. 
BE STEADFAST IN CHRIST :) 

MYKY,
SISTER PLATT. 

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