Nov. 20, 2017

This week was pretty good, we have seen just so many miracles this week! So, we were teaching this family a month or so ago, and they started coming to church after a decade or so of not being attending. We started teaching their daughter the discussions, since she just turned 8 and the stake baptisms are coming up. While we started teaching them, the grandmother started joining in, and she's not a member. After the second discussion she agreed to meet with just us to answer some questions she had, and it was just amazing! She's from California and was raised Catholic, but hasn't really been actively going or agrees with exactly everything. Her daughter converted when she met her husband. She told us that as she were teaching, she has been feeling something and she wants to learn more with an open mind and heart. She had amazing questions, and the Spirit was so strong as we talked to her, and really we were able to give her answers that I know that we couldn't come up with on our own! She started reading the Book of Mormon, and wants to meet with us almost every day this coming week, it's just been amazing! Another miracle this week actually was that I was very sick Thursday, and the whole day was just a blur, but after a priesthood blessing and lots of prayers on my part, I was able to work the very next day! That was a tender mercy for me, and although I still don't feel the best, it's been wonderful that I was able to receive the strength I needed to not slow down the work!  We also had quite a few things happen that led us to find a few more people who really are open to hearing more about the restored gospel, so we're really excited for that! One things that I've learned while serving in Idaho, is that because a lot of people are pretty familiar with the church, they often have a lot of tough concerns with either church history, the Book of Mormon, and things like that. It's been fun for me to be able to study and answer these concerns, and we can but, really in the end they need to exercise their faith enough to read and to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Everything falls into place when they do that, and it's been amazing to see so many hearts being changed from doing those basic things.

Friday at the Mission Office was a devotional for all of the Sisters in our mission, and it was just so awesome to be able to see everyone and to feel so united as sisters in our mission! Sister Nelson gave those who memorized The Living Christ during the temple open house a necklace of a pine cone, and also to remind us to continue developing our faith in our Savior, and the pine cones I guess remind of us seeds of faith. :) During the meeting, we had an inspirational speaker talk to us about how perspective is truth. So often, when we view something or someone (being ourselves or others), it can influence a lot. When we choose to see ourselves one way for example, we often become that. I think I'm slowly learning what my dear mother has been trying to teach me for so many years! 

Also! On the 24th (the day after Thanksgiving), the new #LightTheWorld video comes out, and it's so inspiring and is a wonderful way to go into this Christmas season! I hope everyone watches it when it comes out, and participates in the 25 day count down to Christmas!

Okay, one more thing- there's a new Mormon message called "The Good Samaritan," and it seriously really got to me! I just think that it's so easy to justify things, but when we really look outward and focus on other's needs, than changes occur! Here's the link, or you can just search it on lds.org

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2017-01-009-a-good-samaritan?lang=eng&_r=1&cid=HP_FR_17-11-2017_dPFD_fMLIB_xLIDyL2-4_

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! 

Love,

-Sister Cottrell 

11/14/17

Hello! So we changed our Preparation Day to Tuesday, in order to go to the temple this morning! It was my first time going through the Idaho Falls Temple since it's been dedicated, and it brought back some amazing memories of being able to serve at the temple open house back in the Spring! 

Okay, so I think my testimony just doubled in the fact that Heavenly Father truly puts you exactly where you need to be, in the exact moment! We had a couple of these experiences, one of which occurred when this elderly gentleman was trying to put their garbage bins back, and was attempting to do it while on a 4 wheeler. We were able to help because he wasn't have much success, and we were able to meet his wife while helping. She let us in and gave us some apple sauce, then we were able to talk  and she got emotional because of some things going on her in life. We also were able to talk about how they've investigated the church before, and her own religious experiences. She just loves the Mormon church and said that she would join if she didn't believe that no one needs to be baptized. We discussed this, left her a pamphlet, and she wants us to be her special guests at a festival thing coming up (we had to explain that we couldn't exactly go, because we were missionaries :) ). We're not sure if she's fully ready to investigate the church again, but you never know what seeds are being planted! We also felt like we needed to stop by this couple from Georgia, and my last companion and I had taught her the Restoration, and she said that she'd read the Book of Mormon. We were able to set up another appointment, but it never worked out and the times we tried stopping by it wasn't a good time. So we figured that that was just her way of telling us she wasn't interested, but as we stopped by she just lite up and said that it had been awhile, and she was asking around to see how to get a hold of us. So we were able to start teaching her, and her husband joined in, but we're not exactly sure how interested he is, yet, that is. :) We also found a few more who want to learn more, and we started teaching some new families as well! That's been really amazing for me to see. We also had our zone conference, which was so powerful and spiritual, as always :) One thing that I just loved was when our mission President, Pres. Nelson, was talking about the Atonement and missionary work, using a talk from Elder Holland titled "teaching the Atonement." During which, Elder Holland spoke about what Christ went through in His mortal ministry, and the challenges that He faced. It talked about the worth of a soul, and everything that the Savior did for each and everyone of us.  It's amazing to think about just how much value one single soul has! Elder Holland than further explained that because each individual is so valuable, that's partly why missionary work isn't easy, and if it wasn't easy for Jesus Christ, the greatest missionary to walk the earth, than it won't be easy for us, either (not that we would ever go through anything that He did!). I also learned this week just how important it is to share with conviction your testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith, and how there are prophets today. I know that Heavenly Father truly does guide this church! I love the restored gospel of Jesus Christ so much, and I know that it's all true :) 

With love,

-Sister Cottrell 

Sorry! I'm going to make it a goal to be better at taking pictures! I have one though- this is like the main road in our area! They had a bit of a traffic jam 

11/6/17 Happy Halloween!

Alright, so one of my goals is to be better at sending out an e-mail with more of the miracles and the events that happen each and everyday! So here it goes :)

On Monday, I would have to say that one of the miracles was that with this family we are teaching, the mom for the first time said that prayer! She actually volunteered and asked to say it as soon as we mentioned that we would like to have a prayer, and it was so wonderful. One of the things I love is being able to see how the change in others, which occurs when your faith in Jesus Christ expands and grows! One other neat thing that happened was actually while we were shopping during our preparation day, we ended up talking to this lady, and we found out that she  used to meet with missionaries, but hadn't in awhile and we happened to know the missionaries in her area and encouraged her to reach out to them. She felt that it wasn't a coincidence that we ran into her, so she said that she would :) 

Tuesday I felt like we did hardly anything, because I had a mission council meeting and so Sister Ekenstam was on an exchange in another Sister's area, and then we worked all the rest of the afternoon, but we had to be at a church building as a zone by 6pm, and we couldn't leave until 9pm, so we were kind of in a "lock down" ;)

The next day we had our first District meeting as a new district, which was really good! We discussed the power of using the scriptures to become better teachers, and I can honestly say that there have been so many experiences when the things that I studied that very day, we end up using to help answer someone's concern or question! We also had a powerful few discussions, one of which one of our investigators told us that they do believe the Joseph Smith was a prophet, and I know that that testimony really came through their personal study of the Book of Mormon! Someone also was really excited to learn about how there is a pre-existence, and I just thought about all of the different times that we have taught the plan of Salvation, and how so often many people don't realize that they lived with Heavenly Father before they were on the earth, as Spirits. I know that I've taken this knowledge for granted.

We were able to contact/teach a variety of people I felt like on Thursday! One lady in particular was from South Africa, one (a young family) just moved from North Virginia, and she let us in after we were able to teach her the first discussion she agreed to learn more, and she set up a time for her husband learn as well, so that was a miracle right there :) We also met with this really nice lady who gave us water, because she used to be a Jehovah's witness and understands what it's like to go proselyting. Those were just a few of the things I remember!

So, Friday marked my 15th month mark, and I'm just can't believe how fast time goes by, I was talking with another Sister who actually goes home the same time that I do, and we discussed just some good memories and what we've been doing to make sure that we continue to just stay as focused as we can! This day was really, really good and we were able to make some really great contacts. I can honestly say that Idaho has some of the nicest people I've ever met, and people here will seriously just let you right in, it's amazing. Sister Ekenstam was having a hard time, but I know that it's all an adjustment, and she had such a neat experience and an answer to her prayer, that built her testimony just yesterday, it was great! We've been having a lot of fun working hard together :) 

Saturday, it snowed and was bitter cold, but you just have to love Idaho :) We've been finding a lot more people, and lately because we've been working closer with the members, it's been great to me to see ways that we can strengthen them as well, and they just love to do missionary work as well!

Okay, a few really amazing things happened Sunday, one of which was that we found a new investigator, a young mother who actually also just loved the plan of Salvation, and just mentioned how the three kingdoms of glory actually made a lot of sense to her. We also shared a message about missionary work to a member family, and what blew me away was that they actually had a family that is newer to the area, who live nearby, and they feel that they might accept the invitation to learn more and are planning to invite them to meet with us! It really is such a powerful thing when members and missionaries truly work together like that. We also ran into several others who we know have been prepared by Heavenly Father's hand! 

I know that miracles occur each and everyday! Sister Ekenstam and I are for sure witnesses of that. I know that Heavenly Father is looking after us all, and that He not only has a merciful plan for all of us, but that he also is very much a part of our personable lives. 

With love,

-Sister Cottrell 

Pictures: I totally spaced taking many pictures this week, so the first one is just us in the family history center in our stake building. The next was taken Halloween night!

Oct. 30th, 2017!

Happy Halloween! 

First off, I just have to say that I'm so thankful to be able to serve The Lord by being on a mission! I'm serious when I say that miracles occur all of the time! Just the other day, we had to arrange our plans due to some things canceling, and so we ended up deciding to do our plans for latter that day, and because of that we were able to meet quite a few people while walking, who may be interested. One thing too that happened, was that this guy who recently moved from the East Coast was driving around, looking for their lost dog, and we said that we would keep our eye open. Well, it just so happened that we did find the lost pet, and we cover a big area and so it was really neat to me that Heavenly Father has a hand in everything! We also had some good discussions this week, and I honestly can say that some of my fondest moments on my mission would have to be during actual discussions, when the Spirit is so strong and you can really just focus on the people you're with, and their needs! 

Also, as some of you already know, our area was split last week! Elders now cover half of our Stake, and we cover the rest! It's amazing how we're able to just focus our efforts on a few of our wards, and the whole stake is getting more and more excited for missionary work! We're finding a ton more people and working more closely with members than ever before, and it's been great to work with the 4 wards that we now cover! It's very different from covering 45 wards and a branch, I'll tell you that. 

I was just studying some Christ-like attributes and I just feel like I had a complete change of heart while reading this passage in 1 John chapter 3! 

16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

This scripture really reminded me about the passage in 1 Cor. 13, how it talks about how even if you have the faith to move mountains, if you don't have charity you are nothing. I realized that we could be nice, kind, serve others, etc. But if we really don't have that Christ like love in our hearts, and truly desire the welfare for others, than we really are just loving "in word." That is one of His commandments, with the powerful blessing behind it that if we truly have that change of heart, we can have full confidence before God :) 

Love,

-Sister Cottrell

P.S. Sorry today is short! I'll write more next week :)

Pictures: We went to a cave in Firth with our zone! Also, a picture of me and Sister Ganbold :) 

10/9/17

I feel like this week we taught the Plan of Salvation a lot, and while thinking of this plan, I'm just so amazed at how loving and merciful God truly is! We contacted this one sweet lady this week, who actually got slightly emotional because in just a few days it would be the time of year that her father passed away. We were able to teach a bit about the plan and I'm just so grateful for the knowledge of why we are here, where we are going, and where we came from! She accepted a Book of Mormon as well as an invitation to learn more. It's been amazing to me how much my heart has grown and how even if we have a lot of rejections, maybe I'm learning the importance of even just one soul coming closer to our Savior! 

Other highlights... So we've been receiving a lot of referrals lately! Most haven't been interested, but we did meet a lot of people of different faiths! There was this one guy who's actually a Jehovah's Witness, he was sweet and said that if we ever needed anything to stop by. He even told us that if we needed to use the restroom, he'd even step out of the house so we could obey our rules haha! One thing that I have learned lately is that there really shouldn't be any amount of rejection that keeps you from moving forward with faith, hope, and trust! Another highlight was probably the church tour that had with a family we're teaching :) Also, a one thing that really made our day was that we went to contact this one family, and they just starting laughing and invited us in. They explained that literally a minute ago they were talking about how it had been a really long time since missionaries had stopped by, and then we knocked! 

So, in the statement about the Las Vegas shooting the Church did, I love the last sentence: "May God bless them with the peace and comfort only He can provide in such tragic and heartbreaking moments." I really think that if we look back at a point of hardship, we can see that we did receive help and comfort from others, but that there's a special kind of strength that only our Heavenly Father can give us!

Love,

-Sister Cottrell 

Pictures: We went to the Museum of Idaho as a Zone! Also, exchanges with Sister Reyes from TX!  

Pictures

Pictures!!!

So we went to the Idaho Museum as a zone! Pretty fun stuff! They had a space theme haha :)

9/25/17

So sorry I didn't get to an e-mail last week! I'll try my best to give the updates for the past little bit :)

So my new companion, Sister Ekenstam, is from Logandale, Nevada! It's just an hour north of Las Vegas, and so it doesn't get cold really where she's from! Also, it's pretty funny because she keeps commenting on how green it is here, and so her green land is my desert, haha! She's really great, she loves to read and write, and we get along really well. The adjustment to missionary life is always hard, but she's doing wonderful! Sister Ekenstam said that she had a classroom in one of the new MTC buildings, which just opened! I felt bad, because her first week in Idaho has been incredibly rainy, but it also has been pretty fun for us to be able to work hard, sunshine or rain!!

We started teaching a few more families! It really helped increase my testimony that the Lord really is in charge of this work, and so we felt so blessed to be able to find a few more investigators this past week. Another highlight happened Sunday evening, we were walking in one of the neighborhoods and we felt like we needed to see this one couple- the wife is a member who hasn't been to church is a long time, and the husband isn't a member at all. The wife happened not to be home, so the husband answered and I met him once before- briefly. He actually just was in a really bad car accident just last week, and he told us the story and even shared that he feels that he's still alive because there's more out there, but he hasn't found out what that is yet. We started talking about God and we promised him that there truly is a reason why he's still here. We then were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to him, and he genuinely accepted to read it! When we asked him if he would, he said that normally he would try to hand something like this back, but he actually would read the Book of Mormon, and he even thanked us and said yes to us coming back! We found a couple of people who we've been able to find and there's so much potential! 

Sister Ekenstam and I have been learning a lot about spiritual promptings together this week! I think that's life long journey, and I've probably have mentioned before. One thing that I have found is that meetings are just another way to receive  revelation, which can lead us to act on the promptings that we do receive. I just want to invite everyone to watch this short video called "find answers to your questions" on LDS.org, and just really ponder and think of a few questions that involve how you can help be an answer to someone else's prayer. Then see who stands out to you, or maybe you'll have an idea of something you can do during General Conference. I know that as you do so, you'll just be amazing at how you're able to build the kingdom of God by "small and simple" ways!  I love how in 3 Nephi 14:9-11, it talks about the good gifts Heavenly Father gives to His children. I know that if you ask Heavenly Father what you could do to help and uplift one of his precious children, He's not going to with hold helping you know who that is! It's kind of like when you ask your mom what chore you could do for her ;)

 https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-03-001-find-answers-to-your-questions?lang=eng

Love you all! I know that the Savior is so very real, and I hope that we can all feel closer to Him and have our testimonies feel reconfirmed as we hear General Authorities add their special witness of Him!

-Sister Cottrell 

Pictures: My new companion, Sister Ekenstam! Also, I never would have guessed that I would drive a pick-up truck on my mission!