I hope everyone had a great week! Okay, I started writing this just to my family, but I ended up getting close to the end of my time, so I thought I would go ahead and send this as my weekly e-mail. I wrote this pretty fast, so try to ignore any grammatical errors, I didn't really proof read it.
So, this week was good! But like every week, there will always be disappointments and trials. Last Monday, we went on exchanges with the sisters in Henry's Fork. Sister Deuel went there with Sister Brinkerhoff, and Sister Houston (out for almost 5 months) from AZ came to our area (BYU-I 2). Just an half hour before P-day ended, my watch broke! So I've been using tape this week to hold it together, which has been pretty funny(oh the things you do on a mission!). Sister Deuel doesn't like to use watches, and actually, none of my companions have liked to wear one so far, so I always use one to make sure we are on time and don't stay overtime at dinner, lessons, etc. But I like wearing one, so it works out! Anyway, it was a good exchange, and I always learn a ton being with other sisters :)
Tuesday, we had booth at BYU-I, and Sister Houston really loved it! We exchanged back after dinner, and Sister Deuel and I went back to work! I remember that night being a bit slower. Wednesday, amazing things happened though! We had another lesson with Lupe, who was recently baptized (pictures of her baptism I think were closer to when we first came into the are.) anyway, us and the sisters before us, have been trying to teach her husband, but we didn't have much luck. Recently though, he was there when we showed up for a new member discussion with Lupe, and he said that he was ready to learn, but wanted to take it slow! We taught the plan of salvation, and he said that for a few months, he wakes up in the middle of the night, and he couldn't get the Book of Mormon out of his head. He started reading it, and started reading gospel principles as well! He felt that it was true, and decided to learn more. Well, when we had our second lesson with him Wednesday, we started teaching the Restoration, and while doing so we just started asking the baptismal interview questions along the way. i.e. do you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet? That Thomas. S. Monson is the prophet today? That the Book of Mormon is true? things like that. He has a testimony of all of it, and despite him saying that he just wants to take things slowly, and not be baptized right away, we just invited him there to be baptized in July (enough time for him to get a testimony of the Word of Wisdom, since smoking is hard for him) and he accepted! We are so happy for him, Daniel seems so different, and he accepted the invitation of going to church this Sunday, and he went! He even was able to meet our stake president, who happened to be in the ward that day. Wednesday, we also met with another Investigator of ours named Mary. She's elderly, but so spiritual! She has some family who are members, but she just has a few beliefs that are keeping her from baptism. But she loves us coming over, and she's not like other elderly people who've I have taught before, who seem to just want the company. She'll talk with us for a bit, but then is good about telling us right away her "reading assignments" she likes to call it, and we discuss that and then start the lesson. She has had missionaries before, but has dropped them or they have dropped her. She really likes us teaching, and we are working to get through her concerns.
Thursday, we had Brad Wilcox speak to our mission!! He's so awesome! He taught about the difference between being chosen and called, and talked about birthrights. He started off by asking why we had to keep all of these standards growing up, and doing things such as giving up so much and even our lives while serving 2 years or 18 months, when the rest of our peers can party, spend time doing other leisure activities on Sunday, and really just everything else that the world does. He offered some answers, such as "I'm a child of God", "I've been saved for these last days", but he said that so are they who aren't of the church or living the standards. Then he got into the subject of linage and birthright. To explain this better, he had some volunteers- he had different papers passed with bible names on them. So, let me tell you, I was married this past week to another Elder, by Brad Wilcox!? Well, kind of! ;) I was given one of these papers, and I didn't think much of it, that is until he called up the Elder who had "Jacob", and then I realized that I was "Rachel," and he called me up, and apologized to President Nelson that he didn't get his permission first to marry us ;) It was pretty funny, and it wasn't awkward for too long of course, because everyone was called up then slowly, and soon the whole "family" was up in front of all of us missionaries. He explained how the tribes worked, and how Joseph got the birthright. It was really neat to see and understand who things worked, and he did this also to show us the organization of the tribes, and of the church. He also used this to explain the roles of Ephraim and Manasseh, which is to gather Israel and build up the kingdom, Ephraim through leadership and through temporal means, and Manasseh through spiritual leadership. He then asked us why were were called on missions. Why there were missionaries called to Idaho, and of course it's to build up the church and to teach repentance and baptize converts, but also to strengthen the church, and gain knowledge of church organization for ourselves. I never thought about it like that, and how true that is. I've been able to learn so much by serving here, because we do work more on a stake level, than by having maybe a ward or branch. I just feel like that I received so much insight from that fireside, and have gained a new perspective on the work that we do here. I think that lately I've been thinking that maybe really it's all about helping others receive the gospel through faith, repentance, and then baptism. I know though that we are all children of God, and I need to remember that more when we do teach and help those who aren't active in the church as well. Like, there's this amazing women we are teaching who's never really been active before, and she has started to read scriptures literally every night, and she feels just such a difference when she does so now, and I know Heavenly Father has just been guiding her. There's just so many people that I've grown to love here, I really just can't imagine ever coming home. I can't imagine not serving a mission, this is seriously the best decision I've ever made. Okay, so Thursday we also taught Marissa, another investigator of ours, and while we were teaching her two young girls (who are seriously just sweethearts!) were just having a rough morning and were in tears about something, which was making it really hard to teach. I remember praying, and I'm sure Sister Deuel was praying too, that they would be comforted so that Marissa could feel the spirit, and literally all of the sudden they just fell asleep on the floor, just completely passed out! We were able to finish the lesson just fine, and the spirit was really strong. :) Marissa is really growing in her testimony, and she's just such an awesome person!
I wish I could go more in depth with the rest of the week! There's always just so much that goes on, but one thing I'll mention is that we went to the visitor center with Paige, Seth, and their fellow-shippers yesterday, and it was really great! We meet with her twice a week, and she explained that she has a testimony of Thomas S. Monson, but really she just is struggling with a sure testimony of Joseph Smith. She wants to be sure that she's ready, even though she knows now that she wants to be baptized. She's going to be praying about the second date that we have set for her, and I've been thinking a lot lately about those who we teach, and how many of them aren't sure that they've received their answer. One thing that Sister Deuel said while we were talking later about those who just don't feel that they've received an answer yet, is that maybe their not asking the right questions. I've been thinking about that, and I just was thinking about how often I will cry out to Heavenly father, asking him what to do, when really I should be prayerfully thinking about a decision, and then consult Him and ask. It brought me to one of the scriptures we recite each morning- D&C 58:26-28, which talks about how to be a diligent servant, we can't be compelled in all things, and how we need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause. I really feel that this week in particular, I've been humbled so much, and I've learned just maybe a little bit more about how much Heavenly Father loves His children, and is mindful of all of us. I know that the church has been restored, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity just to be able to see His work go forth. I've had to tell myself multiple times that this isn't Sister Cottrell's work, in the Idaho, Idaho Falls Mission (thank goodness for that!). This is His work, and I really hope that I'll learn just how much it is a privilege to just play a little role in it.
Notes from the fireside with Brad Wilcox~
"Christ's grace is the source of worthiness, not a reward for the worthy. His grace is the power to be perfected, and not a power given to the perfect." This is my favorite!
"Make your mark in the world, don't try to blend in"
"There's nothing that you've been asked to do, that hasn't already been paid for." I like this one a lot, for I know that there's nothing that we are asked to go through, that our Savior Himself didn't go through himself.
"If you haven't had the thought 'why am I doing this?' on your mission so far, you will."
"Consistency is the difference between a good missionary, and a great missionary" I think this goes for all of us, not just missionaries :)
"Have a willingness to keep trying. Endure not with errors, endure despite errors."
A birthright, from what I've learned, is the extra responsibility in building up the Kingdom! I know that we each have unique talents and gifts that can help others, and help each of us on the path back to our Heavenly Father.
Also, at sacrament meeting yesterday, one brother bearing his testimony mentioned that the word "meeting" he likes to change more to "an opportunity to receive revelation," and that just really stuck with me!
With love,
-Sister Cottrell
