Hit the Ground Running

Holla Familia!

These few days have been absolutely superb! It has been a while since I have felt like I have felt this great. My new companion Sister Snow is a Boss!! She is super legit. From the very first day we have hit the ground running! I am pretty sure she is my only companion who enjoys tracting, so it makes life so much easier! We have been working hard to build our teaching pool because we don't have much to work with right now. We have found several potentials to follow up with this week, and we have passed out several Book of Mormons.

I don't think I can express how excited I am to work with Sister Snow. This transfer is going to be pretty great. We both came out at the same time and we both know the end is just a hop, skip, and whistle away. So we are working hard to the very end.

A little about my lovely Sister Snow. She is the oldest of 4. She is from Saint George Utah. She played tennis. She attended Dixie State. She Loves Math! She is funny. She is smart. She is energetic. She is older than me. She is Superb.  

It has been really fun these past few days. We have met a lot of interesting crazy people! As well as some really neat relatively normal people.

I think the greatest moment this week, was having dinner with the Cena family yesterday. They are an amazing family, we started off our spiritual thought by reading Alma 26:12. "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever." and we talked about how we have seen the Gospel as a blessing in our life. Brother Cena made the comment about how no matter where we go in the world. No matter who the people are or what is around us, because of this restored gospel, we have a family all around the world. That we have people watching out for us and someone to go too. Sister Cena then started talking about her friend, I can't exactly remember what she said, but there was something that hit me at that moment. I saw in that moment the love that comes from the Gospel. How much Sister Cena loved her friend and wanted to give her something that had blessed her life so immensely. I don't know if it was the words she said or what it was that touched my heart at that moment. But I just felt this amazing peace, this amazing feeling of love. That this moment was the moment that I have witnessed for myself love for the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the Love of a friend, and really knowing what will benefit a friends life. 

There are many relationships that we can form with people. There are surface level relationships where we wave and say hi to people and we know what their favorite color is. Then there is a Decent relationship, we know some goals or hopes of a person we know about their family and such. Then there is a deep Spiritual Relationship with someone. Where not only do we know their favorite color, their goals, hopes, and dreams, but we know what they are trying to become because of Jesus Christ - how we can help one another progress in this life toward the eternities.  That, to me, is one of the greatest relationships we should strive for. Because that is when we really find out who a person is, and who God wants them to become. We start to see the potential in other people and within ourselves. We start to build and to love unconditionally and desire the blessings of God for all who are around us. I want that kind of relationship with people. I do care about what we are doing in life, what occupation, what education and so forth, but what I really care about is Eternal happiness and how can I get there and how can I help other people get there.

It was an amazing feeling at that moment, that I definitely will remember for perhaps the rest of my life. I have gained something from their faith, and their light, and their love.

Before my mission I never realized how much the Gospel really does bless an individual. I had become content with the knowledge that I had, because I didn't really know what else was out there. I can say I didn't really understand what the Gospel really was. I knew that it was Good. That we are hard working people. But I never realized how much knowledge we have, how much truth we have, how much light we have compared to those in the world. We increase that light that is within us - line upon line, precept upon precept - until our knowledge is full. We will not become perfected in this life, but in the next all things will be answered. We must not look past the Mark. We need to focus on getting there and then we build off the foundation that we have. Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End, Christ like attributes, and Becoming. Those are the things that we need to gain a firm understanding in a firm knowledge to be truly happy.

I love this Gospel. I love being a missionary. I love happy people. I love that I have the blessing and opportunity to learn and grow continually. That I have the desire to do so.

I love you all very much, and I hope you start to recognize the love that God really does have for you.

Loves,

Sister Karen Call

"Member missionary work does not require the development of strategies or gimmicks. It does require faith—real faith and trust in the Lord. It also requires genuine love. The first great commandment is to 'love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. … The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself' (Matt. 22:37, 39)."

~M. Russell Ballard