There is something incredibly agitating, frustrating, and somewhat terrifying about being in a limbo-type situation-- one where you can't move any direction until something that it out of your control comes in and fixes the problem.
To help illustrate my point, I'm going to create a lovely little analogy for you.
So, on a mission, you and all the other missionaries are all in the same boat. You all left the Home Shore to be on this boat. You're all doing the same thing, following the same rules, answering to the same person, etc etc. It might have taken you awhile to get adjusted to this boat-life-- it's different from your comfy life on the Home Shore, but you adjusted. You got used to this boat-life and all the people on it. It became familiar. You made friends. It was a welcoming and loving community. You were happy. You loved it. It became home.
Now, this boat-- this Missionary Boat-- was never a permanent living place, and you knew that. It became your home even though you knew you'd leave eventually. But when a missionary has to leave early, they end up on their own tiny boat with nobody else-- like those little lifeboat things. There might be other people in their own lifeboats in the same waters, but they aren't known unless they make themselves known, and that doesn't happen very often.
So, basically, that was me. I've been alone in my own little limbo lifeboat, stuck between the Missionary Boat and Home Shore. It became very depressing very quickly. I couldn't get back to the Mission Boat, but I didn't belong to the Home Shore. I was stuck in my little limbo lifeboat. I went from working on a strict schedule every day to being practically bed-ridden due to pain and exhaustion. That sort of change can seriously affect someone on mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Not to mention the illness itself of having a tumor on a gland that controls your body's chemical levels-- that doesn't really help either.
Meanwhile, I try to make a decision about where I want to go. Do I want to travel permanently to the Home Shore, or do I want to row my way back to the Missionary Boat? I don't know if that sounds like a simple decision to you or not, but you'll have to trust me when I say it started tearing me apart. I loved my mission. I loved the area, I loved the work, I loved the people. I had friends. I felt like I belonged. Yet the longer I stayed off the Missionary Boat, the more I realized how much a toll all that work had taken on me. Adjusting to missionary life was not easy for me. I fought my way through a lot of trials and problems. The first 12 weeks of my mission were a living nightmare. And even though I got through it and ended up loving my life there, I don't know if I could do that again. I had no way of knowing if I'd have the same problems or if I'd be able to handle it better the 2nd time around. My whole life was a giant unknown.
So when you pair those worries with the emotional distress of being in a limbo lifeboat, then add in a friggin tumor that screwed up my body and created this whole problem in the first place, I hope you can see my struggle. My desire to serve was still there, but the thought of returning to the Missionary Boat brought on intense feelings of anxiety and fear. I was brought to tears every time I had to talk about it. I had the dilemma of doing what I knew was right in terms of obedience and sacrifice and what I knew was right in terms of what is best for my health. In my heart, I felt that staying home and moving forward with my life would be the best thing for me. Yet when I went to the temple in search of guidance, I had very strong feelings leading me to think I should go back out on a mission. I was getting conflicting answers.
So I decided to wait. I decided to stay on my lonely little limbo lifeboat until I was in a better place to make a decision.
Fast-forward to just a few days ago. I've had the surgery required to removed the tumor, I'm on the road to recovery, but this decision is still eating at me. I've asked in prayer for the strength to do whatever God asks of me. I've begged for the ability to be happy about whatever life awaits me. I've requested peace for my soul. I've put my trust in the Lord.
Thursday morning, as all my friends on the Missionary Boat settled into their new homes at the end of transfer day, I gave myself a pep talk and made my way to the temple. I knew what I wanted. I wanted to stay home. I wanted to move forward and I didn't want to look back. Yet I also managed to humble myself enough to accept the fact that Heavenly Father might not agree with me. I told myself that if I needed to go back out to the Missionary Boat, then Heavenly Father would help me and everything would be okay. I recited my favorite scripture as I walked into the celestial room. "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded." As I sat in prayer, I opened my heart and mind to the will of the Lord.
Wave after wave after wave of love immediately flowed over me. I was going to be okay. The 6 weeks I spent on the limbo lifeboat had humbled and strengthened me to the point where I was willing to follow any command I might be given. I was willing to go, I was willing to face my fears, but the waves of love crashing over me told me that I didn't have to. I didn't have to live on any boat anymore. I could go to the Home Shore without the risk of lost opportunities or blessings. As these waves continued to flow, it took all of my self-control not to break down sobbing in the celestial room. All the stress, all the unknowns, all the fears-- it was over. I was done. I could move on. I could live my life with no regrets.
And that's it. That's how I made my decision. My mission is over, and it was successful. I am truly converted to the gospel. I am a better person because of the experiences I had. I am a stronger person. I forgive more easily. I judge less. I try to find the best in people. I'm not perfect, but that's not the point. The point is to keep learning, keep growing, keep trying.
So that's what I'm going to do.
Thanks for reading.
Sally
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Saturday, October 17, 2015
There is a Stigma on Medical Release Missionaries, and I'm here to Destroy it.
Hello all. As the title adequately states, there is indeed a stigma that surrounds those missionaries who are honorably released earlier than most due to medical reasons, and I, being the strong-willed, strong-headed and loud-mouthed person I am, am here to destroy it.
Everyone who has any knowledge of the Mormon church knows something about missionaries. Growing up in the church, children often look up to the missionaries serving in their ward and are encouraged to serve a mission once they are old enough. Missions are such a huge part of the Mormon Culture, that when someone breaks the status quo by coming home from a mission earlier than expected, people tend to freak out *insert flashback to High School Musical cafeteria scene*. BUT WAIT. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are supposed to be Christlike and non judgmental! SO, instead of talking to the missionary who came home sooner than we all expected, we keep all our probing thoughts and assumptions to ourselves, or, really, anybody other than the returned missionary, all while simultaneously offering words of advice and stories to the returned missionary without invitation.
Do you see the problem with that? You should, because there's actually more than one, and you're very much correct if you think I'm about to list them.
1. Assumptions
We automatically, as humans-- as curious and caring humans-- try to categorize the returned missionary based off of what type of illness sent them home. We make assumptions based on our knowledge of the return missionary Was is physical? Emotional? Spiritual? Mental? The answer: None of your business, actually. That information, unless shared by the return missionary, is meant to stay between the missionary, their immediate church leaders (mission president, stake president, bishop), and God.
The problem is that, unless it is an obvious physical injury, we all tend to assume that the problem is a mental illness. We all judge a bit, unintentionally and intentionally. We all try to categorize the return missionary. And not only is that inaccurate, it's also not fair.
2. Discussion
I really shouldn't have to explain this one much at all. If the returned missionary has either not told you personally or has not made a public post of some sort about their reasons for being released before expected, you have no right at all to discuss your most-likely inaccurate assumptions with other people behind the return missionaries back. It's that simple.
3. Butting in.
When someone we know has something upsetting happen to them, we automatically reach out in support and love. There's nothing wrong with that. What could potentially be wrong is the assumption (there's that word again, do you see a pattern?) that they want words of kindness and well wishes that come through the very empty, noncommittal, and emotionless portal that is Facebook.
Now, I'm not saying that all messages sent through Facebook have empty intentions. I definitely had some very sincere people reach out to me through Facebook, and I appreciate those people greatly. What's unfortunate is the number of people who sent me messages that clearly implied they neither expected nor wanted a reply. They were very generic messages that included things like "let me know if there's anything I can do" which, when you break down, can be interpreted as "I have nothing to offer you." And that hurts. That makes the returned missionary feel like they are just a statistic, they are a name to be crossed off on someone's "I did a nice thing today" list.
Summation and Solutions
We judge return missionaries. We assume, we discuss our assumptions with others, and then we butt into the return missionaries life. WHY DO WE DO THAT? Do we realize how unfair that is? As humans, we have a tendency to stick our noses in other peoples business. We tend to use other peoples illnesses as a way to let ourselves show pity and compassion, which then causes us to feel good about ourselves. We center things around ourselves. Can you see how that could be hurtful?
So what DO we do?
1. Assume the Best.
We make assumptions. That's okay; however, if the return missionary hasn't said anything about their return, and you just have to assume something, assume the best. Look for the good in the missionary coming home. Look for their strengths. Be kind.
2. Mind your own business
I know, I know, that sounds so mean, but it's true. Don't gossip. Chances are, the return missionary already feels really out of place and uncomfortable. They do not need people gossiping about them. If someone asks you about the return missionary, make an encouraging response and change the subject. Typical gossip avoidance techniques.
3. Make Actions that Speak Louder than Words
Nice words and kind thoughts are always appreciated, but if you want to offer help, offer it properly. Don't leave the action up to the return missionary. Ask them direct questions, such as "What can I do to help?" and then go along with the missionaries request.
But can I tell you a secret? What they really want is honest, selfless friendship. They don't want pity. If the two of you aren't the best of friends, chances are, they don't want to tell you how they're feeling or what they're thinking. They just want to feel normal. So, if you want to help, you should treat them like a normal person. Their lives have just been uprooted. The path they thought they were meant to take is suddenly taking turns they never expected. They don't need someone to tell them which way to go, they don't need someone trying to pick at their brains. They, I, WE, need someone who will accept us as we are and will be a genuine friend. If you want to help, then be that person.
I am a medical release missionary. I served a full-time mission in the Alpine German-Speaking mission for 8 months. My mission stopped because a tumor was found on one of my parathyroid glands, and surgery is needed in order to prevent further health issues, such as kidney stones, gall stones, bone loss, bone breakage, and several other eventual unpleasantries. This illness isn't something you can see. I didn't blow out my knee, I didn't break a bone, I didn't develop some injury or illness that is obviously seen. For the purpose of making a point, this tumor is so small, we've only been able to find it once on an ultrasound. Since coming home, I have seen one too many people be surprised that I didn't come home from a mental illness. One too many people have taken prior knowledge of me and created a false assumption. That's not fair.
I did not come home because of a mental illness.
But I almost did.
Early on in my mission, I struggled with anxiety. I hadn't struggled with anxiety for a long time, so I hadn't expected it to cause problems. But it did. In the MTC, it came out of nowhere. I didn't know how to handle it. I felt like I was being looked at and treated like an alien. I felt like I didn't belong. I felt constantly judged and became very angry because of it. Honestly, it wasn't until I had been a missionary for 3 months and was starting with my 4th companion in a new area that I started to feel normal. My first night in Singen, my companion had an emotional breakdown right in front of me. Embarrassed, she gave herself a time out and tried to pull herself together. What she didn't know is that, by breaking down herself, she showed me that it is okay to cry. She showed me that it is okay to have moments of emotional weakness and let yourself have a breakdown. I had been told by my previous companions that I had a problem. I had been told by the mission psychologist and the mission president that I needed to keep the idea of going home and getting this sorted in my mind in case I didn't improve. She showed me that I wasn't abnormal. She showed me that I could improve.
And I did.
Starting that transfer, I shot upwards like a rocket. My German improved dramatically. My work ethic shot sky high. I was having the best scripture studies of my life, because I finally had someone who treated me like a normal person.
All that being said, when someone is struggling in any way, do you think you can find the common denominator for improvement?
The answer is being treated like a normal person. The answer is being a friend. The answer is not judging, making assumptions, discussion said assumptions, or forcing your way into their lives. It is being a friend. Ask what you can do, then do it. Wait for the return missionary to open up to you on their own time, and if they never open up to you, don't take it personally.
Be a friend. Be loving. Be Christlike.
I was told not to be ashamed of my release. I'm not. If you're reading this as someone who came home early from a mission, do not be ashamed. You are not alone. You never were, and you never will be.
You are loved.
Thanks for reading.
-Sally
Everyone who has any knowledge of the Mormon church knows something about missionaries. Growing up in the church, children often look up to the missionaries serving in their ward and are encouraged to serve a mission once they are old enough. Missions are such a huge part of the Mormon Culture, that when someone breaks the status quo by coming home from a mission earlier than expected, people tend to freak out *insert flashback to High School Musical cafeteria scene*. BUT WAIT. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, are supposed to be Christlike and non judgmental! SO, instead of talking to the missionary who came home sooner than we all expected, we keep all our probing thoughts and assumptions to ourselves, or, really, anybody other than the returned missionary, all while simultaneously offering words of advice and stories to the returned missionary without invitation.
Do you see the problem with that? You should, because there's actually more than one, and you're very much correct if you think I'm about to list them.
1. Assumptions
We automatically, as humans-- as curious and caring humans-- try to categorize the returned missionary based off of what type of illness sent them home. We make assumptions based on our knowledge of the return missionary Was is physical? Emotional? Spiritual? Mental? The answer: None of your business, actually. That information, unless shared by the return missionary, is meant to stay between the missionary, their immediate church leaders (mission president, stake president, bishop), and God.
The problem is that, unless it is an obvious physical injury, we all tend to assume that the problem is a mental illness. We all judge a bit, unintentionally and intentionally. We all try to categorize the return missionary. And not only is that inaccurate, it's also not fair.
2. Discussion
I really shouldn't have to explain this one much at all. If the returned missionary has either not told you personally or has not made a public post of some sort about their reasons for being released before expected, you have no right at all to discuss your most-likely inaccurate assumptions with other people behind the return missionaries back. It's that simple.
3. Butting in.
When someone we know has something upsetting happen to them, we automatically reach out in support and love. There's nothing wrong with that. What could potentially be wrong is the assumption (there's that word again, do you see a pattern?) that they want words of kindness and well wishes that come through the very empty, noncommittal, and emotionless portal that is Facebook.
Now, I'm not saying that all messages sent through Facebook have empty intentions. I definitely had some very sincere people reach out to me through Facebook, and I appreciate those people greatly. What's unfortunate is the number of people who sent me messages that clearly implied they neither expected nor wanted a reply. They were very generic messages that included things like "let me know if there's anything I can do" which, when you break down, can be interpreted as "I have nothing to offer you." And that hurts. That makes the returned missionary feel like they are just a statistic, they are a name to be crossed off on someone's "I did a nice thing today" list.
Summation and Solutions
We judge return missionaries. We assume, we discuss our assumptions with others, and then we butt into the return missionaries life. WHY DO WE DO THAT? Do we realize how unfair that is? As humans, we have a tendency to stick our noses in other peoples business. We tend to use other peoples illnesses as a way to let ourselves show pity and compassion, which then causes us to feel good about ourselves. We center things around ourselves. Can you see how that could be hurtful?
So what DO we do?
1. Assume the Best.
We make assumptions. That's okay; however, if the return missionary hasn't said anything about their return, and you just have to assume something, assume the best. Look for the good in the missionary coming home. Look for their strengths. Be kind.
2. Mind your own business
I know, I know, that sounds so mean, but it's true. Don't gossip. Chances are, the return missionary already feels really out of place and uncomfortable. They do not need people gossiping about them. If someone asks you about the return missionary, make an encouraging response and change the subject. Typical gossip avoidance techniques.
3. Make Actions that Speak Louder than Words
Nice words and kind thoughts are always appreciated, but if you want to offer help, offer it properly. Don't leave the action up to the return missionary. Ask them direct questions, such as "What can I do to help?" and then go along with the missionaries request.
But can I tell you a secret? What they really want is honest, selfless friendship. They don't want pity. If the two of you aren't the best of friends, chances are, they don't want to tell you how they're feeling or what they're thinking. They just want to feel normal. So, if you want to help, you should treat them like a normal person. Their lives have just been uprooted. The path they thought they were meant to take is suddenly taking turns they never expected. They don't need someone to tell them which way to go, they don't need someone trying to pick at their brains. They, I, WE, need someone who will accept us as we are and will be a genuine friend. If you want to help, then be that person.
I am a medical release missionary. I served a full-time mission in the Alpine German-Speaking mission for 8 months. My mission stopped because a tumor was found on one of my parathyroid glands, and surgery is needed in order to prevent further health issues, such as kidney stones, gall stones, bone loss, bone breakage, and several other eventual unpleasantries. This illness isn't something you can see. I didn't blow out my knee, I didn't break a bone, I didn't develop some injury or illness that is obviously seen. For the purpose of making a point, this tumor is so small, we've only been able to find it once on an ultrasound. Since coming home, I have seen one too many people be surprised that I didn't come home from a mental illness. One too many people have taken prior knowledge of me and created a false assumption. That's not fair.
I did not come home because of a mental illness.
But I almost did.
Early on in my mission, I struggled with anxiety. I hadn't struggled with anxiety for a long time, so I hadn't expected it to cause problems. But it did. In the MTC, it came out of nowhere. I didn't know how to handle it. I felt like I was being looked at and treated like an alien. I felt like I didn't belong. I felt constantly judged and became very angry because of it. Honestly, it wasn't until I had been a missionary for 3 months and was starting with my 4th companion in a new area that I started to feel normal. My first night in Singen, my companion had an emotional breakdown right in front of me. Embarrassed, she gave herself a time out and tried to pull herself together. What she didn't know is that, by breaking down herself, she showed me that it is okay to cry. She showed me that it is okay to have moments of emotional weakness and let yourself have a breakdown. I had been told by my previous companions that I had a problem. I had been told by the mission psychologist and the mission president that I needed to keep the idea of going home and getting this sorted in my mind in case I didn't improve. She showed me that I wasn't abnormal. She showed me that I could improve.
And I did.
Starting that transfer, I shot upwards like a rocket. My German improved dramatically. My work ethic shot sky high. I was having the best scripture studies of my life, because I finally had someone who treated me like a normal person.
All that being said, when someone is struggling in any way, do you think you can find the common denominator for improvement?
The answer is being treated like a normal person. The answer is being a friend. The answer is not judging, making assumptions, discussion said assumptions, or forcing your way into their lives. It is being a friend. Ask what you can do, then do it. Wait for the return missionary to open up to you on their own time, and if they never open up to you, don't take it personally.
Be a friend. Be loving. Be Christlike.
I was told not to be ashamed of my release. I'm not. If you're reading this as someone who came home early from a mission, do not be ashamed. You are not alone. You never were, and you never will be.
You are loved.
Thanks for reading.
-Sally
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
Be Unshaken
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| It was time to go dirndl-shopping. Cause I'm in Austria. :D |
First off, a few of you reading this don't usually get my emails. I've added you to today's list, because I eel like including you in today's message Forewarning: If you haven't got time to read, save this for later, because my emails tend to be rather lengthy.
Right. Well, those of you who have been following my blog, emails, etc, may have picked up on the fact that I haven't been feeling too hot lately. I got really sick a few days before leaving Singen, and when I got to Linz, I started meeting with doctors to see if we could figure out what's going on. About two weeks ago, we found a small tumor on one of my parathyroid glands. It is completely benign, so there is no need for anyone to panic, but it is causing some problems with my health and general ability to function. In order to fix all these problems, I need to have it removed. This means that I will be returning home at the end of this transfer this Friday. This isn't the easiest thing to talk about - I was not expecting this at all and was fairly resistant to the idea at first - but I also feel that being open and positive about all this is going to be a good way to handle it.
Over the past several years, I've learned several times that just because I am doing something I want, and that something could even be really good, doesn't mean that's what I should be doing. Just because I'm in a good place doing good things doesn't mean there aren't other things I should be doing in another place. Basically, the Lord has a much better idea about my potential than I do,k and when things like this happen - things that would uproot my life a little and suddenly shift me to a completely different lifestyle - I can't stop it, but I can control how I handle it.
When things like this happen - unexpected trials or just hard times in general - we , as human beings, tend to ask the question "Why?" IO see nothing wrong with asking it. I ask it all the time. "Why am I here? Whey is this happening? Whey do I need to change my life path (again)?" It's how we learn. The trick is making sure your 'why's' are genuine. DO you really want to know why? Do you really just have no idea what is going on, and you'd like to know so that you can maybe possibly get through it a little aster with a little less pain? That's where I"m at wight now. I recognize that this is supposed to be a learning opportunity. But when the 'why's' start turning into 'why me's', that's when it gets bad. that's when the learning opportunity turns into wasted time. Harsh, sorry, but true. I've had a few chapters in my life where I've asked "why?" (haven't we all!) Some of those things were definitely more of a "why me" thing, and dang, those suck. Those will wreck your faith, fester sore feelings, and will only bring you misery. When you focus on the the fact that you're not happy, you are essentially letting Satan win a battle. Don't do that! Your 'why me' questions will quickly turn into "don't you realize' questions aimed at God. "Don't you realize I have hopes and dreams? Don't you realize how hard I've worked? Don't you realize that this hurts me?"
Now. Those last few questions are some I've been battling with. This hurts. This hurts really bad. I worked really hard to go on a mission. I changed my life, and after 8 short months, I'm going home. Sure, it's just medical release, and I could come back if everything works out and that's the Lord's plan, but I do not know if that's actually going to happen. This might be it. I hope its not, but I have to be open to the possibility, because if I deny it, the next few months could potentially be extremely difficult for me. I have shed tears of pain, sadness, and frustration these past few weeks, and I know more will come. IT has been very easy for me to get close to the line between "why" and "why me".
So, having been through a few of these chapters, having felt the pain and then seen the outcomes that come when we let God do His work, my response to 'don't you realize' questions would probably be something like this: "Don't YOU realize?? Don't YOU realize who you're talking to? Don't YOU realize that of course He realizes? Don't YOU realize that he has given you an amazing gift, the gift of the Atonement, which will help you have the strength and endurance to get through this, if you only ask Him for it? Don't you realize that you can be hurtful too?"
Those questions hurt. Stay away from them.
I realize I sound a little preachy right now, so I'm going to throw in some scriptures to try and pull it back away from my own opinions.
I mentioned a couple of emails ago that I've been reading the Book of Mormon and specifically searching for the principles of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ. In my reading this morning, I came across a few verses that stuck out to me. The first of the few are Jacob 7:3-5. Background: Jacob is an ancient prophet, preaching and prophesying of Christ. Sherem is essentially an Anti-Christ, teaching against Him. The verses read:
3: and he [Sherem] labored diligently that he might lead away the hearts of the people, insomuch that he did lead away many hearts; and he knowing that I Jacob, had faith in Christ who should come, he sought much opportunity that he might come unto me.
4. And he was learned, that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people; wherefore, he could use much flattery, and much power of speech, according to the power of the devil.
5. And he had hope to shake me from the faith, notwithstanding the many revelations and the many things which I had seen concerning these things or I truly had seen angels, and they had ministered unto me And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time, wherefore, I could not be shaken.
Verse 5 - look at that! Just the last sentence. The Lord spake unto him from "time to time", and so great was his faith that he could not be shaken.
The Lord often guides us from time to time For me, this is probably one of those times. The adversary that is against me isn't as obvious as Sherem, but it is there, an it is just as cunning. Thoughts of doubt, anger, feelings of uselessness and other ridiculous lies are some things I've had to fight against the last couple weeks. Lucky for me, I'm a fighter. Always have been, and always will be.
Later on, in the book of Enos (Jacob's son), Enos goes through a process of faith strengthening. Enos starts out in the the well-known story of spending a whole day in prayer, asking for a remission of his sins. Upon receiving forgiveness, he asks God how it is done. God replies, in verse 8 saying : "Because of they faith in Christ, whom thou has never before heard or seen. And many years shall pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole. " Upon hearing these words, Enos then decides to pray for the welfare of his people, who are suffering from war and other iniquities. The Lord responds, saying, in verse 10: "I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have given unto them this land, and it is a holy land, and I curse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads. "
Now, that sounds really rough and harsh at first, but when you reread it and evaluate it, you realize that the Lord is assuring Enos that they, too, will be rightfully and fairly judged, just as he was. What gets me is verse 11:
"and after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken i the Lord."
This phrase "unshaken" - I like it. I also like how it's a process, and that the process is explained so well. You don't just become unshaken because that's what you want. You have to go through the things that build you to become unshaken. Granted, it is also a choice to be unshaken. We can choose how we react to life events that are scary and hard and whatever, but having a strong, faith-based testimony is going to make that a whole lot easier. I've been blessed with life events (chapters, as I've called them) that have helped me be unshaken. This whole "I'm going home because I have a tumor and I need it surgically removed" thing could have really shaken me up if I let it. Instead, I'm choosing to be unshaken.
So that's my challenge to all of you. When difficult times arise, make the decision to be unshaken. And to help you in that, be active now. Build up your defenses, keep your faith strong, so that when times like this come (because they will and they're unavoidable), you won't be knocked off your feet. Unshakable is a good thing to be.
I love you all. Thanks
for putting up with my crazy long emails or 8 months. I'll keep updating the blog as things happen, and I'll keep in touch with all you missionaries :)
Have a wonderful week!
Love, Sister Sally Priest
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
September 7
Hey you guys!
I'm letting you know now, this week' 's letter will be fairly short, because 1) Not much really happened this week and 2) I've been super bad about sending you pictures, so I will probably just do that and tell the stories that go with the photos. That works, right?
You all know me and my love of dutch framing with the sun. Pair that with the Alps and you get this!
This is from our trip to Salzburg two weeks ago. You can't see any of the Alps from Linz, because we're too far north, but we are able to travel to Salzburg enough that I can regularly enjoy the mountains. :)
So, uh, yeah. Apparently, one of the towers in this castle was set aside specifically for torture,. Inside were some weapons and descriptions of examples of torture, but I don't have that info for you, because photos were not allowed inside. Also, we didn't spend too much time there anyway. It was weird.
After the castle, we went to the large cathedral in Salzburg. I'm not sure if it was irreverent or not, but these candles were so pretty and I couldn't resist seeing what kinds of shots I could get out of it. I have others as well,k but chances are, they won't fit in the email and I don't want to send multiples, because that's annoying. :P
I think that's it for today. I promise I'll have one of my long, thought-provoking emails next week, K? I know you all just love those. ;)
Until next week,
Sister Sally Priest
I'm letting you know now, this week' 's letter will be fairly short, because 1) Not much really happened this week and 2) I've been super bad about sending you pictures, so I will probably just do that and tell the stories that go with the photos. That works, right?
You all know me and my love of dutch framing with the sun. Pair that with the Alps and you get this!
This is from our trip to Salzburg two weeks ago. You can't see any of the Alps from Linz, because we're too far north, but we are able to travel to Salzburg enough that I can regularly enjoy the mountains. :)
So, uh, yeah. Apparently, one of the towers in this castle was set aside specifically for torture,. Inside were some weapons and descriptions of examples of torture, but I don't have that info for you, because photos were not allowed inside. Also, we didn't spend too much time there anyway. It was weird.
After the castle, we went to the large cathedral in Salzburg. I'm not sure if it was irreverent or not, but these candles were so pretty and I couldn't resist seeing what kinds of shots I could get out of it. I have others as well,k but chances are, they won't fit in the email and I don't want to send multiples, because that's annoying. :P
I think that's it for today. I promise I'll have one of my long, thought-provoking emails next week, K? I know you all just love those. ;)
Until next week,
Sister Sally Priest
August 31 - Tender Mercies
As weeks go, this one's been fairly normal and uneventful. We've been doing a lot of street contacting, with not too much success. On Thursday, however, something pretty cool happened.
We (Sister Baker and I) went to the church to help the Grahams (the married missionary couple here) with Institute. When we got there, it was a little past 7:00 and nobody besides the Grahams had come. We decided that if no one was there by 7:30, we'd call it quits and go home. At around 7:20, a man riding his bike passed our church, stopped, backed up, and started reading the bulletin board at the edge of the parking lot. Sister Baker and I approached him,k and he started asking a whole lot of questions about our church, how it started, what it is, what makes it different from other churches, and so forth. We ended up giving him a Book of Mormon, explaining to him what it's about, where it came from, it's history, etc, and then we gave him a tour of our church building. The spirit was very present during the tour, and he really enjoyed all that we told him,. We exchanged information and are hoping to meet up again later this week. :D
So, this ties in to what I would like to talk about today (that's a thing I tend to do, have you noticed?). I've been thinking a lot this week about the difference between simply being happy and making the conscious decision to be happy, no matter what happens. After reading a letter from my mission president to the mission, about his son (who has just left to serve a mission in Russia), and how, when the family accepted the call to uproot themselves and move to Germany, he had made a conscious decision to be happy, even though he was leaving his home and friends for a foreign place whose language he did not speak. President Kohler went on to explain that Tanner had always been a happy child, but this conscious decision truly amplified that aspect of him. Whenever the family or mission office was stressed, everyone knew that when Tanner walked in the room, he would be accompanied by a smile and warm greetings.
After reading this heartfelt and personal letter from the President, I challenged myself to choose to be happy this whole week, no matter what. There were times when I shed some tears. It's been a little stressful lately, and I became overwhelmed once or twice in the past 7 days. That being said, as soon as I realized that I was choosing to be sad, frustrated, or scared, I immediately put the thought "Hey choose to be happy" into my head, took some deep breaths, and did just that. I chose to be happy.
And you know what? It totally worked.
Growing up, I always kind of hated it when bad things would happen and people would tell me that I just needed to choose to be happy. It wasn't that easy for me. It still isn't super easy for me. When you're stressed out and hungry and tired and need to be somewhere in 10 minutes but you're nowhere near to being ready, plus, it's all happening in German, it can be real stinking hard to be happy about it. So something that I've done to help me choose happiness is to search for the tender mercies in my daily life.
The phrase "tender mercies" is found several times in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament. More often than not, it is paired with the phrase "loving kindness". Zum Beispiel: Psalms 103:4, speaking of Jesus Christ, says "...who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. " Later on in Psalms 145:9, it reads: "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. "
We are showered with tender mercies every day. I love the term "lovingkindness". I don't have a lot of time right now, but when you think about that word, the fact that it's a word, and that's it's not just kindness, but lovingkindness, and just how pure and amazing that term is, it's pretty great.
When we stop and consciously choose to be happy, and we search out the tender mercies of the Lord, life becomes so much easier. There are scientific studies that show the difference in our lives of those who actively choose to be happy and grateful and those who just live in their own world. Be aware of your surroundings. Find the joy in the little things, even if you're not religious. I promise that, as you do that, life will become easier. Trials won't seem so scary. You'll become happier.
I'm out of time (that also happens a lot), so I've got to go.
I wish you all a wonderful week!
Liebe Grusse,
Sister Sally Priest
Aug. 24 Science is Cool
Hey all!
So, fun story: I'm actually writing this on a train that has wifi, because I'm currently on my way to go explore Salzburg. So my internet time today (2 hours) will end up being split into two 1 hour segments, due to train rides and curfews and such. Woooooo!!
So, this week has been pretty good. We've had some cool meetings with people, traveled a bit, and we had a big ward picnic after church yesterday. A lot of our time is still being spent talking to people in the street (we don't have a lot of people to teach at the moment), but that's getting to be more and more fun as time goes on and I come up with new ways to start conversations.
I get a lot of different responses from people on the street. I get a lot of "Ich hab keine Zeit fur deise." And straight up "nein's" too. But when someone decides to actually listen to what I'm asking them, instead of seeing the name tag and turning away as if the sight of it will cause their lives to end, we tend to have really interesting conversations. Once we get into the topic of religion, people tend to open up and it can be a really cool growing experience for both of us.
However, there's another thing I get a lot from people on the street, and I've also gotten it from a few of you reading this as well. A lot of people claim that they believe in science, and therefore, do not believe in religion or God, because the two concepts can't go together. They claim that they are too logical to believe in a god, which I o understand. It's widely known that a lot of religions beliefs can contradict that what it taught in science classes.
But here's the thing: none of these people on the street know that I am a bio-chemical engineering major. Most you you don't know that either, actually, but now you do.
So how does that work, a science major serving in Austria, talking to people about God and Jesus Christ? It words, because m when you know enough, you realize that science and religion con't actually contradict each other.
For example: I believe in the theory of evolution. That doesn't mean I believe that humans stem from apes, because that's not what the theory of evolution says. I can't give you a textbook definition of what exactly that theory says, but when you actually take the time to look at the research and understand it, it really can't be argues with that much.
That being said, I do believe that God and Jesus Christ created the Earth, that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, they partook of the forbidden fruit (from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), and they fell away from the presence of God and were able to bring the rest of us here.
Now, I can't explain to you why those two believes don't contradict each other, because the knowledge I have has come from my personal study in the scriptures, paired with prayer and discussion. Also, college classes and individual study and hobbies play a role in the knowledge and understanding I have. If you want all that information for yourself, you have to look for it. But that being said, you should also know that there are dark cloudy areas of both beliefs, where we don't know what happened. We actually do not know a lot about the physical creation of the earth. We can estimate, theorize, and accept those theories as facts until proven wrong, but we do not actually have hard evidence that explains in detail how he earth was created. We also don't know how long each day of creation took. Surely it wasn't only 24 hours. That would be rushing a masterpiece That information doesn't exist in biology or religion.
Now I want to know just as much (probably more than) the rest of you the chemical and biological information that would explain things like the creation of the earth of the change that occurred in Adam and Eve when they went from immortal to mortal beings. Heck, I really really REALLY want to know how on earth dinosaurs fit in God's plan. But the point is, we simply don't know, and we won't know until new inspired minds create the tools necessary to find this out, or until we die and learn more in our lives after this. That is why we have FAITH, okay?? We don't know everything, but we do know that our God is a god or order and logic, which I think means everything He's done has a logical and scientific answer behind it, even if that information has not been revealed.
But guys, if we knew everything during this tiny blink of time we spend here on earth, the eternity awaiting you afterwards would be incredibly an horridly boring. Don't forget that we will spend time learning in the afterlife as well. Intelligence is godliness, it's something we strive for. Science and religion --when we compare the facts and beliefs correctly --do not contradict,. Remember --I'll be a scientist someday, and you can totally ask me in 10 years if all that I've said is still true. Unless something crazy pops up that disproves the theory of evolution, I bet it will be.
Well, I want to write the rest of my family now. I hope this wasn't offensive. I hope if was education/inspiring. God wants us to learn and he wants us to find things out for ourselves. Ask Him if you're doubting anything, because He'll give you an answer.
Liebe Grusse,
Sister Sally Priest
So, fun story: I'm actually writing this on a train that has wifi, because I'm currently on my way to go explore Salzburg. So my internet time today (2 hours) will end up being split into two 1 hour segments, due to train rides and curfews and such. Woooooo!!
So, this week has been pretty good. We've had some cool meetings with people, traveled a bit, and we had a big ward picnic after church yesterday. A lot of our time is still being spent talking to people in the street (we don't have a lot of people to teach at the moment), but that's getting to be more and more fun as time goes on and I come up with new ways to start conversations.
I get a lot of different responses from people on the street. I get a lot of "Ich hab keine Zeit fur deise." And straight up "nein's" too. But when someone decides to actually listen to what I'm asking them, instead of seeing the name tag and turning away as if the sight of it will cause their lives to end, we tend to have really interesting conversations. Once we get into the topic of religion, people tend to open up and it can be a really cool growing experience for both of us.
However, there's another thing I get a lot from people on the street, and I've also gotten it from a few of you reading this as well. A lot of people claim that they believe in science, and therefore, do not believe in religion or God, because the two concepts can't go together. They claim that they are too logical to believe in a god, which I o understand. It's widely known that a lot of religions beliefs can contradict that what it taught in science classes.
But here's the thing: none of these people on the street know that I am a bio-chemical engineering major. Most you you don't know that either, actually, but now you do.
So how does that work, a science major serving in Austria, talking to people about God and Jesus Christ? It words, because m when you know enough, you realize that science and religion con't actually contradict each other.
For example: I believe in the theory of evolution. That doesn't mean I believe that humans stem from apes, because that's not what the theory of evolution says. I can't give you a textbook definition of what exactly that theory says, but when you actually take the time to look at the research and understand it, it really can't be argues with that much.
That being said, I do believe that God and Jesus Christ created the Earth, that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, they partook of the forbidden fruit (from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), and they fell away from the presence of God and were able to bring the rest of us here.
Now, I can't explain to you why those two believes don't contradict each other, because the knowledge I have has come from my personal study in the scriptures, paired with prayer and discussion. Also, college classes and individual study and hobbies play a role in the knowledge and understanding I have. If you want all that information for yourself, you have to look for it. But that being said, you should also know that there are dark cloudy areas of both beliefs, where we don't know what happened. We actually do not know a lot about the physical creation of the earth. We can estimate, theorize, and accept those theories as facts until proven wrong, but we do not actually have hard evidence that explains in detail how he earth was created. We also don't know how long each day of creation took. Surely it wasn't only 24 hours. That would be rushing a masterpiece That information doesn't exist in biology or religion.
Now I want to know just as much (probably more than) the rest of you the chemical and biological information that would explain things like the creation of the earth of the change that occurred in Adam and Eve when they went from immortal to mortal beings. Heck, I really really REALLY want to know how on earth dinosaurs fit in God's plan. But the point is, we simply don't know, and we won't know until new inspired minds create the tools necessary to find this out, or until we die and learn more in our lives after this. That is why we have FAITH, okay?? We don't know everything, but we do know that our God is a god or order and logic, which I think means everything He's done has a logical and scientific answer behind it, even if that information has not been revealed.
But guys, if we knew everything during this tiny blink of time we spend here on earth, the eternity awaiting you afterwards would be incredibly an horridly boring. Don't forget that we will spend time learning in the afterlife as well. Intelligence is godliness, it's something we strive for. Science and religion --when we compare the facts and beliefs correctly --do not contradict,. Remember --I'll be a scientist someday, and you can totally ask me in 10 years if all that I've said is still true. Unless something crazy pops up that disproves the theory of evolution, I bet it will be.
Well, I want to write the rest of my family now. I hope this wasn't offensive. I hope if was education/inspiring. God wants us to learn and he wants us to find things out for ourselves. Ask Him if you're doubting anything, because He'll give you an answer.
Liebe Grusse,
Sister Sally Priest
Having Faith vs Believing
Well, you guys, I've received a lot of love and support from you this week, and I'd like to thank you all so much for your help. It's definitely made a difference. :)
This past week, I've been studying a lot about the Book of Mormon. I've been reviewing Joseph Smith History, reading church articles that dig into and explain more about the Book of Mormon, and I've also restarted reading it. Except this time, I've taken a brand new, unmarked copy, and, as I read, I have been searching for and highlighting the 5 principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End, all with their own color (Because there's something really cool about opening to a page and seeing all sorts of different colors with corresponding notes and meanings). I've also added a 6th color, which covers promised blessings/consequences, and results. I plan on going through the bible in it's entirety as well, doing the same highlighting technique. I highly recommend coming up with different study techniques like this. Maybe think of a question you have or that you know is common and read the scriptures specifically searching for an answer. You'll be surprised how much the scriptures apply to different things.
Something I've been pondering a lot this week is the phrase "Seeing is Believing. " I've come to the conclusion that that statement is a paradox. If Seeing is Believing, then Believing must be Seeing, but that is not a correct definition. A "Belief" can also be referred to as having Faith in something, but that also, is not fully correct definition.
Now, I have all these analogies and examples in my head, but I actually don't have the time to write them all out this week.
Basically, if we look at the phrase, "Believing in Seeing" (or "Seeing is Believing") in a non-literal way, it makes sense. When we believe (or have faith, as I prefer to say) than we are seeing something that isn't actually seen. This could be anything. Most of us, as kids, believed in the existence of Santa Claus. Some of us even demonstrated faith in Santa Claus by leaving out cookies and milk for him on Christmas Eve. But there is a definite difference between having a belief and having faith.
The here's my question for you: Do you have a belief, or do you have faith?
Think about that.
Do you merely believe in a God? Do you believe that Christ was a prophet, that He was the Son of God, and that he suffered and died for us? Do you believe that there is a life after this one?
Or do you have faith in God? Do you rely on his guidance through prayer, scripture study (and I mean STUDY, not just reading)? Do you have faith in Christ, that he was a prophet, the Son of God, and that he suffered and died for us? Do you actively pursue the repentance process, having faith that Christ will cleanse you, so that you will have a change of heart, so that you will grow into the glorious being that our Heavenly Father has destined for you, so that you can live forever in the world after this one?
Do you see the difference?
Now, for those of you reading this who might be having mini panic attacks, asking yourself "do I actually have faith?" Fear not. Having a belief is the first step of having faith. Apostle Elder Holland shared this story regarding the dilemma of believing, but now knowing: "A 14 year old boy recently said to me a little hesitantly, 'Brother Holland, I can't say yet that I know the Church is true, but I believe it is. ' I hugged that boy until his eyes bulged out. I told him ....that belief is a precious word, an even more precious act, and he need never apologize for 'only believing.' I told him that Christ Himself said, "Be not afraid, only believe'....I told this boy that belief was always the first step toward conviction.....And I told him how very proud I was of him for the honesty of his quest."
I only want to express my belief, that having faith in something is much deeper than having a belief in something. For the longest time, I believed the Book of Mormon was true. I believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that we have modern prophets and apostles today, and that, if I followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, I could live eternally in His presence after this life.
It wasn't until I started acting and digging for information to support my belief that I discovered my faith. At the age of 18, I had never really read the Book of Mormon the whole way through. I had never actually read the history of Joseph Smith, I had never prayerfully pondered it's truthfulness, and it wasn't until I finally did those things that I gained faith, a knowledge in things which are not seen, but which are true. And that's actually what I teach people here. I don't just sit there and spew off gospel topics and expect them to take my word for it. I invite (and expect them) to exercise their faith by actively reading the scriptures, praying and attending church, so that they may transform their believe into knowledge that they may stand strong against the adversary which rages so strongly on this earth today, so that one day, they may stand where they belong, in the presence of God, the Eternal Father.
I know sometimes I go way off the deep end and throw a whole bunch of stuff at you in one email. But I do it because I want you to know that my faith isn't just a belief. I act on it. It's a part of my life, and I'm striving to keep it that way, regardless of what others may say, think, or do. And since I know of the joy and peace that comes from having and exercising faith, I encourage all who I can to develop faith for themselves, so that they may reap of the blessing that the Lord our God has in store for them.
I love you all so much. Thanks again for all your love and support. It is deeply valuable, and highly appreciated.
Until next week,
Sister Sally Priest
This past week, I've been studying a lot about the Book of Mormon. I've been reviewing Joseph Smith History, reading church articles that dig into and explain more about the Book of Mormon, and I've also restarted reading it. Except this time, I've taken a brand new, unmarked copy, and, as I read, I have been searching for and highlighting the 5 principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End, all with their own color (Because there's something really cool about opening to a page and seeing all sorts of different colors with corresponding notes and meanings). I've also added a 6th color, which covers promised blessings/consequences, and results. I plan on going through the bible in it's entirety as well, doing the same highlighting technique. I highly recommend coming up with different study techniques like this. Maybe think of a question you have or that you know is common and read the scriptures specifically searching for an answer. You'll be surprised how much the scriptures apply to different things.
Something I've been pondering a lot this week is the phrase "Seeing is Believing. " I've come to the conclusion that that statement is a paradox. If Seeing is Believing, then Believing must be Seeing, but that is not a correct definition. A "Belief" can also be referred to as having Faith in something, but that also, is not fully correct definition.
Now, I have all these analogies and examples in my head, but I actually don't have the time to write them all out this week.
Basically, if we look at the phrase, "Believing in Seeing" (or "Seeing is Believing") in a non-literal way, it makes sense. When we believe (or have faith, as I prefer to say) than we are seeing something that isn't actually seen. This could be anything. Most of us, as kids, believed in the existence of Santa Claus. Some of us even demonstrated faith in Santa Claus by leaving out cookies and milk for him on Christmas Eve. But there is a definite difference between having a belief and having faith.
The here's my question for you: Do you have a belief, or do you have faith?
Think about that.
Do you merely believe in a God? Do you believe that Christ was a prophet, that He was the Son of God, and that he suffered and died for us? Do you believe that there is a life after this one?
Or do you have faith in God? Do you rely on his guidance through prayer, scripture study (and I mean STUDY, not just reading)? Do you have faith in Christ, that he was a prophet, the Son of God, and that he suffered and died for us? Do you actively pursue the repentance process, having faith that Christ will cleanse you, so that you will have a change of heart, so that you will grow into the glorious being that our Heavenly Father has destined for you, so that you can live forever in the world after this one?
Do you see the difference?
Now, for those of you reading this who might be having mini panic attacks, asking yourself "do I actually have faith?" Fear not. Having a belief is the first step of having faith. Apostle Elder Holland shared this story regarding the dilemma of believing, but now knowing: "A 14 year old boy recently said to me a little hesitantly, 'Brother Holland, I can't say yet that I know the Church is true, but I believe it is. ' I hugged that boy until his eyes bulged out. I told him ....that belief is a precious word, an even more precious act, and he need never apologize for 'only believing.' I told him that Christ Himself said, "Be not afraid, only believe'....I told this boy that belief was always the first step toward conviction.....And I told him how very proud I was of him for the honesty of his quest."
I only want to express my belief, that having faith in something is much deeper than having a belief in something. For the longest time, I believed the Book of Mormon was true. I believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that we have modern prophets and apostles today, and that, if I followed the teachings of Jesus Christ, I could live eternally in His presence after this life.
It wasn't until I started acting and digging for information to support my belief that I discovered my faith. At the age of 18, I had never really read the Book of Mormon the whole way through. I had never actually read the history of Joseph Smith, I had never prayerfully pondered it's truthfulness, and it wasn't until I finally did those things that I gained faith, a knowledge in things which are not seen, but which are true. And that's actually what I teach people here. I don't just sit there and spew off gospel topics and expect them to take my word for it. I invite (and expect them) to exercise their faith by actively reading the scriptures, praying and attending church, so that they may transform their believe into knowledge that they may stand strong against the adversary which rages so strongly on this earth today, so that one day, they may stand where they belong, in the presence of God, the Eternal Father.
I know sometimes I go way off the deep end and throw a whole bunch of stuff at you in one email. But I do it because I want you to know that my faith isn't just a belief. I act on it. It's a part of my life, and I'm striving to keep it that way, regardless of what others may say, think, or do. And since I know of the joy and peace that comes from having and exercising faith, I encourage all who I can to develop faith for themselves, so that they may reap of the blessing that the Lord our God has in store for them.
I love you all so much. Thanks again for all your love and support. It is deeply valuable, and highly appreciated.
Until next week,
Sister Sally Priest
August 10 - Finding Comfort in Times of Trial
Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling like somebody must have beaten you in your sleep because you don't feel rested at all and your body just hurts and getting out of bed is the hardest thing you've ever done? Yeah, that's been me like, every morning this week.
This week has not been the easiest of weeks, but those happen sometimes. Missions are hard, and I'm just feeling that a little more than usual this week. But, everything that I've been dealing with this week ties back into what I'd like to discuss today. So here we go:
Something that keeps popping up in my studies and in my discussions with people on the street is the Godhead. Something I've realized throughout the year is that each religion tends to have a different idea of what the Godhead actually is. Some think it's all one person -- that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all one mighty being. Some think God and Jesus are the same, and the Holy Spirit is something completely different. Some don't even know what they believe.
To quote the first Article of Faith, "we [as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints] believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. " They are three separate beings that share the same purpose of bringing the Children of God (that's us!) back home. There are instances and evidence of this fact in the Old and New Testaments, along with the Book of Mormon (the most commonly known being the baptism of Jesus Christ --Jesus is Baptized, God speaks from the heavens, and the Holy Spirit descends in a physical form to Christ). They each have their own role. They each have their own importance. They each have their own necessity. Now, I won't go too deep into all three, because that would take forever and I think some of you would just roll your eyes and go "Great, she's going on a rant again!" so I'm only going to stick with one today: The Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost has a few roles: He testifies of the Father and Son, He testifies of all truth, He sanctifies (Baptism by fire, anyone?) He teaches, and He comforts. Today, I'm focusing on "He Comforts".
Throughout the scriptures, the Holy Ghost is often referred to as "the Comforter". Throughout my life, I have felt the comforting influences in times of trial, fear, opposition, etc. Right now, I would like to share with you the instances of comfort I have found, especially in this past week.
For those of you who do not know, I have an ill family member at home. I'm very close to this family member, and I love and miss them very much. Being away from them during their time of trial and fear is not easy for me. I also still have Shelley, Trevor, and their girls at home. Leaving them at the end of last summer was not an easy thing, and leaving them for a whole 18 months isn't any easier. It's especially painful, because I know that if I were there, I'd be of help, and everyone would have a little less to worry about. That knowledge, however, directly contradicts with the knowledge that I need to be out here in the mission field, and that my family will be blessed because of the work I am doing.
Now add in the stress and anxiety of moving to a different area in a different country with a different companion. Add in the trip to the ER this week (I'm fine!) and think about the feelings of stress, fear, and doubt that come with that. When you're a missionary and all these things keep happening that make it seem like you would be better off at home, it can be really hard to hold oon to the knowledge that you're actually doing the right thing.
I know I'm in the right place at the right time. I know I know that, and I know you know that, because I say it in just about every email. But what you might not know, is how I know that. So let me explain:
I have had moments during my mission, and particularly this week, where I have prayed on my knees, bent over so far that my head was on the ground, crying to my Heavenly Father for comfort and direction, begging to know if I really am on the right track or not, pleading for the knowledge that everything is going to be okay. I have felt sadness, despair and frustration. But the thing that has never failed to come to me when I ask and search for it is the comfort that comes with the presence of the Holy Ghost. Every time I fell to my knees in a moment of weakness, the Holy Ghost was right there with me, bringing hope to my heart and peace to my soul. I treasure those feelings of peace. They are the same feelings I had when I came home to my family after being away. They're the same feelings I had when I made the decision to serve. They are the same feelings that come when I read in the scriptures. They are the same feelings that will come to me throughout the rest of my life when I ask and search for them in times of trial, fear, or oppression.
They are the feelings that come when I speak, read, or learn of the truth.
I know that every individual is a divine child of God. He is our Heavenly Father. Jesus the Christ came to earth, He lived, He suffered, and He died so that we may all return to our Father and live once more, free from our burdens. The Holy Ghost bears witness to all of that. If you've been paying attention, He may be speaking words, feelings, or thoughts of comfort and truth to you right now.
To sum up: Life is hard. Missions are hard. But Brother Juha Toropainen, one of my teachers in the MTC, once gave our class a piece of advice that I will use for the rest of my life. I actually don't remember the very beginning of it (Sorry, Bruder T - I know where I wrote it down though!) but it goes similarly to as follows: If you ask the Lord for experience, He will give you a mountain. If you ask for strength, He'll make you climb it. But if you ask for love, He will always give love."
When I start teaching new people, one of the first things I explain is that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, and if they only get one thing out of our lessons, it needs to be that.
I am, once again, out of time, so I'll leave it at that.
I love you all, and I appreciate all of your support. <3
Until next week,
Sister Sally Priest
This week has not been the easiest of weeks, but those happen sometimes. Missions are hard, and I'm just feeling that a little more than usual this week. But, everything that I've been dealing with this week ties back into what I'd like to discuss today. So here we go:
Something that keeps popping up in my studies and in my discussions with people on the street is the Godhead. Something I've realized throughout the year is that each religion tends to have a different idea of what the Godhead actually is. Some think it's all one person -- that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all one mighty being. Some think God and Jesus are the same, and the Holy Spirit is something completely different. Some don't even know what they believe.
To quote the first Article of Faith, "we [as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints] believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. " They are three separate beings that share the same purpose of bringing the Children of God (that's us!) back home. There are instances and evidence of this fact in the Old and New Testaments, along with the Book of Mormon (the most commonly known being the baptism of Jesus Christ --Jesus is Baptized, God speaks from the heavens, and the Holy Spirit descends in a physical form to Christ). They each have their own role. They each have their own importance. They each have their own necessity. Now, I won't go too deep into all three, because that would take forever and I think some of you would just roll your eyes and go "Great, she's going on a rant again!" so I'm only going to stick with one today: The Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost has a few roles: He testifies of the Father and Son, He testifies of all truth, He sanctifies (Baptism by fire, anyone?) He teaches, and He comforts. Today, I'm focusing on "He Comforts".
Throughout the scriptures, the Holy Ghost is often referred to as "the Comforter". Throughout my life, I have felt the comforting influences in times of trial, fear, opposition, etc. Right now, I would like to share with you the instances of comfort I have found, especially in this past week.
For those of you who do not know, I have an ill family member at home. I'm very close to this family member, and I love and miss them very much. Being away from them during their time of trial and fear is not easy for me. I also still have Shelley, Trevor, and their girls at home. Leaving them at the end of last summer was not an easy thing, and leaving them for a whole 18 months isn't any easier. It's especially painful, because I know that if I were there, I'd be of help, and everyone would have a little less to worry about. That knowledge, however, directly contradicts with the knowledge that I need to be out here in the mission field, and that my family will be blessed because of the work I am doing.
Now add in the stress and anxiety of moving to a different area in a different country with a different companion. Add in the trip to the ER this week (I'm fine!) and think about the feelings of stress, fear, and doubt that come with that. When you're a missionary and all these things keep happening that make it seem like you would be better off at home, it can be really hard to hold oon to the knowledge that you're actually doing the right thing.
I know I'm in the right place at the right time. I know I know that, and I know you know that, because I say it in just about every email. But what you might not know, is how I know that. So let me explain:
I have had moments during my mission, and particularly this week, where I have prayed on my knees, bent over so far that my head was on the ground, crying to my Heavenly Father for comfort and direction, begging to know if I really am on the right track or not, pleading for the knowledge that everything is going to be okay. I have felt sadness, despair and frustration. But the thing that has never failed to come to me when I ask and search for it is the comfort that comes with the presence of the Holy Ghost. Every time I fell to my knees in a moment of weakness, the Holy Ghost was right there with me, bringing hope to my heart and peace to my soul. I treasure those feelings of peace. They are the same feelings I had when I came home to my family after being away. They're the same feelings I had when I made the decision to serve. They are the same feelings that come when I read in the scriptures. They are the same feelings that will come to me throughout the rest of my life when I ask and search for them in times of trial, fear, or oppression.
They are the feelings that come when I speak, read, or learn of the truth.
I know that every individual is a divine child of God. He is our Heavenly Father. Jesus the Christ came to earth, He lived, He suffered, and He died so that we may all return to our Father and live once more, free from our burdens. The Holy Ghost bears witness to all of that. If you've been paying attention, He may be speaking words, feelings, or thoughts of comfort and truth to you right now.
To sum up: Life is hard. Missions are hard. But Brother Juha Toropainen, one of my teachers in the MTC, once gave our class a piece of advice that I will use for the rest of my life. I actually don't remember the very beginning of it (Sorry, Bruder T - I know where I wrote it down though!) but it goes similarly to as follows: If you ask the Lord for experience, He will give you a mountain. If you ask for strength, He'll make you climb it. But if you ask for love, He will always give love."
When I start teaching new people, one of the first things I explain is that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, and if they only get one thing out of our lessons, it needs to be that.
I am, once again, out of time, so I'll leave it at that.
I love you all, and I appreciate all of your support. <3
Until next week,
Sister Sally Priest
I had a witty title......August 3
Well, friends and family, today will be another short email, because I was bad at organizing my time today and I'm almost out of time.
A quick update: I'm being transferred to Linz, Austria. I'll go there on Thursday. :) I'm looking forward to it!
This weekend was a Swiss holiday, and we were invited to a party by a member. It was really fun! I'll try to attach a picture or two.
It's been a really good week. We're working with some really cool people. :)
Gahhhh, I'm so sorry this is so short. I'm running out of things to talk about, which is really weird for me.
How about some pictures?
Blurry but kind of cool looking photo of a firework:
This is Tina. She's the one who threw the party. She returned from her mission in Frankfurt the same time I started my mission here. We have a hard time being serious together.
Alright, well, I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to end this here. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep in touch!
Love, Sister Sally Priest
A quick update: I'm being transferred to Linz, Austria. I'll go there on Thursday. :) I'm looking forward to it!
This weekend was a Swiss holiday, and we were invited to a party by a member. It was really fun! I'll try to attach a picture or two.
It's been a really good week. We're working with some really cool people. :)
Gahhhh, I'm so sorry this is so short. I'm running out of things to talk about, which is really weird for me.
How about some pictures?
Blurry but kind of cool looking photo of a firework:
This is Tina. She's the one who threw the party. She returned from her mission in Frankfurt the same time I started my mission here. We have a hard time being serious together.
Alright, well, I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to end this here. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep in touch!
Love, Sister Sally Priest
July 27
Alright, y'all. IT's been a pretty normal week and I honestly don't have much to say. Also, I've taken some time to respond to the individuals who email me instead of taking a longer time on the group email. I do however, have some photos for all of you, along with their corresponding stories.
Sister Fenton's birthday twas this week, and we had some lovely adventures, including finding a big sunflower field, (Her favorite flower) and taking loads of pictures. She was pretty excited.
Today, we went on a bike ride with a member. We stopped in some really pretty places and I (of course) took some photos, including my typical shoe picture. I think that since I'm not a huge fan of taking photos of myself in places. I'll just keep on with my shoe pictures. Maybe I'll piece them all together at the end of my mission and it'll look cool or something.
And swans. :) they're all over the place here!
Well, other than that, this week has been pretty fine! We've got two new investigators, both of whom seem pretty promising. It should be a fun week this week.
I wish you all a wonderful day!
With love,
Sister Sally Priest
Sister Fenton's birthday twas this week, and we had some lovely adventures, including finding a big sunflower field, (Her favorite flower) and taking loads of pictures. She was pretty excited.
Today, we went on a bike ride with a member. We stopped in some really pretty places and I (of course) took some photos, including my typical shoe picture. I think that since I'm not a huge fan of taking photos of myself in places. I'll just keep on with my shoe pictures. Maybe I'll piece them all together at the end of my mission and it'll look cool or something.
And swans. :) they're all over the place here!
Well, other than that, this week has been pretty fine! We've got two new investigators, both of whom seem pretty promising. It should be a fun week this week.
I wish you all a wonderful day!
With love,
Sister Sally Priest
Pressure - July 20
Companions are a pretty amazing concept, did you know that? I mean, there's the scriptural points of preaching the gospel 2 by 2, the safety reasons of never being alone, and the lessons learned in knowing how to deal with other peole that you may or may not completely get along with.
I've been blessed with some pretty great companions. My first transfer in the field was a little rough, but I definitely learned some important life lessons with those two comanions. My 2nd and 3rd transfer were comletley different from my first. I only had one companion ( with the exception of the emergency transfer, when we were a drit for the last 10 days of my 2nd transfer), and things in the area were much more relaxed. I clicked immediately with my companion and struggled a little bit when she was transferred out of the area. I entered my 4th transfer with 4 companions under my belt, and ready to receive my 5th. Sister Fenton i sgreat. I won't lie in saying that I was a little intimidated by her at first. She's a lot girlier than I am, and I had a little hit in my self-esteem for the first week or so. Thankfully, we've managed to grow pretty close to each other (I hear that happens when you live with someone 24/7 for several weeks on end. Either that or you get at each others throats...but that's not he case!) and we had a bit of a realization last night. Our companionship works very similarly to the partnership between Chris and Ben on Parks and Recreation.
Let me explain: Sister Fenton is the most bubbly, upbeat, smiley person I've ever met. She always finds the best in people and builds them up. I'm the bluntly honest, to-the-point - bringer-of-the-honest-news. It's pretty hilarious.
But anyway, that's not actuallywhat I wanted to talk about today. Today I want to talk about pressure.
This week, we had an exchange with the sisters in Freiburg. Sister Fenton went to Freiburg swith Sister Mehr, and I got to work with Sister Fast for a day. Sister Fast is brand new to the mission. She's only been out of the MTC for a few weeks. She's a fabulous missionary already, and she has so much potnential. I can't wait to swee where she goes. During our time together, I took her to the main area of the town to do some street contacting. She explained that she hadn't really had any experience talking to people on the street, so I figured that'd be something I could work with her on. For that one hour, I dealt with some of the meanest people I have ever dealt with on my mission! Since I was working with a brand new missionary, I was the one responsible or handling the people who were spurting thoughtless words of hate towards the two of us - and I'm only six months out. My German is pretty good, good enough to explain that I don't want to argue and that I wish them a good day, but I'm definitely not fluent. I was most definitely under pressure.
Pressure is not always a bad thing. There is a level of pressure that we often need to be under in order to improve. Let me give an example:
I'm a violist. I've been playing viola since I was 9 or so years old. I joined a youth symphony when I was 13 and I've been playing in youth or college symphonies ever since. A viola is slightly bigger than a violin. It has different strings, and therefore, a lower range than a violin. The body of a viola is significantly deeper than that of a violin. This depth allows one to play on the lowest string with clarity and beauty. However, depth is not the only factor. In order to play a note on the lowest string with good tone and vibranc, one must put the correct amount of pressure on the bow. Not enough pressure gives it an airy, gutless souond, while too much pressure causes a horrendous crunching In both cases, It is difficult to keep the bow in a smooth, consistent stroke across the string. With the correct amount of pressure, a musician can create a wonderful tone with great vibrance, even on the most difficult string.
Just like needing pressure to produce a good sound, we need a bit of pressur ein our lives in order to perform at our best.
Some of my best moments have happened when I was under just the right amount of pressure. The best swimming race of my life happened when my coach used a tactic that made me raise my own bar of expectations to the right level. It was my sophomore year of high school at the city championship meet. I was swimming one of the first events and I had two main competitors. One had beated me by a frustrating .02 seconds in our last meet. The other was about 3 seconds faster than me. My coach pulled me aside before the race and told me he expected me to beat both of them. In my mind, I knew I could beat the one who had barely out-touched me, but I wasn't so sure about the girl who was 3 seconds faster. Long story short: I had a moment of pure motivation as I looked at both of my competitiors and stepped up on the block I dove into the water with the thought "this race is MINE" going through my head. I gave my all in that race. WHen I touched the wall at the end of the last lap, I looked up at the board, saw the lit up "1" by my name, put both my hands in the air, gave a shout of victory, and went back under water. I came up to see my coach screaming his head off and jumping up and down, absolutely ecstatic. I had dropped FOUR seconds off my time, and I got the ball of motivation rolling for the rest of the team. My team won the city championship for the first time in a couple decades.
What I didn't know, was that my coach didn't really think I'be be able to win it. He had expected me to get second place. He had taken a slight risk in telling me otherwise, and boy, did it work! He had managed to find just the right amount of pressure I needed to be under in order to succeed. His coaching towards me for the rest of my time on that team was, from that point on, a mix of tricking me into thinking I needed to prove him wrong during meets in order to drop time, and making me his personal punching bag during practice in order to gain endurance. I had some of my most frustrating swimming experiences under his coaching, but I also had most of my best races.
Pressure is a necessary part of life. How else would be motivated to pass tests, progress in our careers, or succeed in our personal goals? Do not be afraid of pressure. Being afraid of pressure will only cause you to not have enough pressure, which will slow you down in a race or give you an airy, gutless tone. Then , when you are under more pressure that is out of your control, you will not have the endurance it takes to survive it.
This has a flip side though. Do not put yourself under too much pressure You are hearing this from someone who beats herself up way too much. It's something I've been hearing ever since the MTC (and probably a bit before that, too), and after 6 months, I'm finally realizing how much stress and anxiety I could have saved myself if I had just given myself credit for the good things I was doing instead of constantly focusing on the areas I need to improve in.
Finding your correct amount of pressure takes some practice. I've been blessed with experiences and people that have helped me find my correct amount at the young age of 20, but I still have moments on an almost daily basis where I have to stop, evaluate myself, take a breath, and let go of the the things that are pushing me down. It will probably be a life-long process, but that's part of why I'm talking about it now. The sooner we can realize what sort of pressure we're under and adjust it to the pressure we need, the more we will see ourselves grow.
As an afterthought, I want you all to know that it is definitely okay to have times when you're not under any pressure at all. We all have these great moments of success where the pressure falls off our shoulders and we seem to fly for a bit. It's also okay to give yourself a break. While pressure is necessary, it's also necessary to remember that we are all human, and we all need a break every now and then.
To end on a fun note (not to undermine my pressure lecture), here are some photos from last Monday. We climbed Hohtentwiel again, but this time, I brought the light sabers I found in my apartments cleaning closet...
My companion and Zone Leaders did some turret climbing and yoga while I stood back and played photographer.
And then I had some fun with macro once more. :)
I hope you all are having a great summer. :) I wish you all a great week. Feel free to send me your responses! I'm getting better at managing my limited internet time, and will probably be a lost better at responding on individual levels.
Until next week!
SIster Sally Priest
I've been blessed with some pretty great companions. My first transfer in the field was a little rough, but I definitely learned some important life lessons with those two comanions. My 2nd and 3rd transfer were comletley different from my first. I only had one companion ( with the exception of the emergency transfer, when we were a drit for the last 10 days of my 2nd transfer), and things in the area were much more relaxed. I clicked immediately with my companion and struggled a little bit when she was transferred out of the area. I entered my 4th transfer with 4 companions under my belt, and ready to receive my 5th. Sister Fenton i sgreat. I won't lie in saying that I was a little intimidated by her at first. She's a lot girlier than I am, and I had a little hit in my self-esteem for the first week or so. Thankfully, we've managed to grow pretty close to each other (I hear that happens when you live with someone 24/7 for several weeks on end. Either that or you get at each others throats...but that's not he case!) and we had a bit of a realization last night. Our companionship works very similarly to the partnership between Chris and Ben on Parks and Recreation.
Let me explain: Sister Fenton is the most bubbly, upbeat, smiley person I've ever met. She always finds the best in people and builds them up. I'm the bluntly honest, to-the-point - bringer-of-the-honest-news. It's pretty hilarious.
But anyway, that's not actuallywhat I wanted to talk about today. Today I want to talk about pressure.
This week, we had an exchange with the sisters in Freiburg. Sister Fenton went to Freiburg swith Sister Mehr, and I got to work with Sister Fast for a day. Sister Fast is brand new to the mission. She's only been out of the MTC for a few weeks. She's a fabulous missionary already, and she has so much potnential. I can't wait to swee where she goes. During our time together, I took her to the main area of the town to do some street contacting. She explained that she hadn't really had any experience talking to people on the street, so I figured that'd be something I could work with her on. For that one hour, I dealt with some of the meanest people I have ever dealt with on my mission! Since I was working with a brand new missionary, I was the one responsible or handling the people who were spurting thoughtless words of hate towards the two of us - and I'm only six months out. My German is pretty good, good enough to explain that I don't want to argue and that I wish them a good day, but I'm definitely not fluent. I was most definitely under pressure.
Pressure is not always a bad thing. There is a level of pressure that we often need to be under in order to improve. Let me give an example:
I'm a violist. I've been playing viola since I was 9 or so years old. I joined a youth symphony when I was 13 and I've been playing in youth or college symphonies ever since. A viola is slightly bigger than a violin. It has different strings, and therefore, a lower range than a violin. The body of a viola is significantly deeper than that of a violin. This depth allows one to play on the lowest string with clarity and beauty. However, depth is not the only factor. In order to play a note on the lowest string with good tone and vibranc, one must put the correct amount of pressure on the bow. Not enough pressure gives it an airy, gutless souond, while too much pressure causes a horrendous crunching In both cases, It is difficult to keep the bow in a smooth, consistent stroke across the string. With the correct amount of pressure, a musician can create a wonderful tone with great vibrance, even on the most difficult string.
Just like needing pressure to produce a good sound, we need a bit of pressur ein our lives in order to perform at our best.
Some of my best moments have happened when I was under just the right amount of pressure. The best swimming race of my life happened when my coach used a tactic that made me raise my own bar of expectations to the right level. It was my sophomore year of high school at the city championship meet. I was swimming one of the first events and I had two main competitors. One had beated me by a frustrating .02 seconds in our last meet. The other was about 3 seconds faster than me. My coach pulled me aside before the race and told me he expected me to beat both of them. In my mind, I knew I could beat the one who had barely out-touched me, but I wasn't so sure about the girl who was 3 seconds faster. Long story short: I had a moment of pure motivation as I looked at both of my competitiors and stepped up on the block I dove into the water with the thought "this race is MINE" going through my head. I gave my all in that race. WHen I touched the wall at the end of the last lap, I looked up at the board, saw the lit up "1" by my name, put both my hands in the air, gave a shout of victory, and went back under water. I came up to see my coach screaming his head off and jumping up and down, absolutely ecstatic. I had dropped FOUR seconds off my time, and I got the ball of motivation rolling for the rest of the team. My team won the city championship for the first time in a couple decades.
What I didn't know, was that my coach didn't really think I'be be able to win it. He had expected me to get second place. He had taken a slight risk in telling me otherwise, and boy, did it work! He had managed to find just the right amount of pressure I needed to be under in order to succeed. His coaching towards me for the rest of my time on that team was, from that point on, a mix of tricking me into thinking I needed to prove him wrong during meets in order to drop time, and making me his personal punching bag during practice in order to gain endurance. I had some of my most frustrating swimming experiences under his coaching, but I also had most of my best races.
Pressure is a necessary part of life. How else would be motivated to pass tests, progress in our careers, or succeed in our personal goals? Do not be afraid of pressure. Being afraid of pressure will only cause you to not have enough pressure, which will slow you down in a race or give you an airy, gutless tone. Then , when you are under more pressure that is out of your control, you will not have the endurance it takes to survive it.
This has a flip side though. Do not put yourself under too much pressure You are hearing this from someone who beats herself up way too much. It's something I've been hearing ever since the MTC (and probably a bit before that, too), and after 6 months, I'm finally realizing how much stress and anxiety I could have saved myself if I had just given myself credit for the good things I was doing instead of constantly focusing on the areas I need to improve in.
Finding your correct amount of pressure takes some practice. I've been blessed with experiences and people that have helped me find my correct amount at the young age of 20, but I still have moments on an almost daily basis where I have to stop, evaluate myself, take a breath, and let go of the the things that are pushing me down. It will probably be a life-long process, but that's part of why I'm talking about it now. The sooner we can realize what sort of pressure we're under and adjust it to the pressure we need, the more we will see ourselves grow.
As an afterthought, I want you all to know that it is definitely okay to have times when you're not under any pressure at all. We all have these great moments of success where the pressure falls off our shoulders and we seem to fly for a bit. It's also okay to give yourself a break. While pressure is necessary, it's also necessary to remember that we are all human, and we all need a break every now and then.
To end on a fun note (not to undermine my pressure lecture), here are some photos from last Monday. We climbed Hohtentwiel again, but this time, I brought the light sabers I found in my apartments cleaning closet...
My companion and Zone Leaders did some turret climbing and yoga while I stood back and played photographer.
And then I had some fun with macro once more. :)
I hope you all are having a great summer. :) I wish you all a great week. Feel free to send me your responses! I'm getting better at managing my limited internet time, and will probably be a lost better at responding on individual levels.
Until next week!
SIster Sally Priest
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Climb Stairs Facing Forward!
I'll start with the beginning of the week and see where I go from there. Sound good? Good.
Monday wasn't anything super spectacular. Sister Fenton and I were both really tired and we just kind of had a chill day of emailing, browsing in stores, and buying a couple things (I now have sufficient clothes that won't kill me in this heat.)
Tuesday was fairly normal as well. We went up to Uberlingen to help a YSA of ours pack for her mission (Colea - she's the one going to Armenia!) After that we all went back to the Church for Institute.
Wednesday was a beautiful day. Colea and her dad, Benji, our ward mission leader, were able to go through the temple for the first time. It was a beautiful experience. I had some time for...I can't remember the english word....Nachdenken...while I was in the celestial room. I was thinking back to my high school days (insert cringe here), and I was able to compare my past self to my present self. It was an interesting experience. When I was in high school, I was a bit of an idiot (not an uncommon occurrence. I challenge anyone to look aback at their high school self and not cringe) and I did some things that damaged a lot of my friendships, some that I don't think I"ll ever be able to fully repair. People lost their trust in me, and I had given them good reason. It was a pretty horrible experience, because there were also things happening in my life that were very real and very scary, but I had done so much damage that people weren't very ready to help, support, or even believe me.
But what I did doesn't really matter anymore. It's in the past and it's going to stay there. What matters is how I (eventually) decided to handle the situation and what I learned from it.
While comparing my past self to my preset self, I realized a few things that have changed. Because of the experiences I had in high school I am now a much more honest person (some may say I'm blunt at times). I'm more understanding and less hesitant to forgive. I'm more aware of peoples' struggles, and I'm better at figuring out what they need and how I can help. I now know how to form good relationships founded on honesty and communication. My heart changed and I didn't want to go back to where I was before.
But perhaps the greatest blessing I received was an increased thankfulness for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
This kind of ties back to the email entitled "burns" from a few weeks ago. When I would lie and spread rumors in high school, I was metaphorically burning myself, and possibly other people as well. Except it was more of a slow, unnoticable boiling-a-frog-in-cold-water type burn instead. Started small, but eventually boiled over into a massive painful mess. For awhile afterwards, I stayed out of the kitchen. I actually switched schools (for more reasons than just the mess I made, though it played a big factor) in order to get a new start. And that worked a lot of good thins for me. I was able to really look at my life and realize what I had done. I went through the rest of my high school life flying under the radar, and working forwards towards bigger and better things. It wasn't something that healed immediately. I had times when I went into town to do some shopping and actually had to turn around very quickly for fear of running into the wrong people. I was talked about and made fun of on Facebook and Twitter for some times afterwards as well. I was reaping my punishment, and it wasn't fun.
But I learned to endure. I learned to rely on the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He had felt the same embarrassment and anguish I was feeling at that point in my life. He really understood me and had been waiting for me to ask him for help since the very beginning.
So while pondering (that's what nachdenken means!) and reflecting on my past, I did feel some lingering pain from all that had happened, just as someone will remember the pain of being burned, but what I felt the most was the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I felpt how proud He is of me. And then I looked at Colea nad felt how proud He is of her too. And then I thought about my family and friends back home and felt the love that He has for htem. While sitting the celestial room, so incredibly close to the presence of God our Heavenly Father, the feelings that came to me were not ones of regret, fear , of shame, but instead they were of love, hope, gratitude, appreciation, comfort, strength, and a knowledge that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and that I am 100% on the right path.
A lesson I learned awhile back, but one of my favorite things to explain is this: When walking up stairs, if you try to look backwards, you will fall. When we move forward in life, if we look backwards at the things we've done, the places we used to be, we will fall back to that level. If you focus on the sins you've committed, the burns you've recieved, you will not learn. You will continue to fall, your burns will not heal, and you will not be able to move forwards. When you are climbing stairs, look forwards, not backwards. The Atonement is there to help you stay on the forward moving path. Rely on Chirst and keep facing forward. THAT, my lovely friends, is how you will make progress.
I love you all. I'ls include some shots from the temple and I"ll leave this week's email at that.
Have a good week!
Sister Priest
Turning Up the Heat
On the bright side, along with the heat comes the sun, and that really makes me happy. I love feeling the warmth of the sun soak into my skin, though I do prefer that without the soaking of the seat into my clothes. Oh well! I'm still in the most beautiful place I've ever been and I'm incredibly blessed to be here, so I actually don't care that much.
Well, nothing too exciting happened this week. 4th of July was a thing, but only to the 6 of us missionaries here in Singen. The missionary couple had us over for pulled pork, chips, watermelon, etc, and we all got a little American flag to take home. So now that is somewhat ironically sitting right by my little Switzerland flag on my desk.
So I got a little curious and had a little fun with the iPad this week. For my personal study, I downloaded the first few copies of the Ensign (the monthly magazine the LDS church publishes) dating back to 1970. The stories and articles written in there are some of the most interesting things I've ever read - Partly because some of the things they say in these older copies are so blunt and honest that some people today might choose to be offended by them - and I love it. It's becoming one of my favorite things to study. I highly suggest either finding the old copies online or downloading them into your Gospel Library app and reading them while you brush your teeth, eat breakfast, wait in line, etc. Fill your mind with uplifting and encouraging messages instead of pointless mind-numbing video games. challenge yourself to learn something new (Gospel, religion in general, or even just history, because history is actually really cool) before you allow yourself those moments of thoughtless screen time (which I do understand, really).
We all have so many resources right at our fingertips. I firmly believe that we have such technology to benefit out lives and strengthen our relationships with family, friends, and God. It all depends, however, on house you use it. WIth the integration of iPads into this mission, I've been learning a lot about how to use technology for good, how to use it with a purpose, and also how to use it without wasting time. I don't think I'll go back to using technology the way I did before my mission. I'll use it,k for user. I'm sure I"ll still play games on my phone and have Instagram and such, but I think I"ll use it a lot differently.
Sorry this email is a bit shorter than usual, and kind of rambly. I'm honestly completely beat by the heat and the work this week.
I hope you all had a good week. Keep in touch. :)
Here, have a picture! On transfer day, I spent a couple hours with Sister Bishop. We got a kick out of our names. :) That's our picture at the top.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
New Things, Old Stories
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| Castle on the border of Germany and Switzerland |
Shonen Woche, meine Familie und Freunde,
I hope all is going well with all of you this week! exciting things are happening in the mission, such as:
- The implementation of iPad usage in the mission
- Transfers
- And actually, that's it. Not much else has happened.
So, since I know a few of you are really curious about it, yes, I now have an iPad. No, I don't have internet in my apartment, neither will I soon get it. I will either be in the church or at a McDonald's. If I need to use the internet, which really isn't that frequently. A lot of the stuff we use as missionaries doesn't need internet access to work once it's been downloaded.
Also, no, I'm not back on Facebook (yet). Within the next month or so, Facebook will be approved for missionary uses. I'll have to change some settings and such on my Facebook, and I won't be able to chat with people like I used to while I'm still a missionary. The point of using Facebook will be to make it easier for the people I teach to be able to 1. have easier and more comfortable contact with my companion and me. 2. Have more exposure to the things we teach through our posts. and 3. be able to connect with me as the normal (well as normal as I get) person I actually am.
SO, if you are reading this through a link you've found on Facebook, either through my page or through my mother's, I suggest that you either 1) follow the blog itself so you can receive updates or 2) Friend my mom (Yes, my mom. She's super cool and can be really funny sometimes, even if it's an accident (I love you, Mommio<3) so that you can see the posts on her page. I don't know if she'll be able to tag me in her posts, so you will only see them if you are friends with her. I haven't received all the information on that yet. Besides, I've got plenty of time before it even happens, so no worries.
Alright, so transfers! There's been a switch up. Sister Smith will be going to Graz, Austria, and I will be receiving Sister Fenton, who has been serving in Salzburg, Austria, for a couple of months. I've met her briefly , and I'm looking forward to working with her. :)
Other than that, the only other thing I was planning on sharing with you guys is a story from one of our recent converts, Christiana, and long overdue photos.
Christiana's story is really long and I probably will not have time to write it all out in this email, but it's one worth hearing. Christiana is a refugee from Nigeria. Before she was a refugee, she had a fairly normal African village life. In her village, there was a woman who sold a mixture of friend beans and meat. In order to sell the food, she used pieces of paper as dishes/napkins. She got the papers from a separate vendor. Keep in mind that nearly everyone in this village is illiterate. No one can read. Also, there are only two religions in this village: Muslim, and Christian. At some point, these vendors sold her paper that had been ripped out of the Quran. The wrong person with the wrong attitude realized what he was eating off of. He told the higher up Muslim folk, and they came and destroyed this old woman's store. They also came with intentions to kill her, but she escaped. Unsatisfied, they rallied and angered up a lot of the Muslim community, and the Christians in the village began to be slaughtered. Christiana, along with hundreds of others, fled the country.
In order to flee the country, however, they only had two options. One has to ride in a cigarrette truck that would carry 6 people. It cost the equivilent of #350, which was money non of these people had. THe other option was to be crammed in the back of a swmi-truck with 200 other people, packed in like sardines. You were only allowed to bring about 2 gallons of water. It cost $50, which is what most everyone could afford.
These trucks would drive across the African desert to Libya. People died every day from heat and dehydration. Surviving the truck ride was a miracle. When someone would die, the driver would simply throw them on the road, tell the others to get over it, and keep moving. Often times, these trucks would have to wait in small villages for another truck, because if one truck breaks down in the desert and no one knows about it, everyone is dead.
So, Christiana survived the horrific truck ride. She lived in Libya for a few years. Her comments on Libya include, "It was a nice place. I had a job, I had a home. If I wanted to go outside, I had to wear clothes that would cover me head to toe, otherwise I'd get stoned. Also there were people, crazy people, who would literally steal food right out of your mouth! The first time this happened to me, I was sitting in the sand eating tuna. A man a few meters away from me all of the sudden stood up, ran towards me, grabbed the can with one hand and the bite of food in my mouth with the other, and ran away. I actually do not know if these people were human or animals. I could only ever see their eyes. I don't think they were human. They did terrible things...Humans don't do those things. "
SO now there's a war in Libya. Long story short: Christiana's house gets blown up one night. She has a one year old daughter at this point, and the baby gets hit with debris and bomb shrapnel. Christiana rushers her child to the hospital, where people with missing legs and chunks of body blown off are getting turned away because there are not enough doctors to handle the onslaught of wounded. One doctor sees the bleeding baby, takes her from Christiana, cleans and patches her up, hands her back to Christiana and tells her to flee the country.
I think next time, I will have to finish the story of how she did that! It's a miracle in itself.
Basically I cannot even imagine the things this woman went through. I can try, but I really have no idea. It was an incredibly humbling experience to hear her story.
Now for a change of pace, I'll add some pictures. :D
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| The Bern Temple |
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| Covered bridge |
Friday, June 19, 2015
Burns
Monday, June 15, 2015
Hey howdy hey.
The past few days, I've had Disney quote after Disney quote stuck in my head, most of which have been completely random and have made me look like a fool because I had to resist the urge to bust out laughing on the bus/train, such as "Everybody! Everybody! Everybody wants to be a cat (HALLELUJAH!" PUT THAT THING BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP MEEEE" (the musical version) and "Hey, I"m Woody! Howdy howdy howdy!"
One in particular, though a whole scene, in fact, comes from The Lion King. You all know the story. If you've looked at the subject of this email, you also know exactly what quote I'm going to say. "It does not matter! IT is in the past!"
So why am I even talking about this? Yes, it's a great quote, it's a good lesson to learn, and many people have already applied it to their lives. I'm talking about it though, because it's very applicable to the gospel - particularly repentance and and the atonement.
Have you ever witnessed a parent ell their child not to touch a hot stove, only to hear the crying of said child after they've touched it anyway a few minutes later? Have you ever paid attention to the parent's reaction? Sometimes, there's a "I told you not to touch the stove!" but always, there is the immediate "Let's put this under cold water" followed by care and comfort. Did you know that our Father in Heaven is the exact same way?
Everyone reading this has made mistakes, which have caused emotional or physical pain. It has also caused spiritual pain. When we consider ourselves as the divine children of God that we are, it's easier for us to realize that we have very similar instincts and reactions as the child who touched the hot stove. A child who does wrong consequence, or seeking the parents help in order to conquer a problem that is too big for them on their own. Do you see the similarity? When we, as humans, make mistakes, we either turn away from God (Consciously or not) as to the avoid the feelings of guilt and pain,or we seek HIs help to overcome what is too big for us alone.
So--When Simba receives a smack on the head, it symbolizes an action that causes him pain. Whether self-inflicted or not, it doesn't matter. -the solution remains the same. We must learn from our mistakes. Have you ever seen the freshly wounded child go back into the kitchen and put their hand on the stove again? They tend to avoid the area entirely for a while. Eventually, they may foolishly give in to curiousity again, but we do that too, and (again) the solution remains the same. Repentance literally means "Return." The German word "Umkehr" directly translates to "turn around". When we make mistakes, we turn away from God. When we repent, we return.
What I'd really like to focus on is what happens after we've repented. An important part of this process that many people struggle with is the concept of forgiving ourselves. Because repentance does get to a point where the mistake no longer matters. It's in the past, and God wants us to move on to the bigger and better things that await us.
Let's go back to the child and the stove. The child doesn't beat himself up over the fact that he burned himself. He doesn't guilt himself every time he enters the kitchen. He doesn't let it rule his life. So why do we? Because our mistakes are bigger than just a burnt finger? Because we're more mature than a child? The burn may stay for awhile, but it will heal and disappear, just as our wrongdoings and sins will when we correctly apply the power of the Atonement to our lives.
When we hold these mistakes over our own head, we are giving in to Satan. God does not want us to be unhappy. He is willing to help us every step of of the way.
I'm out of time, so'll leave you with a scripture to think about.
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the HOly Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his rather." Mosiah 3:19 (emphasis added).
Remember that the analogy of the disobedient child and the loving parent also applies to our Father in Heaven. We may be the disobedient children. Heavenly Father is always the loving and caring aprent.
Have a good week!
Sister Sally Priest
Hey howdy hey.
The past few days, I've had Disney quote after Disney quote stuck in my head, most of which have been completely random and have made me look like a fool because I had to resist the urge to bust out laughing on the bus/train, such as "Everybody! Everybody! Everybody wants to be a cat (HALLELUJAH!" PUT THAT THING BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP MEEEE" (the musical version) and "Hey, I"m Woody! Howdy howdy howdy!"
One in particular, though a whole scene, in fact, comes from The Lion King. You all know the story. If you've looked at the subject of this email, you also know exactly what quote I'm going to say. "It does not matter! IT is in the past!"
So why am I even talking about this? Yes, it's a great quote, it's a good lesson to learn, and many people have already applied it to their lives. I'm talking about it though, because it's very applicable to the gospel - particularly repentance and and the atonement.
Have you ever witnessed a parent ell their child not to touch a hot stove, only to hear the crying of said child after they've touched it anyway a few minutes later? Have you ever paid attention to the parent's reaction? Sometimes, there's a "I told you not to touch the stove!" but always, there is the immediate "Let's put this under cold water" followed by care and comfort. Did you know that our Father in Heaven is the exact same way?
Everyone reading this has made mistakes, which have caused emotional or physical pain. It has also caused spiritual pain. When we consider ourselves as the divine children of God that we are, it's easier for us to realize that we have very similar instincts and reactions as the child who touched the hot stove. A child who does wrong consequence, or seeking the parents help in order to conquer a problem that is too big for them on their own. Do you see the similarity? When we, as humans, make mistakes, we either turn away from God (Consciously or not) as to the avoid the feelings of guilt and pain,or we seek HIs help to overcome what is too big for us alone.
So--When Simba receives a smack on the head, it symbolizes an action that causes him pain. Whether self-inflicted or not, it doesn't matter. -the solution remains the same. We must learn from our mistakes. Have you ever seen the freshly wounded child go back into the kitchen and put their hand on the stove again? They tend to avoid the area entirely for a while. Eventually, they may foolishly give in to curiousity again, but we do that too, and (again) the solution remains the same. Repentance literally means "Return." The German word "Umkehr" directly translates to "turn around". When we make mistakes, we turn away from God. When we repent, we return.
What I'd really like to focus on is what happens after we've repented. An important part of this process that many people struggle with is the concept of forgiving ourselves. Because repentance does get to a point where the mistake no longer matters. It's in the past, and God wants us to move on to the bigger and better things that await us.
Let's go back to the child and the stove. The child doesn't beat himself up over the fact that he burned himself. He doesn't guilt himself every time he enters the kitchen. He doesn't let it rule his life. So why do we? Because our mistakes are bigger than just a burnt finger? Because we're more mature than a child? The burn may stay for awhile, but it will heal and disappear, just as our wrongdoings and sins will when we correctly apply the power of the Atonement to our lives.
When we hold these mistakes over our own head, we are giving in to Satan. God does not want us to be unhappy. He is willing to help us every step of of the way.
I'm out of time, so'll leave you with a scripture to think about.
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the HOly Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his rather." Mosiah 3:19 (emphasis added).
Remember that the analogy of the disobedient child and the loving parent also applies to our Father in Heaven. We may be the disobedient children. Heavenly Father is always the loving and caring aprent.
Have a good week!
Sister Sally Priest
I'm Just a Person
Monday, June 8, 2015
Hello all! This week, I went to the Swiss temple, took pictures, but forgot my camera at home. So you'll all just have to wait until next week, k?
Moving on to the letter --
Last night, reality hit my companion and me pretty hard.
Backstory is needed.
We have an investigator, N, who wants to be baptized. Long story short, she can't get baptized until she gets married, but the German government is requiring a somewhat ridiculously large number of unrelated papers and letters from a country that doesn't have such things, which makes getting married a difficult thing for her to do. She also does not speak German, which puts another wrench in things. She's been working at this for over 8 months.
So, a couple of weeks ago, she told us she had an appointment to try to get things moving on June 8th (today!). We offered to be her translators, but she told us she already had someone lined up. Well last night, she called us and said her friend had cancelled on her and she needed help. Sister Smith and I exchanged looks, asked if we could call her back, and went to work. We had planned to go to Switzerland again today, along with other things. On Mondays, we only have to do 3 hours of missionary work. It's basically our "Saturday". The rest of the day is dedicated to grocery shopping, cleaning, emails, and whatever else we'd like to do (within reason). We had already planned our 3 hours of missionary time, and needed to go through with them (another story, which I'll tell after this), so we canceled everything we could, rearranged, and figured it out. While we did this, a feeling of urgency came over us. We called our Mission Leader, who told us he randomly had gotten today off, meaning he could come and be a much better translator than us, because his German is better and he understands the government here waaaaaaaay better than the 20 year old American girls.
SO, everything started falling into place last night. When she first called us about this weeks ago, we really felt like we were the ones who needed to be there, but we didn't want to be pushy. Now we were going to be there. Benji (Ward Mission Leader) had the day off. He knows the people who work there and he's a fantastic influence. The train times worked perfectly for us. N. spends half her time up near Frankfurt, in a different mission - We've been in contact with the Elders there, and called them to inform them of what was going on. They had been feeling that something was about to happen, and they had asked their whole ward to pray for N, whom they haven't seen much of, and they did. Everything was in our favor. It felt so right. There was some definite divine intervention in the organizing of this meeting.
But what goes up must come down.
As we calmed down and processed the good news, our thoughts drifted to someone who will remain unnamed. This person has been struggling the past few weeks. As we considered how we could help them, a very real feeling of fear started creeping into our home. We were discussing the problems and how we could help this person avoid them, the reality of Satan's presence in this world hit me. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: THe war between good and evil, God and Satan did not just magically end with the biblical times. It rages stronger than ever on the earth today, and we must be aware of the evil influences that appear in our lives.
I have felt fear in my life. I felt it when I lay in a hospital bed, unable to move my legs, unsure if I would ever walk again. I felt it when I realized I had made mistakes that could have potentially ruined my life. I felt it when I watch ed a child I love turn blue from lack of oxygen, a reaction to a birth defect which threatened her life. I have felt it many times, and I will feel it many times more. This fear last night, however, was very different. I hadn't felt this before. I felt as if the devil himself was laughing at me. Laughing at my attempts to help this person escape his grasp. Laughing at me, the 20 year old girl, living out of her element, speaking a language she doesn't fully understand. I'm just a person. And it was kind of terrifying.
And then I laughed back. I took control, planned, prayed, and pondered.
It's that easy. Well, sometimes it is. I think it was only that east for me, because I know where I stand. I know I stand in a higher place than the adversary. I know that GOd will never be defeated. I know that, no matter how scary things may seem, everything is going to be okay.
To give you some closure, Nancy's meeting went well. A lot of progress was made. Steps forward were taken. As for the Unnamed, we did see them today, and were were able to help them take a step forward as well. I would like to point out, however, that none of this would have happened if it weren't for the Lord. I didn't really do much of anything. I just followed the promptings I got, inrprovised a little, sprinted to catch a train, and just stood there and smiled. The presence of the Spirit that came with me did the work. I'm just a person. And its kind of awesome.
I love you all!
Read, Pray, Love!
Sister Sally Priest
Hello all! This week, I went to the Swiss temple, took pictures, but forgot my camera at home. So you'll all just have to wait until next week, k?
Moving on to the letter --
Last night, reality hit my companion and me pretty hard.
Backstory is needed.
We have an investigator, N, who wants to be baptized. Long story short, she can't get baptized until she gets married, but the German government is requiring a somewhat ridiculously large number of unrelated papers and letters from a country that doesn't have such things, which makes getting married a difficult thing for her to do. She also does not speak German, which puts another wrench in things. She's been working at this for over 8 months.
So, a couple of weeks ago, she told us she had an appointment to try to get things moving on June 8th (today!). We offered to be her translators, but she told us she already had someone lined up. Well last night, she called us and said her friend had cancelled on her and she needed help. Sister Smith and I exchanged looks, asked if we could call her back, and went to work. We had planned to go to Switzerland again today, along with other things. On Mondays, we only have to do 3 hours of missionary work. It's basically our "Saturday". The rest of the day is dedicated to grocery shopping, cleaning, emails, and whatever else we'd like to do (within reason). We had already planned our 3 hours of missionary time, and needed to go through with them (another story, which I'll tell after this), so we canceled everything we could, rearranged, and figured it out. While we did this, a feeling of urgency came over us. We called our Mission Leader, who told us he randomly had gotten today off, meaning he could come and be a much better translator than us, because his German is better and he understands the government here waaaaaaaay better than the 20 year old American girls.
SO, everything started falling into place last night. When she first called us about this weeks ago, we really felt like we were the ones who needed to be there, but we didn't want to be pushy. Now we were going to be there. Benji (Ward Mission Leader) had the day off. He knows the people who work there and he's a fantastic influence. The train times worked perfectly for us. N. spends half her time up near Frankfurt, in a different mission - We've been in contact with the Elders there, and called them to inform them of what was going on. They had been feeling that something was about to happen, and they had asked their whole ward to pray for N, whom they haven't seen much of, and they did. Everything was in our favor. It felt so right. There was some definite divine intervention in the organizing of this meeting.
But what goes up must come down.
As we calmed down and processed the good news, our thoughts drifted to someone who will remain unnamed. This person has been struggling the past few weeks. As we considered how we could help them, a very real feeling of fear started creeping into our home. We were discussing the problems and how we could help this person avoid them, the reality of Satan's presence in this world hit me. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: THe war between good and evil, God and Satan did not just magically end with the biblical times. It rages stronger than ever on the earth today, and we must be aware of the evil influences that appear in our lives.
I have felt fear in my life. I felt it when I lay in a hospital bed, unable to move my legs, unsure if I would ever walk again. I felt it when I realized I had made mistakes that could have potentially ruined my life. I felt it when I watch ed a child I love turn blue from lack of oxygen, a reaction to a birth defect which threatened her life. I have felt it many times, and I will feel it many times more. This fear last night, however, was very different. I hadn't felt this before. I felt as if the devil himself was laughing at me. Laughing at my attempts to help this person escape his grasp. Laughing at me, the 20 year old girl, living out of her element, speaking a language she doesn't fully understand. I'm just a person. And it was kind of terrifying.
And then I laughed back. I took control, planned, prayed, and pondered.
It's that easy. Well, sometimes it is. I think it was only that east for me, because I know where I stand. I know I stand in a higher place than the adversary. I know that GOd will never be defeated. I know that, no matter how scary things may seem, everything is going to be okay.
To give you some closure, Nancy's meeting went well. A lot of progress was made. Steps forward were taken. As for the Unnamed, we did see them today, and were were able to help them take a step forward as well. I would like to point out, however, that none of this would have happened if it weren't for the Lord. I didn't really do much of anything. I just followed the promptings I got, inrprovised a little, sprinted to catch a train, and just stood there and smiled. The presence of the Spirit that came with me did the work. I'm just a person. And its kind of awesome.
I love you all!
Read, Pray, Love!
Sister Sally Priest
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