Mission Intermission April 2020

 

♥ from Hermana Miller week 26 (4-2-2020) & the beginning of my MISSION INTERMISSION

Hello to all, Sorry it's been awhile, needless to say, things have been really crazy. 

Today is my 6th month mark as a missionary and I wish I was writing from Ecuador, but 'm home now. After 11 long days of intense quarantine in Ecuador, (no opening the front door and police on the streets all night picking up people outside) a willing member came in the middle of the night to get us out of our house. We left in gloves, masks, and goggles. It took me about 48 hours to get home, but after quite the adventure I'm safely here and very grateful for that. I don't understand a lot right now about what is going to happen, but what I do know is that I'm at home in "self-isolation quarantine" (meaning that I can't leave my house) for two weeks. I will be receiving a reassignment as soon as possible- but not really sure what timeframe that really means. Originally, the new assignments were going to be more systematic and logistic, but President Nelson has said that he wants each reassignment to come directly from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I think that's pretty neat, and I know that I will be reassigned based on revelation to another place that the Lord needs me (in the states most likely)- although I would LOVE to return to Ecuador.... (and that's an understatement)

I already miss Ecuador like crazy. That place and the people there will always have a piece of my heart. It was so hard to  leave. It hadn't even really sunk in yet-  probably because when I left, we were just so focused on getting out. I think this may be one of the hardest things that's ever happened to me.

 One thought that's really brought me a lot of comfort in this time is that Heavenly Father loves me, has a plan for me, and will take care of me. That's a principle I've always taught and always believed, but now I've got to really trust it, because it is a lifeline for me right now. If He loves me, and always has my best interests in mind, and has a perfect plan for me that can't be foiled, then what am I worried about? It's of course easier said than done, especially when your heart feels broken, but I know that to be true. The Lord is in the details and if I am faithful to Him and to His commandments, I cannot fail. It's a pretty incredible truth. 

This week is going to be an exciting one! It is the two hundredth anniversary of Joseph Smith's incredible First Vision, when God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to a boy in a grove of trees in answer to his prayer. Through Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ established His gospel again, the same gospel that He established when he lived here on Earth. Can we just pause a moment and consider the magnitude of that truth? God the Father and Jesus Christ have established their Church, and, since the time of Joseph, we have had a living prophet to lead and guide us. How grateful I am for that! It is not coincidence that before the world went upside down, we were focusing on home-centered gospel learning. It is not a coincidence that for years we've been doing our best to have home food storage. It isn't coincidence that this generation of young adults are technology wizzes and thus our ability to share the gospel isn't limited. It isn't coincidence that the Lord's priesthood power isn't limited to the church buildings, but to all worthy men to administer the sacrament to their families and those around them. It isn't coincidence that in recent years we have been taught to minister in higher and holier ways and have learned how to better take care of each other. It isn't coincidence because God is speaking to His prophet, Russell M. Nelson, and He is leading and guiding the affairs of His church. How blessed we are! So I would invite you, each of you, member or otherwise to tune in this coming weekend April 4 and 5, and listen to God's prophet, because he is going to speak to the world. He will be sharing with you what God would like you to know. It's an opportunity that is both collective for the Church, and individual as we prepare ourselves to hear His voice. I can PROMISE YOU, and I feel really strongly about it because if you take me up on this invitation you really will receive blessings, that if you will listen to what President Nelson has to say this weekend, and just come and see, you will feel the love God has for you personally, you will recognize him to be a prophet of God, and that as you follow his counsel, you will be blessed and protected and so will your families. I KNOW that is true, and if you're open and willing He will change your life. I've seen it time and time again in my own life, in the life of my family, and in the lives of those I had the blessing to come to know and love in Ecuador. 

I'm so grateful for each and every one of you and your love, support, and prayers, and emails. You are the Lord's hands to lift and strengthen me when I need it most. I'll send out another email when I have a reassignment to share-- hope it's soon!

Lots of love from Nampa, 

Hermana Miller 

♥ from Hermana Miller Week 25 (3-16-20)

This week we didn't get to talk to Sadie via video chat as things with the Corona Virus have gotten worse.  She had limited time and needed to stock up to begin a quarantine period in her home with her companion.  I am grateful that she has Hermana McCune, her first American companion, at this time with so much changing and so many unknowns. They already have the bond of knowing each other from the MTC, as well as getting Visas together in Arizona, and then traveling to Ecuador from the MTC together-- that's a blessing.   I think they will be a great comfort to each other.  I hope Sadie's Spanish stays strong.  (so grateful for the blessing of Sadie just having had South American companions until now-- it's made her Spanish so much better, more authentic-- maybe not her grammar, but her pronunciation) I felt like it was a blessing that first thing in the morning, I was reminded that I needed to put some extra money in Sadie's missionary account.  I have been meaning to do that for a few weeks, so she'd have a little extra to get a few souvenirs before she was transferred but hadn't gotten around to it.  It was important to me this morning though and I had finished that before Graham and Lainey left for the school bus.  When we did get to speak to Sadie, she explained a whirlwind of a night she'd had getting the third companion in her trio to the airport, needing extra funds and that with the quarantine, she'd need to buy 14 days of food/drink for their apartment and she was not able to do that with the extra money she'd had to spend on taxi's to get that companion to Quito.  I felt grateful in that moment to be able to tell her- I'd already done it-- money in the account just that morning.  The Lord knows the details.  He impresses upon our minds the things we need to do and know...we just need to listen. It's a simple thing- but it was a powerful thing about how He works.
Here was her group email... short and sweet

 Hello loved ones

On St. Patrick's day I feel "lucky"  because I get to stay in Ecuador and even though I will begin a 15 day in house quarantine- I feel the Lord's blessings and his watchfulness.  I am so grateful to be one of His missionaries.  We are safe and prepared with the things we need.  I don't know when I'll be able to email again, but when we can, I will. 

My love to each of you,

  Hermana Miller  

Jenniffer (convert) and Hermana Miller

A  centipede in my apartment

 Journal time....

♥ From Hermana Miller Week 24 (3-10-2020)

No time today, as we have transfers, and I am traveling to my new sector! It is a city called Cayambe. It is about an hour and a half from Ibarra, towards Quito. My new companion is Hermana McCune, we knew each other at the MTC, and arrived in Ecuador together.  So that is AWESOME.  She is my first American companion- and  it makes me a little nervous about two gringas and the four months of Spanish experience we have, but it is a great opportunity to test our faith and study habits.

 It was hard to leave Ibarra ("my birthplace" we say as missionaries) but more for the people than the place. There are some very dear to my heart people there that I will never forget, and will forever thank the Lord for putting in my path.  Fausto and Sandra especially.   Leaving them tore at my heart, (and I'll admit,  I had a few tears after I'd hugged them goodbye and got around the corner) but I know that means that my love for these sweet people is very real- I feel it bigtime and I'm so grateful for that.

Sandra and Hermana Miller

  Hermana Miller and Fausto (she said this was her new all time fave pic of her mission) He never smiles with his teeth because so many are missing- so this picture is especially sweet)

From her journal: 

"At that moment I knew I was leaving Ibarra (with transfers coming up)- I counted it as a tender mercy so I could feel closure saying goodbye. I told him that knowing him has been one of the greatest blessings of my mission, that I loved him, that I would pray for him, and that in the next life I want a HUGE hug.  Then I grabbed the chifle trash (that I'd bought for him the time before) adn I left.  And I sobbed.  And my heart broke.  And as I walked away I said to Heavenly Father, "This is hard!" And He said, "I know. But I am going to take care of Fausto just like I'm going to take care of you...because i love you both.  Trust me" And then I felt a ray of peace poke through, ut it still hurt."

The Lord is going to guide us in our new area and I can't wait to be a part of the work he is doing here in Cayambe, and in Ecuador. Everyday is a blessing and an adventure and I ́m so excited for this new chapter and the things in store here! Thank you for your prayers and emails!

Lots of love from Ecuador,   

Hermana Miller

 These are Wilson's dogs (our investigator)

Last days with my companion, Sister Muldonado

Fernando, ward mission leader with my companion and I .  He gave us roses for international women's day.

Transfers! Hello Cayambe!

I have no idea if this will be our Hermana's experience in Cayambe- but here's what I discovered in a google search- which gave my mama heart some peace until I can hear more from Sadie.

Cayambe is an agricultural service city (population 39,028 at the last census on November 28, 2010) in highland Ecuador. It lies at the foot of the Cayambe volcano. While the city is mainly peopled by mestizos, the surrounding rural population is primarily composed of indigenous people who are mainly involved in subsistence agriculture, dairy farming and procurement of lumber. It's the third largest city in Pichincha Province.
Weather: 65°F (18°C), Wind SW at 2 mph (3 km/h), 51% Humidity
Province: Pichincha
History of its people: Cayambe's indigenous people of today are descendants of the pre-Inca Kayambi people. The Kayambi were resistant to Inca expansion and were only definitively conquered by Huayna Capac (the eleventh Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire) after a bloody 20-year war. At that time, the Kayambi people adopted the Kichwa language, a dialect of the Quechua family of languages. Not long afterwards, in the 16th century, the first Spanish conquistadores arrived in the region. Kichwa survives in some of the hamlets today, while in others it has given way to Spanish.
Points of inteest

It is a globe built of stone that sits on a large cement slab surrounded by a stone circumference.

Known as "La Bola de Guachalá" which is a monument in honor of the equatorial line, it is located on this line that divides the earth into two equal hemispheres: North and South. Whoever arrives at this place can not avoid the temptation to stand on both hemispheres at the same time.

Two Otavalo little girls in Cayambre

Quitsato Sundial, located on the Equator in Cayambe, Ecuador-   located exactly on the equator.

♥ from Ecador week 22 3-3-2020

It’s been awhile!  Lots has happened since I last emailed.   I survived CARNAVAL!  After our last appointment the night before we were supposed to stay indoors- we were on our way home in the dark and we unexpectedly became the target of some early celebrators' roof top water balloon launch.  I heard something hit the wall next to my head- it was a hard loud sound and water splashed everywhere.   It really freaked me out.  Then my companion screamed, “run” (in Spanish) and water started exploding all around us. Water balloons were coming hard and fast—and luckily not with great aim.   I heard a bunch of people shouting, “blanquita, blanquita!” You know what I learned after that?  I can run really fast in a skirt. 😊 My companion and I tried to run into a store, but there were a bunch more guys with water balloons in the store- so somehow we got separated--my companion ran in one store and I ran in another.  I looked over my shoulder and I saw a boy chasing me and he followed me into the tienda (he was probably 10 years old)  When I stopped- he held out my agenda…I must’ve dropped it running along the road.  I was so grateful to have it back…what a sweet little guy in the middle of all that to follow me- even though it kind of added to the panic I was feeling in the moment.  hahaha.   It would have been a disaster to lose the details of our contacts/appointments etc that are in that agenda.   Once things settled down outside we headed to our house.    It wasn’t exactly the type of persecution I expected to face as a missionary—hahaha.  Scripture rewrite: “Blessed are all they who are pelted with water balloons for my name’s sake.”  Needless to say, I’ll be checking rooftops now and I better understood why our mission president wanted us to stay inside the upcoming few days of Carnaval. I actually enjoyed my time in the house, napping, snacking, and reading Jesus, The Christ. (If you haven’t read it, put it on your must-read list, it’s an incredible book.)

After Carnaval, I was grateful to be back out in the perfect Ecuador weather working again.  It was a hard week though- lots of doors shut in our face, a baptismal date that fell through (that about broke my heart), commitments that aren’t always kept, long days walking up mountains and on cobblestone streets, &  talking to strangers which can be awkward. It’s still a struggle to finish ALL my rice at lunch (so I don’t offend), and some days I just want to speak English.  I love my Preparation days when most times, I can video chat with my family- that really buoys me up like nothing else.  I get love and listening from my mom and counsel and hype from my dad.  I need both.  Something I’ve discovered is that a mission is really just a stepping stone to who I want to become- not the climax.  I’ll have the same fears, same weaknesses, same insecurities, same everything that I had felt before I was a missionary- the times that I wonder if it even matters, or if I’m enough- when the struggle seems greater than the triumphs, I remember that it’s a process.  My dad reminded me this week that ADVERSITY is the POINT!  The highs are there to encourage us and keep us going- but it’s the hardest hours of struggle and self doubt, rejection, homesickness, physical sickness, tears in the bathroom so my companion doesn’t see,  dealing with someone interested more in the messenger than the message 😉 -all of those things are the times the Lord is molding me.  And He does not leave us comfortless.  It’s not easy or comfortable- that’s because it can’t be- that’s not how it works.  I trust in “good things to come.”  And you should too. 

Don’t worry about me— I know there’s a lot of reality in this email, but really,  I LOVE this work. I LOVE Ecuador and the special people here.   I know I am on the Lord’s errand and because of that,  I have help from heaven & I feel it…and I also feel the power of your combined faith so keep those prayers (and emails) coming! 

Love,

Hermana Miller

I'm including a picture of my companion and I with beautiful Ibarra in the background and a picture of my lunch one day-- (first course)  Soup with chicken liver (dark), chicken neck (light), and chicken feet (you can tell which that is) I washed it down with rice after :)

Week 22 weekly letter to Presidente Chacon

This is to notify him of a "situation" that had developed with Sadie's district leader, Elder Hopper.  The whole thing was embarrassing and frustrating for her.  After a long time of down playing, and teasing, avoiding, and ignoring it wasn't going away, and the district and zone become aware- it finally came out in the open enough for them to hash it out.  Sadie didn't want to bother the mission president with it- but felt she needed to address it in case he heard it from other sources.  Hopefully with transfers next week she can be separated from him and move forward.  He's a good missionary, just needs to focus on the work and not our Hermana Miller.

3-3-2020

Presidente,

My companion and I are doing very well together, every week gets better and better, and as we work together in the obra and in the living together parts of it, we´ve had a lot of fun and learned so much from each other. Hermana Maldonado is so Christlike in her humility and love and patience with me and everyone we know and teach. She´s been a blessing for me.

Our investigators are struggling to keep commitments so we´ve been focusing our study on that and keeping our expectations high. Although our fechas have fallen through, they are continuing to progress and hopefully very soon we can reset some dates. I´ve come to really love the people I am teaching here and my heart yearns to see them in that white baptismal jumpsuit!!

I only marked this email as urgent because yesterday we had a sitdown with the zone leaders in our District Council and I wanted you to be able to have this information quickly. I´ve felt the need to address with you here some issues we´ve had as a district especially now that the zone leaders have been involved.

As a missionary, and as a person I am not one who seeks out drama and so my heart is heavy as I've tried to be prayerful about how to move forward.  I have not talked with you about this concern before now because I felt that since it was not initiated by me, I could just ignore, downplay, redirect attention and it would go away.  I didn't want to bother you with anything that was unimportant or something that was becoming increasingly awkward at no fault of my own.

 I have made my sister leaders aware and my companion and we've been prayerful in the past several weeks. I understand that my sole focus should be my missionary errand and that's my hearts desire and so it hurts that there has been any implication that I have thought, said or done anything contrary to that-- I have tried to not make an issue out of unwanted attention from any elders specifically my district leader.

It began months ago and I felt uncomfortable with the joking and teasing- the familiarity in general.   As I shared my concern with my companion, we decided that I should just try to distance myself, as to not encourage any unwanted attention and have less contact as to not create a more casual interaction.  My companion started answering phone calls so I wouldn't have to.

 I am honestly mortified to have drawn any negative attention.  That is not representative of my heart, my efforts, my obedience, my intention, or me.  My district leader has chosen to speak to zone leaders who did not speak to me or my companion or our sister leaders to find out a little more information and see things from all sides, before responding.

I have been thinking about transfers coming up and just have tried to wait it out and distance myself.  I am grateful for my associations with fellow missionaries. We are in this great work together.   I want nothing more than to work along side each other and serve.

Please know that my heart is all in.  I am striving to be exactly the kind of missionary the Savior needs me to be.  I have been obedient but have become somewhat of a target for unwanted attention.  That is completely unfamiliar territory to me and I want to run from it-- that's not my focus as a missionary.  I realize this is complicated and I dislike that it even needs to be addressed in an email, but my approach of trying to not let it escalate, or back away from it has not been as effective as I'd hoped. I just want to be the Lord's hermana and move forward.

And you should also know that I am just fine. Really you don´t need to worry about me, I just wanted you to have it come straight from me, because I don´t know what´s been said. Please feel free to call me if there is anything I can help clarify. I think the dust should all settle and luckily transfers are coming up at the end of the week. But I´ve already put it behind me and hope that everyone else can do the same. I love the work and I love being here in Ecuador! Thanks for everything,

Hermana Miller 

--

Finding the tender mercy in giving a sacrament talk

This blog title sounds like an oxymoron to me.  Nevertheless--- (or as Sadie says, "sin embargo") I did find it.

I have been wrestling all week trying to ponder on what to say for a sacrament talk on how agency helps us find joy.  I've read lots of amazing things- but I was mostly compiling a big list of quotes and quips and nothing felt fluid or spirit led and I hadn't been able to organize it.  Thursday morning I started to feel the crunch knowing that my quiet thinking hours (with kids at school and Roarke at work) were vanishing so I'd better get going on the talk.  Then I remembered I'd printed off some notes that Sadie had emailed from a recent conference she'd been able to attend while on her mission where Elder Jeffrey R Holland spoke to the missionaries.  I didn't read it thinking it'd be talk material, but I knew reading it would bring the spirit- which is the most important step in trying to put a sacrament talk together.  I asked and He delivered.  Now I'm going to start praying that I can convey it in a way that is both pleasing to the Lord and meaningful to even just one at church on Sunday.  I'll just paste my email to Sadie along with my talk.

I'll start with her Elder Holland notes:

1.Oh wow.. can I just stand up for my talk on Sunday and read your Elder Holland notes.... I don't know how you captured it all so well but it's amazing.... like I feel like I'm there- and as I'm reading it (just stopped at part about Have you considered how we've prepared you and temple blessings-- I just felt chills everywhere and wanted to jump up and shout hurrah and then take a few laps around the neighborhood cheering (okay, maybe the driveway loop)-- so powerful!  I can't even imagine how that felt to hear him as a missionary-- I bet when it was over you felt like bursting through the door..... so much light and power.

2. I love this---- "this is Real Life".  Same hope, same feeling, same fire!  So true.  Obviously demands on your time require different things at different phases-- but your heart-- your commitment to the Lord-- that just builds and grows and the focus on the Savior stays central- or should-- no matter the season of life.  Excellent reminder!

3. "You are God's investigator-  how beautiful is that-- He wants everything for you that you want  for your investigators-- to read, to study".... (wait-- I need to shout hurrah and run around the driveway (figuratively) again)

4. I love reading that part about your homecoming talk-- look like Amulek and sound like Joseph Smith!  (holy cow, I'm going to be tired from all the figurative running cheering and screaming around the driveway)  stretches his wrinkles describing  "I want their eyes to be big" hahaha.

5. Hermana Miller, apostle with a little "a"  (so awesome!)

6. " I haven't come this far to only come this far" What a cool thought.

7.  I was worried about my talk before I read your notes and they have come to me like an answer to my prayers.  I love this:

“It has to be hard. There’s opposition all of the time, because that’s the way the atonement works. Our pursuit of salvation can’t be easy because the Savior’s wasn’t easy.  We don’t have record of him laughing- I’m not saying he never laughed, only we don’t have record of it- but we do have record of him weeping.  You  are disciples of Jesus Christ and if you understand that, that means you have to say what he said, go some of the distance He went, feel just a little of what he felt and shed some of the tears He shed.  There’s blood, tears, heartache, heartburn, heartbreak, deep concern, occasional discouragement, spiritual help, spiritual experiences, triumphs, victories” (choices-that’s the agency part) “He felt it, so you’re supposed to feel it.”  Thank you for taking such detailed notes- It feels like a tender mercy to me to be overwhelmed with so much truth and so much material.  Now if I can just organize it in a way that makes sense---

8. I hope you do run into Elder Holland on the street or in a conference sometime and say, "Remember that day in Quito" I love how he can be so powerful and so familiar at the same time in his love and his admonishing.

Okay so this might be redundant for you- but here are my talk notes.  I don't know if I am the first or second speaker-- and I need to time this so I can be at 10-12 minutes.

Thank you for your help on this-- and yes- you were a HUGE help.  I've been wrestling with it all week and when I sat down to read your notes, it just seemed to come together-- and I pray that I can deliver it in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord and with the spirit.  In the meantime, i've got all the kids worried that I am going to share an experience about them while I'm speaking-- hahaha-- that's some good leverage-- maybe I should say that in my talk to say something funny.  I'll tell what's hard not to put in my talk is to RAVE about the kind of missionary you are--but I won't- because 1. you wouldn't want me to, #2 I should focus on the Savior during sacrament meeting, #3 everyone already knows how completely awesome you are, 4. plus it's obvious, by your notes from what he said that you are top notch.  

Good morning

Introduce (since we have new ward boundaries)

My sweetheart, my 6 miracles....That’s really all you need to know about me.

Topic: Joy

In all my heart, I wish I could stand before you and say I feel JOY to be up here—but you shouldn’t lie in church—you shouldn’t lie anywhere 😉- so I will tell you instead I have enough faith to have prayed to ask Heavenly Father to work through the Spiritt and I know he will bring joy to my heart the minute I sit down. And if I get emotional, and I will- these are happy tears (mostly)

Start off with a story: Hurrah for Israel

SO because our life is so wrapped up in our eldest daughters missionary experiences, and our next in line daughter is almost completed with her mission papers so there’s a lot of missionary buzz at our house. 

When the day came for Sadie to go to the airport to head for the MTC, I felt this crazy juxtaposition of feelings—the mortal mama part of me felt like a piece of my heart was being ripped out but the spiritual side of me felt so much peace- which was a real testament to how right it was that this mama bear could feel that.

So we took pictures, we hugged and then it was time for her to walk through security and she turned around and held up her am and shouted… Hurrah for Israel!”  At the time I thought this was her best effort to be add some lightness to the situation and be brave – but a few weeks later in our Come Follow ME study, we read about Heber C Kimball and the origin of that phrase and my heart leapt- because I knew what Sadie meant—

the account of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball leaving their wives, children, and humble homes to journey to Great Britain in response to their mission calls to that faraway land. Heber C. Kimball records the event in these words:

“‘September 14th, … President Brigham Young left his home at Montrose to start on the mission to England. He was so sick that he was unable to go to the Mississippi, a distance of thirty rods, without assistance. After he had crossed the river he rode behind Israel Barlow on his horse to my house, where he continued sick until the 18th. He left his wife sick with a babe only three weeks old, and all of his other children were sick and unable to wait upon each other. Not one soul of them was able to go to the well for a pail of water, and they were without a second suit to their backs, for the mob in Missouri had taken nearly all he had. On the 17th, Sister Mary Ann Young got a boy to carry her up in his wagon to my house, that she might nurse and comfort Brother Brigham to the hour of starting.

“‘September 18th, Charles Hubbard sent his boy with a wagon and span of horses to my house; our trunks were put into the wagon by some brethren; I went to my bed and shook hands with my wife who was then shaking with a chill, having two children lying sick by her side; I embraced her and my children, and bade them farewell. My only well child was little Heber P., and it was with difficulty he could carry a couple of quarts of water at a time to assist in quenching their thirst.

“‘It was with difficulty we got into the wagon, and started down the hill about ten rods; it appeared to me as though my very inmost parts would melt within me at leaving my family in such a condition, as it were almost in the arms of death. I felt as though I could not endure it. I asked the teamster to stop, and said to Brother Brigham, “This is pretty tough, isn’t it; let’s rise up and give them a cheer.” We arose, and swinging our hats three times over our heads, shouted: “Hurrah, hurrah for Israel.” My wife, hearing the noise, arose from her bed and came to the door. She had a smile on her face. They cried out to us: “Goodbye, God bless you!” We returned the compliment, and then told the driver to go ahead. After this I felt a spirit of joy and gratitude, having had the satisfaction of seeing my wife standing upon her feet, instead of leaving her in bed, knowing well that I should not see them again for two or three years’” (Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1967, pp. 265–66).

I have often wondered how these brethren, as valiant as they were, could do what they did. Truly they were willing to make any sacrifice asked of them to build the kingdom of God. As it says in  (Matt. 6:20). They were laying up “treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt” They knew where to find JOY.

I love that. 

As I’ve tried to ponder how agency helps me find joy and what that really looks like—I’ve been thinking about what we learn in our Come Follow Me lessons  in 2 Nephi 5 where it talks about what the Nephites were doing to “live after a manner of happiness.”  Happiness is found in living the gospel.  Happiness is found in lifting and supporting others in living the gospel.

I went back to some notes Sadie sent me when just last week, Elder Holland visited Ecuador and took the time to share some counsel with the missionaries that I found really motivating in thinking of this topic today. I kept reading other resources and yet over and over and yet  the spirit kept bringing me back to his remarks.

While his comments were directed towards the missionaries- they apply to each of us as we exercise our agency and ultimately find the kind of JOY that the covenant path leads us to. (and I can’t deliver it like Elder Holland- but just imagine him saying it)

“You are God’s investigator.  Think of that.  Everything you want for your investigator he wants for you- (here’s the recipe for joy) You want them to read and study and pray and repent, and serve, and love—well he wants you to do that.  You tell your investigators if you’ve got to leave your family, leave em’.  If you’ve got to quit your job to keep the Sabbath day , start looking for a new job.  If you’ve got to turn your life over and upside down, trust God”

Do it and find the JOY.

Using our agency to choose hard things isn’t easy.  Trusting that the Lord can make more out of our lives than we can isn’t easy. Elder Holland said, “It has to be hard. There’s opposition all of the time, because that’s the way the atonement works. Our pursuit of salvation can’t be easy because the Savior’s wasn’t easy.  We don’t have record of him laughing- I’m not saying he never laughed, only we don’t have record of it- but we do have record of him weeping.  You  are disciples of Jesus Christ and if you understand that, that means you have to say what he said, go some of the distance He went, feel just a little of what he felt and shed some of the tears He shed.  There’s blood, tears, heartache, heartburn, heartbreak, deep concern, occasional discouragement, spiritual help, spiritual experiences, triumphs, victories” (choices-that’s the agency part) “He felt it, so you’re supposed to feel it.”

President George Q. Cannon said this about how God has prepared you and me and our children for the tests we will face: “There is not one of us but what God’s love has been expended upon. There is not one of us that He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us that He has not desired to save, and that He has not devised means to save. There is not one of us that He has not given His angels charge concerning. We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes, and in the eyes of others, but the truth remains that we are the children of God, and that He has actually given His angels—invisible beings of power and might—charge concerning us, and they watch over us and have us in their keeping.” We need this assurance and we can depend on it

You know that children’s song going on a lion hunt?  I recently heard the whole Woolstenhulme family sing it—because it’s one of Verla’s favorites- In that song (don’t worry, I won’t sing) your lion hunt takes you to the obstacles and you say, can’t go under it, can’t go around it, can’t go over it- I guess I’ll go through it… and then you do- through the mud, through the tall grass, into the house, to the back of the cave—our agency leads us THROUGH.  This is our time of testing and proving.   And our understanding of God’s plan and our ability to recognize the spirit and act on its promptings are the things that lead us to our LION- our lasting joy.

Elder Holland closed with the insight that as the older (and wiser) he’s gotten, the more he “sees the Lord’s reverence for agency.  Satan cannot force you and God, will not. You’ll get what you want, or if you’ll let Him, maybe something better.”

When the Lord was handing out talents he skipped me on the singing one.  That’s okay.  I am perfectly happy to attempt to sing- not to be heard but to praise him.  I have always had a favorite hymn. That’s an interesting question to ask you family later today- Do you know what your family members favorite Hymn is? You should know- because you’ll feel an added measure of love for them everything it’s sung. 

Well, mine is- Where can I turn for Peace.  That Hymn is a great teacher.

One of the lines says: “He answers quietly, reaches my reachings. In my Gethsemane, Savior and friend.” I recently read an insight on this hymn that asked: How is He always there to reach our reachings?

Because He never leaves our side.

He is in our Gethsemane..our weakest moment.
But also in our dishes. And our laundry. And in our basketball game. And our business meeting. He’s in all our choices and all our consequences.

I’ve heard described as the ultimate senior companion. Always there by our side. Imagine our JOY if we could treat every moment of our lives and every conversation we have like we were the junior companion in the situation—and Christ is always there ready to teach us”  And the beautiful thing is that HE then gives us our agency to see what we’ll do with it.

Close with my testimony that I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is a well spring of JOY.  It contains every single thing we need to sustain us, to quench us, to lift us, to help us lift each other, to lead us back to our God who loved us so very much that He gave His only begotten Son.  I love him with all my heart.  I am humbled to think that he trusts me enough to give me agency-and I trust in the JOY that He promises, and offers so freely to each of us.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

VIDEO CHATS (Ibarra, Ecuador)

I always try to get a screen shot of us talking to Sadie on her p-day-- I won't admit how many times I've started at this pictures later in the week and just cried;  missing our missionary.  What a sweet blessing though and a whirlwind of emotions.  I always ask her if it's helping to talk to her or if it's just hard-- because usually when she sees us, the tears come- but she says it's the release she needs adn then she's ready to get back to work.  It sure is wonderful to see her and hear her-- to ask her questions and feel more involved in her missionary experience.  I am so grateful for the example she is to the kids- to me- to our family.  We are so proud of her everyday efforts to be extraordinary and to qualify for the blessings promised her as a representative of her Savior.

Ibarra: