Dear friends and family,
OVERVIEW
Ok so as of this very day, I am officially a fully trained missionary. This is my 3rd transfer in CA and my "Mom" (my trainer) is leaving me and I am getting a new companion. I get to "take over the area", and I am pretty excited-- because I think it is going to be SUPER FUN. We have some pretty awesome investigators to start out the transfer with and Hna Gates and I ended off my training with the baptism of Robert Ramos, the 9 year old grandson of one of our less active members and I'm just so excited. Everything ended so well and is starting off so beautifully that I really could ask for nothing more from the Lord. I've been noticing lately how many tender mercies God really has given me that I haven't been paying attention to. I mean, just think-- in my 3 months in CA-- we baptized FOUR PEOPLE. That's a lot. That's way more than I ever expected-- especially just for the first three months! I think the problem is sometimes my high expectations of myself ruin my ability to be thankful and truly enjoy the good things that come; and so I'm learning to be patient-- and what I've been realizing is that as I take the time to feel gratitude and express it to my Heavenly Father-- he gives me even MORE blessings. I mean really, I'm just really ridiculously lucky and I don't know why I forget that so often. Probably though, I should admit, a great reason that I am feeling so much better is because I finally saw a doctor and that man is currently one of my favorite humans in the world because within 15 minutes he diagnosed me, gave me a medication that has completely made my chest pain go away, and gave me a packet of foods to eat and foods not to eat in order to feel better all the time. Aren't we just so lucky to have the medical assistance that we have in this day and age? Yeah, I may be hot and cold about how much I like doctors but this week I LOVE THEM. I finally don't feel like death after every single dinner and that's just AWESOME. Oh yeah, so I had/have gastroesophogeal reflux disease (or just really bad/every day heartburn). My Dr. gave me something called pantoprazole for it and it is literally saving me so much. I finally feel like a fully functional missionary again and it's just the best feeling in the world. Aren't we just so lucky to have healthy bodies when we have them? YES YES YES WE ARE. I love having a healthy body when I have one more than anything else (and perhaps I've had to experience all the weird health things I have to appreciate it...). Which brings me to
SPIRITUAL MESSAGE NUMERO UNO: The Word of Wisdom
Ok so, fun fact-- the word of wisdom isn't just a big list of no-no's. Actually, as I discovered one day this morning in my personal study-- in the Doctrine and Covenants section 89 in which the Word of Wisdom is described, there are 5 verses about what we should not consume and EIGHT VERSES ABOUT WHAT WE SHOULD. Who woulda guessed, right? It's just crazy. It tells us how we should use fruits and vegetables, wholesome herbs, meat of all kinds (which by the way it says that we should eat meat sparingly not once but TWICE no wonder all that carne was totally killing me-- it also even says that "it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or of famine"-- and it also says that almost verbatim again-- do you think God wanted us to get the point that eating a lot of meat would be bad for us? PROBABLY...), and grains. I seriously could just keep studying and studying it. It's awesome. Guys, I guess my spiritual message is wherever you go for health needs-- always eventually end up at the Word of Wisdom, cause God gave us this law not ONLY so we wouldn't be addicted to alcohol or tobacco or caffeine or any of those crazy illegal drugs out there-- he ALSO gave it to us so that we would eat healthfully and grow up with healthy strong bodies too. That definitely was one of my major revelatory moments of the week so I thought I would share it. (haha :P) Oh and also, fun fact, at least for a while I have been dr. ordered to give up chocolate so guys-- my moment has come-- I'm going clean. I gave all my chocolate to the elders. It was a really hard moment but, it happened and....I'm moving on. hahah :P So if anything this unfortunate chest pain like death while being a missionary experience will hopefully result in me being healthier for the rest of my life. Hey-- don't look at me like that-- it's very possible! (haha :P)
SPIRITUAL MESSAGE NUMERO DOS: The Atonement=the center of the gospel
Ok so really gospel smart humans reading this are going to be like, "seriously, she JUST figured that out", but yeah, seriously, I just realized this week that the Atonement is actually the center of EVERYTHING that we do-- because without it, nothing would be possible. Without it, repentance wouldn't exist and thus salvation wouldn't be POSSIBLE. Without it, baptism would mean nothing, the Sacrament would mean nothing, and we would be left up to our own means to overcome everything in our lives and IT WOULD NOT WORK. The Plan of Salvation would mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING because NO ONE would be able to make it back to our Heavenly Father. I don't know why but that just really hit me this week. I'd been thinking a lot about repentance-- about how we just have to keep doing it all the time because we're so imperfect and I was thinking about how importance repentance is to our salvation and then it just hit me smack dab in the middle of my brain that THE ATONEMENT IS THE ABSOLUTE CENTER OF THE GOSPEL AND THE ABSOLUTE ONLY REASON WE CAN RETURN TO LIVE WITH GOD AND THE ABSOLUTE ONLY REASON WE CAN GET OVER OUR SINS AND TRIALS IN THIS LIFE SO THAT WE CAN BE HAPPY WHILE WE ARE ON EARTH TOO. It was like, you know that part of a movie where someone's been coming to a realization for awhile and then it comes to them all at once in this huge wave of memories and thoughts and patterns and waves like KABOOM! Yeah, that was this moment for me. And after I made this realization, I was just filled with this overwhelming sense of gratitude for my Savior Jesus Christ and how much He loves all of us and even more so-- I was just blown away by how epic of an act of love the Atonement really was. I mean, it's kind of incomprehensible to really understand how it works! I think the more we understand about the Atonement, the more we understand that it is completely beyond our human brains to understand/process. Anyways, the same day I suddenly made this realization (much thanks to a talk that the STL I had went on exchanges with sent me-- GOD BLESS THE STLS THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL HUMANS SENT AS ANGELS TO SAVE NEWBIES FROM FEELING LIKE FAILURES), we were driving to an apt with Robert/la familia Martin because it was a few days before their baptism and they were helping them fill out paperwork and write their talks, and as we were driving I just looked around and everybody that was walking on the sidewalks and sitting outside their garages and I thought-- Christ paid for all of their sins. And theirs. And theirs. AND theirs. AND THEIRS TOO. And even as I write it now I feel almost like crying because the crazy incredible thing I realized that day is that Christ paid for all of our sins and suffered for all of our trials-- EVERY SINGLE HUMAN IN THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT LIVES NOW AND EVER DID LIVE-- whether they decide to use it or not. And an important realization I made in that is that, that very fact is the REASON we need to talk to everyone. Because Christ ALREADY atoned for them, and so if we don't give them that chance to accept what he's already done-- well THEN we're doing something wrong. We don't have to have the perfect speech figured out, we don't have to be the most socially awesome human that ever graced the planet--all we have to do is just TRY. Because they deserve that much-- and more so, the Savior deserves that much from us. Because He gave us all this beautiful gift-- but unless we talk to the people he puts in our path, they may never know that the price has already been paid and that they-- they, can FINALLY move on. Watching people repent, forgive, overcome and get baptized is probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life; and going on a mission-- I know I am blessing the lives of others, but the life I am ultimately blessing the most is my own. Because I never would have understood this much about the Atonement if I hadn't had the privilege of seeing so many people use it in their lives and I'm just so grateful. I use the Atonement every day in my own life. Missionary work would be impossible without it! But the really amazing thing, is that the Atonement is for EVERYONE. And OH WHAT HOPE THAT BRINGS-- OH WHAT HOPE THAT DOES BRING! To quote the STL sitting behind me reporting her numbers-- "God is so good." Good is so, SO good.
And that's a wrap for the week guys. As for our investigators, we've got one that needs to get married and give up alcohol but LOVES the Gospel and LOVES coming to church, we've got one that has finally decided to forgive everyone that's hurt him, that wants to use the priesthood to bless other people's lives (thanks to a lesson in which I TESTIFIED ABOUT HOW THE PRIESTHOOD IS A VERY REAL LEGITIMATE THING THAT HAS BLESSED MY LIFE TANTO TANTO TANTO-- WHAT'S UP!) and is ON DATE TO GET BAPTIZED FEB 15th, and we've got one with a lot of baggage that keeps everything inside that I just can't wait to crack because he's just so awesome and last but not least-- we've got the crazy lady in the ghetto who knows that everything is true but just doesn't want to do anything. So basically, our work is rocking and never boring and always so much fun.
Next week on... "The Crazy Twisty Windey Missionary Life of Hermana Lindsey" look forward to hearing about: Hermana Spencer, her awesome new companion; all the people above, and WHY SHE JUST REALLY WANTS IT TO SNOW SUPER BAD AND IS CRAZY JEALOUS OF YOUR BLIZZARDS
Have an awesome week all you awesome people.
You're all just so cool.
I love you so SO much
Hna Lindsey
rocking in Riverside, CA