September 3, 2014

Familyyyy!

First I feel the need to apologize after being reprimanded by my Father for not emailing you last week.  Forgive me. I am a punk, I know. BUT! I am alive and I am doing well in Great Falls! 

I HAVE SO MUCH TO WRITE! 

The reason I couldn't email last week was because a recent convert here in Great Falls was going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead for the first time.  We are allowed to go to the temple with recent converts or reactivated members, but we have to sacrifice a preparation day for it.  I was really bummed to not get to hear from all of you, but it was worth it.  The woman we went with got baptized 2 months ago and is on fire.  She was so excited to go to the temple that she woke up at 4 to get ready to leave by 7am.  We drove 4 hours to Billings did baptisms and drove 4 hours back. It was a long day, but so good.  She is moving to Billings and was asking us how often she can go and said she wants to go every week if she can.  :)  It was awesome. I also got to see some members from my ward in Bozeman in the temple. It was a tender mercy.   

Last week was insane! So much traveling and so many amazing experiences.  We had Mission Leadership Council this week but instead of a day event it was a two day event. We left last Monday afternoon to drive to Billings and got there in the evening, spent the night and the next two days were jam packed with meetings, discussions, direction and council. It honestly was one of the spiritual weeks of my life.

As a mission we are all preparing to go the temple this transfer. My zone gets the opportunity to go tomorrow! I am so excited! I cannot even explain how pumped I am about it.  It has been 1 year since I have been to the temple! We have been focusing as a mission to purify and sanctify ourselves for this temple trip. They have stressed sending home things that are distracting or not in line with our calling as missionaries. So mom, I am sending home a box today with some shirts and things with logos and some books people have given me throughout my mission.  This is all in hopes to better align our will with God's will and to allow the Spirit to not just be our companion, but to be a part of each of us.  

This mission did this process about a year ago.  But the purifying process took much longer. Last year when they began a purification, sanctification, and edification process the baptisms in this mission doubled and the numbers here have only increased since.   Since summer has been here, our mission has taken a hit.  Our baptismal percentage has dropped dramatically as well as our finding percentage.  So we are starting the process over again to refocus and to re commit ourselves to our callings.  

I want to share a very spiritual event that took place this week.  I don't feel like I could ever explain teh feelings and the thoughts that I had or even be able to explain the experience to do it justice.  We had meetings all day, discussing what this mission needed to get back to where we were.  It was such an honor to be in a room full of amazing, talented and dedicated servants of the Lord.  We all discussed going back to the basics, reemphasizing Preach My Gospel, and using the pamphlets. Getting back to the basics. 

After all the meetings we had as leadership in the mission we had dinner and came back together to be addressed by President Mecham.  He is such an amazing person. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to serve underneath him.  He spoke to us in the chapel and shared his testimony with us.  He said as of right now we were not living up to the Lord's expectations but that after this meeting he was expecting us to change this mission and to go above and beyond where we were previous.  What a weight.  He told us a story about when he was on his mission. President Monson (Elder Monson at that time) came to visit the stake.  A dearly beloved man in the stake was deathly ill with I think it was cancer. And he was knocking at deaths door.  President Monson had the choice to either go give this man a blessing, or to address the stake.  He chose to address the stake first, which to most people would have seemed insane.  But as he addressed the stake he told them that the blessing he was going to give this man would not be contingent on his faith, but on theirs.  He said, I have the faith to heal this man, but do you.  He asked the congregation if they had the faith to raise the dead, to heal the sick, do they have faith in miracles. And if they did, to stand. Immediately everyone in the room I was in, stood.  I don't think President was expecting that because he was telling a story.  But once he spoke those words this group of missionaries stood on their feet because they had faith in miracles.  As we stood my eyes filled with tears.  The feeling in the room completely changed. It was something I have never felt before.  I felt unworthy to be in this room with such incredible people.  When President Mecham was telling the story, I thought to myself, "I don't know if I could have stood."  But once everyone around me stood up I felt their faith and it lifted me to my feet.  President Mecham's eyes filled with tears as we stood before him.  He then turned the rest of the meeting into a testimony meeting.  It was THE most powerful testimony meeting I have ever been a part of.  All differences, that we had, were gone. We were united in our faith and in our desire to serve God with all of our heart, might mind and strength.  I had an unexplainable love for all those missionaries that stood and testified of their love for the Savior.  The feeling that night is something that can never be explained, or proven.  It was just felt, and I felt it and they felt it and we all knew it.   

I believe in miracles. 

My companion and I had an amazing discussion that night and made goals for the Sisters and our area. I will forever cherish that night for the rest of my life.  

Speaking of my companion! Her name is Sister Finnell and she is from San Diego California! She went to BYU the same time that I did.  She was companions with Sister Bonn and Sister Greenfield right before me. Ohmygosh. She is the same person as Sister Greenfield. They are so alike, it is insane.  But I am very thankful to be here in Great Falls with her. We share ward with the zone leaders and there is so much work here.  Our area is huge and we are constantly teaching. It is so nice to teach! I LOVE IT! I love finding and teaching people.  She is fearless and has one of the most powerful testimonies. I am very grateful for her.  

Great Falls is really windy, which can be bad when you are in a skirt all day long.  Hahaha, but I like it. There are no mountains.  It looks like Texas with how flat it is. But the weather is a lot nicer.  We are officially ending summer. It is getting colder and colder here. NO! hahaaha

I better get going.  Thank you all for you love and support. I love the Montana Billings Mission.  I know that my Savior lives. I love Him.  One of my favorite verses right now is in 2 Nephi 33:6 "I glory in plainness, I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus for He hath redeemed my soul from hell."  This gospel is my everything.  I have never found so much happiness nor felt so excited for life.  The gospel truly is the good news.  I am thankful for the Spirit that has born witness to me time and time again that there is a God, that He has a plan, and that He loves me.  Being a missionary has taught me that I can do hard things, through Jesus Christ.  He is my leader and my friend and He will never leave us comfortless. 

Until next week! 

Love you!

Sister Moline