Life of a Sister Missionary: August 1, 2016

Hello,

This has been a great week! I have been out almost a year on my mission and I feel like I am just now beginning to understand what it means to be a missionary and the joy that comes from being in the service of God. I know it seems like it has been a rollercoaster for me while being here and it is true. It has been a rollercoaster with a lot of ups and downs, but I am just beginning to realize how much I truly do love it here. I am finally starting to love the ward I am serving in and I am truly beginning to love the people that I am serving. Before, I talked about how I wanted to leave this ward because I have been here so long and want to serve somewhere else, but as I was teaching and meeting investigators and members this week, I realized how much I truly don't want to leave this ward. I have been blessed to serve in this ward as long as I have and I don't want to leave. I would be happy to stay here the rest of my mission. Now in saying that, I am sure that this transfer I will probably be transferred. haha. Isn't that how it works? But I won't be surprised if I am and that makes me sad. This week I was able to have a really great experience. The one family I was teaching, the Enhbaatar's family, I was able to meet with them this week. Sister Ruu and I were teaching them but then we switched wards and so I couldn't meet them anymore. Then the other sisters met with them but then they stopped meeting with them. Then I moved back into their area because I cover both wards now and I tried calling them but they never picked up. A member told us that they weren't interested anymore and that every time they saw our phone number they would ignore it and not want to pick up. Me being me though was like heck no, I am going to teach this family so I kept calling and kept trying and a couple of times we just stopped by their house but they were never there. This week however we just straight went to their home and they were there! They were surprised to see me and didn't know I was back in the area. They welcomed us in their house and we were able to set up an appointment and I was able to tell them how much I missed them and they were really happy that I was back to teach them. We decided that we would try to meet with them at least twice a week and would re set their baptismal date and they agreed to it! I am so happy for this family, I loved them and I am so glad to be able to teach them again. I know that I was supposed to be serving in this area. Before I couldn't quite understand why I have been here for so long but now I am starting to see a piece of heavenly fathers plan and how he uses us all to accomplish his purposes.

Earlier picture of Kristin's area

Most of the time we have no idea and can’t understand all that he does, but we can trust that he knows and that everything will work out how it needs to. Sometimes we just need to stay faithful and true to who we are and what we have been called to do and stay strong and keep working hard and diligent and the lord will bless us. Maybe not in the way we expect or how we want but it will be exactly what we need. :) And sometimes we will have mountains in our life that no matter how much faith we have or how hard we try, they can't be moved. Sometimes I think this is because Heavenly Father wants us to climb this mountain because the experiences we have on the way up will be exactly what we need to help us become who we need to be. And just
think when we get to the top of that mountain, how much sweeter it will taste to us because of all that we went through to get there and it will be much better than if we just had the faith and it was moved just like that. Sometimes we need to go through the hard times in order to recognize the joy afterwards and be able to see the difference that happened. I am truly thankful for all the experiences I have had while climbing this mountain called a mission. I have learned a lot and am thankful for it. I know at the end of my mission when I reach the top, I will be able to look down and see how far I have come. I know the same goes for everyone. When you get to the top of each journey you have had in this life you will be able to look back and see all that you have learned. And when we reach the top of the mountain of this life we will look down and see how much we have changed and we will have a better understanding then of why some things happened then we do now. Sometimes as we are climbing up the mountain we can't see the entire picture. We can't see the top because it is still quite a ways ahead and when we look down we just see the rocks and bumps and how hard it was to get to the spot we are in the moment. Sometimes we have to wait until we get to the top where our perspective will be changed and we will then be able to see the greatness that has come to pass from our journey we had trodden.

One of the Mountains she has already climbed. :o)

We have been given a great gift in this life. We have been given the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. How do we use that knowledge we have been given and how often do we express gratitude for this great gift? Even though this life is not always easy, we have been given this great gift to help us overcome any challenges we face. This gospel will help us reach the top of any mountain we have to overcome. What a great blessing that is! And along our journey we must also help others reach the tops of their mountains. We are all in this together and must help one another get to the top and taste of the sweetness, for how much better will it be if we have others to share in this great joy with.

I hope that you all have a good week and that you are able to do all the things that you need to.

Love, Sister Kerby