13 Months 😮

 

Hi!!

Tudo nice no Algarve!! 

Highlights of the week: 

- An elder in my district asked me if I have put on the Sister 30 yet 

- A gypsy threw a HUGE rock at me. It hit my backpack thank goodness. I have never talked about how many Gypsies are here in Faro but there is a million and I can't wait to go read all of the Wikipedia articles on them because their lifestyle amazes me. 

- I had an exchange in Beja!! We spent 3 hours on a bus to get there and 3 hours to get back because Beja is out in the middle of nowhere and our zone is huge and that was super not fun but the division itself was!!! Minha querida Sister Larson is pink washing there (the Sisters took over the Elders area) and I got to work with her again and it was SO GOOD. Sister Larson has grown so much even in just the one transfer we've been apart and I'm so blessed to have been able to work with her again and see that growth. 

- I hit 13 months on the mish and we celebrated with ice cream pois. 

- We had so many fun member meals this week.  One of the Irmãos prayed and said "bless the Sisters' parents, that they will know that their daughters are being well taken care of." 

- Valentin cute Ukrainian man is still on track to be baptized this weekend!! Pray that everything goes well this week 

The Spirit taught me a loooot during our exchange. Sister Larson had said she wanted to "revamp" her teaching and so on our exchange during personal study and companionship study we studied Alma 18, and Alma 22, and learned from how Amon and Aaron taught. And some thing that stuck out to me more this time than ever before is just how they followed this Spirit. 

Alma 22

1 Now, as Ammon was thus teaching the people of Lamoni continually, we will return to the account of Aaron and his brethren; for after he departed from the land of Middoni he was led by the Spirit to the land of Nephi, even to the house of the king which was over all the land save it were the land of Ishmael; and he was the father of Lamoni.

2 And it came to pass that he went in unto him into the king’s palace, with his brethren, and bowed himself before the king, and said unto him: Behold, O king, we are the brethren of Ammon, whom thou hast delivered out of prison. 

3 And now, O king, if thou wilt spare our lives, we will be thy servants. And the king said unto them: Arise, for I will grant unto you your lives, and I will not suffer that ye shall be my servants; but I will insist that ye shall administer unto me; for I have been somewhat troubled in mind because of the generosity and the greatness of the words of thy brother Ammon; and I desire to know the cause why he has not come up out of Middoni with thee.

Imagine Aaron and his comp praying during daily planning to know to go that day, and then they decide to go the land of Nephi. And then they get there and Aaron receives a prompting to go knock on the literal king's door. If I've learned anything from the mission, I know that when Aaron received that prompting, that immediately the adversary was trying to make him rationalize it away, like "nooo way am I gonna go bater the king's door right now, what a silly thought." And maybe even his comp(or i guess comps in this case) was like "bro no we will literally be killed." But Aaron knew that the thought he had was the Spirit and they went anyway and I can imagine them soooo terrified. They go into see the king and Aaron offers to be the kings servants, if he spares their lives. Aarons comps are like  Imagine Aaron's relief when the king said he wants to learn more about the generosity and greatness of Ammon. The relief and confirmation that that thought he had on the street indeed was from the Spirit and that the Lord had sent them to the land of Nephi, even to the king's house, for a reason. 

My whole mission, I've heard lots of missionaries talk about this one talk about the Spirit. I've even had comps tell me the stories that the guy in the talk tells, but it wasn't until this week where Sister Webster found it and sent it to me and I can for sure say, that it is worth the hype. It's by Loren Dalton and it's called "You are Receiving Revelation." He served as a mission President in the São Paulo Interlagos mission! He talks about the little thoughts that come to our mind, the "bings" we have, come from the Spirit. He explains that the adversary is always the second voice. The voice that uses logic and tries to rationalize the first thought away, the voice that speaks in first person, saying "I could never do that" or "I'm not good enough." Listening to his talk has helped me recognize that the promptings I receive from the Holy Ghost are real and frequent. And it has also helped me recognize that the 2nd voice from the adversary is also real and frequent. 

I'm at a point in my mission where I've got more of a handle on things, and the language is chilling, and on this divison, I learned that I need to seek and heed the guidance of the Spirit more. I want to strengthen my relationship with Him now so that when I'm home, I'll have more practice hearing and recognizing Him and acting. I want the Lord to trust me with promptings because He knows I will act on them. 

 Sis Menden

 

"You are receiving revelation" by Loren Dalton