Steak and Shrimp

Dear Family and Friends,
Another week has come and gone, so crazy! We had a really awesome, busy week!
Monday-Volleyball with the zone! Super fun! It must have gotten
intense though because I was so sore the next day. Gotta work on
getting in better shape haha. We had a lesson with the Mussaw's about
the Joseph Smith story and each of our own conversions. It was
awesome, and I love them so much!



Tuesday-Super busy day! We had a district meeting in the morning, and
the theme was, "Reach out and Rescue." I love being spiritually
edified everyday! I love being able to focus on the gospel everyday,
and not have all the worldly distractions all around me. I have never
been closer to the spirit and it is the most wonderful feeling! We
spent the rest of the day making visits to less-actives, and we tried
to make contact to some new people that the ward wanted us to go
visit. Unfortunately afternoons are tough and nobody is ever home!
That night we had our 4th ward relief society birthday dinner. The
theme was "Daughter of a King." They had an amazing program all about
our individual worth. Loved it.

Wednesday- Day one of a special leadership training our mission had.
All the zone leader, district leaders, sister training leaders, and
trainers got together in Twin to get trained on how to become more
Christ-like leaders. It was SO good and I learned so much. I learned a
lot about charity, and sometimes that is what someone needs. Even if
no work ever gets done, some missionaries just need your love rather
than you forcing them to do something you don't want to do. Definitely
a hard lesson to learn, and something I continue to work on each day
is to love people more and to reach out and be there for them. After
the meeting, we all got to go on exchanges with other leaders! I got
to be with Sister McCallum and it was so much fun! We got to relive
our week being companions. I love her so much, and we had a wonderful
exchange. I learned so much from being with other leaders of our
mission. Great day!

Thursday-Part 2 of our leadership training. We all came back together
and discussed what we learned being on exchanges with other leaders.
It was one of the best learning experiences I have ever had and I am
so grateful for it. The rest of the day was weekly planning and
appointments. We got to teach Cory and he is progressing so well! I
love seeing the change that the gospel makes in peoples lives. It is
truly incredible, and it is just another confirmation to me that this
really is Christ's church and it is true! In Book of Mormon class, we
read about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies burying their weapons, and it helped
me want to be even better. There is so much we can learn from reading
about the pride cycles in the Book of Mormon. Just like in those
times, Satan is so real and so present in our day. We need to hold on
to the word of God and do all we can to stay strong! Conversion takes
a lifetime, but it is something we need to work on everyday of our
lives.


Friday-Exchanges with Sister Anderson! I love exchanges. Sister
Anderson is from Las Vegas and she is amazing! Such a great
missionary. We had a day FULL of appointments and not one of them
cancelled. It was wonderful. We have been working a lot more with
members and we have been teaching the lessons to a lot of them. We met
with the Chard family to teach them, and they told us so many success
stories in their own missionary work. They said, "The moment we
stopped caring what everyone else thought of us, and just decided to
be happy is the moment that everything changed and we were able to see
the Lord's hand and he placed so many people in our path." It hit me
that a lot of times our problem is that we aren't willing because of
fears we may have. If we have a willing heart, and we pray for the
courage to help people and share the gospel, those opportunities will
be given to us. Be willing and try!

Saturday-paperwork/meeting day. Someone fed us steak and shrimp for
dinner. Literally NEVER had that on my mission so it was a treat. :)


Sunday-It was the 4th Sunday so that meant meetings all morning! I
love it though because our wards are so involved and they want to
help! In church one message stood out to me; pleasure is different
than happiness. Pleasure can only be temporary, but happiness can be
eternal if we do the things that will bring us happiness. And only the
Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us eternal happiness! There was a
Sister that just returned home from a mission in Korea and in her
homecoming talk, she talked about how she saw Heavenly Father's love
manifested in all the experiences she had in Korea. So true! The rest
of our Sunday was spent at appointments with less-actives. I love the
people that I meet here. I love every single one of them! We were fed
steaks again! So happy! Haha.

I can't even believe that it is the end of March. That means
conference is coming
up. Start praying now that your heart will be open to the messages
you need, I promise conference will be a whole new experience if you
prepare for it. Life is wonderful and I love being a missionary. I
love Sister Kentner and for the wonderful companion she is. Thanks for
all your love and support. Have a great week!
Love, Sister Bigelow