I feel like I'm getting soooo lazy with emailing. But this
week was so great, I have to tell you everything.
SO! We went to "Savior of the World" and I absolutely loved
it. The part that really stood out to me was when Christ appears after his resurrection to his
disciples except Thomas. Even after
witnessing Christ raising Lazarus from the dead, feeding the 5,000, and so many other
miracles, Thomas cannot believe Christ is truly risen until he literally sees the
resurrected Lord with his own eyes. The more I read the scriptures, the more I
realize how similar the people in the Old/New Testament and Book of Mormon are
to us today.
Since I only have 3.5 months left on my mission I've really been
thinking about who I want to become after I'm finished and how I'll continue to
move forward with an increased faith in Christ.
I really know that the key to
conversion is to remember. I have seen so many miracles being a missionary and
had so many moments of surety and clarity that this is Christ's church. I
know things are going to be a lot different when I get home but I am so
grateful for the examples of those who have gone before (ie., Thomas) who I can
learn from.
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| Sister Howard from Australia is my new comp |
I will choose to believe and have faith even if I don't have the
exact same experiences at home that I do as a missionary.
Sister Howard (my
companion) gave a talk on Sunday about gratitude and she said something that I
loved!! She said it's not the experiences we have in our lives that make us who
we are, it's how we choose to react.
Yesterday, we went on exchanges with the district leaders in
our zone and I got to go with Sister Caramia from Italy for the day. We got to
take on a tour around Temple Square some of the architects for the Rome temple as well as two other
men who are doing the interior of the Temple who weren't members of the church.
They showed us pictures of what they're doing and it is
amazing. We should definitely go to Rome for the temple open house! Just an
idea :) I mean, we have friends we can stay with! It was a really sweet
experience, though, just to see how the Spirit works.
I love Temple Square. I
honestly thought I might get sick of being on the same 10-acre square for 15
months, but every single day I am just so grateful.
I forgot to tell you about the talk I gave in
sacrament meeting! It's like the only talk I've given my whole mission and I
was soooo nervous. It's weird how I feel comfortable talking in front of tons
of guests on Temple Square about things they've never heard of, but speaking in
front of a bunch of missionaries I already know makes my legs shake like
nothing else! Anyway, my topic was:
"In one who is wholly converted, desire for things [contrary] to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died, and substituted therefore is a love of God with a fixed and controlling determination to keep his commandments." -Marion G. Romney
As I was trying to figure out where to go with this talk, I
realized that there are 3 major words in this statement:
Desire, Determination
and Dedication. The 3 D's.
Feeling the love of Christ gives us the desire to
follow him and as we follow him and feel our hearts change through him, we gain
the strength and determination not to give up on our quest of discipleship. As
we are determined to follow Christ, we want to bind ourselves to him through
covenants and it's through the covenants we make with Christ that he enables us
to dedicate our lives to him and never look back.
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| We took this picture after singing "Walk Tall, You're A Daughter of God" |
I love my Savior. I'm so grateful for this time of year to
really focus on what's most important and to remember the greatest gift God has
given me.
Love you so much!
Sister Helton
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| Sister Lai, my first companion. She and I both spoke in sacrament meeting (we are wearing the same sweater!) |
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