week 9

Hello everyone!

Thank you for the birthday wishes!!!! They really made my day. :) It feels so weird to not be a teenager at all anymore. Plain ole' 20. I'm officially an adult...weird. The members that we live with made me apple pie for my birthday and sister meek made me a huge breakfast of homemade waffles and butter syrup. Sooooo good! The elders in my district called me and sang happy birthday too. It was so nice!

This week was good! We put 3 people on date. This transfer, Sister Meek and I are gonna work long and hard against Satan because he always ruins everything! Once we put someone on date, he makes them sick, gives them a busier schedule, and puts every obstacle in their way to keep them from getting baptized. It's ridiculous. So we are going to try to combat him harder than ever before to make sure these investigators don't lose that perspective!! Onward Christian soldiers!!!

Some members brought us to charity dinner at a Methodist church one evening and it was interested because Sister Meek and I felt held back because we can't proselyte in or near other churches.  The food was good though!

We were asked to speak in the primary yesterday and the kids were so cute! They were super blunt though. They asked us questions like, "What did you think when you called to Montana?" (My response- "I thought it would be cold." And I'm right.) "what did you think when you were called to be companions?" Etc. They had no mercy. Haha.

We also did some service this week. Our president has asked us to do 10 hours of service a week. So whenever we see someone who could use some help, we jump out of the truck and head over to them. We helped paint a house, clean a family's house, and so on. No one will help us rake their leaves though! That's the one thing I'm dying to do because I've never done it before but it's near impossible to get the chance to do it. So I plan on putting some rakes in the back of the truck one day and just straight up bring them to someone's yard and start doing it. No joke. It's on my mission bucket list now. 

Yesterday, we spoke in sacrament in Livingston about trials. There was a returned missionary from South Africa who spoke too. He was so funny and you could tell he is adored by the ward.

I spoke on why we have trials and I studied a few reasons:

-To turn our hearts to God, help us remember Him, and to help us be like Him

      - In this part, I talked about the Refiners Fire and how we are the metal that is being shaped into someone beautiful and we don't know it at the time. All we feel is the pressure and banging but the Refiner or blacksmith is very skilled and it helping us achieve our full potential. Like how Job, in the Old Testament, said, "But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10). Even though EVERYTHING was taken from him, he kept the eternal perspective and trusted the Lord. (Look up the Refiners Fire Mormon Message. It is SO good.)

-To prepare us for future trials and for people who are going to have/ are having similar trials as us

-So that we can receive blessings 

I have actually come to love speaking in sacrament because I learn so much as I prepare my talk. And I bear a special mantle as a missionary where people look at me differently and know that I am speaking as a representative of Christ. 

Remember, even Jesus Christ, the only perfect person to live upon the earth, had trials and wanted the cup removed from Him. But He kept the eternal perspective and knew it was Gods will that would be done.

Love,

Sister Ney

P.s. My companion pulled a joke on me and made my iPad auto correct to random stuff. So when I type in 

"Love"- it turns into "you seem kind"

"Ok"---"la la boom de a "

"Hey"---"what up homie"

and while I was writing this email, I got frustrated and told her that my auto correct was being dumb and showed her what it was doing and she busted up laughing. And I still can't figure out how to fix it. 😑

Birthday pie

stayin warm while biking