I don't know about Utah right now, but the leaves here are gorgeous. How is it that we are already near the end of 2015? So many things have happened to me this year. I can't even begin to explain how I feel about hitting 9 months this month!! HOLIENE. Any who, before I write about my week, I forgot to publicly announce my excitement for my little brother Noah!! Last week he received his mission call and is going to South Carolina. He is leaving January 20th (just like me) and so it will be exactly THREE years until I see him. Although I was sad not to be there, I am so excited for him to serve the Lord. Missions can be hard, but they are possibly the best, most sacred times in your life to learn things. Love you little brother. 😘
Last week was hard. This week was a little hard, but definitely a lot better! Every hard moment I have, I remind myself that I just need to focus on the good and enjoy every moment before my time here is gone! My companion has been awesome with helping me with my Spanish and I've helped her a little with her English. My companion, Hermana Brinbaumer is an awesome missionary, I learn from her every time she teaches. She is from Bolivia, lives in Barcelona, and has a German last name. This week we did a lot of running around- from visiting pueblos then back to our usual area- back to the church.. Let's just say metros are second nature now. Sometimes it's easy to forget how lucky I am to go to the church right by the temple. But I really am so grateful to feel the peace just right outside of the temple several times a week.
Speaking of temples, I love them so much. This last week we went to the temple and like always, I tried to have a question in mind that I could pray about while I was there. I had the thought that sometimes my answer comes later that day. Well sure enough my lovely mother who is so close to the spirit, had the strong impression one day to email me. This letter was so touching to me and was exactly what I needed in that moment. I'm so grateful for temples where I can receive answers and for a mother who is so in tuned to the spirit. Little experiences like that remind me how much Heavenly Father loves his children!
Throughout this week, I've had several different thoughts about the importance of enjoying every moment. This has been a struggle for me sometimes because it's hard to always not think about the past or future during difficult times. But something from a talk we read this week by Pres. Uchtdorf- "Forget me nots," really stood out to me. He gives the example of Charly and the Chocolate Factory- the golden tickets in the chocolate bar. Sometimes people are just waiting around for their "golden ticket" in life and forget to enjoy the chocolate that is inside. Sometimes I think "Oh if only I did this
better, or of this happened, or I can't be happy until this happens.." Sometimes I forget to enjoy of all of the blessings that are around me. This is something I really am trying to apply in my mission and I
believe can be really applied in life as well. Decisions. I love the quote by Thomas S Monson: "Decisions determine destiny." Every decision we make, makes us who we are. We have been given our mortal agency, a God-given gift. It is up to us how we react to challenges in life. This week we visited a less active member who had not come to church for a long time. We had heard that she had some strong feelings about the wars so I was a bit hesitant to visit her, but we did. That lesson with her I realized that their are people who are depriving themselves of the blessings of the gospel
because of the fear of other people. I've seen this problem many times on my mission, when some members gossip and make it so others do want to come, to church anymore. These situations are so hard because all we can say is the gospel is perfect but not the people. But wow, how important it is, that we are humble and forgiving enough to not let others people deprive ourselves from the blessings of the gospel. This week me and my companion have set good goals to really work hard at asking members if they have friends who are interested in the gospel and also in our area book. Good news is my Spanish is improving. Bad news is, when me and Hermana Bingham (other hermana in our piso) try to talk to each other night, we both forget words in English. Haha. I wish you all a fantastic week!!!
1 Nephi 8
CON MUCHISMO AMOR,
Hermana Sydney Berry 🍓🇪🇸
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