All of that...for this?

Helloooooo!
We've had ANOTHER wonderful week here in Damariscotta filled with miracles and great experiences! These are seriously the greatest weeks of my mission...we are having so much success and so much fun. Our first miracle this week was with Yvonnet. She was a referral that we received from the missionaries in Bath, Maine (my mission birthplace 😀) a few weeks ago. They talked to her at a grocery store and referred her to us when they found out she lived in our area. Apparently she was SUPER interested and wanted to learn more so the sisters were excited for us to teach her! 

For weeks we tried and tried and tried to get a hold of her but we didn't have any luck. Occasionally we would catch her on the phone and set an appointment but she wouldn't be home when we showed up at her house. Every time we went to her house, nobody was home and we even asked the neighbors if there was a woman named Yvonnet that lived next door and they said yes. For weeks this went on and i was beginning to lose hope with her. Finally, we decided to try one last time a few days ago while we were in her area. She was going to be our last stop for the day since everything was falling through. When we pulled into her little subdivision, a red car pulled in right behind us and Sister MacDonald yelled, "what would you do if this was her behind us??" And believe it or not, that red car followed us all the way to Yvonnet's driveway. We happened to pull up at the EXACT same time as her!!! We were finally able to meet her and set up an appointment with her. Suuuuuch a miracle! Everything lined up in our day AND Yvonnet's day so that we could witness that happening. The Lord is so good :)

We taught Leon twice this week and he's SO excited for baptism! Yesterday after church he asked me how many more lessons he has to have before his big day...he wants it to come so bad! He also said, "even if it's 20 below...i'm still getting baptized." He is progressing so well and it's honestly a testimony builder to me to see someone embracing the joy of the gospel like this. He's soaking it all up and it makes me so happy! The gospel is so wonderful and being able to share it with others....there's nothing better. 

I had my second-to-last interview with President Blair this past week. I'm sure going to miss those :( he asked me about goals i have for myself for the rest of my mission and about how i'm feeling with everything coming to a close soon. NOT COOL PRESIDENT. He talked about how missionaries start slowing down at this point and it scared me to death. I do NOT want to slow down and waste this sacred time! These last 6 weeks are so important and i'm making it a point to be diligent and show President Blair and the Lord that I'm making the most of it. It seems easy to take a step back and be relaxed about everything since home is so close. It seems wonderful to only think about returning to my family and leave my companion to do all the work. That is NOT what I came out here to do. It doesn't matter what month, week, or day i'm at in my mission...I'm going to do all I can to work hard until the bitter end! I decided to set a personal goal with myself to give out a total of 100 Books of Mormon in these last 6 weeks. Whether it's me or Sister MacDonald, we are going to pass out 100 books. There is so much power in this book of scripture and i'm excited to extend it to 100 different children of our Heavenly Father! Wish us luck :)

Yesterday a guy in the Oxford ward (when i lived in Bethel) came and spoke to us in sacrament meeting! He's currently waiting for his mission call and he's just so awesome. He talked about trials and perspective and how important it is to have hope while facing something difficult. He has personally faced a LOT of challenges in his life, but he said it's what made him into who he is today. He quoted someone that gave a speech at a meeting he went to and she talked about the quote, "all of that...for this?" There are times where we put in so much effort and we go through so many hard days to find nothing in return. We wake up and everything is the same and life just continues to be hard, all for nothing. 

NO.

Every trial is personalized and specific for each one of us. We are given the chance to improve and progress even if we don't recognize it-especially when we don't recognize it. We aren't given mountains to climb for no reason or purpose. We are trusted with hard experiences because the Lord knows we can grow from it. We need to change the attitude of "all of that for this". All of the hurt and pain for a better relationship with our Father. All of the tears and trials for a better knowledge of hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We are so loved. 

i love being a missionary. 

have a beautiful week ❤️