Sister Brianne Watson: ✨Truth

Sorry it's taken me so long to send this out! It's been a hectic day....we spent FIVE hours at the hair salon which didn't go too well but hey, it's whatever.

This past week was pretty slow since we had two days where we were snow/iced in and another day where Sister MacDonald was sick so we had to stay in. Besides that, we had quite a few service hours and some great appointments with some less active members!

What I really want to talk about today is something called my "golden truth". A golden truth is something that missionaries learned from their mission that is valuable to them. We are given the opportunity to share our golden truth with the mission right before we go home, and tomorrow is my day! Throughout my mission I would ponder different things that I've learned along the way and I would always think that I had my golden truth figured out and under control...now that I have a week left, I look back and could easily write a novel and 7 sequels about the things I've learned from my missionary service. For the sake of time, I'll share 2 of them with you.

1. I have learned that prayer is powerful, and it is real. Growing up, I'd always pray with my family and occasionally on my own and I knew Heavenly Father was listening...but it wasn't until my mission that I began to feel connected to God through my prayers. I noticed that He not only heard my prayers, but He answered them in His own way and in His own time. He truly does hear and answer every single one because He LOVES us. We are so blessed to be given this communication with our Father in Heaven!

2. I have learned that the big, abstract, complicated, difficult to comprehend thing called the Atonement of Jesus Christ isn't so complicated after all. Jesus Christ knelt in a garden and suffered for ME. He saw my face and every emotion I would ever feel and willingly took upon Himself each one so that when it came time for me to feel it, He would be right there to help me. This atonement is available to me at any moment of the day and my Heavenly Father and His Son are waiting for me to read upward to apply it. They want me to feel joy, peace, hope, love, and all the wonderful effects from using the Savior's Atonement whenever I make a mistake, whenever I am hurting, or whenever I am in need of some extra love.

(I know I said only 2 but I have another one, sorry...)

3. I have learned the reality of God's love for me and for everyone around me. HE LOVES US! He literally wants nothing more than to see a smile on my face. He desires my success and happiness in this life and that will come to me through the gospel of Jesus Christ which has been restored to the earth. It is something that I have come to cherish. He reaches down to us in love every day, but it's up to us to meet Him halfway by putting in our own effort. That's another thing I've learned! We have to WORK to receive the blessings He has in store for us. Nothing is going to come if we sit back and expect them.

I love my mission. I love the name I've been able to represent and I love seeing the miracles come as I put others above myself. I love the areas I've served in and the people I've served around. I love my supportive family and friends. I especially love Heavenly Father and my Savior, Jesus Christ. They are so merciful...they took a rebellious teenage girl, took her where she was at spiritually, and helped her find the joy from living the gospel. I am so blessed.
This week is going to be AWESOME and I can't wait to talk about it next Monday (my last p-day!) love you all!!