Ai ai ai Remember when I wished one missionary who went on her mission in Brazil got resigned to my mission? Yeah, so… Heavenly Father heard me haha. For the next 3 1/2 months our mission will be welcoming reassigned missionaries every 2 weeks. 90% of them served their missions speaking either PORTUGUESE or Spanish so far!!! WHAT??!!
That means I will stop being called to join in on lessons but hey, at least I can practice my fading Portuguese speaking skills with some new peeps!!!
Exciting times. Ai ai ai anyways. I have a long spiritual thought I wanted to share with you friends today. So bear with me, will ya?
In the past few weeks my companions and I have been a little unmotivated, and to be honest, that’s dangerous as a missionary. You have high expectations for yourself to work hard. The ward you serve in and the people you teach have those expectations as well and its hard to work with it all when you have 0 face to face interactions with people. But, the Lord is merciful and He is with us. I was reading this one small chapter in the Book of Mormon this week that helped me change my perspective.
In Alma 28 God’s people have this ugly battle against their enemies and it’s a whole bloodshed. Tens of thousands of people die that day. It’s a really hard moment for the Lord’s people and they mourn the loss of their loved ones.
“5 …cry of widows mourning for their husbands, and also of fathers mourning for their sons, and the daughter for the brother, yea, the brother for the father and thus the cry of mourning was heard among all of them”
It’s a hard chapter in the the Book of Mormon where you can feel the pain in Mormon’s words as he describes the sorrow felt in the land. But here’s the thing, as their hearts were broken for the loss of their loved ones, they DID NOT forget God was by their side.
“6 And now surely this was a sorrowful day; yea, a time of soleminity, and a time of much fasting and prayer”
“14 And thus we see the great call of diligence of men to labor in the vineyards of the Lord…”
They knew who could give them peace and hope through their afflictions which gave them strength to keep going. Because of their faith and their diligence to keep on going strong in what they were called to do, they were blessed. They understood God’s plan more fully and more PERSONALLY!
“14…and thus we see the great reason of sorrow, and also of rejoicing—sorrow because of death and destruction among men, and joy because of the light of Christ unto life.”
Funny how life is. Good and bad, rejoicing and sorrow, hope and fear. It’s all part of God’s plan. It’s like a Yin & Yang ☯️. Two opposites that make each other whole. So if you are struggling, remember it’s all part of a bigger plan, and that you are NOT alone.
This changed my perspective and I was more ready to be diligent in my missionary efforts. And guess what? We got a member referral and had an investigator say multiple times in one single lesson that she wants to be baptized. Trust me, Alisha🙏is🙏ready🙏 to make covenants with her loving Heavenly Father!
There is so much power in trying. “The Lord loves effort” as our loving prophet Russell M. Nelson reminded us at General Conference this year.
So, why not just try?
“Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Mat 7:7)
Stay safe. Stay corona free. I love you all!!!
Sister Santos
150 West Ave. Apt. 1305
Woodstown, NJ 08098
1, 2 – I missed taking pictures so muchh ❤
3, 4 – We took the car for inspections in Philly so we HAD to stop by a Brazilian place and buy some goodies. Also, while we waited for the car I found this fish at Pet Smart. See the smile?? 😂
5, 6 – My ancestors??
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