Every day had its dawn just like every rose has its thorn

This week was hard, but I have learned so much! 

First Sister Housley my new comp is awesome! I love serving with her, she is so ready to work and we have already seen many miracles. 

However, this week was really hard. As you all know Tara had a baptismal date for this past Friday. She cancelled very last minute, literally the font was filled and people were there to support her and feel the spirit. She still wants to get baptized but her mom is very against her getting baptized. I know her mom loves her and wants what is best for her but needless to say, I was FRUSTRATED. I kept asking God, "WHY is this happening? Tara was so prepared!!! She was so excited to get baptized!!! So why is this happening?" I was worried that Tara would stop coming to church, which she didn't she is still wanting to get baptized but she is going to wait until she is financially dependent, and I was worried that the people in our ward who have come to love her would be disappointed, but that didn't happen either :). Then I was just overwhelmed with feeling like, I am not capable of helping people progress in the Gospel, I haven't had one baptism in the past 8 months and I was feeling sorry for myself, I told God that I didn't know if I could do this anymore. I got a blessing and in the blessing it promised me that Tara would get baptized and that God was going to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon me for enduring my trials, after my blessing I really felt the love of God and knew that He was in charge and that He was going to help me. Then I read in my personal study this morning in the new testament in the book of John in chapter 15 verse 2, "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruti, he purgeth (try prove, test, purify) it, that it may bring forth more fruit." Then I realized something, God is preparing me for something better, He is allowing me to go through trials and to face hardship because He loves me and He is helping me become better. I am not a failure, I am good enough and He does love me! God loves all of his Children but sometimes in order to help us become better He has to allow us to struggle even though it is probably hard for Him to watch us struggle  because He loves us and He wants us to be happy. I might not receive blessings for the trials I am facing on my mission I may not receive them in this life but I know that God keeps his promises and He promised me that at some point Tara will get baptized, and that He is going to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon me. God answers prayers and keeps His promises I know He does. 

Some of you might be thinking, why do you care so much if Tara get's baptized? I want you all to know, I love Tara so much! She is amazing and I have come to love her so much and I know that the only way for her to receive Joy in this life and joy in the life to come is to get baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God and to live faithfully to the covenants or promises she has made with God and so that I can see her in the afterlife in the Celestial Kingdom! I love being on my mission even if I did cry in front of the whole ward this week at Tara's baptism or lack of Baptism. 

God is in charge and He love's all of you! Put your trust in Him and you will NEVER fail! 

I love you ALL!!! Merry Christmas! 

Love Sister Lyman

Good Morning Snowey California

So this week it snowed, it literally snowed in California. It is the first time it has snowed for a long time in Chico so I think I am just bad luck, but it didn't stick and it only lasted for about 30 minutes. But it is VERY cold! Other than that this week has been amazing! I have once again been reminded of how much God loves me and how I cannot do anything without Him. 

First off I had a pretty embarrassing moment this week. So I have almost been out on my mission for 8 months and I didn't realize how AWKWARD I am until this week. We were having dinner with a family. The husband is a recent convert so he is still trying to figure out all the weird customs of the church, one of them being not hugging sister missionaries. So I go to shake his wives hand and then I realized I could hug her so I say, "Oh I can hug you." So we hug and then I go to shake her husbands (Phil) hand and he is making the motion to hug me, just some background information my ward mission leader always pretends like he is going to hug me and I have gotten use to him pretending to hug me, so I for some reason think that Phil is going to just pretend hug me and then I realize he is actually going to hug me and I freaked out! I shouted at him "I CAN'T HUG YOU!" and somehow ducked under his arm and ended up behind him. Everyone got really quiet and stared at me for a second and then they just started laughing, then Phil say's, "It's like I am Satan or something, you were so scared!" haha it was so embarrassing! So sister Paul, my comp, thought it would be good to tell a couple of guys in the singles ward on Sunday so after church a couple of guys from the singles ward kept pretending they were going to hug me and it was making me SO nervous. I am going to be so AWKWARD when I get home, Dad I don't know if I am going to be able to hug you haha because I still have 10 more months to get even more awkward and uncomfortable around guys, it's great. 

On exchanges this week I went to Paradise, California which is also known as the place where everyone smokes pot. So we were going to see this guy Matt who is also a Christian rapper whose rapper name is Disciple. We pull up to this guy Disciple's house and his neighbor keeps looking out his window and then he comes outside and when we get out of the car he says "nice car" he was kind of sketch looking, but we go talk to him anyway and tell him we are missionaries and we share a message about Christ etc., he says, "Well if you will listen to my religion I will listen to yours" at which point he goes inside his house and we wait for him to come back. He comes out of his house with a GIANT bag of weed and says, "This is my religion do you agree with this?" the sister I am with doesn't say anything so I say, "No we don't" and he says "You shouldn't discriminate" I told him, "We don't discriminate we know that Heavenly Father loves everyone and that He loves you, however, we also know that there are certain standards that God expects us to maintain." to which he responds, "Well I know Heavenly Father loves that."(pointing to his marijuana) it was pretty funny I was dying! But we met a guy on that street named Bruce who is a raiders fan and who is going to read the Book of Mormon so we were there for a purpose and it was a great day, even though it was FREEZING the whole time. 

But let's get to the spiritual stuff.  

We had a lot of success this week, we had 6 people come to church that we have been teaching and during Sunday School Kathy, a girl we just barley met, asked Ian (a guy in the singles ward), "How long does it take to get baptized?" She is really prepared and you can tell she has just been searching for something more in her life and that she really want's to do God's will. 

We also have a baptism on Friday for Tara! She has overcome a lot of opposition and her family still isn't 100 percent supportive but she has gotten to the point where she knows this is what God needs her to do and she is so excited to make those covenants (promises) with God. It is amazing! Once again I have come to realize that even though I do have weaknesses that God is going to make up for what I lack. He hasn't asked me to come out and be perfect and just all the sudden not have any weaknesses, He has only asked that I do my very best and He will make up the rest. I talked with my mission president, President Weston who I am pretty positive will be an apostle one day, about some of the things I have been struggling with lately, not big things just little things that make me feel inadequate, but He just told me that God loves me and trusts me and He needs me to do this work and that He has put me in the calling I am in because He knows I am capable of fulfilling my calling, well by myself I wouldn't be able to do anything, but with God I can do all things.  I was just so happy this week and nothing HUGE or crazy happened I just felt joy and happiness. I love a scripture in the Book of Mormon in the Book of Ether, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I might have already told everyone this at the beginning of my mission but I love this scripture because it shows that when our weaknesses are being exposed it means we are coming closer to Christ. I love my mission! I love my Savior. 

We had transfers this week and sister Paul is leaving, she is going to the south part of my mission. Sister Housley is coming to serve with me and she is awesome, she came out with me and I think we are going to get along great I am excited. But I will miss Sister Paul I have learned a lot from her. 

Love you ALL!!! Sorry this is super long. But I hope you have a great week! 

17 or 60?

This week was good. I love me some thanksgiving! Especially awkward thanksgiving meals with people that I don't really know that well, they are the best, seriously. Some background information, we don't go to the last meeting (which is relief society) in our family congregation on Sundays because we have a meeting at the same time and we found out that a couple of ladies in our ward got in an argument about who was going to have us over for dinner for thanksgiving that day. Eventually we told both women that we would come over to both of their houses and everything was solved. So come Thanksgiving Day, for the first half of the day we did some service for a family that I love! They were installing some flooring since that was the only few days the dad had off and we were able to help them with that--there is nothing better than service! I love doing service!!!! Then we went to dinner at the smith's home and they had an 85 year old woman over for dinner and she kept talking about what great shape she was in and how she could do anything those 60 year olds can do. Then she pointed at me and said, "I swear I can do anything you can do!" She made a few other comments that alluded to the fact that she thought I was 60 years old. Come to find out a little later she has a bit of Alzheimers but it was hilarious my companion and I were dying. Earlier that week though a girl asked me if I was 17 years old. So I think that evens about to 21. Then we went to the next house, the Castro's, and I don't think they remembered we were coming over because there wasn't enough room for us to sit at the table and we had to sit in the corner hahaha it was pretty awkward but we were able to talk to a couple of people there about the Gospel who aren't religious and don't go to church so that was worth all the awkwardness in the world! 

I really gained a testimony of the power of fasting this week. I woke up on Sunday morning and had  a strong feeling that I needed to fast for Tara, one of the girls we are teaching, she is 21 and she was going home for thanksgiving to tell her family that she was getting baptized on December 13th and her mom is very very against that decision. So I woke up feeling like I needed to fast for her but I decided that I would fast on Monday instead. Later Sunday afternoon we got a message from Tara that said her mom doesn't want her to get baptized and she might have to push her baptismal date back. I immediately regretted not fasting but knew that God would make up for my shortcomings and I committed to fast the next day. Monday I fasted and nothing new happened, we didn't hear from Tara we didn't get any wonderful news about her mom having a change of heart but I knew that God would take care of everything. So Tara got home and we met with her on Saturday and she told us, "I told my mom and her first initial reaction was, 'if you get baptized I am not paying for your schooling anymore and I really don't want you to get baptized and I do not approve of this etc.' but then the next day, the day I fasted or maybe the day after, Tara's mom told her, "I overreacted, if you really want to get baptized then I will support you and still pay for your schooling but I want you to make sure that this is really what you want to do" FASTING REALLY WORKS!!! I know that God prompts us to do things that require sacrifice, like fasting, and when we follow through in faith he ALWAYS blesses us. Tara is still getting baptized the 13th and she is so excited, she has come really far. I know that this is the greatest work in the world, I am so blessed that I am able to participate in this work. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Savior and I am so grateful for the sacrifices he made for me so that I can return to live with him and my Heavenly Father again. I love you all! I hope you all had a great thanksgiving and you were able to focus on being grateful rather than all the black Friday madness, I might have just called some of you out, sorry that is what missionaries do. I love ya! 

Hello Beautiful People!

Highlight of the week--not eating desserts!!!! We gave up desserts so that Tara a girl we are teaching can give up Coffee and it has been great she is doing really well with not drinking coffee and she is on track to get baptized December 13th!!!! 

Another humbling week haha I feel like I am just constantly being reminded of how much I need to improve BUT I love having this opportunity to really look at myself and the things that I need to do better. 

I have been feeling like I can't be myself lately. Being with someone 24/7 is VERY taxing and I have been going crazy because I just want to be myself but I don't know how. Sister Paul is great but we think very differently and we are both very competitive so we are constantly trying to show each other up it seems and it is not healthy. So at the beginning of this week I was sick of being with her truth be told and I was so excited to go on exchanges! So I went on exchanges with a Sister who has been having a really hard time, one of her friends back home just died and she has really been struggling with that. So we had a really good day, she is really funny and just super easy to get along with. So we had a really great day and I was not looking forward to going back to my companion, and I wasn't very gracious because I think my companion could tell but I didn't really care because in my mind my companion thought I was inadequate and didn't really think I was good enough. So in the mission field  we have this amazing awkward conversation called companion inventory. It is where you sit down with your companion and tell them everything that has been weighing on your mind about them, you also tell them their strengths and what you like about them. So this week my companion and I sit down to do companion inventory and she started crying and said that I have been making her feel like she isn't doing anything and that she isn't a good missionary. I felt awful I felt absolutely terrible that I was making her feel badly about herself so I need to change that I need to be a better more Christ like person. If anyone has any ideas on how I can do that, please let me know asap. 

As we go out and preach the good word to people we see a lot of people that are struggling and that don't really have anything and I always wonder, "why do I have so much? Why have I been so blessed?" especially with having the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life because I would be so lost without an understanding of the atonement and my Savior. I really increased my testimony of the reality that people can change through the atonement of Jesus Christ this week. I was reading in the Book of Mormon Mosiah 27:25-26 and it says, "Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, chagned from their carnal and falled state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God becoming his sons and daughters; and thus they become new creatures." ALL of us have weaknesses we all sin, we all have temptation but we can overcome those weaknesses and truly change through the atonement of Christ. Then I read in Alma 5:33 "Christ sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you." No matter times how many times we have sinned how many times we have struggled we will be forgiven God loves all of us not just some of us and I love that!!! I don't know how He loves all of us because I meet some people and I just don't know how to love them but I know that as I come closer to Christ I will be able to love everyone and accept everyone for the person that they are. I love you all I miss you all tons! I hope you are doing well and that you know that God loves you and so does Jesus Christ, don't ever think you aren't good enough. Sorry this got double spaced I don't know what happened. 

Week full of service

This is going to be short. Sorry I have been distracted doing other things. This week has been one full of service which I love so that was a blessing. We were able to help this organization called Project Save. They send medical supplies all over the world for people who are poor and live in really awful circumstances. Eleven other missionaries and I helped load a whole semi truck full of medical supplies and it was really rewarding. The coolest part though was the guy who was in charge is from Nigeria and his uncle was the first Nigerian to take the missionary discussions in Nigeria and he helped establish the church there and was the first Bishop and the first Stake President in Nigeria. How cool is that!? It was really awesome to hear how the Gospel has affected his family and all of Nigeria. We were also able to rip out some old linoleum for a part member family. I love service! I love being able to serve others and help them out in some small way. We should all get out and serve this week! I love you all and I know this church is true I know that Jesus Christ is the way to find true happiness and peace. He lives and He loves all of us, even if we aren't perfect. Have a great week!

Two is better than one, three is company

This week was... interesting. We had one of our sisters in the zone go home early because she was sick (my trainer sister stanfield) so we had another sister with us this week, Sister Perkins, she is a great Sister and we had a lot of fun but being with three people all week is somewhat overwhelming. One of us was grumpy almost at all times and needless to say there was some crying that I was of course uncomfortable with. But this week I was really feeling like I just wanted some alone time, and then I was feeling like I just really wanted to be around people who loved me and I loved them. I know my companion loves me, and I love her. The people in the ward are great and I really enjoy them but to them I am just another missionary and I am temporary. So needless to say I was feeling like I just really wanted to be around my family, or someone who isn't forced to be with me 24/7 and learn to love me. So I just prayed a lot this week that I would be able to feel God's love more in my life and rely on that to get me through that week, it didn't work haha I didn't feel ANY extra love all week I was getting desperate so I said a prayer that went something like this, "Heavenly Father I know you are aware of me, I know you love me but I really need something more, I am really struggling right now and I just need one of those moments that helps me know that you are looking out for me." later that day I got on Facebook to do some online proselyting and I had a message from April Baird, who is my favorite person from Rocklin and was my saving grace there and it said. "I am going to be in Chico for work this weekend! Where is church and what time is it? I want to come see you." So yesterday at church on her lunch break she came and said hi to me and gave me a hug and later today I am going to lunch with her. I can't tell you how good it was to see someone who genuinely loves me and wanted to see me.  God answers prayers, I could have made it through the rest of my week without getting that physical witness that God is still aware of me, but because He loves me and He cares about me and He wants me to be happy He showed me that He is ultimately in charge and He is always going to take care of me. I am not complaining I really am doing well and I am still loving my mission just in case any of you are starting to worry about me.... don't worry i'm cool. 

We officially set a date this week with Tara for December 13th and she told her step dad which is a HUGE step because her family is very against her getting baptized. God is answering her prayers too because her step dad said that he would support her and that he wants her to be happy and if this is what makes her happy he will do everything he can to lessen the family drama. God answers prayers!!!! If there is one thing I have learned on my mission so far it is that God is so aware of me and all those around me. He loves every single one of us because we are His children and He wants us to be successful and happy. That is why He has given us commandments. For example, in the word of wisdom we are told not to drink alcohol, or strong drink this commandment seems very unreasonable for many people but for the person who becomes an alcoholic after drinking one time this commandment is a saving grace, they will never have to battle alcholism if the adhere to that commandment. God is merciful and loving. I know this because I am less than perfect, I have so many different weaknesses and I know that everyday I do something that isn't exactly in line with God and I think to myself, "ah crap not again! Why do I keep messing up? I am so HUMAN" and I know Heavenly Father is thinking, "Wow look at all the good that Melissa did today, everyday she is getting better and she is trying to overcome all of her weaknesses. I am so proud of her, I love her so much." I know that is true for all of you, regardless of where you are at in your life. Heavenly Father is proud of you. Don't give up, keep trying. This video is called Good things to come and its from a conference talk that Elder Jeffery R Holland gave and I love it! I rely on it's message all the time.  /video/mormon-messages?v=911029449001  I love you all! Keep trying to be better everyday, I will be doing the same.

Missionary Work in the singles ward is....Awkward ha ha

This week had the wonderful opportunity to teach the law of chastity to our investigator who was supposed to get baptized on Friday but is now moving to Kentucky and that was a bummer but we felt she wasn't ready completely for baptism and this is God's will for her and she needs to really develop more faith in Christ. She is great but teaching her the law of Chastity was definitely a new experience. She kept bringing up movies and television shows that she really likes that reminded her of breaking the law of Chastity. It was really random and all over the place and we had a married couple there with us that were probably thinking, "this girl is nuts" but I love her she is amazing and I am really going to miss her. Teaching her has been so great because it has really showed me how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is fit for ALL people. Regardless of how different we all might be. 

We were teaching Jane this week on a park bench near a lake and this guy walked by and asked if we were doing a Bible study and we said, "Book of Mormon study" and he said, "Oh cool" he proceeded to walk and I asked if he wanted to join us. He said he had homework and that he probably shouldn't. We gave him a Book of Mormon, we didn't write our phone number in it or anything, and told him he should read it. He said he didn't want to convert or anything and Jane blurts out, "That's okay I am Jewish" haha it was pretty funny. So he left and then yesterday we got a call from some Elders and said, "This guy said he met a couple of blonde girls who were teaching another girl on a park bench and they gave him a Book of Mormon and he wants to meet with them." The elders number was in the Book of Mormon miraculously and Mark now wants to meet with us. It was a huge blessing and it showed me that you don't need a huge spiritual prompting to bless someone with the Gospel, you just need to do the things that God has asked us to do and open our mouths and talk to everyone!!! I love being a missionary. I love being able to help people feel the love of their Savior. We are really busy here teaching lessons, we struggle a lot with getting members to go to lessons with us though and that is frustrating because these people who are looking for Christ need support and friends. If missionaries ask you to go to a lesson, go! WE NEED MEMBERS HELP, you are vital in the work of salvation, more important than the missionaries MEMBERS are VITAL!

I love you all I miss you all and I can't wait to hear from you

Missions are Great

This week has been weird. To begin the week we had exchanges with the Sisters in Paradise. So I was in Paradise and the sisters there live with members and the members have a GORGEOUS view from their backyard so I woke up in the morning and went outside to look at the mountains and stuff and the sister followed me outside, she closed the sliding glass door behind her and I didn't realize she did that. So we talk for a minute and then I turned to walk back inside. I thought the door was open and so I just walked towards the door as if it was open, it wasn't, I tripped on the lip of step and hit my face right on the glass door (I thought I could just walk into the house so I kept moving forward). I thought I broke my nose it hurt so bad and then I tasted blood. So I sat on the bed for a minute and wallowed in self pity. Luckily I just bruised my nose and cut my lip. The sister I was with has been having a really hard time though, hasn't been working very much and has been sleeping a lot so my goal was to have a good day with her and to get her motivated to do missionary work again, and I thought I broke my nose but we did stay out all day and do missionary work so that was good. My face is fine now haha. 

We have 2 baptisms coming up! Jane (dec 17) and Ashley (cot 26) they are awesome. They are in the singles ward and they are really looking for something more in their life. I love being a missionary there is nothing better. I am learning so much about myself and even better my relationship with my savior is so much stronger and I am really coming to know Him. It is crazy how I know without a shadow of a doubt that He is the Son of God, that He died for our sins, and that He does live today without having ever seen Him or Heard his voice, I have only felt of His love and that is all I need to know that He is there for all of us. 

Thanks for all of your letters! I am getting really bad at writing back so I am sorry I haven't responded. I am working on it :) Love ya all! 

Tired and either starving or stuffed!

Missions are hard. I am tired ALL THE TIME. Walking, standing, running, teaching, reading, talking etc. I AM TIRED. Also people are rejecting us all the time and that sucks, I am pretty good at getting rejected now so that's cool. Also, I am either starving or stuffed, like last night we had 2 dinners because we are over 2 wards and everyone wants to feed the missionarieson Sunday. It was rough but I am not complaining because I am so blessed to be getting food. I have never been more happy in my entire life. Seriously, I am so happy. Nothing can get me down (well maybe after someone yells at us for knocking on their door after dark gets me down for like a second, but it doesn't keep me down) because missionary work, sharing the Gospel with people and helping them realized that they have a loving Heavenly Father and a brother who literally died for them is amazing. 

We taught this guy Mark the Plan of Salvation this week (if you don't know what that is, ask some missionaries and pretend I am telling you). Mark is a recovering addict and has a 10 month old daughter named Skyla, both of his parents were addicts and he has had a really hard life and he is great and I love teaching him because he is so humble and prepared. The elders also teach him. We text him scriptures through out the week and sometimes stop by to read with him. We got a text from him the other day that said, "3 Nephi 11:3" and we asked, "Do you want us to read that?" and he said, "I just experienced it" 3 Nephi 11:3 is talking about how it feels when the spirit talks to you. So he had a lesson with the Elders and they told us that he said his first prayer out loud. While he was praying he just stopped in the middle and was silent for a while and then he said, "wow". After he finished his prayer he asked, "What is this feeling? This is new, I haven't ever felt this before" Mark was finally feeling all the love that God has for him and the hope that comes from knowing that their is a way out of his addiction and that their is a better life for Skyla. He is so motivated by his love for his daughter and it is amazing to be able to witness the changes in him. He has a baptism date for November 2nd! We also taught Jane this week and committed her to baptism. She is going to get baptized in November but we aren't sure on exactly what date because of Thanksgiving stuff. She is golden! 

The relief Society Broadcast was pretty incredible. We had 3 investigators there and I think 4 less actives maybe 3 I can't remember but it was exactly what they needed to hear and we are really excited to see how conference will help them progress in their knowledge and learning of the Gospel. 

I have learned this week that ANYONE can change. I learn so much more from all of the people we are teaching than I teach them. I am so blessed to be able to be here and to be a part of this work. I love the Gospel. I love seeing people come to church in Jeans and a Tshirt! We had a guy come to the singles ward for the first time in Jeans and a Tshirt this week, it made my day. I love being a missionary. I love serving my Heavenly Father and developing a better relationship with Christ. That is what this life is all about coming to know him and helping others do the same regardless of their circumstances or beliefs. So often I see someone and I think they won't accept the gospel because of how they look but that is so judgmental! Everyone on the Earth at one point in time accepted Christ as their Savior before this life and I am just here to help them remember that. I love being a missionary. 

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Do like the Hindu and do all you can do (motto of the week)

WARNING this letter might not make sense all of my thoughts aren't very organized

CHICO!!! I love Chico! I miss Rocklin a lot and I miss the people there. I didn't realize how much I loved the people there until I had to leave. But Chico is great! It is completely different from Rocklin. There are trailer parks here, trailer parks! Full of humble people who are looking for something more in their life!!!! We found 3 new investigators this week and it was awesome. There is an apartment complex here where recovering addicts go to live. You have to qualify to live there, be interviewed, and all that good stuff. But we have a less active lady we visit there named Dawn. So we went to visit her one day and we were riding bikes, so we had to carry them up to her apartment (she lives on the 2nd floor) on our way up this guys door was open and so we said hi to him and then we went upstairs. We went inside and started talking to Dawn. 5 minutes later Mark (the guy we said hi to) comes walking in with his 10 month old daughter Skyla. He played with Dawns kids for a little bit and then he asked us, "so what do you guys do?" we told him and he said "oh okay" then played with Dawn's kids a little bit more. I asked him if he was religious at all and then he laughed and said, "I guess I should have expected that" then we started talking a little bit and we invited him to church, we also gave him a Book of Mormon. He came to church this week and is taking lessons with the elders (we have elders and sisters in our ward so males with males and females with females) but we also were able to teach this girl named Jane a lesson this week. She is the singles ward and she is awesome! She has a lot of mormon friends and is really wanting to find out who she is. We invited her to be baptized and she said she wants to come to church first haha it was funny I think she thought we wanted to baptize her right then but she is so prepared and the whole time we were teaching her she just looked happy. She looked so excited to be learning about the Gospel. I love humble people and I love serving in Chico! However, there are some challenges here that I didn't face in Rocklin. Such as, people smoke here a lot, and drink, and do drugs. BUT I love it! Although being in a singles ward is incredibly weird. 6 hours of church with like 3 hours of meetings is also a bit tiring but it is also very spiritually uplifting. I love being a missionary.

This week I have been thinking a lot about prayer and how I need to have more meaningful prayer. Sometimes if it seems like I don't get an answer to prayer I think, "Oh well I just need to keep praying because God can't answer my prayer yet" that idea is false. God who is a perfect parent and all knowing and all loving is not going to make us wait for an answer. This week I have just felt his love so much and he has been blessing me so much with boldness, courage, and a very strong desire to serve the Gospel. I can't explain how much I love serving a mission, words just can't explain the happiness that comes from helping someone realize they are a child of God and there is more purpose in this life than trying to get by, that there is hope in this life, and in the life to come. We also teach this lady named Yvonne who is really open but also very inquisitive and logical so teaching her is really different. She has a daughter that is 5 and her daughter didn't know anything about God because her daughters father and Yvonne agreed to not bring her up in any type of religion except his native American culture. So one day Yvonne's daughter said, "Mom aren't you glad God put me in your belly?" so Yvonne was really confused about how her daughter knew who God was so she asked her daughter, "How do you know who God is?" and her daughter said, "He talks to me and he told me that I need to keep you and my dad safe and that I wished you would be my parents so he let me come to you." (I am paraphrasing so this is not an exact quote but it is basically what she said) how amazing is that? I know that God is real, I know that He is our loving Father, and He wants us to so badly return to him. I am so extremely grateful to be able to share this knowledge with other people. Especially the knowledge of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I don't deserve even an eighth of the things that he gives to me but I am so grateful that he loves me enough to allow me to grow and progress.

I have realized this week how awkward I am going to be when I get home hahaha I am always going to be trying to bring up the Gospel, and I am going to be trying to teach you all about the Restoration and how Joseph Smith saw Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father because that is my life now! I wasted so much time at home not sharing the Gospel and I am so happy that I get to do that now and that is my only care in the world is to get people to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sorry this is long. I love you all! I can't wait for conference!!!!!!!!

Sister Lyman

355 E Lassen Ave 

Apt #4
Chico CA 95973

My comp sis Paul is like my clone we are SO MUCH ALIKE! It is crazy but cool. Write me! Love ya!

Transfer Week!!!!

This week has been another crazy one I cried 4 TIMES and in front of people!!!! One of my goals on a mission was to get in touch with my feelings and I guess it is working. I will probably cry a few more times today saying goodbye to people because I am getting transferred. Last week on Monday my companion and I didn't have time to go shopping so we were a little short supplied on food and it was a little disappointing but I realized something I am so BLESSED to have food. I am so grateful for the Gospel, for a bed, for a shower, for a car, for my family, for my friends, for the scriptures, for all of the experiences I have had in my life--even the hard ones. I am just so incredibly blessed and this week I was so incredibly ungrateful. I was wondering why it doesn't seem like much is happening in my area, I was short tempered, critical, and frustrated. But I realized something, it doesn't matter if I don't baptize one person while I am here--I am not saying I don't want to help someone come closer to Christ by helping them learn about baptism and develop that desire to get baptized--but in the large scheme of things it doesn't matter AS LONG AS I am doing God's will. Sometimes we don't see the outward results of our labors immediately but we do eventually see them, sometimes not in this life but in the next, nevertheless they do come. After I was done throwing a fit this week and I humbled myself and recommitted myself to work harder and be diligent in doing whatever it is God see's fit for me to do I was blessed to know that my work in this area has not been in vain. One of our less active members daughter broke both of her legs, it was awful she had to have 2 surgery's and was in the hospital all week. We were able to go visit her which was really great she enjoyed the company. She is 11 and can't go to school for 8 weeks! She is really sad, but their families hearts have been softened so much! Her dad who is a proclaimed atheist loves our bishop now and appreciates how much the ward has done for them its amazing the change that has taken place in him. Then this week Savannah text us and told us she knows the church is true and she knows the Book of Mormon is true. We challenged her to pray out loud and ask God if it is true and she did and she said she received her answer that it is. God really does answer prayers. She is an amazing example to me she doesn't want to get baptized yet but she will get there, it needs to be in her time and in the Lord's time but she has such great faith. 

There is a girl in our ward who is leaving on a mission to Portugal and she is going to be the BEST missionary because she unconditionally loves people and she shared an experience in her talk yesterday at church. She was driving with her parents and they stopped at a red light and there was a skinny homeless man on the corner with a sign that said "Anything will help" or something like that and her dad rolled down his window and gave him a few dollars and asked him his name, the man said his name is Jim and the light turned green and they left. As they were driving away Bethany's dad said, "I can't worry about what he does with the money, all I know is that I had to shake his hand, learn his name, and help him in anyway that I could." I of course related it immediately to missionary work, being a missionary that's pretty much the only thing that occupies your thoughts. What Jim needs is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He needs to know that regardless of how many times he has messed up in this life, regardless of what he has done in his life to get to the point he was at, he has a loving Heavenly Father who so badly wants to see him again, he has a brother, our Savior Jesus Christ, who died for him so that in the afterlife he can experience true joy and love in Christ's presence, and no matter what we do in this life those 2 things will NEVER change. Regardless of what you or I might have done in this life that will NEVER change, God our Father and our Brother Jesus Christ will ALWAYS love us. They will ALWAYS accept us and most importantly they WANT us to return to them. I read a talk by President Uctdorf this morning called, "Four Titles" and he says, "We have all seen a toddler learn to walk. He takes a small step and totters. He falls. Do we scold such an attempt? Of course not. What father would punish a toddler for stumbling? WE encourage, we applaud, and we praise because with every small step the child is becoming more like his parents." Isn't that so true!!! I know that God would never scold us for trying, for experiencing, and for messing up. That is what he sent us here to do. I have been there, I know what it feels like to think that no one cares, that you aren't good enough to use the Atonement of our Savior, to think that Heavenly Father doesn't love you because you have messed up so many times, I promise there is a way out. It isn't easy and it sometimes seems like it might not be worth it. There is nothing better than the joy that comes from repenting. Brad Wilcox (I think) said, "repentance makes the most glorious morning of the darkest night" or something like that.I need to repent daily I make mistakes daily and I sometimes think. "How will I ever be good enough?" and then I pray and I feel the love that our Heavenly Father has for me, or I testify to someone of how much Heavenly Father loves them and I know he loves me. Weaknesses and all. I am just a toddler trying to learn how to walk in this world that is so full of pain, sorrow, and confusion. But He is always there to catch us when we fall. He is always there to put bandaids on our knees and to pleadingly say, "please don't give up, please keep trying, I want to see you succeed I don't want to only see you walk but I want to see you skip and run and dance. I want you to be happy. So please keep trying and know that I love you." Whenever I see a person I am going to try to think of the homeless man Jim standing on the corner with a sign saying, "anything will help" but the sign will say, "please I am so lost, this world is so confusing, I need to know I belong somewhere I need to know that I am loved by someone and that there is hope after this life." We have so much knowledge and we are so blessed. We need to share this with others. God has forgiven me for so much so how could I not share the happiness that I have in my life with His other children who he loves just as much as he loves me?

In his talk President Uctdorf continues to explain how we are all different, "But while the Atonement is meant to help us all become more like Christ, it is not meant to make us all the same. Sometimes we confuse differences in personality with sin. We can even make the mistake of thinking that because someone is different from us, it must mean they are not pleasing to God. This line of thinking leads to some to believe that the Church wants to create every member from a single mold--that each one should look, feel, think, and behave like every other. This would contradict the genius of God, who created every man different from his brother." Why are we all so critical of each other? Why do we tend to assume that we are better than someone else because they are different? we need to be more tolerant of others and their differences. Also allow yourself to be different. I always try to fit myself into the missionary mold that I think exists but doesn't haha and whenever I do that I am unhappy I feel inadequate but when I am myself I am happy, I feel confident and people notice. Be yourself, be the person that God created you to be and knew you could be when you came to the earth. He loves you! 

Oh and I am getting transferred to Chico to serve in a singles ward and I think a family ward and I am a sister training leader. I am really baffled as to why God is allowing me to help guide other missionaries in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the love that our Savior has for other people but I am so happy He is allowing me this opportunity to learn and grow. Sorry this is a little all over the place I just have a lot running through my mind right now. But I love you all. Get on LDS.org and look up introduction to Mormons and share it with someone. Love you! Have a great week! 

You aren't really a missionary until you bike like a missionary

Being a missionary is great. We started a car fast in our mission. So on Thursday we are supposed to use the car as little as possible. Sister Hanninen and I thought it would be a good idea to use bikes on this day and so we have been doing that and I have to say biking in a skirt is pretty exciting. I love being outside all day though and having the opportunity to talk to everyone, even though I am not very good at that all the time. I have also found a new respect for the elders that bike all day everyday. It is hard, especially when it is hot. It has been like 100 degrees here lately. this is the last week of my third transfer and I am probably going to be leaving. I don't want to though a lot is starting to happen we are teaching a lot of people and they are all pretty promising. I have also really connected with April and I am going to miss her so much. Yesterday at church she told me that if I leave this will be the first transfer that she has cried when missionaries have left. I probably will too she is awesome and I love her so much. The other day we were at her house and they have Gecko's and Sister Hanninen hates them so I thought I would just put one on her shoulder when she wasn't looking. She just sat there and told me to take him off and that she hated me and  it was pretty hilarious but then I think God was telling me that I need to be nice to my companion because once I took the Gecko off of her it peed and pooped on me. I freaked out and it was really nasty but April got a good laugh. 

This week I have been thinking a lot about how blessed I am to be here on this mission even though a lot of the times I don't feel as if I am the most effective instrument Heavenly Father could have picked. But I know that he has a purpose for me here and I know that the more I have come to rely on Him and trust Him the happier I have become. At the beginning of my mission I was just constantly thinking about how much I sucked at how much I needed to improve and I felt like I was constantly trying to be the perfect missionary. But now I realize that I am nothing without Christ and as long as I am obedient, and I work hard He will take care of the rest. There is nothing more that I can do. How great is that!? I can't do anything other than my best and God accepts that. I think that is pretty cool. 

So Facebook! We get to start using Facebook probably this week I think.... But I will be using the Facebook that I had at home and I am going to be using it for proselyting purposes only so please don't try to message me or write me on there. I will not respond. Not because I don't want to but because I want to be obedient because God is my boss and I don't want to break His rules, and you shouldn't want me to either :) haha.  We are really excited about it though because we know we will be able to connect with so many more people and it is a huge privilege that the First Presidency has trusted us with. There are only 12 missions out of 405 that are being pilot missions for this and we are one of them. Sorry this email isn't the best I accidentally unplugged my computer while I was emailing and now I am a bit lost with where I was haha but I love you all and I know that God does too! Go share the Gospel with someone and change their lives. Oh also don't mail me this week after Wednesday because if I get transferred it will not get to me.

Sorry this is so short

We don't really have time to email this week. Since its labor day all of the missionaries in my Zone are emailing at the church and we are just basically letting our family know we are fine and nothing happened to us and emailing the mission president. 

Something I have been realizing a lot though is that being here is a huge blessing and one of the reasons is because I am gaining an eternal perspective. It is pretty great. Also I have been hacked so if you get some weird emails from me. It is not me. I love you all next week will be better. Oh Savannah is going to seminary! She wakes up at 5AM to go to seminary! And she isn't even a member she is such an amazing example to me of having a desire to follow Christ. 

The Gospel is restored, the church is true, I can't wait for conference :) oh yeah! We are using facebook in our mission soon! We will probably get it in like 2 weeks. More info to come. 

Love you! 1 nephi 10:19

"I really really really want to take a nap"

Being on my mission has taught me one thing (well many but this stands out) so far that I know will help me for the rest of my life. God, Heavenly Father, is so completly aware of all of His children. Which is everyone so that includes all of you. For those of you who know me really well I tend to be hard on myself (or so I have been told) and I don't say any of this to make everyone think "Gee Dang that girl is a good missionary" because I promise I have many faults and weaknesses, I am just telling you the many blessings that God sent my way. So this week was no exception to my being hard on myself and I just felt like I needed to do better and be better and baptize someone because that is what missionaries do right? I was getting discouraged that I haven't been able to bring someone closer to Christ by helping them make a promise with God through baptism. Which in hindsight is dumb because baptizing people is not the only thing missionaries do, although it is incredibly important and obviously one of our main focuses it is not the measure of our success. So this week we went to see April and she just opened up a lot and we talked about prayer and some of her concerns and this is one of the days I was feeling kind of like, "Eh I suck" and so April was talking and she said, "I am convinced you are here in this ward to help me. I know you haven't baptized me or anything but I also know that I wouldn't be going to church if the sister missionaries weren't coming to my house and loving me" That was a huge blessing from God to know that I am helping April. Second we had exchanges this week and I stayed in Rocklin and Sister Hanninen went to a different area. So we didn't really accomplish any of our goals for the day. We painted someones house, we helped with a stake activity and we helped someone with an Eagle scout project. That took the majority of our day and as I was reflecting on the day I was thinking, "Oh crap I didn't fulfuill my purpose today I didn't bring anyone closer to Christ" I started to doubt my ability as a missionary and then Sister Hanninen got home and as we were planning our next day she just stopped and said, "you know what I was thinking today, You are a good missionary. You work hard. You are always trying to imporve and today while I was in Auburn it just hit me 'sister Lyman is a good missionary'" Once again, I am not perfect and I am not saying this to toot my own horn or to make you all think I am the most amazing missionary there ever was (which I am not, that was Christ and I could never compare to him  ;) ) but it was just a nice reminder from God that I am doing my best and once again, I don't have to be perfect to be good. Then at church yesterday a lady in the ward who has helped us a lot and who I look up to said to me, "I was reading a stroy about a General Authority who went on his mission to Italy and he didn't have a baptims in over a year! I want you to know that you guys are good missionaries and I know that you are doing your best." I know that God was trying to tell me something, "Melissa (or I guess Sister Lyman sometimes I still refer to myself as Melissa in my head) I love you and I know you are trying your harderst, don't get discouraged, I am aware of you and I am proud of you" It was such a good week and such a good reminder that God is in charge and he loves me and he is aware of me.

 

I had a really great personal study this morning. I love my personal study time! I was reading in 3 Nephi 17 and as I was reading I didn't have any big revelation from a specific verse but I just felt this overwhelming love from My Savior. I just felt how much he loves each of us personaly and individually. I know that He is so aware of all of our needs and all of our faults, and yet He still accpets us. Just think of that, the most perfect person to ever walk the Earth is also the most compasionate, understanding, loving, and merciful person to ever walk the Earth. He loves me even though sometimes I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to take a nap. He loves me even though I don't always follow through with the promptings he gives me (I am trying to work on this), and more importantly He loves all of you. With all of your imperfections and weaknesses He loves you, perfectly. I also read the talk "The Hope of God's Light" by President Uchtdorf and it is a great one, so I encourage you all to go read it. But he said, "The very moment you begin to seek your Heavenly Father, in that moment, the hope of His light will begin to awaken enliven, and ennoble your soul. The darkness may not dissipate all at once, but as surely as night always gives way to dawn, the light will come." If you are struggling with perservering through the stuggles you have keep going! Keep going to church, keeping reading your scriptures, keep praying, I know that God is aware of you and slowely the darkness in your life is fading into light. I have felt that darkness that comes from making wrong choices and it was awful I don't ever want to go back again, it took time to get our and I am so grateful that I did. I am so grateful for my Savior and for his Atonement. We have so much knowledge of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, why aren't we sharing it with more people? Why am I not more bold and courageous when I see people on the street? I am going to strive to be a more effective tool in the Lords hands and do the things that He asks of me, afterall He knows best what will make me happy :) I love you all!!! I miss you all! Have a great week!

Three is Better than Two

Such a good week! We taught Savannah 3 times this week and we love her she is amazing! When I was 14 all I cared about was volleyball, boys and what I was going to wear to school. But she has been thinking a lot about what God wants her to do and how she should live her life. I was actually about 14 when I stopped going to church, and if I did go I wasn't happy about it. But Savannah is coming to church consistently, in fact she went to 2 different wards yesterday and she is meeting with us multiple times during the week. She is amazing. We taught her the Plan of Salvation this week and she was happy to finally have the questions, where did I come from? Where am I going? and What am I doing here? answered. I am so impressed by her desire to learn. I am impressed with any religious teenager at all actually. There are so many youth who are so devoted to their church and their way of worshipping and they love God so much and I think that is wonderful. For example, Jehova (is that how you spell that? I don't know) Witnesses expect so much from their youth, they go knock doors, they don't celebrate holidays and so much more and their youth do it! I would have quit! But they do it and I am so impressed by that. Anyway.... We also met with Linda this week who is a recovering alcoholic and I learned more from her than she did from me. Her mom was also an alcholic and one night a few years ago Linda's mom got really drunk and Linda had to drive to her house, clean her up, take care of her, clean up the house, and while she was driving home all she wanted was a Martini, she couldn't stop thinking about going home and having a martini. And then she thought, "WOW I just cleaned my drunk mother up and all I want is to drink alcohol" and then she had another thought, "well I am not as bad as her" and then she said she very clearly heard a voice say to her "yet" and she looked around in her car and wondered where the voice came from. She said she felt that it was from God and it just touched her and she decided that she needed to do something in her life to change and now she is completely devoted to Christ. She explained to us how addicting and destructive alcohol was in her life and I never fully understood the Word of Wisdom and how we aren't supposed to drink alcohol this week. But now I know, some people can drink and they are fine, they don't lose control of themselves they can have one beer and its fine. However, there are some who drink, like Linda, and it slowely begins to take control of their lives and they don't notice because it is so subtle and it gradually happens. Obviously there are some other reasons why we don't drink but I realized that is reason enough for me. I don't want to risk giving my life up to alcohol so I just won't do it and so now I understand why we follow the word of wisdom even more. But we taught her the Plan of Salvation as well and when we taught her about the spirit world and how people will have the opportunity to accept Chirst in the after life she was so relieved, because her parents never did accept Christ. I felt very prompted to share the Plan of Salvation with her and the whole lesson I was thinking why are we sharing this with her? Then I realized once we taught her about being able to accept the Gospel in the afterlife that is the reason why, she needed that knowledge. But way cool story! I don't know the scriptures at all, in fact I just found out there is a book in the Bible called Joshua so now you know that I am not a scriptorian. But Linda asked us, "where in the Bible does it say that we will be able to learn more in the afterlife?" and I had NO IDEA so I opened to a scripture in Acts and it didn't work haha I just randomly opened and felt prompted to read something and it mentioned the resurrection and then it led me to another scripture in 1 Peter chapter 1 and that didn't work either so I am thinking "wow I suck at listening to the spirit haha I think I am being led away from the scripture I need" then I decided to read the chapter headings or chapter summaries and in 1 peter 3 it talks about Christ teaching the people in the after life in spirit prision! So cool I am so happy to be a missionary. I still don't know why God trusts me to do this but I love being here and I love serving. We are in a trio right now and it is a lot of fun. Love you all! I am out of time have a great week.

We are all imperfect... Isn't that great?

I was about to type this week was really good, and then I realized that I think I start ALL of my emails like that so I am going to switch it up, this week was a learning week (so much better than this week was really good haha). We had dinner with a family at the beginning of the week that taught me a very good lesson. Both the mom and dad are return missionaries and they were talking about their missions and the things they wished they had learned at the beginning of their missions and something the mom said really hit me, she said, "We don't have to be perfect to be good" literally I almost started crying (for those of you who know me well know this is HUGE that I almost cried infront of this family) and I just wanted to sit on that moms lap and have her rock me like a kid or something. As the week went on I forgot that advice from that family and Heavenly Father really wanted that message to sink into me this week because I got a letter a little later that said, "NO ONE expects you to be perfect, especially your Father in Heaven" (Thanks Mike G) It was so easy to get discouraged and focus on our weaknesses and I know that Satan uses that as a HUGE toold for me. He wants all of us to focus on our weaknesses so that we become discouraged and we want to give up because we aren't good enough for our Heavenly Father even though God already had a perfect son and he doesn't expect any of us to be perfect. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and we can't be happy by constantly thinking about how much we need to imporve or how often we fall short. During my study time I read a talk from the last General Conference called, "Being Accepted of the Lord" and it says, "The ulitmate source of empowerment and lasting acceptance is our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ. They know us. They love us. They do not accpet us because of our title or position. They do not look at our status. They look into our hearts. Tehy accept us for who we are and what we are striving to become." I loved that! to often I think we think other people are perfect and they aren't!!! EVERYONE has weaknesses and short coming! Even Moses I am sure struggled at some points. That quote reminded me of an investigator we have, Jacquie and her kids. They have been investigating (why do we call people investigators it is so weird) the church for 1 1/2 years and they don't feel welcome at church. Her daughter Lauren is 13 and no one really sits by her in class or Young Womens and she feels really alienated by the ward, so do her little brother and sister and her mom. So when I read this talk I thought of them and it jus thit me, even though the people at church might not be the most accepting or it might seem that way. IT DOESN'T MATTER. It makes it a little more difficult to go to church and to stay positive and it is hard to feel alone with so many people around BUT God is always aware of us and he ALWAYS accepts us regardless of what weaknesses we have. He loves us so much!! In the talk he gave 3 steps we can use to feel more accepted by god and I encourage you all to get on LDS.org and read it but he ends his talk by saying as we follow the 3 steps, "we will come to know that we are accepted of Him, regardless of our position, status, or mortal limitation. His loving acceptance will motivate us, increase our faith, and help us deal with everything we face in life" It is a great talk and I know that God is so aware of us and he loves us so much and we don't have to be perfect to be good.

 

We found a new investigator (that really just sounds weird!) this week! Her name is Savannah and she is 14. I guess we didn't find her, I will not take the credit for that, but her friend gave us her contact information and her friend set up a time for us to talk with her. We had a lesson with her this week and it was awesome. She is really great and the spirit was really strong in our lesson. She almost cried I almost cried (I am getting more in touch with my emotions on my mission, its weird) and it was really good. She came to chruch on Sunday and she loved it! She didn't even realize it was three hours long haha but we are teaching her again on Tuesday about the Atonement so we are really excited. Her parents will be the biggest obstacle but right now they have told her they are happy with whatever religion she wants to be, we will see what they think if she wants to get baptized. Levi told us he won't get baptized :( it was a bummer but its cool we are going to keep talking with him.

 

God is so aware of all of us and He knows us all personaly and I am so grateful for this knowledge. I wish we understood exactly how important this Gospel is and how vital our role is in sharing it. I love you all! D&C 50:40-42

Missionary Work...

Hey everyone!

 

This week was great! We started teaching Levi and Paul. Paul is less than receptive. Apparently he read the Bible with some Elders a few years ago and he just wanted to talk to us about Brigham Young and his 27 wives. However, Levi has been more receptive and we met with him 5 times this week! He said he would get baptized if he found out it was true and he has been continuing to read the Book of Mormon and praying about everything. So we had some members invite him over to their house for dinner on Friday night and we all had dinner and then Sister Hanninen and I started feeling uncomfortable. Levi is 31 he is recently divorced and has a 4 year old son named Gram. He has some brain damage from getting hit by a drunk driver when he was about 16. But we started feeling uncomfortable because it seemed like his motivation to meet with us wasn't purely Gospel related. We went over to his house one day and I asked him what he had liked about reading the Book of Mormon and his dad Paul cut in and said, "I will tell you what he likes about the Mormons, is the Sisters" So we were a little concerned and then we asked a member who came to a couple of lessons with us if she thought there was some other motivation for Levi meeting with us and she said, "I wasn't going to say anything but I think he might be interested in you" So needless to say we are going to try to send the Elders over to his house and see if he is still interested with them teaching him. We were disappointed because we finally found someone who is interested in the Gospel and kept inviting us back and now we aren't so sure. But we know there are more people prepared to hear from us and God is guiding us to them, we found another guy who might be interested by Levi but he is married so hopefully his motivation will be just from the Gospel haha.

 

This week I have been thinking a lot about how I need to develop more of an urgency and desire to share the Gospel with everyone. I know this work is SO important but I also know that I don't completely grasp just how important it is. In Alma 36 it talks about Alma's repentance processes and how he was saved because of the Mercy and Grace of God. The verse that really stuck out to me was 21, "Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy." I know that the joy he was talking about only comes from the Atonement of Christ and Alma was descired as one of the vilest of sinners. I know the Atonement is for everyone and the only way back to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is through the Gospel and the Atonement. We need to share this knowlede with EVERYONE or they are going to have to suffer even as Christ suffered which caused him so much pain that he bled from every pore. I don't want anyone to have to experience that. So I have been praying dilligently that I will have a stronger desire to share the Gospel with all the people I see. What makes a great missionary isn't a large amount of scripture knowledge (although it does help) its that desire and that sense of urgency to share it with everyone else.

 

I love you all! Have a great week!

 

Sister Lyman

God loves me, even when I'm a brat.

This week was amazing! I realized I was being somewhat ridiculous these past 2 weeks. I was so frustrated because we didn't have anyone to teach (no one really explains very well what missionary work is really like) and Sister Hanninen and I are SUPER obedient like really obedient and the sisters we live with are great but a little less obedient and they were finding people to teach and reaching their goals and needless to say I was a little more than frustrated. I wanted to find people to teach I wanted to baptize someone and feel like I was doing something purposeful here! I was feeling like I was due for some blessings because I hadn't experienced (or so I thought) many miracles and we were entitled to those miracles. ( I am so selfish sometimes) Then I realized something, I was being like Laman and Lemuel in the Book of Mormon and I thought to myself at the begining of this week, "No wonder God isn't helping us (even though he has been this whole time) I am being prideful and I am complaining like my life is hard when compared to others it is so easy so so so so so so so so so so easy." So I opened up my scriptures and was immensly humbled in Alma 14 it talks about how people were being burned to death because of thier belief in God and my biggest struggle is not having someone open the door and getting a little sunburnt--big deal I am still alive and I get fed dinner every night. So this week I put asied my thoguhts of what I felt should be happening and put my trust in God and said, "Sorry I have been a brat, please forgive me, I love you and this week I am all yours--even if I have to stand outside all day everyday and we don't find one person to teach I am all yours and I will do whatever you want me to do." and this week we found 3 new investigators! We went to go meet some new memebers of the ward and they didn't answer so we were walking and we saw these two guys (a father about 60 and his son about 30) Paul and Levi. We started talking to them and quickly realized they had a strong faith in Chirst and asked them if we could come back and talk to them more about increasing thier faith in Christ. We went back Saturday and talked with Levi and are going back again tonight. We will have to take things slow with Levi he got hit by a drunk driver when he was about 16 and has brain damage but he is really nice and we are so excited to get to know him more. Then we met Michell. We went to go contact a referral and they weren't home so we saw 2 houses across the street whose garage doors were open and I thought lets go knock those doors and we did. First house Not interested. Second house a guy opens the door and says, " we are about to sit down to dinner and we are really busy" we asked if we could come back and he said he wasn't interested. So we start to go to our car and I get this feeling like to just knock on one more door so we stop going to our car and start walking towards another house and as we are walking Michelle (the wife of the dinner guy) comes out of her house and flags us down. She asked how long our message was and if we could come back another time to talk with her about it. So we went back last night and talked with her and we are going back in like 2 weeks (they have family coming into town and no one wants the missionaries around their family haha) Then last night we were leaving our ward mission leaders house and I saw this lady walking her dog and thought, " we should go talk to her" but we were going to be late so I ignored the prompting and kept walking and then I got this thought, "no really go talk to her" So I tell my comp we need to go talk to her and I turn around and kind of have to chase this lady down but she was awesome! She is a recovering alcoholic and her name is Linda we got her number and are going to meet with her sometime this week to talk about faith in Christ. Alma 26:12

 

Sorry my email last week was lame! I didn't feel like anything cool or big had happened but I know there were so many miracles I was just being selfish and couldn't recognize the amazing things taking place. But I am so happy to be here I love my mission! You should all get on hasteningthework.lds.org (did I tell you that last week?) It is great get on. Miss you all love you all! Pray hard to find a family or someone who you can help grow closer to Christ get to know the missionaries in your ward or stake and help them find people to teach