A missionary's nightmare

Hi everybody!!!

It's crazy how fast the last 2 transfers have gone! I have learned so much and my testimony has grown.
One of the biggest things I've learned so far is that, Heavenly Father is our Heavenly Father. He knows and loves every single one of us. He has a plan for us. And he desires for us to come back to him. It makes him SO happy when we choose the Savior, and when we pray to him. I have also learned of the importance of the Atonement. It is infinite and wonderful and it covers everything! I agree with Jared when he says you can use is 98% of the time.

Transfer calls aren't until tomorrow night so I don't know what's happening yet, but I'm excited! If I go or if I stay I know that I will be where the Lord wants :)

My week was so good! It was a pretty standard one but we saw some miracles and had some good times.

I'll start by updating you on our people:)
First we have N, we have started teaching him his new member lessons and he is progressing really well! He is getting his interviews for the priesthood and the temple very soon. We are working to try and find him a family name so that we can take him to do baptisms! If I'm still in the area, it will be an awesome experience!

Then we have L, she is doing well but we haven't met with her all week because she has been out of town. We are anxious to start back up on her lessons this week! Her baptism is still set for December 8th.

Our Spanish friend A, who we had on Date.... fell of the face of the earth. We have tried and tried and tried to get a hold of her but she's avoiding us 100%. We had to drop her this week:/ its not her time now, but she'll be ready one day!

We had a miracle come from losing A. On our very last lesson with her, she gave us the phone numbers of her cousins that also live in our area! Their names are J and F. They are SO awesome! We have met with them a few times and they are on date for December 22nd!! J has a 12 year old daughter who is interested in coming to Young Women's so, we will hopefully start working with her too! 

They also only speak Spanish and so we have had to translate through their lessons like we did with A. I experienced the coolest little miracle. I have a testimony of the gift of tounges. I had been praying to be able to understand at least a few words or phrases without translation, and that prayer was answered! It was amazing. F was talking and I didn't understand every word but I was able to catch the jist of what she was saying! I was so grateful for that. It made the language barrier feel just a little bit smaller.

We also had interviews with President this week. They were awesome... minus getting home at midnight haha. We were the last district of the night, and President didn't have any open days so he just had to press on and get us all done. I never expected to be up at midnight on the mission so that was definitely a first and hopefully a last haha. It's a missionaries nightmare to be awake past 10:30;)

This week I have been studying a lot about charity and love. I have gained a real understanding of the scripture in 2 Nephi that says; "Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they should have charity they were nothing". 

I have realized that pretty much all of the other attributes stem off of charity. Meaning that, if we have charity we will be patient, we will have pure thoughts, we will have more humility, etc.
Charity is a gateway attribute and it is vital for us to try and obtain. And how do we obtain It? Pray. Obtaining charity isn't a "quick fix or a one time thing" it's something we (at least me) have to strive for every single day. As we continue to pray, and remember that everyone around is also a child of God we will be able to feel of the love that the Savior and Heavenly Father have for them. There have been times that I have been blessed to feel that love very strongly and it is so humbling and eye opening. It has changed who I am.

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, I have been thinking about gratitude the past couple days. We were in a member's home last night teaching her about gratitude. We spend so much time as people trying to be grateful for "things". This week I've realized how important it is for us to also be grateful for circumstances. Whether we are going through a good patch or a rough patch, gratitude for this situation will keep us humble and our hearts soft. It will allow for us to pass through trials the way Heavenly Father wants us to, and we will learn way more from it. We will be able to experience the JOY that Pres. Nelson was talking about.

I'm excited for the Holiday season to begin!! I can already tell that this will be a special time in my mission. One full of learning and growth. I'm excited for the next transfer to start!

I hope that you all have a happy Thanksgiving!!

Love you all!
Sister Sedlacek