February 24, 2014
Hallo!
Happy P-Day... to me! haha and Happy 13 months, yesterday! Time is flying by. I hope you're all enjoying it though.
We had a good week, to look at the positive side. Work is still struggling, but we're working on it. It was a little hard with so much finding and us both being really sick all week. However, I took lots of medicine and I think that's the fastest any cold has ever gone away. It's not completely gone, but it's manageable without medicine now. We've gotten pretty tired of tracting so much here in the city, so on Wednesday, I put us on a bus and we rode it to the end, got off and tracted family house... and then it started raining again. haha We weren't able to find anyone interested out there, but we enjoyed the change in scenery and the fresh air for a day.
The elders have a baptism this weekend for a super cool, pretty new investigator. So we're really excited for that! This branch is increasing in priesthood members, one by one!
Like I said, the work out here has been a little rough lately, and it's been rough to keep myself motivated. However, I think that it has really helped to tear me down (which sounds strange), humble me and then build me in a better way as a better missionary. Just like President Monson said in this last conference:
I feel like this weekend I have received another burst of energy and motivation to do this work, to build up this branch, find new people, be a better, more loving and obedient missionary, teacher and person. Sister Kovács and I had a great weekly planning yesterday and set some new goals for ourselves. I've realized that the closer I get to going home and with making plans for home, the harder it is to always stay focused on missionary work. As a result, I'm trying to find more things in the work to stay occupied with and focused on and making sure that my mind is always filled with the most productive of things. For example, if we ever have a bit of extra time after eating lunch, dinner, or planning, I use it to really study the scriptures or do area book work, rather than just "think."
We were teaching a lesson this week to an inactive YSA girl here and talking about goals, change and how we are capable of things. A story came to my mind that I hadn't ever realized before, as an example of how we always progress and change without noticing until further down the road. I don't think I ever shared this story with anyone before that, but I remember my first "full day" as a missionary in my greenie city. Before we even left the apartment in the morning, I had a secret breakdown inside my head and seriously considered calling President Smith and telling him to send me home right away. I thought that there was NO way that I could go teach someone a lesson that day or that I could teach the lessons that we had planned for the rest of the weekend and then go out and talk stop people in the street! Ha! A year late, it's amusing to think back to that. Teaching is not my favorite thing in the world, and I wouldn't choose to do it as a career for the rest of my life, but I no longer think I'm going to have a heart attack if I have to teach a lesson! My testimony is much stronger than it ever has been before. My mission is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but the best decision I have ever made. I want to stay extremely busy for the next 5 months and take advantage of this privilege the Lord has given to learn and grow, through the good days and the bad ones. As Elder Russell M. Nelson said, "You are never too young to learn, never too old to change. Each day brings opportunity for decisions for eternity." We can always do, become, and be better; no excuses.
I hope that you can all find ways to become better versions of yourselves. (: Have a good week!
Love,
Sister Megan Butterfield
Hallo!
Happy P-Day... to me! haha and Happy 13 months, yesterday! Time is flying by. I hope you're all enjoying it though.
We had a good week, to look at the positive side. Work is still struggling, but we're working on it. It was a little hard with so much finding and us both being really sick all week. However, I took lots of medicine and I think that's the fastest any cold has ever gone away. It's not completely gone, but it's manageable without medicine now. We've gotten pretty tired of tracting so much here in the city, so on Wednesday, I put us on a bus and we rode it to the end, got off and tracted family house... and then it started raining again. haha We weren't able to find anyone interested out there, but we enjoyed the change in scenery and the fresh air for a day.
The elders have a baptism this weekend for a super cool, pretty new investigator. So we're really excited for that! This branch is increasing in priesthood members, one by one!
Like I said, the work out here has been a little rough lately, and it's been rough to keep myself motivated. However, I think that it has really helped to tear me down (which sounds strange), humble me and then build me in a better way as a better missionary. Just like President Monson said in this last conference:
"Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were—better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before.
This should be our purpose—to persevere and endure, yes, but also to become more spiritually refined as we make our way through sunshine and sorrow. Were it not for challenges to overcome and problems to solve, we would remain much as we are, with little or no progress toward our goal of eternal life."
I feel like this weekend I have received another burst of energy and motivation to do this work, to build up this branch, find new people, be a better, more loving and obedient missionary, teacher and person. Sister Kovács and I had a great weekly planning yesterday and set some new goals for ourselves. I've realized that the closer I get to going home and with making plans for home, the harder it is to always stay focused on missionary work. As a result, I'm trying to find more things in the work to stay occupied with and focused on and making sure that my mind is always filled with the most productive of things. For example, if we ever have a bit of extra time after eating lunch, dinner, or planning, I use it to really study the scriptures or do area book work, rather than just "think."
We were teaching a lesson this week to an inactive YSA girl here and talking about goals, change and how we are capable of things. A story came to my mind that I hadn't ever realized before, as an example of how we always progress and change without noticing until further down the road. I don't think I ever shared this story with anyone before that, but I remember my first "full day" as a missionary in my greenie city. Before we even left the apartment in the morning, I had a secret breakdown inside my head and seriously considered calling President Smith and telling him to send me home right away. I thought that there was NO way that I could go teach someone a lesson that day or that I could teach the lessons that we had planned for the rest of the weekend and then go out and talk stop people in the street! Ha! A year late, it's amusing to think back to that. Teaching is not my favorite thing in the world, and I wouldn't choose to do it as a career for the rest of my life, but I no longer think I'm going to have a heart attack if I have to teach a lesson! My testimony is much stronger than it ever has been before. My mission is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but the best decision I have ever made. I want to stay extremely busy for the next 5 months and take advantage of this privilege the Lord has given to learn and grow, through the good days and the bad ones. As Elder Russell M. Nelson said, "You are never too young to learn, never too old to change. Each day brings opportunity for decisions for eternity." We can always do, become, and be better; no excuses.
I hope that you can all find ways to become better versions of yourselves. (: Have a good week!
Love,
Sister Megan Butterfield
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