Friends and family, I have gathered you here today to......
Wish you a Merry Christmas! :D And. Happy New Year!
I hope that you
all had a great Christmas with your family. It was such a treat to speak
with my family yesterday; we managed to have my brother FaceTime in
while I Skype in, so I got to see him for a few minutes before he had to
get off. I miss him, but he's a great missionary and I'm so happy for
him, that he gets to participate in this great work the same way I do.
These past two
transfers have been amazing. I love Sis. Soakai so much; I truly feel
that she is my sister and that she loves me. I haven't had too many
female friends before so I'm very grateful for her. She's an amazing
missionary and I know that she's going to keep making miracles happen
here. Whoever she gets as a companion is going to be very blessed. I'll
miss her, but we'll keep in touch for sure.
I love this area;
I'm grateful for everyone here who loves us and we them. There are very
special people here who, from what I can see, need a little more time
and attention than some investigators, but who are progressing. We have
seen miracles, I've even shared a few, and that's amazing. The Lord is
working here in this area and I love working with Him. I hope that
future missionaries don't give up on the people we have found and are
teaching just because they aren't progressing as fast as we'd like. The
wards have mentioned multiple times that we have made progress where no
one else has, so I trust that the Lord will keep that progress going.
I'm so happy and
grateful that I was sent here. The sacrifice I had originally felt I was
making has been dwarfed in comparison with the blessings. I thought
that this was going to be hard, and yes I did have some rough patches,
but I needed these people, and I think they needed me. My faith has
grown, and that in of itself is a great blessing for now I can move
mountains. :) That's how sacrifice works; we give something and we are
given something even better. When God asks us to give up something
(whether it's a job, a house we live in, or even family members
sometimes, etc.), He promises to not only compensate for what was lost
but also to give us more. Every sacrifice me, or my family, have made
has resulted in great blessings.
Many of you know
that my family and I moved around a lot, and to some that seems like a
hard thing. Well, it is. But, i am grateful we have because I have met
so many people that I love, I have learned so many important lessons,
and I've grown into who I am today due to our sacrifices. Sacrifice
requires faith; you need to trust that the Lord will uphold His promises
and that He'll support you in your sacrifice. A new year brings many
opportunities to sacrifice and change and grow (in that order :) ); what
will you give up this year, keep doing, and start doing?
I'd like to take a
moment to express some feelings about finishing your mission. There are
so many different emotions that come as you think about this part of
your life ending. I have personally felt a bit of regret (I'm haunted by
the question "what could I have done better, differently?") but also
joy (on thinking of all the people I've met, things I've done, and
experiences I've had). I have felt excitement to go home to my family,
but sadness to leave my family here. There are some fears about the
future that come from uncertainties and naturally I shared them with my
parents. I expressed worry about my first 3 months home because I don't
start school until May, and my dad bore his testimony on how much I've
grown and that I'll just be taking another step forward in God's plan
for me. That the mission doesn't define me, but rather refines me so
that I can take the tools I've learned to go and serve afterwards. It
was a very sweet moment for me and I could feel his love for me and His
love for me. My parents are very supportive in my ministry -they want me
focusing on serving well and hard right up to the last minute- and they
have expressed how they are going to help me when I get home. I'm
grateful for them and for having an eternal perspective.
I still have 6
weeks to work and to work hard. I don't mean to share this as a "I'm
almost home!" type of feeling but rather to be transparent about what a
mission is like. Very few people speak about their experience of going
home, because it's hard, but like all hard things God helps us. I love
my mission and I'm so happy to have another 6 weeks! I wish it were
more, but I know that the Lord will help me to still see miracles in
this time frame. Now, I'm off to work!
I hope you all have a great week! Remember who you are, be good, and take joy in life. I love you all!
Love,
Sister Lindh
I love you President! I hope you have a great week! Please let me know if I can ever do something for you or your family.
Love,
Sister Lindh
Hermana Lindh
No comments:
Post a Comment