Family! It's the beginning of a new transfer, and guess what! Sister Palmer and I are staying together in Mt. Woodson for at least another 6 weeks! A lot of other crazy things are happening, though. I didn't sleep well last night (I never sleep well the night before transfer calls) and then we had to get up at
5:45 this morning because we had to take Sister Buenning to the airport. She went home early for health reasons. That's the second premature death I've taken part in. Sad. It was really weird to see some of my friends go home. You might remember me saying Elder Wallentine's name when I was serving in Chula Vista? Well, he flew home this morning. I got to shake his hand at the airport. Anyway, it just made me realize that the time really does go by on a mission. At the beginning it felt like I'd never be at 9 months, but I'll be there on the
6th of December. That's next week! I'm entering in my "hump" transfer. I have 13 transfers, and I'm at the beginning of my 7th. It's just absolutely crazy! I love all the things I've learned thus far, one of them being that the restoration is so important! This week I did a cool personal study suggestion from Preach My Gospel where I write the restoration like a newspaper article. I really liked it, so I'm sending it home! Here it is!
God Loves His Children: Then and Now
God
loves you. Simple as that. Hopefully it's not a huge surprise. He has
always loved His children. Think back to Abraham and how God made a
promise that all of the earth would be blessed by his seed. Some
promise, right? Well, God gave Abraham, and other prophets like him the
authority to act in His name in order to save His children. (in this
context, save means to be with Heavenly Father for the rest of forever).
God loves His children, so He would tell His prophets to tell people to
repent (*to change to be more like God or Christ). Sadly, sometimes
people wouldn't listen, so He would take His authority away until people
were more likely to listen. We can see that pattern in the Holy Bible
(and the Book of Mormon). When Jesus Christ started His teaching on
earth He called 12 apostles (men called of God with His authority to
help lead the church) and taught all mankind about God's love and what
we are commanded to do in order to be saved. Thankfully, we have hope
because* we know what Christ taught: have faith in Christ, repent (or
change), be baptized by someone with God's authority (or priesthood),
keep the Holy Ghost with us (it's a messenger for God that helps in life
as long as we make right choices), and endure to the end (or keep
moving forward). Christ also suffered for our sins, died on the cross
and was resurrected sot hat you and I could change in live in our bodies
again! How cool! What a man, eh? Unfortunately, after Christ went to
heaven, the church He established only lasted about 100 years until
people who didn't understand God and His love killed Christ's apostles.
Oops! No more priesthood! Have you ever been in a really dark room and
you're just trying to find any light you can? Well that's what it was
like for a long time. Almost 2000 years, in fact.A lot of people wanted
what Christ had put on the earth so they did their best, but just like
any knock off brand, it just wasn't the same. But remember how God loves
you so much? Well, because He loves you so very much He called Joseph
Smith to be a prophet and restore Christ's church. When he was 14 he
wanted to know what church to join, and after reading James 1:5 (see
King James Version of the Holy Bible) and a lot of thought, he prayed
about it. God and Jesus came and told him that the truth wasn't on the
earth but in due time he would restore it back to the way Jesus had set
up. Joseph Smith also translated another book of scripture, called The
Book of Mormon. Christ came to see God's children in ancient America (SO
COOL!) because God loves ALL His children, and told them to have faith
and repent......(*see above reference to the gospel). Don't believe me? I
dare you to read the Book of Mormon, sincerely pray to know if it's
true, and then to tell me God doesn't love you enough to give you a
prophet today. His name is Thomas S. Monson, by the way. I know that God
loves His children. I have felt it and God's messenger (or Holy Ghost)
has told me that the Book of Mormon truly testifies of Jesus Christ. God
loves you, and I know you can feel His love in greater abundance when
you read the Book of Mormon and live the way Jesus taught. THE END
Now about my week........
Last
week emails were really hard. I was so tired from doing MTE exchanges
and then no one in the family had emailed me when I got on and then when
I did get emails I saw pictures of Julianne trying on wedding dresses
and Mom told me that she's getting married on March 8th.
Oh my goodness, I cried SO MUCH. All day long, I was an emotional
wreck. We went to eat dinner at the Brundage's (he's in the bishopric),
and I had a big headache. When we got out of dinner I told Sister Palmer
I didn't feel well and then I just started bawling again. I went to bed
early that night but I still woke up with a headache on Wednesday morning. After personal study on Wednesday Sister
Palmer just looked at me and said "you're not okay", and then she held
my hands while I cried. Oh man, I must have been a mess. I admitted to
her I was homesick and I didn't want Julianne to get married without me
when I was supposed to be her maid of honor and etc etc. . . She
suggested that I get a blessing, and after I prayed about it I knew that
I should and who should be voice. So we called up our district leader
and his companion and they met us at the church to give me a blessing. I
asked Elder Arntsen to give me a blessing because that's who I felt
should, and Elder Arntsen and Elder Nestoryak both knew I was going to
ask Elder Arntsen. The spirit is awesome! Anyway, Elder Arntsen had to
know my full name, which I didn't mind telling him because I love my
name and it always reminds me of when Dad gave me blessings I would look
up at him and say "my name is Audrey Michelle Bishop", and he would
love and say "I know!" Miss you, Dad! Anyway, I was given a blessing
that was so completely perfect. I feel like it was a sacred experience. I
was told that as Julianne gets married I will be blessed to KNOW, not
just think, that my family remembers me. I was also told that I should
keep Jesus Christ at the front of my mind. Other things were said, but
anyway, I was a lot better after receiving that blessing. I'm happy just
remembering it!
Then later on Wednesday I
was on an MTE exchange with two sisters (one was Sister Memmott, my MTC
companion) and we were helping their ward mission leader pack because
he's moving, and he had MoTab Christmas playing. He offered to burn us
CD's and we all jumped at the chance. So we've been listening to
Christmas music this whole week and it's been AWESOME! I even pulled out
my silver bell earrings and my snow flake earrings. Whoo-hoo!
On Saturday night
we got to help the Tengberg's decorate for Christmas! I sent a picture
of that. Mom and Dad, don't be too jealous. They could never replace
you. =P It was really great, though.
This
week I have been trying to keep Jesus at the front of my mind, like my
blessing said, and it has really helped me feel close to Him. I also
feel like I can do harder things. I know that I'm being watched over
while I'm on my mission. I really love Jesus Christ. I know that because
of His atonement, I can keep going on my mission, even though a week
ago I was almost ready to head home so my best friend wouldn't get
married without her maid of honor. I had a really weird dream where I
was inside of a whale on a vacation because Mom and Dad asked for me to
go because it was a special occasion, and I was crying because I missed
my mission and I wanted to go back. So, even my subconscious knows I
love my mission. No biggie. =]
Mom,
do you know where my flashdrive is? Do you think you could send it, por
favor? Along with the purple shirt Julianne gave me for Christmas 3 or
so years ago?
Oh,
I almost forgot to tell you about our new investigator! Her name is
Ashley. She is from South Africa! We got a referral from another singles
ward and we went over there with our EQP to give her a blessing on Friday morning. Her fiance back in South Africa passed away on Thursday.
She grew up in the church because her dad is a less-active member. And
somehow she hasn't been baptized yet! She keeps running. Like the
runaway bride, except she was the runaway investigator. Those poor
missionaries! Anyway, she's super cool and the ward loves her. We have
her with a date for January 4th. Apparently that's the 3rd time January 4th has been her baptismal date. 4th times the charm?
Anyway,
fam bam, I love you all! I am so thankful for you all. I really love
being part of the Bishop family, even though people just keep asking me
if my dad is/was a bishop. Haha, like I haven't heard that one before!
Anyway, life is great! Another transfer with one of my favorite
companions! And we get to spend Christmas together! Whoo-hoo!
-Sister Bishop
pic 1 - Sister Palmer, Elder Laxton, and myself. Elder Laxton went home this morning. These were our "Goodbye" pictures. hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil
pic 2 - BACK - Sister Palmer, myself, Elder Nestoryak (who is getting transferred! SO SAD!), Elder Arntsen FRONT Elder Casey, Elder Eppich (he went home this morning. Sad day)
pic 3 - Myself and Brother and Sister Tengberg (and their dog, Harley. He is the only dog I will pet or play with) Brother Tengberg is in the bishopric. We ate dinner at their house on Saturday and they put us to work decorating their home. And then they gave us a nativity to put in our apartment!
pic 4 - District finding activity - Honk if you love Jesus! At first a lot of people didn't honk. Then a ton of people did.
pic 5 - I LIKE ELEPHANTS! - part of the nativity we set up. Super beautiful
