Dear Everyone,
After Conference, I thought I had no more tears. Well, your letters proved otherwise. I'm terribly sorry that the trailer is gone. That small thing provided a good amount of memories and fun times; it will certainly be missed. At the same time, I grateful that Dad was able to follow the Spirit and obey its promptings. That certainly brings peace to my heart. The Lord can see much further into the future than we can. I'll miss the fun times and the fun memories, but the Lord certainly values family time, and I doubt he would ask us to sacrifice that time in asking us to sacrifice the trailer, as sad as it is. Anyways, I'm sorry about selling the trailer, really, truly, honestly sorry, but thank you for paying attention to that prompting.
I honestly had absolutely no idea what to write to you today. Conference was amazing, transfers are coming up, we helped some investigators move out of their apartment, we had interviews with President, and that was about it. LoL- it is amazing what "that is it" means in missionary life. Missionary life keeps you crazily busy, and sometimes you feel that you don't accomplish anything productive until you list out the things that you've done over the past week, and you realize that you've been quite busy.
On Wednesday, Sister McDougal and I had the opportunity to visit a Less-Active/ Semi-recent convert (she's a convert of about a year and a half). I knew that prior to coming into the church she had drilled the missionaries with questions, so I asked her if we could visit, talk about her conversion story, and if she could help us see into the mind of an investigator a little bit. I was expecting a spiritually uplifting visit as she reviewed her conversion story, a few tips for us as missionaries and a little bit of a better understanding between us, but nothing too much. It was NOT what I expected. She took our request to heart and prayed earnestly to know what the Lord would have her tell us.
When we came in she had notes, pamphlets from the missionaries and plenty of personal experience. She covered nearly Everything I have ever heard, including how to use pamphlets, why pamphlets are useful, how to get along in the culture of the South, why the Book of Mormon is important, how she gained her testimony, a testimony on not getting discouraged with rejection, what to do to make people more open to listening to you and about 30 min worth of why we need to keep the Area book updated. She strongly suggested that we should implement some sort of mission-wide system to let the incoming missionaries know what the previous missionaries taught each investigator and how each investigator felt about the concepts taught. We didn't get a chance to tell her about the Area book, but we both swore to do a better job keeping the area book updated and detailed.
One of the things she said towards the end really hit me. I mentioned that I was having a hard time finding service because everyone says, Oh! I'm fine. I'm good. I don't need any help. She said, "Sometimes missionaries are really frustrating because they seem to think that they are the only ones who can serve. Sometimes you need to let other people serve you, because that allows them to feel the Spirit and to feel good about themselves, which makes them more likely to open up to you. Let them serve you as long as they want to serve you, and then you can get access to their heart. If you are too nice and too willing to help, but don't let anyone else help you, you don't seem genuine. You seem fake. Don't be too nice and let other people serve you."
I love to serve other people; I'm a missionary, that is what I do, but she really taught me a valuable lesson. During our visit with her, she was certainly guided by the Spirit. Her preparation for our visit allowed her an opportunity to draw closer to the Lord and increase in faith. At the same time, everything she did was a great service to us. We learned how we can be better missionaries, we felt the Spirit and we got to build that relationship.
Service can sometimes be a two way thing. Although I like to serve people, and although I hate being a burden or allowing other people to serve me, sometimes I need to just swallow my pride and allow other people to serve me. I need to put the needs and desires of other people above my own, even if that includes letting them serve me, because as they serve me they draw closer to Christ and we, as missionaries, are able to gain greater access to their hearts. It really is a win-win.
Sounds like you had a great time in Priesthood. :) I would have loved to seen the boys dressed up eating ice cream and watching conference. They will make incredible young men. (And congrats to Wesley on his Webelos award!)
This past week we had a throw back to Dad's childhood, and watched General Conference at the Stake Center. At first I was rather apprehensive, wondering how in the world I was going to be able to sit still for that long on the hard benches, but then I realized that less than a month earlier I had sat still for nearly 7 hours while listening to a General Authority. Needless to say, I was fine. :) And yes, Conference was AMAZING. I've been focusing recently on bringing a question that I want the Lord to answer to every meeting. It doesn't always work out the way I want it to, but the Lord always honors my attempt by blessing me with some sort of incredible revelation. This Conference, the Lord answered every question I had by Saturday afternoon, including several that I had in jr. high. It was incredible. The Spirit truly did testify to the things that were said by the Prophet and those called to serve with him. I am so incredibly grateful for living prophets and for those who sacrifice so much to learn his will for us.
[p.s. I understand why people gain so much weight on their missions. There is an exhaustion that comes after spiritual experiences and by Sunday evening it was all I could do to remember our investigators names, much less teach them a lesson. Missionaries are constantly exhausted because they are having so many Spiritually and emotionally exhausting experiences, so they seek energy, which typically come in the form of sleep or food. We aren't able to take naps because of the strict schedule we are on, so we eat a snack to help us get back in the game, but since we haven't burned any calories (we've just been Spiritually and Emotionally depleted, not physically) we receive a whole lot of fat with that boost of energy. Not that I've gained weight, I'm still the same size I was when I left (although my hair is suddenly taking a turn towards blonde... no idea why...), but it is an aspect of missionary life that I didn't expect.]
I certainly missed the cinnamon rolls on Sunday, but I contented myself with a bagel and pumpkin spice cream cheese. Also, to make life better, we spent the night at the Cahaba Heights Sister's apartment. :) And that was fantastic. The Elders don't have a car, and we are running low on miles, so we drove up after Priesthood session, gave the Elders our car and Cahaba picked us up. I love the Cahaba Heights sisters. :) They are like our sister companionship. We stayed up super late (10:29), giggled and chatted (about which conference talk was the best, how our investigators were doing,ect.) wrote in our journals, and slept in late (6:20). In the morning, we got ready early and picked up one of their investigators so we could bring her to Conference. It was a truly fun experience. Below are some of the pictures, including a picture of a red, steel Elephant. It made me laugh.
Also, Yay! I can't wait to receive the package. Although, transfers are coming up and if you aren't able to mail it within the first part of this week (about Thursday), I would suggest waiting until next Monday to find out if I am leaving Vestavia or staying. Mail in Alabama is REALLY slow, and I wouldn't want to miss it if I happen to be leaving.
Well, I must go. I love you all! It is great to hear how everyone is doing. I miss you and can't wait to see you, but I am grateful that I have the incredible opportunity to serve a mission. It really is a great experience.
~Sister Pratt
p.s. THANK YOU for also working so hard. It is quite sad, but two of the most poignant lessons I have learned thus far are that 1- You are Not entitled to ANYTHING. The world does not owe you, and it will not pay you. 2- Work. Get up, get a job and be productive. That is the best way to have the things you need, and most importantly, be happy. :) Oh! The gospel really does save us SO much pain. It is incredible!
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