Finding Joy In the Mission Journey

Back:Elder Smedly(ZL), Elder Baker(ZL), Elder White(DL), Elder Coburn (greenie)
Front: PJ, Sister Consaco, Sister Whyaskit, Sister Faamaile,
Me(one of these sister's is not like the others;)

You were spot on with whole spiritual high of Christmas, then going to

cold new January and being asked to train and having no idea what I'm

doing. Whenever I feel upset or homesick I always get  so frustrated

with myself because I know this is an incredible thing I get to do and

I need to enjoy it. So I prayed and prayed and prayed to Heavenly

Father to help me resolve some of my concerns and help lift my

burdens. Let me tell ya, my prayers were defiantly answered!!!

First of all, being able to study every morning for two hours is such

a blessing. It's my favorite part of the day, because of the sacred time

I have to communicate with Heavenly Father and prepare for the day.

There are times when my thoughts are led to something to read and

it's exactly what I need. That happened ALL week:)

I remembered this BYU devotional some missionaries talked about that I

felt impressed to read called "Remember Lot's Wife" by Elder Holland

*(I totally recommend you read this talk). He talks about having faith

in the future and refers to the story of Lot's wife. The second talk

that came to mind was "Finding Joy in the Journey" by President Monson

and this quote really impacted me, "I plead with you not to let those

most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and

nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to

do. Instead, find joy in the journey--now."

As I reflected on what goals I wanted to set for the new year with

President Johnson on Wednesday, for interviews, my thought's kept

turning to these two talks. I prayerfully decided that I wanted

to strengthen my Faith in the Savior Jesus Christ, through

reading/searching a chapter of the Book of Mormon everyday. My second

goal is to find Joy in the Journey and develop a more positive outlook

on life. The scripture kept coming to my mind, "Adam fell that men

might be, and men are that they might have JOY" 2 Nephi 2:25.

As I talked to my mission president he said that if I continually strive to

keep these goals that I will have life changing experiences here on

the mission and for the rest of my life.

My joy was really tested this week when EVERYTHING we had planned fell

through and each door we knocked was a hard core rejection. But then

I recognized that each day I could see a blessing from Heavenly father.

-Monday: taught a woman named Janelle, and I felt so much love for her.

-Tuesday: Did service at SPO with a ton of non-members who are so

loving and caring.

-Wednesday: had an amazing training by president and sister Johnson on

"staying on the steep end of the learning curve" -Continual growth and

striving to always push ourselves out of our comfort zone so we can

learn to rely on our Savior! As well as being able to sit down and

talk to president about my goals, and receive inspired council! And

getting a very much needed inspired email from my mom:)

-Thursday: Beautiful weather while tracting. It was 60 degrees:)

-Friday: Having a Zone activity and playing ultimate frisbee in the

mud! Then having an incredible testimony meeting afterward. And going

to dinner at my fav families house, They Lymans!!! And hearing sister

Lyman's conversion story.

-Saturday: Planning for the upcoming week and feeling the spirit!

-Sunday: having President and Sister Johnson at Church with us. And

seeing the little 8 year old that we've been helping teach, get

baptized:)

I know that it is as we turn to our Heavenly Father and seek our His

will for us that we can find true and everlasting joy through His Son

Jesus Christ.

xoxoxoxox Sister Raquel Dougals😉