Rakas ystäviä!
A lot of decently good stuff happened this week, one of them
being that we had our last Zone Conference with President Rawlings on Thursday.
His mission officially ends on June 30th at midnight, and President Watson
takes over on July 1st. It was a very good zone conference and I learned SO
MUCH and am SO MOTIVATED to do so many things better. We talked a lot about
praying always and really inviting the Lord to help us in the work. Most of the
time when we get stressed as missionaries, it is because we are trying to do
too much without Heaven's help, so the biggest way to combat stress is to pray
always about EVERYTHING. I'm telling you, it is way hard to pray always and I
sometimes get stressed because I remember I'm not praying always! But in my
experience thus far, when I am praying for guidance with even the littlest
things, the work goes way more smoothly and miracles happen.
Speaking of miracles...
WE HAD A BAPTISM THIS WEEK!! Our beautiful, shiny, sunny 18
year old girl A was baptized on Saturday and confirmed a member of the church
and given the Gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday in church. I did not realize it
was possible to feel this much love and joy! Saturday morning was one of the
craziest days of my life. Sisar Howell and I were all over the place trying to
make sure everything was ready and that no one needed to worry about anything.
The service was so nice and spiritual. Her non-member mother was there and I
think she had a way good experience. Taking A down to the font was just SO
EXCITING and when she came out of the water she just glowed! She is clean and I
really think she can feel it :) The ward is so excited for her, and the YSA group here just loves her. After the service, A was suddenly bombarded with flowers
and other gifts from the people that came. It was so touching to see the ward
reach out and just embrace her. One family even got her a nice triple
combination (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price) of
her own :'D A is going to be such a wonderful part of our ward, and we think
she might hopefully be our replacement in the mission field someday soon!
(Photos to follow soon, I hope)
Earlier this week I was thinking about the section in 1
Nephi when Nephi is commanded by the Lord to kill Laban, a really nasty
tyrant, in order to get the brass plates that contain the genealogy of Nephi's
father. A lot of people have concerns with this because of the commandment
"thou shalt not kill." But as God told Nephi, He will fulfill his
purposes and it is better that one man should die so that a nation won't
dwindle in unbelief. I was thinking about how Nephi WAY did NOT want to kill
Laban, but he did as he was told and trusted that God's vision was bigger than
his. And because He followed the Lord's commandment, a nation received
scripture and the records of their ancestors, Zoram was brought out of
Jerusalem to marry Ishmael's oldest daughter and follow Nephi to build up God's
righteous people, and Nephi was further shaped into the great prophet he would
one day become. It is so important to remember that the Lord's vision
overreaches ours, and that even though we may be asked to do things we don't
want to do, or that might be uncomfortable and scary, if we trust in the Lord
and do as He commands, His goals, which are greater than ours, will be reached.
Well, that is as much good stuff as I can pack into one
email :) I hope you all have a lovely week and that you enjoy the start of the
summer!
Rakkaudella,
Sisar Hillebrant
PS Next week you will find out whether or not I will be
staying in Turku for another change!
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