Hermana Christmas Had A Good Week

 

If you put our names together (Hermana Christensen and Thomas), we make Hermana Christmas. Hermana Christmas had a good week. 

Perhaps we arent supposed to have favorite investigators but Jessica is one of my favorite investigators. She is eighteen but seems much older and has a little toddler. She is from the island of Saint Martin and is waiting for her little boy to get a visa for her to return home. English is her first language but we haven't been able to teach her yet in English because her cousin, who is Dominican, is always present. After our first lesson she said she had been praying to God to know what she should do with her life and what path she should take. She´d been wanting to be more religious but is scared she will be miserable. We showed her the Restoration. It was on her old laptop without sound so we only had subtitles; her little boy was climbing all over her and there were many distractions. However, at the end when I asked what she had understood she was able to tell us every detail of the movie - dates, names, and details that I had missed. It is always a treat as a missionary to be able to teach someone who has the desire to learn and hungers for truth. She is like a friend. Jessica is going to be going back to her home any day now but I hope she can continue her search for the truth that she has begun. 

In the past I have been lazy with prayer and have been thinking a lot lately about how to have more meaningful prayers. In the bible dictionary it says, "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and others the blessings that God is already willing to grant."

 

The lovely Hannah Jenking (who I miss dearly!) sent me a quote from Mother Teresa, " I used to pray that God would feed the hungry, or do this or that, but now I pray that he will guide me to do whatever I am supposed to do, what I can do. I used to pray for answers, but now I'm praying for strength. I used to believe that prayer changes things but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things."

And in A Grateful Heart by Ray L Huntington he says, "Does God need our thankful hearts and praise? Is Heavenly Father dependent upon our gratitude? Do our thankful prayers make God holier, wiser, or more omniscient? Absolutely not. Why, then, is it a commandment to be thankful in all things and acknowledge God's hand in our lives? In short, we are commanded to thank God in all things because it promotes our happiness and well-being. Grateful people are happier people. If that were not the case, God would not command us to express our thanks to him and to others. He loves us and desires our happiness, and He knows that expressions of gratitude to Him and to those around us will bring positive changes to our lives. 

Our prayers can enlighten, change our perspectives, sanctify, and give us an opportunity to reflect on what’s important and what blessings we have. I love the quote by Mother Teresa because more than praying for changes we should pray for changes within us. 

Happy one year to Meish! Spence - a little jealous about Elder Holland’s visit and love the Bienvenidos a la obra quote. Rest of the fam, have lots of fun but lie to me and tell me the trip was awful when you get back. Thanks. LOVE YOU!

 

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