My dearest family,

I am surprised ya'll remembered my birthday haha crazy I only have 2 more days to be a teenager haha feel free to have a birthday party for me at home!

Another week gone by in the mission... I feel like just yesterday I emailed you haha so quick story. Sister Larson and I were street contacting and this guy was outside with his dogs. So, we asked if we could pet them (no I didn't really want to pet them but it is a good excuse to talk) I bent over to pet the dog and I smelled something awful. I then realized I had just stepped in the dogs poo naturally I tried to hide it but the owner totally noticed and was trying not to laugh. I was bearing my testimony about the book of Mormon and trying to awkwardly wipe it off in the grass. The guy could not even take me seriously haha it was a joke so finally I just got his information down and left. I took my pen and got it all out of my shoe. Then we got in the car and left. Me being an idiot I forgot and starting writing with the pen again and then I stuck it in my mouth and sister Larson was like, "um sister page..." and finally realized spit it out and just yelled my head off. It was quit funny. Sister Larson and I needed a good laugh. But seriously I am so dumb.

On Tuesday of this last week I woke up sorta in a lame mood. I just went through the morning motions and didn't think much of it. I was a little distracted during my studies and just figured it would only affect me. We received a call from one of the sisters who was struggling a lot. She was feeling really depressed so we decided to go spend the day with them. I went out with the sister who was having a hard time. I tried to know what Heavenly Father would have me say to help her, but I was having a really hard time feeling the spirit. I then realized it was because of my attitude and my poor studies that morning. I felt so bad that I wasn't of much help to her. I know realize why it is so important to always be worthy of the spirit and to be spiritually ready at al times so we can be an instrument in the Lords hands.

We had a really neat lesson with this old man named George on Wednesday. We taught him the plan of salvation. The spirit was really strong and you could tell he was starting to understand how God's plan for us is perfect and that people is the worked are very confused about the purpose of this life. He is very strong in his church but has an open heart. We haven been seeing him for the past couple weeks. It is so neat to see how his heart is being softened as he reads from the book of Mormon. I honestly think the only thing holding him back is his friends from his church. We are having a lesson with him on Wednesday (my birthday) nothing more would I want than to set him for baptism. That would be the best birthday ever :)

I love that it is warming up so that we can talk to more people outside! It is suppose to get up to 90 degrees this week! Warm weather just makes people feel happier!

So, my thought for the week. I have been thinking a lot about the Atonement. We all know the Atonement is infinite and His grace is sufficient to heal us, but when we talk about "applying the atonement", it is hard to know what our role is. The phrase "applying the Atonement" sorta frustrates me a little. In many ways I know it is something that we can learn, but not necessarily be taught. Yesterday in sunday school we watched this video of a talk given many years ago by Elder Bushe called "unleashing the dormant sprit" I know this is how we can apply the atonement. It is a video on youtube and I want you all to go look it up.

I love you all have a happy birthday week ;)

With love, Sister Page

ps mom I need those stories from our ancestors

 

 

 

 

Dear Family,

Well, it was another wonderful week in Nebraska. Thank you mom for the Easter package. This week I had the opportunity to go to the Elkhorn area on exchanges. We always see neat miracles on exchanges. President told me to read the gospels and see how Christ performed miracles and how He ministered to the people. I remember the advice Uncle Rob gave me when I was getting set apart. He said to study the life of Christ and become a Christ like missionary... I wish I would have done that earlier and I would have been pro by the time my mission president told me to do it too. That really is the key. Anyway, it is neat to be with these sisters because Heavenly Father magnifies my talents just to help them. Sister Kent who I was with felt inspired to leave a book of Mormon with her testimony on the door of this lady they did service for once. We usually don't just leave Book of Mormons on doors like that but she felt inspirited so I told her to act on the promptings of the spirit. She later informed me the lady thanked her for it and is now reading it. I definitely need to act on the promptings of the spirit better without doubts.

We helped this less active lady and her non member husband with their family history this last week. It was so cool because as i was reading some stories of his family history we found out he is a direct descendant of Big Elk. He is the Indian that made the agreement with Brigham Young to let the Mormons stay in Winter quarters. It talks about him a little in the visitor center so tomorrow he and his wife are going to go with us. We hope and pray he feels the spirit! Sister Larson and I have been praying that we get the opportunity to take people to the trail center. This last week 3 people agreed to go with us. We are so excited. It is a wonderful place of conversion.

We had a lesson with the Huie family this last week. They are the part member family and their daughter is Aly. We talked about prayer and the book of Mormon. We showed a couple Mormon messages. The spirited was so strong. The dad, John, who is not a member after asked us if he could receive a priesthood blessing. He wants to be baptized but has to figure some things out first.

On Saturday we helped out with a 5k for Autism awareness. It was so fun and so nice to be outside working all day! I wish i could have ran in it but it was fun to be out serving in the community.

This week we had our stake conference as well. Sister Weston talked about how we need to "live so that God can use us to bring His children home." We also sang the song "I'll  go where you want me to go" I love the part in it where it says, "It may not be at the battle's front My Lord will have need of me. But if, by a still, small voice he calls to paths that i do not know, I'll answer dear Lord, with my hand in thine: I'll go where you want me to go!" Sometimes in missionary work it is hard to feel like everything you are doing is really meaningful and making a difference but I know this is where the Lord sent me and many times it doesn't seem like the battles front but it is where he wants me to be. I know as we do what the Lord wants us to do then we will become what He wants us to become. I love Nephi's last testimony in 2 Nephi 33:15, " For thus hath the Lord spoken and I must obey. Amen." I know because of His obedience he became the person the Lord wanted him to be.

I love you all. Be good and remember who you are and whose you are.

With love, Sister Page

Ps i totally forgot to tell you my incident with a dog and his waste... i will tell you next week hahaha

Dear family,

It sounds like you are doing really well! That makes me happy.:)

So this week was pretty crazy. We saw a huge miracle on Tuesday. So, at leadership council two weeks ago President emphasized that all the missionaries in our stewardship have someone set for baptism. We talked about how we can help them get to that point. So on Tuesday we were going on exchanges with a set of missionaries who didn't have a baptismal set. We made a plan and set some goals with them and then held a fast. that day they had a lesson with this guy and set him for baptism. We also saw many other miracles. It was a wonderful day. They next day I had interviews with President and he talked to me about planning for miracles and having the faith to see them. I know I need to show more faith in the Lords work.  Right after interviews the "awesome" zone leaders asked if we could train the next morning in zone training... we went home to work on it and we just couldn't decide how the training should go. I just had a feeling we needed to get out and work and figure it out later. So we did. We went and had a lesson with Aly and while we were with Aly, Marian called. She is the recent convert who just got diagnosed with cancer. She was feeling very depressed and asked if we would go walk her dogs with her. So us four went out. It was sunny and we had a nice little lesson with both of them. Everything was going well because Marian was finally thinking of something else besides her diagnosis. Then this teenage girl flew by on her skateboard and Marians dog bit her. Long story short the girl is super afraid of blood so she started to freak out. Then Marian since she is super emotionally unstable started to break down. It is sorta funny now but totally was not funny in the moment. So we helped the girl get home and the parents started to get upset with Marian. I just told Marian to go outside and I talked to them for like an hour and my companion and I calmed everyone down. It was rough hahaha BUT the miracle that came out of it was, Marians daughter Amy is not a member and she showed up and saw how Sister Larson and I helped Marian out so much. It softened Amys heart and that night we had a little lesson with her. As of right now she is not super interested in the church, but I know she felt the spirit and that all it takes :) The next day we ended up teaching about the role of the spirit in conversion. It went well :)

Friday we took Aly and her less active step mom to the trail center. It was so neat. The spirit is so strong there! I bet it is super nice for the sisters that get to serve there because it is a huge spiritual boost. I know that Heavenly Father knew I couldn't serve there because being in a building all day would make me go crazy but still it is such a neat place. After the tour we walked around the temple! Aly was dying to go inside it was so cute. She wants to be baptized as soon as possible. I love being a missionary.

My thought for the week is about Lehi's dream. I have been thinking a lot about what the difference between the that partook of the fruit and then fell away and the group that partook of the fruit and stayed. In 1 Nephi 8:30 It talks about how the group that stayed and received a fullness of joy.. it says they, " they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree." I have come to realize the difference between those who stay and those who fall away is humility. I know you all are probably laughing right now because y'all know I have struggled with that but I know we need to be humble by being meek, submissive and have a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I know we can choose to be humble by loving God, submitting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives. I know at the end of like all my emails I say " remember what is most important." That is probably super annoying but putting him first is the key to partaking of the fruit and not falling away. It will bring us eternal joy. I am so grateful for the gospel. I love my family. Have a wonderful week and always remember what is most important.

With love, Sister Page

Dear Family,

I really do not appreciate you reminding me that I am half way through my mission. It really freaks me out because I feel like I have so much Heavenly Father wants me to accomplish and not enough time.... so next person to say something about it is in trouble hahaha

This week was wonderful. We had a great exchange with some sister who were struggling. They live in a really rich area and had no one to teach. We found this lady who was very open and they will be teaching her this week. I know that obedience is key to all blessings. Not just in missionary work.  

We also were able to do a lot of service outside this week. It was like 80 degrees and wonderful. I am very excited for it to be sunny again. Although this morning we woke up to snow but I don't really want to talk about it. haha  While doing service I got to talk to a sister in the mission. She told me her story of getting on a mission. I just think it is so neat that so many missionaries sacrifice so much to get out here. Her mom dad abused her and growing up and her mom passed away so she was living with her grandparents. She told them she was going on a mission and they basically disowned her.... and I thought I sacrificed a lot to serve a mission.

Anyway we also saw a really neat miracle last night. The bishops wife came out with us. We were able to contact a less active family. We felt really impressed to talk about the Book of Mormon. While we were talking about it they remembered how the mom had wrote her testimony in the first book of Mormon the dad have ever had. They went and found it and read it to us. The spirit was so strong. I know they all remembered the power of the Book of Mormon. They committed to start reading it again. :)

So since this week is Easter I hope you all would remember our Savior. Because of Him, those feelings of sorrow, loneliness, and despair will one day be swallowed up in a fullness of joy. I am so grateful for all that Christ has done for us. With out the Atonement we could not progress. How horrible would that be to be in a state of damnation? I love Elder Uchtdorfs talk about how we are eternal beings with never ending beginnings. Let us all remember what is most important in life. I love being a missionary and having the opportunity to share my testimony of the Savior in so many settings.

I love you family. Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Page

This week was a wonderful week, as always. A Sister I came out with has been waiting for her Visa to Brazil... Still. So basically she spent half of her mission in Nebraska. Anyway she got her Visa last week. She was serving out west so she came and stayed a couple days with us before she left. So I got to be in a trio! It was way fun. It was also an answer to my prayers. We had this sister under own stewardship who was really struggling with obedience. She didn't want to go on exchanges with us either and really just wouldn't talk to us. haha normally I wouldn't put up with crap like that but I need to be more Christ like. Anyway so I was super discouraged and didn't know what to do. I just wanted someone to talk to about it, but since Sister Larson was stressed about it too, I didn't want to unload on her. So Heavenly Father sent me this sweet Sister who was leaving to Brazil. She is a wonderful sister and just listened. It also really helped me to know how I can better help sisters when they are struggling. I fasted and prayed to know how to help this sister who was struggling. We ended up going on exchanges and it was the best exchange I have ever been on. She opened up and talked about how she wants to be better and understands the importance of obedience.

Another neat experience happened Friday night. We had spent all day helping sisters transfer.. oh by the way I didn't get transferred haha anyway so we were busy all day moving sisters into their new places. Friday night hit and we hadn't taught a lesson. I never want a day on my mission to go by without teaching someone something. We prayed to be able to find someone and teach them. We were walking down the street at like 8pm when we met Josh. WE taught him about the Book of Mormon and how to pray. He prayed with us and the spirit was very strong. He said he would come to conference! He didn't end up coming but I am grateful Heavenly Father gave me the opportunity to teach a lesson that day.

So last conference in October was so wonderful and I remember being so sad that we had no investigators there to watch. Conference is too important and life changing to not have people watch. So, this last week we invited everyone to watch! I was praying really hard to know how we could take full advantage of it! Our investigator Ally wasn't suppose to be in town this weekend, but last minute her plans changed. We watched the first session with her and a recent convert at our ward mission leaders home! It was so wonderful. When President Eyring spoke he said something like, "Some of you may have been invited by missionaries to watch and our considering being baptized." Ally turned to me and said, "Sister Page, he is talking to me!" It was so wonderful. After that session when talked about how the speakers held the authority to speak in God's name. I am grateful she got to experience it first hand. I truly believe there is NO WAY you can listen to them speak and not know they are called of God to do so. I am so grateful for conference and I can't wait to get the Ensign and read and apply what I learned.

 My testimony on fasting and prayer definitely was strengthened this week! I know I need to include Heavenly Father more in this work. I know this is the Lords work, so we can't fail.

I love my family. You all better go back and read and apply Elder Ballards talk!!! I will be following up to see if you did it! ;) have a wonderful week.

Love, Sister Page