Hey there!
Apparently it is already Monday again, and apparently it is also going to be April in a few days. . . . I don't know how I feel about that, but here's the rundown of our week!
First of all, Saray went to do baptisms with our ward on Tuesday!!!!!! That was the cherry on top of this whole amazing experience teaching her and helping her to be baptized. It makes me so happy to see her walk in to church and just mesh right in with the ward. She has blended very well with everyone, and has a few special friends as well. She is going to be an incredible asset to the Lord's kingdom here on the earth. I am so privileged to be part of her journey. Teaching her and helping her learn this gospel has been one of the most joyous things of my whole mission. She is so great to be around and I love the way she has totally and completely embraced everything about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I still don't even have the right words to describe how much I love and admire her. It is going to be so great to be with her on her journey throughout this life and on into the next. I love it!!
I am so thankful for the temple in our mission!!!!!!! We were blessed to have the opportunity to attend the temple ourselves this last week on Thursday. It was much needed and I really enjoyed it. We had some time to just think and be quiet before even going upstairs, and it was nice to be still and alone with my thoughts, despite the fact that we were sitting by several other sister missionaries. When the time comes for us to go to the temple again, it is always just in time. Like how General conference is just in time, or how Sunday is just in time, etc. Temple day never comes a moment too late, nor a moment too soon for me. What a blessing it is to be able to serve there.
This is a picture of us at the temple trying to keep our eyes open even though it was very bright when we walked out of the temple.
On Friday, we had exchanges, and boy this exchange was also just in time. I went to Sister Moli's area with her, and Sister Heller came to our area with Sister Green. I'm not going to lie, it was really nice to give over the keys and just walk away for a while. Me and Sister Moli spent a lot of time talking to each other. Just having a normal conversation was comforting to me in so many ways. I have come to love and respect Sister Moli so much, and it was really a great experience to have exchanges with her this weekend. She helped me a ton and I think I was able to help her a bit too. We also made plans to have a really great road trip at the end of September. It is going to be a blast!
Later that day after exchanging back with our normal companions we were able to watch the Women's Broadcast, and it was so good!! I definitely got the message that Heavenly Father intended just for me, and I am going to work hard on doing what I felt that I needed to do. I am definitely looking forward to General Conference this week!
Lately I have been pretty hard on myself (or self-critical) of things that I have forgotten to do, things I wanted to do differently, or things that I have felt I need to do better at. I'm pretty sure that is what prompted Sister Moli to tell me not to be so hard on myself. Unfortunately that is easier said than done, but I'm working on it. I expressed these things to her in a little more detail, but that was only from different situations that happened during the week. Life goes on though.
Yesterday our ward had an "open house" of sorts. We had a normal Sacrament Meeting, with all of the talks and musical numbers centered on Jesus Christ and the Atonement/resurrection. There were several non-members there, and we had the opportunity to talk to many of them. We didn't set any return appointments at that time, but we are going to follow up with them during the week to talk about it a bit more. After Sacrament Meeting we had a brief Sunday School lesson that built off of the things covered in the previous meeting. It was really good.
Our bishop mentioned that the account of the apostles returning to the empty tomb records the fact that the Savior's burial clothes were neatly folded and lain in their proper place. I hadn't really paid much attention to that detail, but then Bishop said that the Savior of the whole entire world, who had just overcome sin and death - and so much more - for all mankind, took the time upon reuniting his spirit with his body to fold the clothes that he had been buried in. I have never thought of it in that way. Heavenly Father and the Savior are more concerned with the much bigger, eternal picture. But they send us little details each and every day that remind us that they are there for us and that they have not forgotten us. We call those details "tender mercies" and oh how I am thankful for those! I have determined to write more of these things down in my little notebook that I always carry in my bag. I do pretty well at recognizing the Lord's hand in my life through tender mercies, but I don't do very well at writing them down.
I am so thankful for a God who knows each and every detail about me, Sister Hatch, and who knows perfectly what I need in my life today and every day to press forward with faith. I have had such happiness come from reviewing past tender mercies that I have written down, and I can't wait to be able one day to think of all the miracles Heavenly Father has wrought in my life as a missionary. This experience in and of itself was a tender mercy and also personal revelation for myself in my time of need. As a result I am going to try to pay attention to being specific in my prayers, both for the blessings I have received and the help or guidance I need.
I think that's it for this week! I love you all and hope you have a great week this week.
Love, Sister Hatch :)
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