Monday, June 25, 2012

lessons for improvemen​t+searchin​g for the elect+fait​h=success

Dear family....I'M SO EXCITED TO BE AN AUNT!!

whew, now that that's out of my system... ;)

I'm even more excited to be a missionary!

Elder Walker of the 70 (he's also on the general temple committee thingamajig or som'in'lik'at) came to our mission this past week to tour it. We had two combined zone conferences with him. Our half of the mission met this past Friday. It was 6 hours of jam-packed spiritual feasting. I learned so many things that I want to apply to my own life. Pres. and Sis. Holm spoke with Sis. and Elder Walker. Most of what Elder Walker spoke on was improving ourselves as servants of the Lord. I loved how he often jumped from one subject to another saying, "I feel inspired to share this..." I think I ended up with 10+ pages of notes. Here are a couple of my favorite gems:

"There is no more important work than the cause that you and I are involved in today." Pres. Holm

Sis. Walker shared the story "The Kings Highway". Moral of the story: How do we handle the trials on our Heavenly Father's highway? Do we complain or do we make the trip better for someone else? It's all about our attitude. How well do we travel the highway we've been given?

"There are more of God's angels around us than angels of Satan. But when we're casual, we listen more to Satan's angels. We are in a war against Satan. We can't afford to be casual. We must always been on guard in a happy, joyous, amazing way." Sis. Holm

"A missionary's main job is to help investigators feel the spirit." Elder Walker

"We are not here to teach people the gospel, but to help them want to live the gospel; not to keep the commandments, but to want to keep the commandments...I get to...I get to...I get to..." Pres. Holm

"The Lord calls who He needs at a specific time, and He doesn't expect you to be someone else. He expects you to do your best." Elder Walker

"If you are almost obedient, you almost get blessings." Elder Walker

"Bringing someone back to church is as valuable or more valuable than baptisms." Elder Walker

"There's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit."

"As missionaries, long term is two weeks, but not in the Lord's time. sometimes it takes experiences after experience, until finally one will tip the scale. Each one counts."

I walked away from this conference wanting to be better, wanting to change my outlook, and wanting to share the gospel with everyone I meet. As the temperatures have increased, I've found myself wishing I could be doing something other than knocking...complaining. I've found that I slack sometimes in caring about the person. This was such a good recharge. I love being a missionary, even when we are struggling to find investigators. I love being a missionary, even when it's 90 degrees and humid. I love being a missionary, even when door after door is closed behind us. I love being a missionary, because even the worst is wonderful.

Have a amazing week all yall. We've just had some amazing miracles, and there are more waiting just around the corner!

Love ya!

Sister Cottam

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