knocking with faith, hope, and charity

This week has been full of hard work, patience, and building on faith, hope, and charity.

We had a specialized sister's training this past week, and I loved it. They had the first one a month after I entered the field and I'm glad they are continuing to do it twice a year. It is such a strength and source of encouragement to fellowship with all of the sisters in the mission and to be trained by our mission president, his wife, the assisstants, and the traveling sisters. The things taught were exactly what I needed. It was concentrated on being more bold through faith, hope, and charity. I've been struggling with the boldness thing, with being able to just open my mouth and talk even when I'm not sure what to say, and I was so grateful for all of the advice and principles taught. I want to share a few thoughts from it:

Being Bold through Faith, Hope, and Charity (Moroni 7):

It's not about knowing what to say, but about our love for the Lord and His children. Boldness doesn't mean talking loudly or being pushy. It means asking the hard questions straight up and not worrying about the consequences. It means bearing testimony of true doctrine without worrying about what they will think of you. Forget about "me" and "my comfort" and think about the worth of the souls around us. The Savior's life was full of inconveniences because the gospel was more important. Why should ours be any different?

Faith is hoping and believing in something you can't see. Hope in the gospel sense is trusting that God will fulfill his purposes. They are not mere dreams, but expectations that something will happen according to God's will. They lead to action. It's having trust in the Spirit to guide our words and having Christ-like love for the people we talk with. 

The fear of man is what keeps us from talking.

Are we going to let the enemy of our souls bind our tounge? -Pres. Holm

Hermana Cottam sent me a sticky note with a scripture from 1 John that fits perfectly: "Perfect love casteth out all fear..." That perfect love, the love Christ has for us, is charity.

We've had a lot of practice with finding this week. We've been working out our knuckles and testimonies talking to everyone we can. Yesterday we got to see a few fruits of our labors as we met about 7 people in a row who were open and willing to talk to us and to have us come back again to teach more. It's exciting to get new leads and investigators. We are excited to see how they will progress.

I am so grateful to be a missionary. I love this gospel, and I love sharing it. I love losing myself in the work. It's amazing how much you learn about yourself when you are trying to lose yourself for the good of others.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Cottam

in a bigger city…

So I was transferred from the small town of Gaffney to the big city of Greenville...it's quite the change. I am now in the Greenville 1st ward. My wonderful new companion is Sis. Brand (Funny connection: she just finished her training with my wonderful MTC companion Sis. Robertson! It's a small world among sister missionaries). Our area covers most of Easly and a little bit of Greenville. We move among three different counties on a daily basis. And, there are two sets of missionaries in our ward, sisters and elders...that's the strangest part of it all. I got used to seeing other missionaries only once a week at district meetings; now we coordinate on the phone with them every day. Our building is shared by two wards and a Spanish branch--each with two sets of missionaries. That's a lot of missionaries in one building! 

Though this area is different, I'm excited to serve here. It's been a real challenge to try to learn the new area, but I'm finally beginning to settle in. I now remember all of the bishopric's names and a couple of the sisters. It's a start! I know I will grow a lot in this area, and I know there is someone here, maybe multiple someone's, who I can touch and help bring into the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I've learned this week that when we're thrown into new situations, it can seem very overwhelming, but the Lord has promised over and over in the scriptures that all we need to do is ask and we shall receive guidance, we will receive the help and support and comfort we need to accomplish the task that He has given us. So we must always trust Him and have faith in Him and walk in the paths that He has placed before us, even when we cannot see through the trees to our destination.

Spring is in full bloom. New green leaves are popping up everywhere...and so are the bugs, but alas, I know I will survive. The mild winter and early spring means there will be a lot more bugs this year than usual...yay?

Love you all more! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Cottam

one chapter closing

Hey ya'll...

Transfers are this week, and after 6 months of toiling and serving in Gaffney, I will be leaving. I won't find out where I'm going to until Wednesday during transfer meeting. I couldn't have picked a better place to start off my mission than Gaffney, and I'm so grateful for the chance I had to serve the wonderful wonderful people here. I'm going to miss them, but I know I'm leaving the area in the very capable and humble hands of Sis. Kloepfel. She is very happy and excited to continue serving here. We both feel that great things will happen here in the coming weeks.

The Lord blessed me with a last minute miracle during my time in Gaffney. My first convert Thomas has been inactive for several months. He's been going through a lot, including a crazy work schedule. Over the weeks we would stop by every once in a while and try to talk to him, but we usually only stayed for a few minutes and he wouldn't open up very much. He wouldn't even look us in the eye. It was hard for me to watch. I knew he was struggling and wasn't letting us in to help him. Yesterday we stopped by after church to try and see him. To my utter surprise, he pulled some chairs onto the porch and sat down with us and explained a lot of what had gone on--and he looked us in the eye! In short it came to the point that he had made some mistakes and now was being emergency evicted (because his previous roommate's dog did a lot of damage to the house he was renting). He was at his wits end with no phone and no one from work available to help him. We reassured him that we would make a few phone calls, and he went back inside to get ready for work. We promptly called the bishop. The reason why I'm late emailing is because we went over this morning with Bro. Martin (who was the main friendshipper when we were teaching Thomas) and helped load Bro. Martin's truck so everything could be moved to a small trailer one of Thomas's friends helped him find. Through it all I just can't believe that the Lord allowed me to see this window of opportunity open and the people who were most important to Thomas were able to help. I am not so worried about him anymore. After months of trying to talk to Thomas, I finally saw the man I knew when we first met him, and it filled my soul. He is getting back on the right path, and he is going to do many great things in the future.

I love you all. Take care. I'll let you know next week where I will be serving for the next 6 weeks. Oh, and I'm sending a couple pictures :) of Florenda, the spring season, and that really hard rain fall that leaked into our apartment.

Love,

Sister Cottam

faith and obedience

This has been a busy week. On Tuesday one of our zone leaders and our district leader followed us around. Then on Thursday the traveling sisters came on exchanges with us. We learned a lot, so it was well worth our time.

With the elders we gained 3 new investigators! One of them is really solid. His name is TJ. He is the boyfriend of a member who has been less active for several years, but her family is starting to come back. It is amazing to see how the examples of this member family have touched TJ's heart and lead him to desire to learn how he can have what they have. Our lessons are equally important for both TJ and the member it seems. She has needed the help and boost to her testimony (the spirit) that the lessons bring, for she has had a lot of past trials to overcome. TJ accepted baptism before I even finished asking the question. He is so ready!

This week Sis. Kloepfel and I have been trying to figure out how we can do better, and we decided we need to work on being more obedient in the little things. There's a saying that we heard in the MTC: "Obedience brings blessings. Exact obedience brings miracles." We haven't been necessarily disobedient or rebellious. We've just slacked a little in a couple of areas, but as we have strived to be more exactly obedient I can tell the difference. I can feel the Spirit a little stronger, and I have a little more motivation to do the work. When we do as the Lord commands, He promises He will bless us.

Today I studied solely on the Atonement. Nothing else that I've studied has strengthened my testimony more than studying that great sacrifice. When we put everything in perspective of the Atonement, it all means so much more: missionary work, baptism, our everyday actions... everything that brings hope in our lives stems from this single act of love. The effect this act has on eternity is so wonderful that it is incomprehensible! I thank my Heavenly Father for sending His Son and allowing him to suffer for us so that we can return home. This is a message that every child of God needs, and we have the calling to share it. 

I hope you all have a good week full of wonderful things! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Cottam

crazy weather and a wet weekend

So, Florenda got baptized! She was nervous, but she was ready. I have loved watching her simple faith lead her to do what has felt good, to the gospel. She is nervous and excited about becoming a member and everyone has welcomed her love and warmth. Now we just need to find her a "best friend" in the ward who will support her and help her. We have one member of similar circumstances that will be a wonderful help.  

Satan has fought hard against Sis. Kloepfel and I this past week because we were harassing him by helping one of God's daughters get on the right path. We struggled with finding chances to teach our investigators, finding new investigators, and with our own motivation. It's been a tough trip, but the Lord has taught us many things through discussions we had with members, our studies, and the lessons taught in church yesterday. With one of our members who we had dinner with we had a conversation about a couple current events and the signs of the second coming...a little random, but it was good. It helped both me and Sis. Kloepfel realize how short our time here really is. We both only have about a year left to serve the Lord full time...that's nothing!! We have very little time to help as many people as we can. In this light, there is no excuse for moving slowly or not giving our all. THIS WORK IS SO IMPORTANT!!! It deserves every ounce of energy, every nanosecond of thought processes, and every leap of faith to move it forward. It deserves every fiber of our very being. There are countless children of God wandering aimlessly in this world of darkness and confusion. We have the knowledge. We have the directions. We have the light. We have the calling to share it, to find those who want to be found, who want the truth. How great is our calling, whether we are full-time missionaries or members. Sharing the gospel is not easy. It takes courage, a courage that at times I am still trying to have. But we have to remember we are never alone. The Lord is standing behind us to back us up. With the Lord on our side in this great work, there is no need to fear. 

I've been reading in Alma all about the wars in my personal study, but never before have I made such a connection between the physical wars of the Nephites and Lamanites and the spiritual wars we all go through. If we remain faithful and trust in God, Satan will be thwarted in the end. Alma 48:7

I love serving the Lord...it's amazing.

Do good and keep looking up! There is nothing too hard or too difficult to do when the Lord is with us.

Hope you enjoy my ramblings ;)

Love,

Sister Cottam 

Chilli and preparing

So this week has been full of success and frustration... and chilli.

The Gaffney ward had their annual chilli cook off last Friday...and guess who they usually have for judges...yup, the missionaries :) because we're not related to anyone in the ward. The variety was pretty basic, except one. Bro. Sansing (he's less active but gives the missionaries free food at his restaurant in Blacksburg called Papa G's) brought a chilli that always wins spiciest. He informed us afterwards that it has a sauce in it that has peppers such as jalepeno and jabenero(sp?). Even the toughest brethren think twice before putting a spoonful of this stuff in their bowl. Sis. Kloepfel and I both took less than half a spoon full and were dying within 2 seconds of this "devil's swill" touching our tounges. Sis. K spit it out immediately and was begging for milk. I was a little more calm but still suffering. I swallowed it, drank some water, ate a couple of chips, and downed a cup of milk before the heat began to subside...never again will I touch super spicy chilli... Luckily we were in the kitchen while judging, so very few people saw our suffering.

We've been concentrating heavily on three of our investigators this week who we were preparing for baptism. Unfortunately, only one of them came to church, so only one of them will be ready for this next week. The other two will be in the water soon enough though. They aren't prepared at this moment, but the Lord is working with them and we're not going to give up. Florenda is the sister who is preparing right now. She will be baptized on Feb. 25th. She has such simple faith and the sisters in the ward have show her warmth and love. She's a little nervous, but she is also excited to have something positive in her life. I'm excited to watch her continue to grow and progress in the gospel.

A couple weeks ago during fast and testimony meeting, one of the young single adults brothers said during his testimony: "I'm really grateful for missionaries who can serve here (in South Carolina). It takes a special kind of person to teach some of the people here." After church he came up to us and thanked us personally for our work. We were suprised but pleased. You never know how much people are watching you. They notice when you are having a hard day. They notice when you are happy. They even notice when you get a hair cut. The members here love the missionaries and they watch us. It makes me want to be better and do more to help them do missionary work. I love this work, and though it gets frustrating and down right depressing at times, I am so glad I get to be out here serving the Lord and His children. It's all worth it. He has a work for us to do, on this side of the veil and on the other side, and He can't do it without us. 

Love you all lots! Never eat realllllllyyyyy spicy chilli. And have faith in the Lord in everything.

Love,

Sister Cottam

birthday wish and a little faith :)

Here is a birthday wish too all of you with birthdays in the month of February:

" Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth."  Mormon 9:21

This is the best birthday gift you could ever have, to know that what ever you ask that is right, He promises to give it to you. May the Lord bless you in all your endevors as you seek for His guidance. Then you can become an instrument in the hands of the Lord in doing His work...you don't have to be a missionary to be His hand tool.

I'm so glad to hear you had an enjoyable family party. I hope you all enjoyed a piece of cake for me ;) . I thought once the holidays were over I wouldn't have to worry about sweets, but I've been bombarded from multiple sides by valentines day candy...I'll take chocolate any day...especially when it's free. I can't say that this ward doesn't love it's missionaries.

This week we've been concentrating heavily on helping our investigators on baptismal date progress amongst the finding efforts. It has been wonderful seeing the spirit work in their lives. We are sad two of our investigators did not come to church this week even after we called them. One of them was scheduled to be baptized this next week, but now she'll have to wait another week. With the Lord's help we will be bold this week and help them understand the importance. David came though! He's that member refferal that's been looking into the church for a couple of years. His wife Shelly was sick :( . But it was wonderful seeing David taking the next step. We had a powerful lesson with him and the elders(our district leader and one zone leader who were following us around that day) with just David, and I've seen the affects of the spirit really touch him.

We've been working a lot with the BRP this week contacting. It has definitely been a learning experience and I know I have areas in which I can still improve. As of yet, none have been sincerely interested in learning more, but we have faith that as we improve our contacting that will change. It is amazing at this point to see how their hearts are soft, compared to a random knock on their door. They are willing to ask questions and listen to our words.

We have had to exercise a lot of faith this week and are happy to see a few blessings beginning to blossom. We still have a lot of work to do this month, and I am grateful for this opportunity to give my all to the Lord. I have never been so dedicated to this work as I have been over the last couple of weeks, and I want it to be the pattern for the rest of my mission. I've learned a little more about what faith can really do when coupled with action. There is nothing stronger.

Love you all lots!!!

Love,

Sister Cottam