Hey Family!
So apparently my blood has thinned because I have been freezing the
past few days! And it's been in the 60s... I'm going to struggle next
winter! :) But we have been totally on foot for the past week! Our car
broke:( We are on car share with the elders and they took it in the
week before to get fixed, then exactly a week later it wouldn't start
again. Probably because it's a Ford. :p Our area is super deadly to
bike in so our options are to get rides from the members or walk! And
none of the members want to drive us. So we have been walking
everywhere.... As a result I most likely have another stress
fracture... I didn't go to the doctor or anything to get it checked
out but my ward mission leader is a paramedic and he says that's most
likely what it is. Oh well! We also have to find a way to Tampa this
week... That's a two hour drive. And no one wants to drive us... This
will be exciting!
Our week has again been pretty uneventful. Because of the
transportation situation it's been pretty hard to see investigators.
Let's see... What else has happened this week? We got to sing in
relief society! That was fun! I can't remember what the song is, we
learned it the day before!
Honestly, this week has been pretty discouraging. The adversary knows
how much good we are capable of and he's going down swinging. First
our car stops working and we are like "Ha! You thought you won, but we
still have two feet." Then he was like BAM! Stress fracture! And
Sister Shaumkel twisted her ankle. None of our investigators came to
church. We have a super awesome prepared potential investigator, but
she can't meet with us because 3,480 she only has a week to finish all
of her community service hours or she will be going to jail. Our
awesome ten year old investigators mother is causing issues. Etc etc.
it just seems like everything is raining down on us all at once.
Sister Shaumkel and I have been pretty discouraged. When are the
clouds going to clear?
I was thinking about that and I thought about Ether 6. In Ether 6 it
talks about how the barges are tossed on the sea, they go in and out
of the water, the wind never ceases to blow. But there are two things
that are mentioned that I want to focus in on.
The first being that they were prepared. God had told them everything
that they needed to bring, how to make the barges strong and tight so
that they would be safe crossing the water. We are prepared for
trials. We were prepared even before we were born. We knew that life
was not going to be a cake walk! We prepare throughout our lives. Even
past trials have prepared us for future ones.
The second thing is that the purpose of the wind, the never ceasing,
problem causing wind, was to drive them towards the promised land. I
know that there is purpose for every trial.
It's frustrating when you see other missionaries around you having so
much success, and not seeing anything happen for you. It's frustrating
being exactly obedient, and not seeing the promised miracles. It's
frustrating knowing that there is so much good to be done, but feeling
like you aren't doing any of it.
But if we let ourselves get frustrated, guess who wins? Definitely not
the one we want to win.
So we learn to focus on those things that we can control. We can be
exactly obedient. We can diligently ask talk to every person we see.
We can ask every member for referrals. We can be worthy of the spirit.
We can trust God. Beyond that, the results are out of our control. But
if we focus on those things we can control, we will be happy. We will
grow and change. And we will make it to the promised land.
In Ether 6, when they arrived in the promised land they sang praises
to God and thanked Him. They thanked Him for the relentless tossing in
the sea? They thanked Him for the waves? They thanked Him for the
winds?
Something tells me that they didn't pay too much attention to those things.
I know that trials are hard and life is hard, but so what? This life
isn't everything. In fact, it's hardly anything when you look at the
grand scheme of things. But if we use this life to focus on those
things that our outside of our control, we will be miserable. Let's be
happy! Let's look for the good! So that when we get to our destination
we can sing praises to our God for His Goodness and mercy, and for the
beautifully terrible adventure that this life is.
Love you all! God is good:) So good. And He loves us so much. I know
that He does.
Love always, Sister Rowland
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