Charity Endureth Forever

Hey Family!!

How is everybody?!

Things here are wonderful:) We have been knocking lot's of doors, its fun. We are teaching some really cool people though! So last Sunday, we had this guy show up at church. He had taken the lessons about a year ago, and wants to take them again and be baptized. So we went and had a lesson with him. He is living in a home with some less-active members and there is another boy living with them too who also wants to be baptized! They are such a great family, and we have so much fun in the lessons. I'm grateful to be here to be able to teach them.

Yesterday at church, another guy just randomly showed up wanting to take the lessons. And we will be seeing him this week! So we decided that rather than walk the hot streets and knock door after door, we are just going to chill in the air conditioned church and let people come to us ;) Just kidding. That would be nice though!

Its been raining a lot here! On Saturday we were tracting and it started to rain and thunder really badly. There was nowhere to take cover except on the front porch of the door we had just knocked. Nobody was home, and the lightning was close and there was a lot of it! So we just sat on their bench to wait out the storm... then they came home! Talk about awkward... But they were very kind, told us to make ourselves comfortable and even offered us some water. I'm so grateful for kind people!

So I was reading a talk this morning by Elder Holland. He gave it a while back in the Brazil MTC I believe. And its called The Miracle of a Mission. It's so good! I read it once before right at the beginning of my mission, and it was fun to see how my perspective has changed.

He shares some experiences that President Hinckley had on his mission. He shares how he struggled so much at the beginning and just wanted to go home. But one day, after receiving a letter from his father instructing him to "forget himself, and go to work!" Everything changed. Everything changed because HE changed. He changed his mind, changed his perspective, changed his attitude.

So I was reflecting on my mission. I can relate to President Hinckley. At the beginning of my mission, I struggled. I wanted to go home. When I didn't want to go home, I was just suffering through. I was so miserable, guys! And it was my own fault. But one day... and that day really wasn't too long ago, I finally got it. I understood that I was miserable because I was withholding my will. I was holding on too tightly to what I wanted. And I know that since that day where I finally just let go, and got to work, I have been so happy. Happier than I have been in my entire life. I have changed so much! And I've changed for the better.

Also, random thing that I learned at church yesterday! So the lesson in Sunday School was about charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ, because Christ loved everyone perfectly. And we are supposed to strive to do the same. But the teacher brought something up that gave me a very unique perspective (sidenote: the teacher is a recent convert, he hasn't even been a member for a full year, but he is incredible!) He said that when Christ suffered for everyone in the Garden of Gethsemane, he felt everyone's pain and sorrow. And in that moment he learned exactly what everyone has been through in their life, giving him the unique opportunity to be able to see things through each person's perspective. Everyone has had different experiences, and our experiences largely determine how we view the world. Different views are often what makes it difficult for us to get along with or love another person. But because Christ knows everyone's perspective perfectly, He is able to love them perfectly. So if we want to increase our charity, we have to learn to see things the way others see them.

I have an example of this. So I had this companion that I was really struggling to get a long with. We seemed so different and I didn't think that we would every really be able to click. She did things way differently than I would have and that created some conflict. One day, I brought this up to her (probably not in the nicest way), but when I did she opened up and shared with me some experiences from her past. And as she was sharing these things, I prayed in my heart that Heavenly Father would help me understand her and He did. And the love I felt for her from that moment on was indescribable. She became one of my closest companions and one of my best friends! (As I shared this story, I realized that the same story applies to most of my companions...)

If we want to be like Christ, we have to learn how to do that, how to put ourselves in others shoes. That's what He did. He put Himself in our shoes in a very real and incomprehensible way. I know that is true. And knowing that brings me so much peace. He loves us, God loves us, and in return we need to learn to love ourselves and others unconditionally.

I LOVE YOU ALL!
Sister Rowland