Hola! I can't believe how fast the time flies by! I feel as though I just started my mission, but yet I hit my 6th month mark on the 24th! I've already done 1/3 of my mission! This blows my mind. I've already been in the field (out of the MTC) for 4 1/2 months and now I'm training a new Hermana! I am blessed. I remember before my mission I thought 18 months was a long time. Now I wish it would just slow down! I love every second and I want to make the most of it.
Since
I got the assignment to speak in Stake Conference I have been trying to
think of a good topic. When I got the assignment, I asked President
Harris what my assigned topic was and he told me that I didn't have one.
He just said to talk on "whatever the Jurupa California Stake needed to
hear". Oooh, pressure. I had been praying a lot and studying different
subjects in the church manuals and scriptures looking for answers.
Finally one day, I was reading in True to the Faith, and I came across
the topic "happiness". Without reading anything more than the title I
knew I was supposed to talk on this subject. I am a very happy person. I
love being happy! I want to make other people happy! Then I started
thinking about all the things that make me the most happy, and #1 is the
gospel of Jesus Christ and sharing it with others. I decided that this
would be my topic: how sharing the gospel brings happiness. On Saturday
this was confirmed to me. At the Women's session of General Conference
on Saturday we had a dinner before the broadcast and there I got in
contact again with President Harris. He asked me if I had received my
letter and topic in the mail yet... I was a bit confused and I told him I
hadn't. He was quite confused as well and informed me that I should
have already gotten it. He then told me that they had assigned to me the
topic "how sharing the gospel brings happiness". I couldn't believe it.
I was so overcome! The Lord had in that moment reaffirmed, through
President Harris, the revelation that I had already received and decided
to act on. I had already been preparing that same talk and told
President Harris the same. I then later had the opportunity to talk with
President Jergensen and recount to him the same story. He was so glad
to hear that the revelation had been received the same on both ends and
encouraged me to prepare diligently! I am doing that. He told me that if
we diligently seek revelation, The Lord will give it to us, especially
when it's going to influence a lot of people. I know that the promise in
the 100th section of Doctrine and Covenents is true when The Lord says "
Therefore, verily I say unto you, lift up your voices unto this people;
speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not
be confounded before men;". I felt before that I was going to be
'confounded of men', but now I feel confident and excited for my
assignment! His plan is perfect!
Hermana
Rasmussen and I had another very successful week. We were able to have
members team up with us in our lessons, we had the opportunity to have
investigators come to church with us, we found new people to teach, and
we had a good time doing it! We also met with our Mission President for
interviews this week where we talked a lot about Accountability. Which
isn't something I thought much about before my mission. Now I realize
how important it is in our lives and in our commitment to The Lord. We
all have to be responsible and accountable for our actions to ourselves
and to The Lord (and if you're on a mission, to your Mission President).
In Preach My Gospel it talks about how we must account to The Lord each
night about our day. This got me thinking... why should we do that? The
Lord already knows everything, He doesn't need us to tell Him, does He?
I was a bit confused about this concept until I realized that it's not
for Him. It's for us. We have to take responsibility for all the things
that we do here and the life that we live. He already knows, but when we
account it to Him in our nightly prayers, we become responsible and
aware of the areas where we have to improve. We Can identify the things
that we do well and the areas in which we lack also. Then we can turn to
Him and ask for His help. I have been applying this in my daily and
nightly prayers and have already seen rapid improvement! It's amazing
what happens when we are accountable. "When performance is measured,
performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the
rate of improvement accelerates." - President Thomas S. Monson. I would
encourage all of you to before more accountable. Do it for you. I know
it will help. I love you all and I love hearing from you every week!
Don't forget about me out here in Riverside.
Con Amor,
Hermana Rutherford
PS My companion chopped off all her hair. It's adorable.
