fist bump

when I got back from my mission I debated if I was going to keep blogging or not.  I certainly don't want this to be one of the million other blogs that returning sister missionaries write to just reminisce about their missions .... but I can't promise that I won't throw in mission stories.... because lets be honest while everybody was here getting married and falling in love, I wasn't haha so I have nothing to contribute to those conversations.... yet ;)

any way something that's been on my mind a lot since getting home is fear. oh man i learned so much about fear the past while. some days i'd just wake up and i was afraid to even have to start the day.  I realized  though that fear is just a way that Satan tries to control and stop us (yes here comes the rm in me). 

so what is fear? whenever I try to define it these are the words that come to my mind: school, future, rejection, contention, inadequacy.... ok so it's not the Webster's definition... it's actually what I'm afraid of.... things that sometimes control me. 

last night at institute we were studying 2 nephi 2 and specifically talking about how we are here on earth to act and not be acted upon. The only thing that can and will act upon us is the law of justice. SO WHY DO I LET MY FEARS ACT ON ME!?

my second and third transfer on my mission i started every morning by vomitting because I was so anxious! (sorry gross mental image there... and no i was bulimic.... clearly..... since i gained 20lbs) those fears were controlling me.  what helped?? well at the time the mission was reading the book of mormon and highlighting every verse that referenced Jesus Christ. it was the atonement. learning about Christ. The answer to all of life's problems is to love Christ more.

I love this video by elder scott about fear vs. faith in Christ it's exactly what I had to do to be able to be ok during that really terrifying time.

great news! overcoming fears can be done, partner up with the savior! trust god! he wants us to succeeded!

xoxo
Kal

Here I Go! (Sept 21 2014)

Dear Family, 

wow, how does one conclude 18 months. If I hadn't done everything I could to magnify my calling I would be feeling much heartache and regret right now, but I feel that my prayers have been answered and Heavenly Father has shown me the value of my service. I feel so joyful, and so grateful for the blessing that I've received of being able to witness the growth of Christ's church. I know there is still much to do and much to learn but these are a few of the things that I've felt over the last 18 months...

*God cares about individuals. I know that he leads  us to help the one, even when it may not lead to a baptism. I think about the lady in the park one day when sister hancock and I were walking around after church. We stopped  to talk to her and she cried as she told us that we were her answer from god that he does still care about her. unfortunately she wasn't baptized but it wasn't an effort wasted if it helped them feel god. 

*the difference between the world's peace and the Savior's peace. I see this all the time, members and nonmembers keep waiting for the right time when they can put god first but what they don't realize is that the world's peace won't ever last long enough for you to finally squeeze god in there. His peace comes even when the sea around you is raging, it's different than the typical "comfortable peaceful lifestyle" It is something that can't be taken away by banks, death, or poor choices of others. It lives within us... if we are worthy. That's why I want to stay worthy for the rest of my life. 

I think that I'll only share one more because this email is all ready really long and I'm worried that if I say it all now I won't have anything to talk to you about when I get home... just kidding haha 

*The deeper the experience with the atonement the greater resolve you have to do the right thing. I've seen this time and time again. The more acquainted the people I taught were with the Savior, his atonement, and repentance, the greater resolve they had to do the right thing regardless of the challenges that came to them.  I think the two that stand out the most to me are Myles and Jakcy.  Both of them came from backgrounds vastly different to Christianity.  The more that they repented the more that they felt the spirit.  I know that both of them will continue to make mistakes, as we all will, But because they have felt his love they will be more likely to repent and return. 

Elder Hamuela when he visited the mission said that if we wanted to feel like ammon and his brethren did about the people we needed to have a greater experience with the atonement. Once we feel that we will WANT to share it with everyone. I know that is true. I felt it. I'm so grateful for the atonement and what it's done for me. It's only through his enabling power that I've been able to accomplish the things that I have. It truly is by grace that we are saved.

I know that the gospel is the happiest way to live. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and we can learn of HIS ways as we read from the book of mormon EVERY DAY! I don't want to miss a day ever again! I can't do this life without Him. I know that he speaks to us through prophets, and apostles, and that our leaders are called by revelation.  I know when we try our hardest to live the commandments we allow more room in our lives for the spirit.  I can't believe that I got this privilege to serve my God, it's something that I never thought was possible for me, but with God ALL things are possible. That's my testimony... in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

I can't wait to see  you all on WEDNESDAY!!!!!!! YAY YAY YAY! 

xoxo

Sister Wyatt 

Pictures!

Almost There (Sept 7 2014)

Dear Family and anyone else who has endured the lengthy letters that I send each week,

This week has been wonderful as I have reflected on past experiences in my mission and recognized how I now have changed and respond differently to similar circumstances.  

At the beginning of my mission my trust was in myself.  I had to go and find the people that the Lord had prepared. I had to be worthy of the spirit so when I taught people would feel the spirit.  If we didn't meet a goal even if we had skipped both our lunch and dinner break it was because of my unrighteousness.  In short I really didn't have much faith. Faith is to hope for something that is not seen but is true.  I couldn't always see what the Lord was doing for us, so I just thought it was up to me... that was such an earthly perspective.  If I was able to go back to the start of my mission with the knowledge that I have now I would remember this scripture "Wherefore, whithersoever they shall send you go ye, and I will be with you: and in whatsoever place ye shall proclaim my name an effectual door shall be opened unto you, that they may receive my word."  I would remember that this is HIS work, so I need not get discouraged but only believe. Press forward with a perfect brightness of hope and a  LOVE of ALL men. It seems like such a simple lesson but it was quite an expensive lesson to learn, it took me nearly 18 months to figure it out. 

This week was great all though we did have a few scares when we were going over the baptismal interview questions with Jacky.  He had a concern that we weren't aware of for every one of the commandments that we had just taught him that week.  My heart sank as time went on in the lesson.  Had I been just teaching lessons and not jacky for the past 8  weeks?!? We were able  to help him feel the spirit and recognize that he has recieved answers to his prayers.I was so nervous for his interview the next day, but it went wonderfully and as usual I've been taught that this is the Lord's work and his hand is in all things.  Jacky faithfully will be getting baptized this Saturday at 6 pm! WOO!!!! YAY effectual doors being opened :) :) :) 

I've also come to learn something this week that I hope will become second nature to me as I continue to repent.  There were moments where  Sister Vinck was just driving me crazy (sorry sister vinck if you ever read this... promise I love you with all my heart) and I just wanted to snap and tell her all the things that she was doing that was "wrong". I was "constrained" by the spirit and taught I think one of the most important lessons I have learned. Nothing good comes from criticism, especially when you are criticizing weaknesses that they are probably all ready aware of and striving to change.  Charity never faileth, making someone feel good about themselves will do more for a person than 10 things that in your opinion they need to fix. That being said there is a time and a place for correction, but it's far better to lead by example than to cut down with sharp words. That's right people miss sassy pants here has learned...  errr is learning... TO KEEP HER MOUTH SHUT!( cue the angelic choirs!) I know we all thought this would never happen and we aren't sure how long it will last but the saying is true the word of god is sharper than a two edged sword.  The power that comes from Jesus Christ's  example will change even the most entrenched of our poor habits.   

I love each of you so much. Thank you for the constant and continued support. Let's continue to endure <3 

xoxo

Sister Wyatt

ps we helped 2 people move house this week... there is always a reason for trials I now understand that mine were to teach me the proper way to effectively load a trailer and lift boxes.... 

I've climbed a mountain, and I've crossed a river, and I'm almost there.... I'M ALLLLMOOOOSSSTTT TTTHHHHEEERRRREEE (Sept. 15 2014)

If I could count the number of times I was amazed at how the Lord worked this last week it would take me the rest of the time that I have on my mission. WE WERE SO BLESSED THIS WEEK!!!!

lets start with the obvious one! Jacky Chen got baptised... and not only that he got baptised on my 18 month anniversary of being a missionary. My whole mission I would always joke with missionaries saying that I would have a baptism on my 18 month mark and then it just happened, as always thanks to the Lord's tender mercies. Until he was confirmed I was so afraid that something would go wrong but everything went PERFECTLY! He bore his testimony at the baptism and it was so sweet he talked about how a year ago the elders came and taught him and then a few months ago his family broke up and how since then the gospel has come and helped him see the hope and joy in life again.  He said "I will stay with the big family and share my troubles and share yours." It was amazing to see how much ward support he had as well.  I'm excited to see as he comes to know Jesus Christ even more how he changes.

The thing that we have struggled with most in this area is getting solid new investigators. We find people but 8 our 10 of them never keep their second appointment which is so disappointing and then out of the remaining  2 one of them needs to get married before they can get baptised, which isn't impossible but it makes it a bit longer of a process because in Australia you have to have at least a 30 day waiting period before getting married  ANNOYING! so that leaves us with 1 person that we can teach out of those 10 people.  We were talking about this as a companionship and we were tempted to just say well whatever next week it won't matter about our teaching pool, that will be some other missionary's problem.  Let's be honest though that's not my style, or a good use of the Lord's time.  We have visited every house on the ward list, all the former investigators, and visited the houses around their houses.  Those are the usual ways that I find investigators, so we decided to do something that I haven't done much of at all on my mission.  We have decided to try and tract 20 hours our last week as missionaries. We've all ready started and it's going GREAT!!! I was really reluctant to tract because I really don't feel like it's the most effective use of time and I don't like being rejected but we've tried everything else. We are still working with the members to get referrals but we can't go to work with them so this is what we are doing when we can't be with them.

So on Friday night we had one of the worst lessons I have ever sat through. I have never taught so poorly!  The man we were teaching though really just had us over to prove us wrong.  He is a born again lay minister and he'd never spoken to missionaries from our church. He asked us what was the biggest difference so we started teaching about the restoration. Every scripture we used he would stop us and tell us about how we were taking it out of context and we needed to understand the history and the reasons why Jesus Christ was telling Peter he would give him the keys of the kingdom... oddly enough I was calm the whole time he was rebuking us but I was really confused why I was confounded when in the doctrine and covenants it promises that we will not be if we declare it in meekness we will be given what to say.  I was sure  I was being meek, almost a push over, but we were able to bear testimony and finish the lesson. After the lesson we went and visited Jacky, it really cheered us up.

On Saturday we were tracting and I was still pondering this experience from the night before. We knocked on this bright red door and a man named Chris answered the door.  For 35 years he has been studying and comparing different versions of the bible. He was so much like the man from the night before but the difference was like night and day.  His doctrine was pure and true and because of the experience before I didn't jump right in and start teaching the entire restoration we gave him what the spirit told us to give and then we bore our testimonies and he accepted a book of mormon with the most sincere promise that he would read it. I was so grateful that I didn't give him all the meat of the restoration at once but gave him the milk that he needs until he's ready to learn about all of it. 

We were asked to speak this week in Sacrament on Love at Home.  It was perfect after the lesson I learned last week about not getting mad about the weaknesses of my companion. It helped me learn more about how I want to be when I get home. It's amazing how Heavenly Father is helping me help others but at the same time he's preparing me for the next step, coming home. I think it's kinda like mission prep before your mission, you learn it in theory but you really don't know how it'll work until you are in the field.  Well Heavenly Father is preparing me to be a peacemaker in theory but who knows how it'll work when I'm at home... haha (nervous laugh) hopefully I'm not terrible!

Any way just one more week, can you even believe it!!?!?

xoxo
Sister Wyatt

ps here are the pictures from this week. One for every day :) 

pps this morning we got our eyebrows waxed and nails done for free... that's the most I've done to prepare for home.... promise I'm not trunky!

ppps just found out... baptised in australia is spelled with an s not a z.... still really bad a spelling....

Asians (Sept 1 2014)

Fairdinkum!!!! What a week it's been! We've had moments of some of the deepest despair that I've felt on my mission, but that's just opened up opportunities for us to feel some of the greatest joy.  One of those moments came as we were teaching Jacky the 10 commandments and about the sabbath day. We were talking about the 3rd commandment not to take the Lord's name in vain.  Jacky is from China and has learned English here on the mine sites.  When we taught this to him he said "wow, I think this is Australians problem" We told him that he should just substitute better words for that one.  He asked for some examples and this is what came out of my mouth (i kid you not I didn't even think when I said this) "darn it... oh my goodness.... golly wolly...." OH MY GOSH I felt SOOOOO dumb! Jacky was like "what is golly wolly..." every one was laughing so hard! 

Jacky says so many cute and funny things. We were eating dinner with his mother and his member fellowship Joe.  Joe was telling a story about how when he was jumping off the fork lift at work he smashed his elbow and how it was aching.  Jacky was so great he turned to Joe and said "Joe, I think next time you pray before you jump off.  Then Heavenly Father will protect you!" oh it was so cute and so innocent I'm so grateful to be apart of Jacky's conversion. 

As I'm getting closer to the end I've been reflecting quite a bit on how Heavenly Father feels about our service. I want to make sure that I finish strong! I feel like my mission is kind of like when I was running hurdles in 9th grade.  I'm not the strongest missionary or the most powerful, just like in 9th grade I wasn't the best runner but that's not what's important to Heavenly Father. I've done my best, and I know that he's happy about that.  I remember my first race, the gun sounded and I started running I got to the first hurdle and I cleared it but the next hurdle came so much faster than I expected and a few of them I tripped over and at one point I even  fell down and scrapped my knee.  After I cleared.... errr knocked over the last hurdle I walked off the field... I FORGOT TO FINISH THE RACE!!!!! I feel like I've just cleared that last hurdle in my mission, my final challenge is to FINISH the race. I'm so glad that Heavenly Father has helped me to become better than I was when I was in 9th grade, I know that as I rely upon his power and the grace of the atonement I will be able to finish strong! We still have 3 weeks left, we have a baptism to plan, more people to find and teach, and so many more opportunities to testify of the Savior.  I love him and I love this gospel! 

Love,

Sister Wyatt

ps a member gave me a jones root beer ... wow i forgot how yummy jones soda is!  

Cavity Filled With Joy (August 24 2014)

Well Hello!

What a lovely week it has been.   Truly the Lord's hand has been evident in our work.  These are just a few of the ways that I've seen him this week:

-leaving the perfect commitment with less actives, different than what we had planned to leave.

-a less active returned to church this week and committed himself to stay active!

-we were able to see a noticeable change in the atmosphere's of every room in which we testified or talked of Jesus Christ.

-we overcame the natural man desires (to give up or be slothful) by getting on our knees and asking for divine help and then standing up and showing our faith.

-concerns that investigators have, have been revealed to us so we can now move forward to help them.

-we testified in a room of 20-30 people not of our faith that Christ is real, that his promises are sure and that if we trust him there are better days ahead.

Sister Vinck and I were listening to a talk by Elder Maxwell last night while we were making dinner.  I loved what he said about trials and sorrow.

 

 " If it is also true (in some way we don't understand) that the cavity which suffering carves into our souls will one day also be the receptacle of joy, how infinitely greater Jesus' capacity for joy, when he said, after his resurrection, “Behold, my joy is full.” How very, very full, indeed, his joy must have been! "

 

 The joy that I feel when someone gets baptized, especially after I have felt so much anxiety and sorrow over the welfare of their souls is sinexpressible.  Just as Jesus Christ was able to say to the repentant nephites in 3 Nephi "my joy is full" that is how I feel.  When I think of trials creating room for me to have greater joy it helps me keep that eternal persective.

Jacky is doing wonderfully! We are going to be having a family home evening tonight at the elder quorum's president's house and be teaching the word of wisdom. Faithfully, all will go well.

I love my mission.  I'm so grateful for the things that I have whitnessed, for how I have changed, and for the JOY that I feel every day.  I'm so excited for Rylee to feel the same in just a few months.

xoxo

Sister Wyatt