Ok Wow (August 17 2014)

There is a scripture  that perfectly describes the way that I feel about this last week 

 36 And thus they were instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to   the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. 37 And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish   good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord  

reigneth.

 

We have worked SO HARD this week and we have seen great success. Mostly, we have felt peace know that we left EVERYTHING on the table last week.  

Sister Vinck is an incredibly hard worker.  Seriously, I am so blessed to be able to serve with her.  The other day we were sitting at lunch chatting and the subject of how isolated we are out here came up.  She mentioned how really Elder Latu (our district leader) really wouldn't get mad at us if we did nothing all day, and all the other leaders well they are 7 hours away.   Not to mention we both are at the end of the middle of our missions so really the only person we are accountable to is the Lord for the work we do this transfer. That's been on my mind a lot.  I want to be able to account to the Lord EVERY day and tell him I gave 100%. 

Whenever I feel a little insecure about my service, or start feeling tempted to question the good that has been done I've decided to turn to the Lord and ask him to help me feel his approval.  The way that he usually helps me is by giving me the strength to do something that seems scary, or insurmountable.

There is a girl that lives next door to us who we are teaching. She's 16 living with her bf, she drinks, smokes, and has done drugs. Her life is so hard.  Her choices make me so sad.  Sometimes when I'm teaching her I feel like the long road that she has to go on makes it impossible for her to ever keep the commitments needed to be worthy of baptism.  It makes me feel like I shouldn't even try.  I know that's satan.  We taught her VERY simply the plan of salvation, at the end she offered the prayer.  It was so powerful as she told us about the warm and calm feeling that she's felt for the first time since she lived with her mum as a child and the sisters would come and visit her there.  I know that is what the Savior would have done. 

I was listening to a talk by sister holland this week that sister tanner gave me.  She talks about how insecure she felt to go and speak publicly.  She tells about a time that she even made Elder Holland  write her talk for her and she gave it,  and everybody fell asleep listening. She realized that it was because she was doing things for the world's praise.  Being  out here in the country I've realized it really isn't about pleasing the world (my leaders or other missionaries), it's about doing the Lord's work to bring glory to him.

In my book of mormon reading this week I read about Alma and Amulek in the city of ammoniahah.  After all the believers were killed Alma and Amulek were put in prison and for days they were left with no food and were beaten. Verse 28 of chapter 14 really stuck out to me "And Alma and Amulek came forth out of the prison and they were not hurt; for the Lord h ad granted unto them power according to their faith which was in Christ." Sometimes trials seem overwhelming and they are binding and halting at times. They are our prison.  The lord allows these things to happen because in the grand scheme of things it really won't hurt us, we will come forth out of  prison unharmed, and with greater faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  

I know this to be true. I have felt it throughout my life, and especially on my mission.  Through Christ all things WILL be made right.  I know this, I would shave my head (because I think I would rather die than shave my head... knock on wood) before I would deny this (sorry hope that wasn't light minded).  

I love you all, but most of all I love my Savior.  He makes all things possible. 

Xoxo

Sister Wyatt

ps. there are really big spiders in australia.... 

Wild, Wild Stuff (August 11 2014)

Well, it's a new transfer people... and you know what that means. CHANGES!!!! so yesterday we got the call from the assistants... FINALLY! So my new companion is SISTER VINCK!!! and here's the crazy part we are going home at the same time. So we are going to be preparing this area for 2 new sisters next transfer. It's going to be really great, I really love sister vinck she helped me a lot when I was training Sister Leleisiuao.

This last week was full of challenges.  But it was great to see how we were able to bounce back and not let this get us down.  We prayed a lot.  And we went and instead of moping over the plans that fell through we went and taught the doctrine to any one that would listen to us, even if the only people were the members.  It helped us stay strong and keep going.  I have nothing but HIGH hopes for this next transfer. 

I think the lessons that have stood out the most in my mind this last week have been with our less active we are working with, Sandra.  She's AMAZING! Seriously I have not ever met someone who is so ready the change and repent.  We went and we talked about when we do repent to not look back on our old life, wishing for what was, or for how we used to be, but to move forward and to allow ourselves to be changed and become something new through Jesus Christ.  

It made me think a lot about my own life, and reflect on who I have become over the past few years.  I'm not the same girl who went to retreat for girls at age 13 from wyoming and for the first time felt and knew that the Savior does live.  I've evolved several times since then.  I'm not the same angry girl that moved to Bountiful years ago, and I'm not the same cocky girl that went to BYU way back in 2010.  Besides making myself feel really old, as I've refected on this I've realized who Heavenly Father is making me, and I've realized that there is a reason for all the challenges.  There really is a plan, a plan of HAPPINESS, that requires a little bit of effort on my part, but mostly it just requires my trust and my faith.  Faith, not in the results, but faith that Jesus Christ will not lie.  The plan isn't false, it's true.  I know it.  I feel it.  The spirit has testified of it to me.  

I've been reading the book of mormon again, trying to get through it before a certain day in september.  I was reading in the book of mosiah, and I came across a verse that I'd never thought of before it says 

"And it came to pass that those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites." (mosiah 25:12) 

Now I wasn't there with those children of the wicked priests but I can imagine that if I had vast wealth and then had just gone through a war, and been put in bondage, and was learning how to deal with living under a new government, I'd probably be a little bit homesick for what was. But it struck me that when those children of the priests heard about their fathers, they let go of the past and moved forward into a better and much happier life.

This is the miricle of missionary work.  This is what I see every day.  The doctrines CHANGE people.  When the spirit testifies to them that this is Jesus Christ's church and that only through repentance, baptism, and continued faithfulness can we recieve a fullness of joy, THEY CHANGE! 

Because of the plan of salvation, because it gives me the hope to REPENT, I can become new. The future is much better than what I've been in the past.  As I've served my mission, I've heard about areas changing, people at home moving forward, the world moving forward, and I've had to ask myself have I moved forward? Because of Jesus Christ, all hurt, all pain, all fears will be made right.  

So my commitment to everyone who reads this email is to watch this mormon message.  This really is the first day of a NEW year! We can change any time we would like.  Set some spiritual goals, and then work towards them.  

I love you! Thank you for your continued support.  Be strong, and don't give up! Satan won't win and that's a promise. 

xoxo

Sister Wyatt

ps we got a new bishop yesterday in the ward, wild, wild stuff! 

pps here's some more pictures :) 

You and Your Heart Shouldn't Feel So Far Apart (July 27 2014)

This week has been a lot of contrast.  We've really struggled finding but we've felt the hand of the lord in our lessons more than ever.  We were sick, but we had more energy and happiness.  Our investigators aren't getting baptized this week like we thought, but they are more solid and more converted to Jesus Christ than ever before.  It's interesting. It makes me emotional sometimes, but not as emotional as I get when I think about how fast this last part of the "middle of my mission" is going.  Sister Tanner is leaving in 2 weeks. It breaks my heart, but it makes me so excited for her at the same time.  Life is awesome because it just keeps going.... sometimes I just forget that I need to move with it at the same time. 

Seany is doing so well, buttttt she doesn't feel like she's ready to be baptized this week which is disappointing.  She for sure wants to though... in fact this entire week she went to early morning seminary... half the kids in the ward don't go to seminary... ha she's amazing! SHE JUST NEEDS TO CHOOSE A DATE!!! She's really quite nervous about getting baptized and then going less active, valid... but we aren't going to let that happen and the fact that she is scared of it means that she really probably won't do that. It was so funny Sister Tanner told a story about how when she was a little girl and they would have the DARE program and talk about the dangers of drugs she would come home and be like "i'm just so afraid that I'll do drugs" to her mum but then her mum was like that's ridiculous you have agency and if you don't want to do something you won't.  

It's a funny little story but it's true. So often we let fear get in the way of us living our lives but we don't need to.  "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."  There are so many times on my mission and in my life where I have stopped from doing something because I've been afraid of what the world would think rather than just worrying about my relationship with God.  I'm trying my best to over come this. It's funny finding in a car is way more challenging than on a bike so we do funny things like when we see people at a park we circle around and jump out of the car just to talk to them.  Most of the time they don't want to talk to us but at least we are right with God, and we don't ever have to wonder if we missed a chance.  

Yesterday we taught one of our newer investigators Jackie Chen (from China) about the restoration.  At the end of the lessons he was talking about how he would need time to think these things over.  I know I've been out for 16 months and I should be used to inviting people to be baptized but there was the moment again... my heart was racing.... my head was spinning... and I knew what I had to do. "jackie when you find out this is true will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?" it came out so fast he didn't completely understand me "pardon, sister?" "oh sorry! Jackie... if you find out this is true will you be baptized?" "WELL OF COURSE!!!" and then the relief washes over me.  I'm so glad I followed the spirit.   "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 

I know that Heavenly Father doesn't want us to be afraid but he wants us to see our true potential he wants us to recognize that we CAN do hard things and Satan really doesn't have any power over us.  I know that through Jesus Christ's atonement we can reach that potential that Heavenly Father knows we have.  I know that living the gospel is the only way to access that cleansing and enabling power. That's why I live the gospel, it is THE ONLY way. 

I love each of you! Life is so amazing! Trust Heavenly Father, he knows what's up... to say the least. I'm so grateful for the miracles that I see every day.  Have you been seeing them in your life? 

xoxo

Sister Wyatt 

ps.  sister tanner and i's favorite word these days is conniption.... it's fun! 

Bush (July 21 2014)

Sorry this email is so late.  This morning we went out "bush" with some of the members. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! We road in their 4 wheel and didn't even care if there were roads or not and then we went and saw the old mines that are around Kal.  Brother Aumoe is like the stereotypical brown aussie man that you think of it's awesome! 

This week may have been the best week of my entire mission. I have been blessed beyond what I ever thought that I deserved."I, the lord am bound when ye do what I say but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" Last week I talked about how diligence and obedience doesn't bring baptisms but it allows you to feel right in the sight of God.  I want to rephrase what I said last week based on what I was taught this week from the spirit.  Diligence and obedience may not bring the immediate and desired results but they ALWAYS bring blessings...immediately. 

Last week we decided that we needed to have a pretty hefty planning session.  It took us all day but we were determined to not give up. We have reaped so many blessings from it this week.  The first person is sweet precious Seany.  She's so cool! She reminds me of the girls.  We decided to start getting the young women involved instead of the leaders.  We took one of her best friends with us to the first lesson and she bore a powerful testimony of the priesthood. Because we had one of her best friends with us she was way more keen to have lessons with us every day.  I think my favorite part about missionary work is seeing their understanding grow.  I wish I remembered what my setting apart blessing said about my mission, but this week I know that part of my patriarchal blessing was fulfilled. Seany told us that she can see how much happier her life is since she's been coming to church and how much it has helped us.  She wants to continue down this path.  In the past week we have taught her tuesday, wednesday, and thursday and we've covered the restoration, plan of salvation, gospel of jesus christ, the word of wisdom, the law of chastity, priesthood and auxilieries, temple marriage, follow the prophet, and the importance of prayer and scripture study. She even found the perfect scripture to go with our lesson for gospel of jesus christ. we were talking about enduring to the end and all of a sudden she whips out 2 nephi 31:20 and she was like I love this one it sounds so pretty.  Ok let me remind you this girl is 15 and isn't a member yet!!!

I think we found our family! They are part member only the dad is a member but he has 3 kids that can get baptized and his so sweet wife.  We found the teaching record and it pretty much looked like they had just been friends with the missionaries in the past never even taught the restoration... so we decided to drop the spiritual bomb on them. it was awesome. Brother Timu the ward mission  leader (who is so awesome) came with us and they were all so keen and the kids all committed to read the book of mormon for 5 minutes a day, pray, and smile (one of our favorite commitments to leave with people).  The best part was to see how quickly once the spirit was there we were able to bond.  In the 1 visit we were able to do the same amount of bonding that took the previous missionaries going several times just sharing "messages".  It just goes to show the power of 2 spirits connecting.  When you are open to the spirit it does so much more for your relationships.  

Last night we were having dinner at this members house and there was this man there who is a member but has been going through a really really really hard time the past year, and because it's a small town everybody knows about it... which doesn't make it any easier.  We shared the mormon message about the currant bush and how god has a will for us so we need to trust him when we get cut down. We asked them how they have seen this principle in their own lives. This is a typical example of missionaries trying to teach people not lessons but sometimes it can be intimidating to ask such blunt questions when you know someone's situation. Fraiser opened up and it was the most powerful example I've ever had of teaching people not lessons.  We testified of the promises that the Savior has given to those who are faithful.  After he texted us and told us that it was the first time in a long time that he had felt the spirit. Guys.. he even cried! I was so humbled to have been apart of it and I know that even if I had been a disobedient missionary and Fraiser needed to feel that spirit at that time Heavenly Father would have found a way for him to get it, but I'm so grateful that I was worthy to be that vessel and to witness him returning to full activity.  Those are the immediate blessings of being a diligent and obedient missionary.

President and Sister Lindsay came this week.  It was the best and shortest day of my mission. Coming country even if nothing good comes from it (but good things all ready have come) was worth it just for that one day with the Lindsay's.  It was just the 4 of us with them, the elders and us.  They taught us what was shared at zone conference... but it was way more personal.  Turns out President shared Clive's conversion story with the entire mission.  I've always felt that I had nothing to do with Clive's conversion, but I was just blessed enough to get to serve in that area at that time but it turns out that President sees it otherwise.  In my interview he told me that it was nonsense for me to think that.  He helped me understand more about faith.  He helped me see that had it not been for my faith, and willingness to be obedient Clive would have never seen us waving on the side of the road.  Faith doesn't mean immediate baptisms, and if you don't get baptisms it isn't necessarily because you aren't faithful, and even some missionaries who aren't faithful and obedient will still get baptisms.  But as a church we believe in all things we hope for all things and we have endured many things and we hope to be able to endure all things only way baptisms are possible is because somebody believed enough to  follow the counsel of the Lord, missionary or investigator.  The only way I was able to endure Alexander heights was the hope and faith that I had in the Savior, even though sometimes it felt weak...that is the power of my faith in Clive's conversion and in every time I teach.  I have enough faith to hope that my brother or sister could be converted and return home with me. I have been forever changed by exercising my Faith and hope in the Savior.  I love him, I know that he always fulfills his promises to those who are faithful and abide by his laws.  I can't deny it... not after Clive, when I was to the point where I felt like everything was lost.   Not after every day that I've had on my mission where I see the Lord's hand.

I was reading in the doctrine and covenants this last week and I came across this scripture "And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am—not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual." 

I know that if we choose to see things in an eternal perspective we gain the spiritual eyes to be able to see our Savior

xoxo forever

Sister Wyatt     

when you go "bush" you see lakes... old mine pits... and the people at the tavern (which is the only building around for k's) have your write your names on their wall... so exciting! 

Just Wait (July 13 2014)

There is this song that Sister Tanner and I have been listening to a lot this last week.  The words go like this " I've been troubled since the day that I got here Troubled to the day that I disappear
That'll be the day that I finally get it right There is hope for me yet Because God won't forget All the plans He's made for me I have to wait and see He's not finished with me yet" I'm not a perfect missionary, and for sure not a perfect person, which was hard for me to accept at the beginning of my mission but as I've continued pressing forward (despite my flaws and insecurities) I've seen the plans that Heavenly Father has made for me and how they have shaped me into a much better person.

Something that Sister Tanner and I talk about quite often is missionary work (obviously...) and how in our missions we have found that it doesn't necessarily matter how diligent that you work or how obedient that you are baptisms are going to happen whenever the people are ready and it really has nothing to do with you but it's all god's miracle and it's HIS work.  The reason why we want to be diligent and obedient in the mission is yes, it does certainly make for more solid conversions and the work to go better, but it is because that is when you qualify for the spirit, and it is the spirit that changes you.  You have the choice to go home from your mission a new person because of how the atonement of Jesus Christ has changed you... or you have the choice to become hardened and bitter about how the work doesn't seem to go your way. 

This quote from Elder Holland has often rang through my mind on the really tough days"Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t oursuccess be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles.Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day andall night in the baptismal font?
You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convincedthat missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of JesusChrist, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy forHim? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries andmission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.
Now, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuousand sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of thisprice that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price.
For that reason I don’t believe missionary work has ever been easy, nor that conversion is, nor that retention is, nor that continuedfaithfulness is. I believe it is supposed to require some effort, something from the depths of our soul.
If He could come forward in the night, kneel down, fall on His face, bleed from every pore, and cry, “Abba, Father (Papa), if this cup canpass, let it pass,” ¹⁶  then little wonder that salvation is not a whimsical or easy thing for us. If you wonder if there isn’t an easier way,you should remember you are not the first one to ask that. Someone a lot greater and a lot grander asked a long time ago if there wasn’tan easier way.
The Atonement will carry the missionaries perhaps even more importantly than it will carry the investigators. When you struggle, whenyou are rejected, when you are spit upon and cast out and made a hiss and a byword, you are standing with the best life this world hasever known, the only pure and perfect life ever lived. You have reason to stand tall and be grateful that the Living Son of the Living Godknows all about your sorrows and afflictions. The only way to salvation is through Gethsemane and on to Calvary. The only way toeternity is through Him—the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

I've been diligent my whole mission. I've been obedient my whole mission.  but that does not mean that I will get baptisms. It does however mean that I will be changed by the atonement and it does mean that I will not stand blameless before God in the last days when I account on the work that I did during this time of my mission.

That being said... the work in Kalgoorlie is going AMAZING! This last week we have taught, and invited to baptism, and just loved the ward here and loved each other. being here feels like a vacation but I get to do my favourite thing ever... MISSIONARY WORK!! because lets be honest...it's my only talent.... and really it's not even mine because it's all Heavenly Father.
So we have this adorable investigator named Seany.  Her friends invited her to come to this standards weekend that the young women's here did and she loved it! ever since then she's been coming to church and reads her scriptures more than the members do. In sunday school she answers the questions... not the members... SHE'S SO COOL! She's so ready to be baptized but we aren't sure what is holding her back.  We went and taught her this week with the bishop's wife and it went great.  She wants to be but she just doesn't feel ready so we are going to go over everything in depth with her and then hopefully by the 26th she'll feel ready.  #prayertime... that's when we just turn everything over to the Lord and just try not to get in the way of the spirit. Which shouldn't be that hard... but sometimes my natural man ruins me.  That's been my biggest challenge lately is fighting against the natural urge just to say whatever comes into my head and word vomit all over the lesson.  I've been trying to think very carefully about what needs to be said and making sure that it's what the spirit wants me to say.  Tough skill... don't over think it... but don't under think it either... hahha

any way I've taken forever writing this so I'm going to close with this funny and classic mission story that happened to me and sister tanner.

So funny thing about aussies... they put gates around everything... dad would love it.  Their whole front yards are enclosed with these UGLY giant gates that are taller than me (not that its that hard to be taller than me) and always really intimidating to open.  So on Saturday we were out on the bikes trying to find people to teach and we went to this former's house that had this massive gate so we opened it and we could see that the back yard was also fenced in with this same gate but it divided the front yard and the backyard so we weren't worried about any dogs or anything because there was this MASSIVE fence keeping it in the back if there was one.  So here we go to the front door... it didn't look like any one was home but we weren't not going to try.  As were walking this GIANT pit bull launches it's self over the fence and comes running at us.  Sister Tanner SCREAMS and runs outside the front gate and held it shut but she left me in the front yard half way between the door and this dog.  I was like... ok be calm... it probably wont bite you if you don't freak out... it's just saying hello... don't be judgy just because it's a pit bull and you know people who have been severally damaged by pit bulls on their missions (bekah jarman bradshaw...) so I just stood there and then this scrawny little aussie guy covered in tattoos comes running out the door swearing at the dog! I was so glad when he picked him up and got him inside but sister tanner still wasn't going to come inside the gate she just stood out there and was like "I'm terrified of dogs" and I was thinking "I'm terrified of this guy!" but we started chatting he's the partner of the former and he's a real nice guy but when we asked him if he believed in god he proceeded to pull off his shirt to show me his flabby stomach covered in anti-god tattoos.... I hate it when people don't wear clothes... and I especially hate it when they show me their gross tattoos....so there you had it all before lunch we were almost killed by a dog and exposed to gross shirtless men... people really should just wear clothes we all look better that way any way... so awkward. We have plans to go back there later this week #diligence

I love you! I'm so glad that a few of you have been trying the praying out loud thing and have told me about your experiences! THANK YOU! It strengthens my faith when you do that.

keep going strong. do the basics. read, pray, family home evening, church, and temple.  You can't fail if you do that!

xoxo
Sister Wyatt

can you just love me for 2 seconds of your life?! (July 6 2014)

I don't know why I ever try to do missionary work on my own... it's really stupid... after all this is HIS work... I just for some reason have been allowed to be apart of it.  Do you ever think about why we were born into the families that we were? I quite frequently think about how it's just amazing that I was blessed enough to be allowed to come to a family that was in the gospel, and even better is strong even when times get tough.  

Another thing I've been thinking about a lot lately is the companions and areas that I've been given on my mission.  When I crashed my car... and then didn't have a license any more I had no idea that it would impact my mission so much.   One factor in every companionship and area is if you can drive or not.  I have been in 2 biking areas and because I don't drive I've been with companions that I may not have been able to be with had a been a more...responsible?...talented...better educated? driver.  Being out here in good ol' so. kal. as we like to call it (south kalgoorlie) is awesome.  It reminds me a lot of lander, and hibbing.  It's a tiny mining town and there is red dirt EVERYWHERE!  I'm just really getting back to my roots here.  Sister Tanner is awesome it's so much fun to serve with an american and especially with sister tanner because we came in together... except she goes home this transfer because she is going to school for fall semester. We've been talking a lot about what makes a missionary successful, and how we have changed on our missions.  One thing that has really stuck out to both of us on our missions is how Heavenly Father really does have a plan for each of us and we can't measure success on  outward results but it comes more from your own personal conversion and how you handle your trials.  I would never trade this lesson for more or easier baptisms because it's something that has shaped me but it's also something that I've been able to share with my investigators.  The world is getting more and more wicked and difficult. It's too risky to be casual in the gospel we have to not just taste what it's like to really follow Jesus Christ but we need to feast on it.   SERIOUSLY maybe that's why I'm gaining weight on my mission...maybe my spirit is just getting fatter and it's not really all the delicious fish and chips and chocolate that I'm eating....hopefully....  

We've had some really amazing experiences this last week out here in the middle of the outback.  On Saturday we were really trying to work hard but things just kept coming up that were distracting us, or keeping us from carrying out our plans.  Finally it was the last hour of the day and we were trying to decide what to do.  Do you remember a few weeks ago when I wrote to you about repentance right now not waiting for a fresh day or a fresh week to do everything right? Well Sister Tanner and I both have the same tenancy and natural instinct to just wait for the next day to have everything be "perfect" we were both really tempted to go back for the night and like try to organize the area book or something but we caught ourselves and we instead knelt down (in the car since we were kinda afraid to kneel outside... it was dark) and prayed and asked Heavenly Father to lead us to someone who will be receptive and where would be the best use of our time.  The first door we knocked on didn't really work out but when we got back in the car (btw it's great to be back in a car... the work goes so much faster)we decided to go and visit this less active on the other side of town.  When we talked to him he told us that his wife was a JW and he thought that they were a bit more logical than the "Mormons" but he really didn't have time to devote to any religion at all because he doesn't just want to sit around in a church he wants to be involved in it. Basically they're one of those families that you look at and you are like YOU NEED TO BE A MEMBER DANG IT!!!! But any way in kal everyone knows everybody so it's SO smart to ask who do you know whenever you can so we asked him "well is there anybody you know that could use some help strengthening their family?" he referred us to his neighbor across the street and now we are teaching her tonight!!! YAY! but the night even got better! I haven't been the junior companion since Sister Simon and I for sure haven't been the one that is new in the ward since her either since I've been doubled into every area since midland but I've been trying really hard to learn the names of the people on the lists that we are working with and so this name came into my mind and we decided to go try and visit them... a part member family... we went and were able to teach right then the blessings of putting god first in your life and how to pray.  The spirit was so strong and Cody expressed his concern about how he feels that he would be judged if he came to church.  NOW WE KNOW HOW TO HELP HIM!!! It's amazing! 

The more and more that I have been on my mission the more I realize that the spirit is like the ultimate soap it just cleans away all the rubbish that is covering the real concern and allows us to really see what Heavenly Father wants us to see.  It's almost felt like I've just been on a week long exchange just going into appointments pretty much blind not knowing them and just following my companion's lead... it's bringing back lots of great memories of being a sister training leader... but one of our appointments with some less actives in the ward was just amazing.  Ari and Shem are less active they've had some pretty tough times the past few years... some of their own making... but they want to come back and they want to be active.  We taught them about how they can create a life that they want, how it's a power that Heavenly Father has given them.  Repentance is the key for all of us if we want a new life seriously... just turn to the scriptures... pray and ask for help and then go to work. Heavenly Father wants the best for us.  There is nothing that he gains from us keeping the commandments all they are just guidelines to help us be the most happy and we can start living them whenever we want! and we don't even have to be perfect at them for the whole day we just have to keep trying! 

I'm so grateful for the companions that Heavenly Father has let me serve with on my mission.  They have shaped me and molded me more than I could ever imagine.  Through them I have changed my thinking.  Sister Leitaua and even Sister Leleisiuao taught me that all though arguments are not ideal to have... it does not mean the end of your relationship which I so often thought in the past.  We had so many challenges but every time they came and we turned to the Lord they melted away as we both yielded to repentance and allowed the spirit to heal the relationship was so much stronger! after all whatever Jesus Christ touches is healed, is made perfect, is made clean.  I'm so grateful for a companion now out here in the middle of no where that is so easy to get along with. It's such a tender mercy.... Heavenly Father loves us all so much! 

I love you.  I'm going to again encourage you all though to read your scriptures every night this week and also when you say your personal prayers be sure to say them out loud! seriously it makes all the difference when you do! 

I LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU X 10000000000

xoxo

Sister Wyatt

ps it was the 4th of july... we got to go have american dinner with the Americans in the ward... and we wore all red white and blue... no one thought we were patriotic... it was strange... 

pps i lost my wallet... but then we found it! 

ppps sister tanner and i share clothes YAY! 

one time I went to the outback (June 30 2014)

Soooooooo... So much has happened this last week.  I want to tell you all about it but I think the biggest thing is that I have been transferred to Kalgoorlie. It was a 7 1/2 train ride by myself...... so awkward. I'm so tired. I can't even think.

BUT the exciting thing that happened before I left good ol' alexander heights was that we had 4 people at church yesterday! our Iranian family came. we found them this last week. invited them to be baptized. they said yes. and all 3 came to church. SO EXCITING!!! 

ok. my brain is not working. 

I'M SO EXCITED FOR RYLEE'S MISSION CALL!!!!! I know it will be challenging ry. but don't worry everything will work out :) YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS WITH THE LORD!!! 

I'm so happy. I'll write more next week. 

xoxo

Sister Wyatt