r e m e m b e r

HIIIII amazing amazing people. I L U

This week consisted of a zone conference, an exchange with our Sister Training Leaders, interviews with President Leavitt, a branch potluck, a little bit of rain but mostly sun, a letter from nana and papa, sara and adelide!!!! It has been wonderful. 

ZONE CONFERENCE

In zone conference we learned about how we, as members, are more likely to join in the work if we have to sacrifice for it. We learned how we must love the members into being effective missionaries. We must serve them and encourage them and help them feel the joyful spirit of missionary work. On Sunday we went around to each of the members, offering to help out in any way we could - we are helping one member who is moving to PEI on Friday and they offered us dinner in return. Simple and exciting!!

During exchanges we worked hard, I stayed in New Glasgow and Sister Drew went to Cole Harbor. Sister Pizzey (STL) and I worked very very hard. We hardly even stopped to eat. We talked to lots of people, received tons of referrals, and found a new investigator, Samuel. He is from Mexico and has been living here for 6 years. His wife can't speak any English and sadly my 4 years of High School Spanish do me NO good - sorry mom. But his English is great. We gave him a church tour and taught the Restoration. He loved it, his questions showed that he really cared about and believed the words we were saying. He is humble and very sweet. Those two days were satisfying and fun! 

President Leavitt took the four of us out to dinner and then ended up just spending the whole hour talking about our area books. The importance of thinking. And balancing our efforts. We cannot be fanatics and we certainly cannot be lazy - we must simply be diligent in all aspects of the work. He is wise and always inspires us to improve. 

Sadly this week elaine called and told us that she has too much going on and is not interested in coming to church anymore. We felt heartbroken because we know how much she needs this message but when the time is right, she will learn. And we finally got in contact with anthony - he got a job and is able to stay in his home as long as he pays rent but sadly he can't recognize that those blessings came from God. He too is not ready to walk by faith rather than by sight. I just hope one day he will realize that the Atonement can heal him. I hope he finds happiness. 

Sara sent me the talk Lillie gave at Henry's farewell. I laughed and cried as I read it. I loved when she said (talking about the people Henry will meet), Lillie writes, 

"I am sure they will all listen and want to change for you Henry (pause for laughs-- 

(hahaha I was dying - I sort of thought this would actually be the case for me)) 

but in case they don't, just remember...the more you try to understand and accept those you teach as equal partners in the confusing and challenging game of life, the greater capacity you will have to love and empathize with them." 

Thank you Lillie for your wise words. I too am grateful that our Heavenly Father made us all different so that we could learn patience and compassion toward each other. 

I love you Lillie - you are my sunshine.

Being on a mission teaches you new things everyday. Sometimes every hour of everyday but often the lessons we learn are the same lessons..just repeated. Why do you think that happens? President Leavitt wrote a letter to us a few weeks ago that shed some light on the idea. He said, 

"In life I think it is fair to say that all people don't do as well as they know how to. People know that it is important to pray but we do not always pray. We know that the scriptures build us up and make us stronger but we do not always read the scriptures. We know that being kind and generous makes us feel good and in unity with our savior but we are not always kind and generous.

Reflecting upon this situation we may ask ourselves why. Are we just weak, do other things get in the way, do we get confused and lose our bearings? I think all of those things at times may accurately describe our situation. 

I think one of the most common and simple reasons is we just forget. We just get so caught up in what we are doing that we don't think about those things. There is a saying that the devil does not need to cause us to commit some great sin for his plan to succeed, all he needs to do is to have good people do nothing." 

Heavenly Father is patient with us and consistent - He does not want us to forget. He will find a way to teach us the lessons he needs you to learn even if He has to repeat himself over and over again. I'm thankful for that because sometimes I think I have short term memory loss..

So I am going to work harder to REMEMBER.

Remember to share the gospel. 

Remember to smile. 

Remember to speak kindly of others. Remember to pray. 

Remember to bear testimony. 

And remember that I love you!! 

Never forget it!

Tell duke happy birthday - give him a big birthday kiss from Sister G, 

Tell Johnny that I love him and am praying for him, 

Tell Nick and Gus that they are an inspiration to me and that I am thankful I get to follow in their footsteps.

I love you and miss you every day. I hope you have the greatest week ever! You mean the world to me. XOXO

Sister Gochnour

random TV found while tracking

my new rain coat - this week will be rain everyday!