Doom and Gloom: Blame the Smoke

From an email to Lisa. She didn't necessarily want this on the blog, but I think it's important to remember the hard weeks, too. Helps to look back and see how you overcame when Satan was trying to get you down.

Monday, August 24, 2015

Here's what I wrote the mission president.

Hi, President!
Things are doing all right over here. Hard. Mostly hard. Wednesday was a bad day. For some reason I just felt like the weight of the world/work was crushing me. My companion was kind enough to recognize that I just needed to not go out and work that day. We tried to make up for it the rest of the week, but things kept coming up, and we had to give a pretty pathetic report last night, and all the guilt set in. I'm trying so hard to work hard. I'm trying so hard to make my family and my Heavenly Father proud and to make it all worth it. I feel like I'm still adjusting and still struggling to adapt and be unified with my companion, but we had a really good companionship inventory last night, and I'm trying. She's trying. The promise in Ether 12:27 is real! The harder and harder you try to come unto the Lord, the more he helps you recognize that you can't even start to do it alone. I never realized how much pride I actually have until I came out and tried to do HIS work.

Sorry so "doom and gloom" up here. Maybe it's all the smoke. ;)

Like I said, I feel like a lot of good things have been happening that don't show up on the key indicators. Even though one of our (mostly) solid investigators, Lilian, is possibly— but hopefully not— avoiding us, we had the family we found at the park— Stephanie, Lee, and Vonna— come on a church tour, and they really loved it! They're excited to come to church and get a feel for our church. They love reading the Book of Mormon and have told us so many times how much peace they've felt since we've started meeting. The only thing now is getting Lee and Vonna (Stephanie's parents) comfortable enough to accept visits from the elders that actually cover where they live. They've been really good to come and support Stephanie at our meetings, since she's so shy, and sometimes it feels like they're the ones most interested to meet and learn more. They definitely all are loving it, though. It's so awesome to see. It just brings me a lot of comfort to think about something that Jeffrey R. Holland teaches. I can't quote it, but he basically says that more happens in our investigators' hearts than we think, and to take courage. The Lord is preparing each of these people in unique ways. The trick is remembering that and not letting yourself get discouraged by the people who don't want to listen, or by the weaknesses you have.

The Atonement is a real power, and I know it can help me change and improve. I've seen it work miracles countless times. I know he has all power and all wisdom. I know he can help me be more unified with my companion. I know he can help me love her in spite of my pride. I know he can help me overcome all opposition. I'll be better this week, President. Thank you for everything you do for us.

~Sister Nielsen

*****

Email convo between Lisa and Melanie...

Lisa: I understand that you've had a problem with smoke lately. Let me clarify for you which fire is causing smoke where, and which parts of the state are on fire and which are not. You're welcome. :)


Credit: Eric Strate via Facebook

Melanie: LOL. So... all of it. Just as I suspected. ;)

(And then later) That picture is hilarious. My companion and I laugh about it every time we see it. #itsfunnybecauseitstrue #refinersfireredefined #punsfordays