Sisters

Sisters

Thursday, February 4, 2016

February 1, 2016 – BEcome Faithful - BEcome Christ’s Friend


Not sure how we missed an email from last week, but we did -
She is currently serving in Morgantown, WV and her address is:

Sister Justina Campbell
112 Wedgewood Drive, APT 8
Morgantown, WV 26505

-------------------------------------------------

Hello! How are you all?

Getting here was a crazy adventure! My leg and head are both okay! I have a nasty bruise, hopefully the pics upload, and I haven't had any problems with my head. It was fun to be able to stay in Roanoke and then the next day we got to go to a cultural center!! Woohoo! It was awesome and I am a nerd about that stuff and so is sister Ward, a sister from the MTC that came out with me, so we had a blast! 

For transfers they had this huge train of cars and small moving vans that were very well organized. I had already traveled around 4 hours the first day so I was hoping for something closer to Charleston, buuut ...I am serving in the Morgantown 1st ward! So It was a long day full of driving. The roads are very windy and I get suuper car sick because of it, but I am learning to deal with it(: Another challenge is that here there is much more smoke in the air and I don't do well with smells, so I have really learned to get over that ha. It is not a student ward, but it is great! It is amazing to me how spread out the ward is. Our area is huge. My Bishop is from Pingree. His parents live there still. Will you ask grandma and grandpa if they know any Hoskin? Thomas: One of Ryans friends from Grantsville, something Williams, serves here, he is the AP! One of my favorite member's name is Sister Lund. We went to have lunch at her house Saturday. She lives in the prettiest place and we got to take treats to all of her inactive/nonmember neighbors and meet them. She taught us how to make a gourmet version of a pizza roll! My companion is Sister Cutler from San Diego! She is great! She loves to exercise, she is good at talking, and she is a hard worker. She is clean, and is always on time. I hit the jackpot! She gives great advice and has helped me improve so much. She has a great voice and always encourages me to sing, which I didn't like at first, but I am getting more comfortable with it. 

My address is: 112 Wedgewood Drive (make sure you put drive. They have a drive, ave, street, and lane for every word here. it's crazy) APT 8 26501.

Letter AND packages come here. They take forever if they go to the mission office so please just send them here. It doesn't take long at all to receive them. (: So woohoo!

My last week in the MTC I focused on becoming faithful. I studied a lot about faith and specifically faith in the atonement. What I discovered is that faith and trust are closely aligned with Trust. A teacher did an exercise where we put all of the feelings, emotions, and what not into a figurative box and she asked us to give it to Christ. She invited us in return, to ask for all of that empty space to be filled with his love. This helped me finally understand the idea of what Christ's Atonement can do for me. I challenge all of you to become more faithful in Christ's atonement. This Sunday, ponder what that really means to you and how you can become more TRUSTING in his forgiving power.

This week I have been focusing on becoming Christ's friend. I have put most of my personal study into the sections in PMG where it talks about the power and authority of a missionary's calling. One of the study scriptures is John 15. READ THIS AND THEN STUDY THIS AND THEN RECORD WHAT YOU LEARNED. This chapter is incredible and it talks all about the relationship we can have with him if we keep the commandments, specifically loving as he did. I have always known Christ, but because of the spiritual experiences I have had lately, I am coming to know of him. It is a very different relationship, but one that means even more to me. 

I won't beat around the bush. Missionary life is HARD. But hard is not impossible with Christ; it would be alone. I probably would have been back home already if it weren't for him. I love the work and I know that even though it is not easy, it is where I need to be. I have always said that I wanted to change the world and I feel like I get to do that here. Sure, there are so many discouraging things about each day, but I know that if nothing else I am helping the Lord to soften the hearts of his children one small step at a time. Some of the hardest things have been watching people I love not keep commitments or when someone tells me that they already have enough or that their relationship with Christ is solid.
Leaving behind calling my mom each day, being with my family, and Thomas, has been so hard. But the Lord is incredible and is blessing each of the relationships I thought I was putting on hold more than I could have ever imagined. And the cool thing is, he is blessing them spiritually rather than temporally. I have never felt more temporally alone, but I feel more spiritually connected. With sacrifice comes great blessings. 

I love you all! I am so happy to talk with you! I couldn't get pictures to work :( Next week I promise!
--
Sister Justina Campbell
West Virginia Charleston Mission




No comments:

Post a Comment