February 21, 2017 – BEcome Someone Who Prays for Miracles - Ask of God

My favorites! 

This week Sister Zaugg and I planned an event at the church. The theme was: ASK OF GOD. We had videos, music, and testimonies about prayer. WE worked our TAILS OFF to make sure everything went well and that we involved as many people as possible. Well, the one thing that spaced my mind was setting up the projector for the videos….yikes. That was important. So, we had some difficulties setting it up. A few hours before Sister Zaugg and I said a fervent prayer: I asked God to help everything work out. I asked him to work a miracle. Well, one of the videos had failed to download, but then I went to check again and somehow it was there! WE saw a miracle and the event went SO SMOOTHLY. The spirit was strong. I know that if we ASK OF GOD in faith, that He WILL answer. Prayer works (: Have faith to pray for miracles. 

This week, we went to see a family we are teaching. They were all crazy busy and didn't have time for a lesson, but they were all standing on the stairs. So, we started teaching immediately and they ended up saying a prayer with us and letting us teach them (: It pays off to have a plan and to be persistent. We call it our stair step lesson (: Haha. 

One of our investigators told us on the phone this week that they wouldn't be able to make it to church on Sunday because they were heading to a hockey game. We have just recently started teaching them so we hadn't taught them what it means to keep the Sabbath Day holy. We had a lesson coming up before Sunday. I knew that it would be easy to justify teaching that lesson later, but the spirit kept inviting us to teach it to him and to give him a clear choice. I fasted to be able to teach well and to teach with power. It felt so good to teach him about the Lord's will. Our mission president always says that it isn't hard if we know who we are---I really agree with that. Long story short, he didn't come to church :( BUT we taught him clearly a correct principle, and we let him govern himself. 

We are teaching another youth THAT IS ON FIRE. He loves the gospel and soaks up what we teach. We have our trials with him too, but it is amazing to see someone who just LOVES it (: 

I love my calling! 

MUCH LOVE!

-- 

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission

The flyer to our event we put on this week. IT WENT SO WELL!

SISTER LEE IS SERVING NEXT TO ME AGAIN. The Lord is too nice (: 

We went on a VERY adventurous hike! 

February 13, 2017 – BEcome Welcoming of Guidance (:

Hiya! 

So, this week we saw some incredible miracles. A few weeks ago, I was wondering what I could do to improve my missionary work. The spirit whispered, "Invite more", and at that moment I got this huge desire to invite people to read, study, come to church, pray. Anything and everything, I had a desire to invite someone to do it. I have no doubt that that extra little bit of fire under my feet came from the Lord. Ever since then, we have been able to teach a lot of people. A LOT. I know that inviting others to ACT helps them to recognize the Holy Ghost in their lives and it helps them to grow closer to God. I love being a disciple of Jesus Christ (: 

One quick story about sincerity of heart: We are teaching a young man right now that is seeking to understand God and his plan. We taught him about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited him to pray about what we had taught. The next time we met we were inspired to ask a question that led to him telling us a simple, but powerful story. He went home that night and prayed about what we had taught. He asked God to give him a sign. The next day he was out playing football with his friends. There was an edge that the football almost bounced off of, but instead it hit the edge just right and bounced back to them. He said it was no coincidence and he fell to his knees out of amazement. He linked that to being a sign from God. HOW COOL! If we are seeking for an answer to our prayers, we will find one, but we have to really be looking. Then, God will speak to us and he will relate it to us in a way that we can be sure it is from him. 

These past 3 months have been some of the hardest months of my entire life. Yet, I have really been shaped and molded by the spirit. I feel like I am truly learning to follow the Lord with less reservation and more assurance. Something life changing I learned this week was to take correction and guidance from others willingly. We had stake conference this weekend (I LOVED IT) and it was the theme of stake conference for me. I get so sad when someone tells me something I can do better. I feel like a total failure. But the Lord taught me this weekend that the leaders and examples he has given me should not be taken for granted. He is preparing me through the advice and small corrections given by those around me. And sometimes, I am too busy being prideful to appreciate them and incorporate them. I find myself earnestly seeking for suggestions rather than trying to reach perfection in everything I do right away and on my own. I have changed this and I feel so free and happy. A new light has come into my life. 

I know that God lives! I am not out here because this is easy, but I am here because it is Joyful. That Joy doesn't come on a platter, but it DOES COME (: 

I LOVE MY CALLING. I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

​The Lord is real, his enabling power is real, and the love he lets us feel for others is real.

-- 

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission

January 30, 2017 – Our Amount of Gratitude Affects Our Attitude

WOW! 

A year ago yesterday I boarded a flight for West Virginia….but really I ended up here in Roanoke VA because of snow! Haha, here we are a year later. I have learned so much in the past year it is insane. 367 days ago I sat in my mission president’s office and told him all of my hopes and dreams for my mission. It is a good feeling to know that I am still working hard to accomplish them. 

Our area is still doing really well! This week we picked up a family that I am in love with! They are so interested in the gospel (: 

This week I have made it a point to be grateful and I was so happy! Imagine that our amount of gratitude affects our attitude. I know that Christ like love can make anything work! 

I love my calling! I know that serving the people around us is the most important work we could be doing! 

-- 

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission

January 23, 2017 – BEcome a Better You and Work Hard for It

My favorites:

Wow! It has been too long. 

How are you? I hope wherever you are reading this at whatever time you feel my love for you and my desire to serve you. If there is ever anything I can do for you….PLEASE let me know (: 

So, an update on life as a missionary: 

We are soaked(: It has rained, and rained, and rained some more. I used to not love rain, but Sister Cutler's love for rain somehow sunk into me….so I have actually really enjoyed the last few days! 

We have had lots of adventures and teaching opportunities. We had a GREAT conference with our mission president where he spoke about the importance of planning by the spirit in all things-well he talked on a lot more, but that is what I got out of it. I HIT MY YEAR MARK! WHAT? On my year mark, funny enough, I was with my MTC companion Sister Huntington! She can still make me laugh really hard and she is an AMAZING teacher. I loved being able to talk with her and evaluate the growth that we have had. She has a special place in my heart. 

​We have seen so many miracles. That is the truth. My favorite miracle was the night we followed up with someone we were teaching on something we had committed them to do. ​They were struggling with keeping the commitment. We were on the other side of town, but we got a strong prompting to head to her home. When we got there, I knew it was exactly where the Lord needed us to be. 

I am so being humbled right now and I LOVE IT. I cannot get through one hour without the Lord. I need him a.l.w.a.y.s. 

A better me is worth working hard for (: 

-- 

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission

January 3, 2017 - MY FOCUS IS JESUS CHRIST

HI! 

So, my new companion is GREAT! You tell her a topic, she tells you a scripture. You tell her a scripture, she tells you the background. IT IS SO HELPFUL. She is ready to work hard and we are seeing miracles(: She is from Hayden, ID. So, same state but really far away! 

This week has been trying, but my testimony in Christ being my rock has grown. We were at this woman's house and she was telling us that she felt like she just couldn't be everyone's rock anymore and that she didn't have enough strength. It reminded me that I do not have to be anyone's rock. I just need to build upon the surest rock there is, Christ! Then I can help the people I love build their foundation on him as well. 

So, my goal for this year is to always have my focus on Christ. When I am focused on him, I find peace and joy, not perfection, but peace and joy that lasts. When I focus on ANYTHING else I have a rough time staying just above water. 

I took my mission president’s invitation to ponder who I have become and to make goals about who I desire to become. This past year I focused my effort on always improving myself and becoming who I was meant to be. I think the biggest change I have seen this year is the location of my name tag. I am grateful for the black one on my clothing, but I am most grateful for the one engraved on my heart! I am a missionary always because the gospel makes up who I am. The joy that comes from building God's kingdom can't be beat and it keeps on coming. I find that I don't just do missionary work when I "have to". We met a woman at a baptism and taught her the Restoration. We invited her to meet with missionaries because she was interested, but she wouldn't. I asked her to email me the picture we had taken together. She traveled back later that week to her hometown in Kentucky and I kept in touch with her each week during my email time. Short story, her heart softened and we promised God would send her the right missionaries to teach her. She agreed to meet with them and then a few short days later the Lord led them to her in the parking lot of a grocery store. NICE (: I find so much happiness in sharing the gospel with others. Working, learning, searching, and praying are what bring me happiness in my life. I like to share that (: 

Sister Compton stopped smoking this week! Please pray for her and Dale to be able to live the word of wisdom!! 

I love my calling! 

-- 

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission

December 28, 2016 - BEcome a "Wise Man"

OH! HEY!!!!!! 

So, Christmas on a mission was GREAT and warm (: 

We made Christmas gifts filled with all of the extra candy we had and used it as a way to meet people in our area. We felt impressed to go to a less active’s home. We PLANNED what we wanted to use as our approach to get in the home and teach them. Service came to mind. We got to the house that day and the mom answered. We gave her the gift and told her that we had a few minutes and wanted to do something for her. She told us that her husband and two boys were outside moving wood. We went and helped move the wood and then after we were done we asked to teach a brief (10 min) lesson. They didn't let us in, but we got to teach the whole family outside! It was great to see how much the family’s heart softened all because we followed our mission president's counsel to be like Ammon in the Book of Mormon and serve!  

Mama Campbell and the crew sent us matching Christmas jammies so that was exciting. 

We had a fun Christmas eve dinner appointment and we got to play in a white elephant gift exchange and sing Christmas carols. It was great! 

Christmas morning we woke up, opened presents ( THANK YOU (: ) and made pancakes and took them to a man who couldn't be with his family Christmas morning. Except….he wasn't home so we left them on the porch. 

Our Sacrament meeting service was STELLAR. It was a music program and our ward knows how to sing! (: A man in our ward wrote a song called "He Came Here Just For Me". The kids sang it and It was amazing. It talks about how Christ came and suffered for each of us. It is a good reminder of how much he loves us! 

We got to go to Sister Compton's (we are teaching her) for lunch and meet her family. Dale is her boyfriend and I just love him! He has been warming up to us. We got to pray before lunch with most of their family and it was cool to feel the spirit enter the room as we did. 

Then we went to the Kasmer’s and skyped/ate some snacks. WE LOVE THEM. They have two girls that make us laugh constantly. 

We got to go to the Lubeck's for dinner. This family is AMAZING and truly have the desire to serve the people around them and share the gospel. They invited a neighbor to church and he came on Christmas! Then, we went caroling with them after dinner and while caroling we got to see him and set up a time for dinner and a lesson this week. (: I have never gone caroling on Christmas, but it WAS SO FUN! 

Side note: I love eating with people. We were with a family in the ward setting a teaching appointment up and the mom says, "We have to eat with them. If you want to get to know someone you have to eat with them." It really isn't a terrible rule of thumb (: 

My challenge this week is to BEcome a "wise man". I have thought about this topic a ton during the Christmas season. When we were at families’ homes on Christmas we showed the video I showed my family during my Skype home. It shows modern people in our world seeking the spirit of Christ to guide them to an opportunity to serve and give of themselves.

The dad asks his daughter: why where they called wise men? 

her: Because they knew about the star 

him:  Who were they listening to to know about the star? Were they reading magazines or were they reading their scriptures? 

her: the scriptures. 

him: Yeah! They were wise because they listened to the prophets and read scriptures. 

I testify that we become wise by serving our Maker, reading scripture and praying DAILY, and listening then obeying with exactness the counsel given by God's servants - prophets and apostles.   

Transfer information: Sister Merrifield is going to Huntington, WV and I will find out who my new companion is tomorrow! She is brand new in the mission and I am so excited! 

LOVE YOU LOTS (: 

-- 

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission

December 19, 2016 - BEcome More Like Christ

HEY! 

So, MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

We still have no snow on the ground, yet I feel like it is the whitest Christmas yet! Not snow white, but PURE white! It has been so cool to be able to help others progress towards baptism and towards the temple! 

Speaking of, Sister Rhodes was baptized this Saturday. Watching her conversion strengthened my faith. This woman loves Christ. 

I got to go on exchanges (a 24-hour companion switch for training purposes) WITH SISTER CUTLER THIS WEEK. Yup, my trainer. Don't judge an exchange by its picture, because the actual exchange was much better than the quality of the picture. I learned so much from her and we have so much fun doing missionary work. I was reminded that one of the biggest blessings of my mission is meeting some of my best friends. We saw so many cool things happen that day. 

​Sister Merrifield and I are seeing great things happen in this area! GREAT! 

A lesson we had in church this week had a part that said this: Christ truly is our best gift! 

MERRY CHRISTmas. My challenge to you is to pick one action from the quote that you want to do more in your life. (: 

Only Christ can be our ideal, our “bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:16). Only he can say without any reservation, “Follow me, learn of me, [and] do the things you have seen me do. Drink of my water and eat of my bread. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the law and the light. Look unto me and ye shall live. Love one another as I have loved you” (see Matt.11:29; 16:24;John 4:13–14; 6:35, 51; 7:37; 13:34; 14:6; 3 Ne. 15:9;27:21).

I love my calling! 

-- 

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission