We Have Reached the Halfway Point

Dear Family and Friends,

As usual we had a great week here in Pinnacle Mountain despite the rain and sleet and snow. Things are going well. We have people to teach and our recent converts are doing well. And there is a rumor that we may have full car........ this rumor was just dispelled, we will be walking this week. But life is still good!

This upcoming Wednesday I will officially hit my 9 month mark of my 18 month mission. I cannot believe how fast time has flown by! I still feel like a brand new missionary most of the time and still have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. But I also can tell that I am not the same missionary or person that I was 9 months ago.

My testimony of the gospel and of my Savior is much stronger. I am much more confident than I was before. I am a lot more patient with people and not as quick to judge. I understand the power of the Book of Mormon and know that it can change lives. I recognize what it means to be humble and why it is so essential to be this way. I think most of all I have come to understand what it means to have a Savior and how to rely on him.

I think about how 9 months ago I thought that I could be a missionary. I believe that I had studied enough and I had a strong enough testimony that I could do this work. I knew that I would need the help of the Savior but I figured that I could do most of the work on my own and Christ would just go behind me and make up the rest. This idea has changed completely 9 months later. I now recognize that Christ is not just there after all we can do but is there working along side of us always. I now understand that this is not my work but His work and I'm not here to do my will but His will. Just as it says in 3 Nephi 5:15 I 'm here to declare "HIS word among HIS people," and that is something I can't do by myself at all. I have realized that it is a privilege to rely on our Savior not a sign of weakness. He is there to help us because he knows that we can't do it alone. I now know that missionary work can only be done by relying on the Savior and that life is so much better when we rely on the Savior. And this knowledge has made me so much more thankful that "God loved us so he sent his son,"

I am so lucky that I get to continue to grow my testimony of the Savior and his gospel and share that testimony with others for the next nine months. I'm so lucky that I still have more learning and growing and changing to do. Thank you for all that y'all have done for me this first half of my mission. I have appreciated all the support that I continue to get. Thank you!

 

Hope everyone has a great week!
Love
Sister Aase