Tuesday, April 26, 2016

It's Not About How Hard You Hit, But How Hard You GET Hit and Get Back Up

So, we were teaching a recent convert yesterday and he quoted Rocky and I felt that it was completely appropriate for this weeks email. haha 

This week I learned that there truly is opposition in all things. And not only is there opposition but the greater the challenge the greater the blessing. That because there is opposition the opposition and the blessing at hand have to equal in magnitude. Think about Joseph Smith and before he had the first vision think of the opposition that be-fronted him. Think about Moses and after He was visited by the Father of the temptation the came.

 It is true in our lives as well. I think of the month before I entered the MTC and I was convinced I was not going. The challenge was just too great, but then the blessings that have come from serving a mission. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. This week was no different. The challenge almost seemed impossible but as the week went on the greater the miracles appeared. 

All transfer we have struggled with finding investigators and we have tried everything that seemed possible. Trials just kept coming and we worked as hard as we could and still nothing. I could feel that there was an amazing blessing right around the corner so we would keep working and keep trying harder and harder and still nothing. Nothing was happening. I realized something. I realized that it was in those moments that Satan was trying to get me to stop. It was then that Satan knew what blessing was right around the corner and he didn't want them to come. He was expecting us to quit and doing everything possible to get us to. Those blessing are too great and are going to benefit us beyond our comprehension and he knew that. He knew that those blessings would come to be "an annoyer of his kingdom" (JSH1:20)

In life we need to remember that. In those moments that we want to give up and say "This is just too hard, I can't do it anymore." Those are the moments that we need to continue on. Those are the moments we need to get on our knees and pray our hearts out for strength and then get on our feet and go to work. Those are the times when it matters most whose team you're on. I promise the blessings come. They always have and they always will. They have for me and I know that they will for you. 

My favorite line in the hymn I believe in Christ is "I believe in Christ, so come what may" I believe in Christ so hit me with all you've got. As long as we remember that we can overcome everything. We are gonna have trials and struggles and hardships but if we remember whose side we are one we will know that He never leaves us alone. He never deserts us. He is there with us through it all and the blessing will be as equal as the trial. If you feel like you're at that breaking moment keep going. Don't give in. There are blessings beyond our comprehension waiting for you. 

LOVE YOU ALL!

-Sister Wade
 OH! And read Alma 36 I'm challenging all of you to read it today!(: 

FUN FACTS:
1. We got to go onto White Sands Missile Range and holy moly the security you've gotta go through is death! if someone were to try and break in it would never happen. haha
2. I had sweet potatoes for the first time and they are now my new favorite food. Seriously if you've never had one TRY.THEM.NOW.

3. We may be walking all over Las Cruces for the rest of the week cause we may have possibly run outta miles.... haha 

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Run As Fast As You Can

So we hear the phrase a ton in this church that we aren't to run faster than we have strength right? It is talked about all the time by our leaders, in the scriptures, and in General Conference so it's pretty well known. In Doctrine and Covenants 10:4 it reads
"Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end."
I was thinking about this scripture and realized that no, we aren't supposed to run faster than we have strength, but we are expected to run as fast as we can.

I was talking about this with Sister Ferrin and something she said really struck me. She used to be a track runner and her coach used to always tell her that you don't know how fast you can run until you run it. Wow I really love that. We don't know how fast we can actually run until we run it. 

In this life there is going to be challenges. There is going to be difficulties and trials and we all are going to come to a point where we feel we cant go one more step. We feel that we have done all that we can do. We have run as fast as we ever have run before. Then Heavenly Father asks us to give a little bit more. And we say to ourselves I can't do it. It's physically not possible. It is in those moments that we need to remember that "the Lord giveth no commandment unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way." (1 Nephi 3:7) That he wants us to break our record. He wants us to get our new best time. He knows we can give more. In the moment that we trust Him and say "Okay I'm trusting you. Help me to do this." That we overcome so much. It is in those moments that we get our own new best record that we grow.

I think some times we say to ourselves "I can't go anymore, and I'm not supposed to run faster than I have strength so I'm done. I don't need to try harder. This is my breaking point. So I'm just going to stop. Sorry Heavenly Father that is more than I can do." But we need to remember that He knows us. He knows our strengths and our weaknesses and He will not give us anything we cannot conquer. He knows how fast we can run. He knows how fast we need to run in order to grow and stretch ourselves. We just need to rely on Him and run as fast as we can. 

LOVE YOU LOTS! 
-Sister Wade 

FUN FACTS:
1. So it's super funny cause here in NM if you have a grass lawn you are a "rich kid" haha We saw someone mowing their lawn and almost stopped to take a picture cause you NEVER see that here! 
2. Hatch is the cutest lil town in the world.
3. So I went on exchanges in Hatch annnndddd guess where I slept? In a house? Nope. In an apartment? Nope. Outside? Nope. In a Catholic Church house? YUP! Haha So funny! So there is the cutest little lady that used to be catholic and her dad owned a catholic church and then she converted and when her dad died she inherited the church. She tried selling it but no one bought it so she rents it out it the missionaries and they live in this catholic church! It is so cool! Literally it is the area most talked about in the New Mexico Albuquerque Mission.
4. Oh also the Hatch Hermanas cover a town called Truth or Consequences or "T or C" as the call it. Look up why it was named that. SUPER FUNNY!! 
5. Oh did I mention I'm never coming home? Haha I love it so much here!!
Oh and Sista Ferrin
&
  I in our apartment

So my mom sent us mallow eggs to color
 and we finally did them during lunch so that was fun!
They turned out hideous
but hey its the experience right?(;


Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Road Trip to...Disneyland!!!


Sister Carlson Front Left and Sister Saunders Front Right
Sister Ferrin Back Left and Me Back Right
ROAD TRIP TO DISNEYLAND!! Haha or Albuquerque... And gotta stop and get a green chile burger! 

So I have pretty much zero time so this is gonna be real short. This was was pretty great! Met lots of crazy people like normal and hate lots of green chile like normal. haha 

This week I am ponderizing the scirpture Alma 58:37 and I love it lots I love that all we have to do is trust in the Lord. Nothing else matters. As long as we trust in the Lord we will be able to conquer all things. It mattereth not. Trust in Him and we will be able to over come our trials. I feel like that is something that was talked about a lot at conference is trusting. Trust Him and it will all work out. Trust Him and know that He has a plan for you to return to Him. 

Love you all lots!


-Sister Wade

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man

Wow wasn't conference the best thing in the entire world?! I am seriously putting my most favorite talks on a flash drive and listening to them instead of music no big deal. I loved every single one. But my most favorite talks were Elder Holland's, Elder Uchtdorf's and Elder Hallstroms. I love the power that comes from their testimonies and the strength that they bring. The true discipleship they have. I want to be just like them! 

This week I was studying and I came across the story of the wise man and the foolish man in the bible. I got so excited because I used to love that story and love the song in primary. This time as I read over it I realized something that I never realized before. I used to always thing that the wise man was someone that was in the church and the foolish man was someone that was going about doing wicked things relying on the merits of others and trying to make his own in life. Then I came across verse 24 and 26 in Matthew chapter 7 and something clicked.
"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock...
"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand"

The difference between the wise man and the foolish man isn't that one is a member of the church and one is going around declaring that the is not God, but rather the difference is that the wise man hears the words of the Lord and acts on them. He strives to become the person that Heavenly Father needs him to be rather than the foolish man who hears the words and doesn't do them. 

I thought about conference as I read that. How many of us (I have definitely guilty of this occasionally) listen to conference and say "Wow, wasn't conference, (or stake conference, or sunday school, or sacrament, or seminary, etc) just amazing?! Wasn't the spirit so strong? Then what do we do? Go back to the exact same way that we were before. In doing so we become the foolish man. That when the rains and the winds come, when life gets hard we fall and crumble. Not because we didn't know the truths. But because we didn't apply them to our lives. We didn't act on them. In doing so when the trials come we don't know how to stay strong because we never did as the prophets asked. We never changed who we were to become the person that could overcome that trial. 

I want to challenge all of you to do something about conference. Change. Become the people the prophets talk about. Strengthen your faith. Do what the Lord asks, so that when the rains and the winds come you can have your foundation on the rock. You can know for yourself that this is the true church and He will help you through your trials because you've experienced it for yourself. 

I love you all and hope you had an amazing conference weekend! Hope you have the best day! 

Love 
Sister Wade

FUN FACTS:
1.I learned how to hem this week and helped a member hem her husbands pants for service haha
2. I did stain glass last tueday for p-day i'm pretty sure you could call me a pro(;
3. We may have almost burnt down the apartment making pancakes. No big deal.
4. We got lost like 34 times with the map this week but hey we just know Las Cruces better now

5. We met some guys that told us to doubt everything and trust nothing. Then they told us that "I'm not real and he's not real and the car isn't real and the trees really aren't there. It is all just a figure of your imagination." *whoooo!* haha it was too funny! There are definitely some crazy people in Las Cruces