Wednesday, August 27, 2014

ALDERSHOT!!!!!!

Mah familia!!!!!! I HAVE MADE IT SAFELY TO ALDERSHOT!!!!!! Since I was only able to email for a little while, I'm able to send out a quick email to let you know that I'm alive!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooooo, Aldershot is bomb dig!!!!! hahhaha my new comp is FREAKING ADORABLE!!!!!! She is from JAPAN and her name is Sister Y!!!!  I call her Sister Yoshi... hahah she is HALF my size!!!!!!! hahahhhhhahhha
I just wanted to express my love for you!!!!!!
TODAY WAS COOL!!!!!
Soooo, we have an investigator here in good ole Aldershot named L, from Romania and his friend G, but they can't speak a WORD of English hahhaha soooo the Zone leaders in Redding, one of which is a really close friend of mine actually, travel all the way to teach him because Elder P. is from Romania!!!! Elder M. is from Utah though soooo a lil piece of home right dere!!! hahhaha and even though the whole teach was in Romanian, the spirit was SO strong!!!!!! GOD SPEAKS ALL LANGUAGES!!!!!!!
And then, these 10 year old boys came up and started swearing and all that, so Elder M. and I took them aside for a minute so that the teach could go on. I dared them to go find treasure in the forest (so we could have peace and quiet), and ten minutes later they come back with a bunch of tires hahhaha they started being distracting again so Elder M. and I took them aside again... hahahah.... I dared them to go build something with the tires, so they did!!!
One of the boys then told me to "f--- off" and Elder M., like the cool cat he is, stepped up and said, "Hey, you do NOT speak to a woman like that!" And then the boys friend stepped up and said, "yeah, man. don't swear in front of a lady."
THERE IS SOME GOOD IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!
But, I can testify to standing in holy places!!! And standing firm when it's hard to feel the spirit!!!!!!!!!
I love you all!!!!!


Last few short emails from Haywards Heath

Monday, August 4, 2014

The Lord and His tender mercies.... < 3

When Heavenly Father says, "I have a plan for you," He isn't saying, "You have a plan for you!" He is saying, "I have made a beautiful plan FOR you. It is especially made FOR you. I designed to fit YOUR personality, YOUR dreams, YOUR desires." He fits it TO us in a way that we can gain ETERNAL HAPPINESS!!! And eternal happiness is living with Him again!! He just has different ways of getting us all there!

And when you go on a mission, you understand what He truly means when He says, "I have a plan for you!" Because you're teaching it A LOT.

There have been several times on my mission when He puts someone into my life I KNOW I needed to meet. I KNOW that I knew that person in the Pre-Earth life and I promised them, "I WILL find you and I WILL teach you the gospel!" And when you live up to that promise, Heavenly Father guides you to those people! Whether it's investigators or less actives!

England is AMAZING. Holy cow!!!! I will be witnessing my FIFTH baptism this week!!!!! HOW BLESSED AM I THAT THE LORD THINKS I'M WORTHY ENOUGH TO WITNESS THAT!!???

N AND D GOT BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAMMMMMMAAAAZZZZZIIIIIINNNGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3<3<3<3

 I can only think of one word to describe my mission so far: HUMBLING.

 Before I left, I was sooooo confident in who I was and who I wanted to be. And, at times, I think I was TOO confident.

My mission has really taught me who I really am through the Lord's tender mercies and who HE wants me to be.

My life isn't mine. IT'S THE LORD'S.

This life isn't about what I want. IT'S ABOUT WHAT HE WANTS.

It has taken me four fetching months to forget myself. And not just forget myself, but LOSE myself.
Matthew 10:39 says, "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

When you LOSE yourself in the Lord's cause, you FIND who you really are, who HE wants you to be, and who you are MEANT to be.

I have learned LOADS so far on my mission.

But one thing in particular sticks out to me..

A mission is hard and isn't fun sometimes.  It's  not meant to be. Because if you go on a mission to have fun, you're not going for the right reasons. A mission IS meant to be hard.

It's  hard because I have left my friends, my righteous desires, my dreams, my goals, my family, my LIFE. But, I have done it so that others can have their friends, their righteous desires, their dreams, their goals, their family, their LIVES for eternity.

No, it's not fun sometimes, but, I can testify, if you go on a mission for the right reasons and you forget EVERYTHING about you, the Lord will make sure you have fun... :)

-Sister Vande Merwe