Guess What? 9/9/12

The Lord works in mysterious ways and Sister Benson and I are both staying in Newcastle Emlyn for our 5th transfer!  By the time this one is over I will have spent 7 months with Sis.Benson.  At first we were both a bit disheartened because not a lot has been happening in our area and we would both like to see change happen.  But we had a long talk on Monday night after we got the news and we have decided that there must be something that the Lord wants the two of us to do in this area and we need to start working harder to find out what.  We have both prayed a lot and have come to the answer that we need to strengthen the ward.  We haven't had a lot of success in finding people on our own, and Preach My Gospel says that finding through members is one of the most effective ways to do the work.  So we spent time talking to the Bishop and the Relief Society pres. and the ward mission leader and they all agree that the ward is struggling and needs something.   We are all going to pray about it and then decide together what specifically the ward needs.  Sis.Benson and I have set a goal to have a 25 min. member lesson with each active family in the ward and see if we can help unite them.   I am actually now quite excited for this next transfer and for the work we are going to do.  I think we are going to be working a lot on unity: unity in the ward, unity with my companion, and unity with God.

 Being with Sis.Benson has been a struggle for me these past 5 months and I think the Lord has kept me with her to finally learn how to be united with her.  We have a lot more long talks these days and work things out until with both feel good about an idea.  I really am grateful for longer time to be with her so that we can work better and closer together.  For starters we are both going to help each other to exercise better and eat healthier.  She doesn't need to loose much weight, but I sure could.  At sisters conference I think nearly every sister says they have gained weight.  Ha ha!  I am just glad that I have this time to focus on the Lord and serve and then when I get home I can focus on getting into shape.  30 min. of exercise time in the morning is never enough time to do very much,  but Sis.Benson and I are going to work together to make it more effective.  And I'll keep praying that I may be sent to a bike area someday (:    There's a guy in the ward who just got home from serving a mission in Provo Ut and he said that the average weight gain for sisters was 50 lbs!!!  I don't know what it is for this mission, but I'll try my hardest not to go to that extreme. Ha ha!

 I also want to work on personally being more united with the Lord.  Pres.Rasmussen talked about aligning our wills with the Lord's at Sisters conference.  We read the definition of prayer in the Bible dictionary and how it isn't praying that our will happens to match what Heavenly Father wants, but rather inviting the Spirit so that we will be guided in what we pray for and then seeking to know the Lord's will.  I read a really good scripture this morning in D&C 46, it may have been the last verse of the section, but it talked about how if we have the Spirit when we ask, then the Lord will answer us with the Spirit.  That is when all things become possible - when we are doing what the Lord has in mind.  The brother of Jared was so in tune with the Spirit that he didn't have faith anymore.  Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things, but the brother of Jared had so much faith that he did know all things.  He was so much on the same page as the Lord that the Lord knew he wouldn't ask for anything that was contrary to His will.   The Brother of Jared is such an amazing example and I personally want to work on that this next transfer.  Rather than praying for miracles to happen, I want to do what the Lord wants me to do and that is when the miracles will start to show forth.

 Yeah, Sister's conference was so good and so much fun.  I really enjoyed getting to know the other sisters and it was such an uplifting experience.  Most of the district and zone meetings we have are all about improving our missionary skills and how to be better missionaries, but this conference was almost solely about uplifting and encouraging us.  I feel like I have come away with more confidence in this work than before.  It was truly a blessing to go and to be taught and feel such a strong Spirit. Probably the funniest part was when the Assistants taught us.  Elder Schiller told us to turn to Mosiah 19:13 and said that if the elders can't do it, send in the sisters.  Ha ha ha!  Oh man, we all just laughed  and laughed.

 But thank you all so much for your emails and letters.  I recieved Katelyn's letter this week and also the pictures that mom sent and they are so uplifting and I love hearing about things going on back home.  I'm sad to miss the fall there, because it too was my favorite time of year.  It is still sunny and green here, but there is definitely a chill in the air.  Sis.Benson and I are going to go down to Carmarthen in a bit and do some shopping for some warmer clothes.   Some of the leaves are starting to change color, but everyone says that it will just stay green all through the winter even though a few trees will lose their leaves.  I'm not sure how I feel about the oncoming cold, but it is nice to feel a little bit of change happening in the air.

I love you all so much and I hope that you continue to have a wonderful week (:

 Sister LeFevre