Sister Lauren Holbrook: Week 24: Missionary Life Is The BEST!

So people from Mueller Park are finding my blog.... Hello my beloved Mueller Park peeps!!

There are so many amazing things happening in this Stake that I just can't handle it. You want to know why we're so busy that we can hardly handle it?

MEMBERS.

Members are the secret to everything. They have invited people into their homes, offered to go out contacting with us, come to lessons with us, helped increase enthusiasm in their wards, etc.

This past week we have been having family nights, creating family mission plans, contacting referrals, going to regular appointments, visiting widows, organizing the area book, gone on exchanges, learned from other missionaries, finding new people to teach, reading the Book of Mormon, and a million other things.

I LOVE being a missionary.

I love being so busy every single day that the work just completely engulfs your entire focus. I love coming home and being totally exhausted that I fall asleep instantly (a new thing for me). I love being myself as I teach and interact with people all day long. I love giving my all, and then turning to the Lord and having Him make up the difference and more. I love visiting with members and seeing them reach out to people they know. I love meeting new people and sharing my testimony with them.

I love being able to talk about the Restoration, about the Book of Mormon, and about Jesus Christ and His Atonement every single minute of every day. I love not needing to worry about the rest of the world and the harsh realities of life - or at least, those in my own life. I love relying completely on Heavenly Father's plan for me and for this area. I love seeing people open their hearts and choose to change as they decide to come closer to Christ. I love seeing these sons and daughters of God through Heavenly Father's eyes. I love being here and loving these people with all my heart.

I love being a missionary!

This week I also saw some amazing people: Sister Beeton (one of my first companions) and my two sisters!! Craziness. I love them all so much and am so grateful for the influence they have had on my life.

We also had exchanges this week. I went to the North Salt Lake stake for a day and had a grand old time contacting referrals, going to a Relief Society activity, and teaching a few lessons. That day was a wonderful reminder to me of the importance of having fun. Missionary work is HARD. Really hard. It is physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. I laugh probably fifty times a day at the ridiculous little things that happen to us. When we're having a rough day, we look for opportunities to breathe and laugh for a few seconds. When you have fun, it makes everything that much better.

Some of the fun moments of this week: we caught some crazy cats that a woman was babysitting, we ate lots and lots of Mexican food, our investigator juggled knives for us, we had a Russian woman yell at us, we took a 17 second nap on an investigator's front lawn when they weren't home, we crashed a member's birthday dinner, we talked in British accents for 20 minutes straight, we had green food for St. Patrick's day, we played frisbee with a dog in 20 degree weather. And maybe those aren't funny to you, but they are absolutely hilarious for me.

We have a good time out here in Bountiful :)

General Conference is right around the corner and I am SO EXCITED!!!! We are so blessed to have prophets and apostles on the earth today who speak to us and tell us the things Heavenly Father needs us to know and apply so we can be prepared for the things that are coming.

What an amazing miracle and blessing that is in this day.

This Saturday is the first ever General Women's Meeting for all the women of the Church and of the world!!! It is going to be AMAZING. I would invite every single woman to watch that broadcast this Saturday at 6:00pm MDT.

Something I write down at the end of every single meeting is "Therefore, what?" Because of the things that I have observed, learned, and felt today, what am I going to do about it?

What will you do about the things that you have learned today?

I love this Church. I love this gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love being able to focus completely on Him and Heavenly Father's work.

I love you all dearly. I hope you all have a wonderful week full of miracles as you go forth and act in faith! Keep smiling :)

Love,

Sister Holbrook