“He shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.”
THIS SCRIPTURE IS TRUE! God will always take the badness in life and make it goodness 🙂 After Alma called out to the Savior the darkness and anguish he felt left. He said, “There can be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea.. on the other hand there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.” That joy can ONLY be found through repentance, or in other words, turning your heart to God. It is only through the Savior that we can gain deep and lasting joy! I know because I felt it this week! I even felt it last night!

Let me tell you about my night last night. At six o’clock sister DeGolyer and I went out to knock some doors and preach the word. It gets super dark super early here and so we needed flashlights. We knocked on a couple doors. People were not having it. I felt like we should cross the street and go try this barn looking house. We got up to it and realized it was actually a store, so we kept on going to the next house, laughing and whistling hymns all along the way. The man came out of his house before we were able to knock and started yelling at us. He asked us who we were and what we were doing in a not so nice way. We said we were missionaries sharing messages of Christ with people. He wasn’t happy we were out “in the middle of the night.” We said, “We’re sorry! Have a wonderful night” and started to walk away, but he followed us. He threatened to call the police. Just then a golf cart pulled up with bright lights in our eyes. She said some other neighbors called and reported that we had been vandalizing her families business. The woman yelled some not nice things. We explained that we were on our way. THEN a truck pulled up and started shouting at us. We stood there and smiled at them and said we didn’t want to scare anyone. But they said things like “Are you on another planet? We told you to get the *blank* out of here! You aren’t welcome! Just leave now.” Were being literally yelled at. I was honestly shocked at how hostile these people were! As we ran down the road, away from the all the cars, I just started laughing and laughing. Then sister DeGolyer started cracking up. She said, “I guess the Lord has another plan for us!” And He DID! He consecrated our afflictions for our gain! Over the next hour and a half, we were able to teach four lessons and find four new investigators! The fist woman we saw we started talking to. She took my hands in hers and said, “It is such a delight to meet you! You are so beautiful and full of light. I can tell you have sacrificed so much to share this message and I really admire your love for the Lord.” Then she asked us to sit down in front of Starbucks and share our message with her. I almost cried. She was sent straight from God! After that we met and taught 3 other wonderful souls! Tracy, Aubreuna and Paul! God literally placed them in our path and opened their hearts to the Spirit! I know that every negative, uncomfortable, painful or bad experience we have can be transformed into that goodness as we turn to the Lord through it! I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father! He has a perfect plan for us 🙂 I am so blessed to be able to share this knowledge with others! Amanda and Nelson are doing great! They are golden as it gets! We had the sacred privilege of witnessing a priesthood blessing given to baby Bella and to Amanda this morning! It was too beautiful! I love that family!

This week has consisted of eating tomato ice cream, taking pictures of the mountains instead of backing and letting my companion back into a pole (oops, jut a scratch tho 😉 running from house to house on spread out roads in the heavy snow in the darkness (I got a rad headlamp for just that, super dorky) juggling apples, slipping in the snow, reading the scriptures in a trailer park with Jamaicans (praise Jesus!), holding day old kittens (looked more like rats), teaching Tom, a 72 year old atheist who is now, “97% atheist, 3% a believer”, speaking in sacrament meeting, seeing 3 investigators at church :)) teaching the law of Chastity in gospel principles (sexual purity), making pumpkin pancakes, going into old peoples homes and teaching them about Christ’s Gospel by the fire, and SO MANY OTHER FANTASTIC THINGS!

My weekly challenge: (you ready for this?) Is to stop crying about the darkness and TURN ON YOUR HEADLIGHT! Lol. It is up to you to turn on that light. Happiness is a choice. Choose to see the positive. It is only through the Savior that you can find that light that will allow you to see things clearly. He will consecrate your afflictions for your gain. These moments of darkness will define you because you will have that opportunity to act. To turn on that dorky headlight and keep going! I love you all! MAKE THIS WEEK AN EXTRAODINARY ONE! FOR YOURSELF AND OTHERS! Oh, and try not to eat too much candy.