Hello from the Ohio!
GUESS WHAT! I have the BEST news! Ha ha. This week we got a letter from Sister Jensen that had the new requirements and pictures for the dress code put out by the Church (remember the pictures that came in my mission packet that were awful!). Well these new pictures were so cute and modern and even better… we aren’t required to wear nylons!!! *doing a little dance* ha ha. I was so excited I danced in our kitchen for ten minutes, Sister Sunderland as my witness. I just had to share my excitement!
Besides just no more nylons, what a wonderful time to be alive! Seriously! We have so many blessings! Sometimes I really can’t count them they are so many! Blessings like the Book of Mormon! I love the Book of Mormon! Every time I read it my testimony of the Restoration is strengthened.
And modern day prophet and apostles! Who we get to hear from in a few weeks! I am so excited! General Conference is my favorite time of the year. Can you believe it has almost been six months since the last conference? Times goes so fast! I’m just finally figuring out how to apply the last set of general conference talks! ha ha.
And the priesthood! I think one of the greatest experiences of my mission has been to really learn how the priesthood works and to watch the insider scoop of the priesthood leadership in each unit I serve in. It has been a wonderful learning experience.
And missions! This experience over the last year has blessed my life in so many ways. I can’t even count them! I am just so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who let me have this opportunity. Tell Anna to hang in there. From my experience it is WAY harder to send someone off then to be the one going. Ha ha. Leaving was a piece of cake (no offense). Taylor will be an amazing missionary! He’s got it in him. And this is one of the greatest times to serve a mission. What a lucky duck!
Sister Sunderland and I have had a really good week. We had a zone meeting and interviews with President Jensen that was wonderful… like always. Our meeting was about personal conversion and how we must be truly converted to our God. It was a really good opportunity to take a personal inventory of whether everything I do is done “with an eye single to the glory of God” or if sometimes I “aspire to the honors of men.” I would encourage you to do the same and then make appropriate goals to refocus on the Lord and His work. We can be doing the right things, but without the right intentions they mean nothing.
Can I share something I’ve been learning a lot about lately? Prayer. Pray is amazing! I know ya’ll know that, but what I’m learning is how powerful prayer can be! And we can have those powerful experiences on a regular basis!!! It’s so cool. What I’m finally starting to understand is the preparation that we should be putting into our prayers. It helps me a lot when I visualize the Lord sitting there with me, listening and talking with me. When the time comes that I go into the presence of the Lord physically I definitely want to be prepared! I want to be clean and pure and reverent and ready. So when I’m going into the Lord’s presence spiritually shouldn’t I do the same? I love prayer. I am so grateful for it. And I’m grateful for the answers that come. I got to give a last minute talk yesterday on the Holy Ghost at Anicka Taylor’s baptism (good thing I’ve had lots of practice with baptism talks… thanks Brandon and Brittany… haha) but I loved being able to testify of the power of the Holy Ghost! It truly is one of our greatest gifts! I know that God answers our prayers by the power of the Holy Ghost because I’ve felt it over and over again.
Anyway, just some thoughts for the week. I love you lots and lots and lots! You don’t even know how much I love you! Next time the mission office calls you should tell them that I actually want to fly into Russia, or France. Ha ha. Why not? You can meet me there!
Sister Painter
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