email 31 Mar 2015
So first of all ... transfer results! Drum roll please ... ... ... ... I'm off to Ogden Weber North with Sister Betzold! She is in charge of the musical fireside and has an amazing voice! I'm SO excited!!!! We are going to sing all the day long!
Okay now on to this past week :) I'm sorry I didn't have time to write again last week about my birthday. So it started off with Sister Wharton making me pancakes:) Then we went to the church building to do emails and I went into the gym and there was a surprise party waiting for me! A whole bunch of sisters were there and one of my favorite people from Huntsville! It was awesome! And then we did various activities and ended with some of my favorite frozen yogurt:) [See pictures added to last week if you missed it.] It was a blast of a day!
So I've recently found out that Sister Wharton's spirit animal is a butterfly ... for those of you who know me ... you know I don't do butterflies. At all. They are a good luck charm for her and Heavenly Father lets her know she's doing a good job and sends her signs through butterflies. We see about 9 everyday. NINE. DAILY. I've never seen so many butterflies in my whole life! So our days look like this: Sister Wharton walking nicely down the street and then there's me trying to dodge all the butterflies and tree branches and box elder bugs that come in our path. It's quite the sight to see. haha
This past week our landlady was dog-sitting!!! SO FUN!!! Every morning while I was doing my personal study, the dog would come down the stairs and curl up with me in my chair and study with me:) It was a fun little treat to have a puppy around.
This weekend is General Conference and I am BEYOND excited!!! This past week we watched the Women's Conference and it was all about families. I love that! I loved the line someone said that, "We all have the seed of perfection within us." This just shows our divine heritage. We have a loving Father in Heaven. He is literally the Father of our spirits. We are all sons and daughters that have the potential to be perfect. To be whole. And to be like Him. I love the emphasis that they made on teaching our Children in the home. And how much the gospel blesses families. These are simple truths that are so easy to forget! I can't wait to learn more from the prophets and apostles on the earth today. I'm so very grateful that Heavenly Father gives us modern day prophets to guide us in this dispensation.
General Conference sessions are posted here after transcription. The Women's Conference is already posted. The menu on the left side shows options for watching live sessions this weekend. Saturday 11-1 and 3-5 CDT. Sunday 11-1 and 3-5 CDT. - Ed Sarlls
This month in the Ensign there was a talk titled "It's not a sin to be weak". It's seriously the best article in the Ensign I've ever read. It spoke to me so much and it taught me how to be kind to myself and accept and actually love my weaknesses. You should really read it. It talked about how Jesus Christ had no sin. But he did have weaknesses like we all do! It made me realize how much our weaknesses are part of Heavenly Father's plan for us. It's how we learn. It's how we grow. It's the point of our very existence.
So there's a new video that came out this past week called "He Lives". It's kind of the same style as the "He is the Gift" video at Christmas. Only this one is for Easter. It's amazing!!! It talks about how Christ is in every part of our life. It makes me think of the sacrament prayer where it tells us to "always remember Him". He doesn't live only at Easter. He lives now. He lives always. And because of that, we can find Him in every detail of our lives. I love the fact that in His perfect, resurrected body, He chose to keep the signs of His sacrifice for us. He chose to keep the holes in His hands and the wounds in His side. He can never forget what He has done for us. And we shouldn't forget either. I invite all of you to watch this video. And to Find Him in your life.
Here is a collection of Videos beginning with "He Lives!" and then depicting the life of Jesus Christ from his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday through the week, the Last Supper, the Atonement in Gethsemane, the betrayal, trials, crucifixion on Good Friday, burial, resurrection on Easter Sunday, appearances, and ascension. The collection last about an hour so watch a few at a time if you wish. http://tinyurl.com/JesusEaster - Ed Sarlls
I'm so excited to see what this transfer brings!
Love,
Sister Sarlls
24 Mar 2015
I'M 20 NOW YAAAAAY!!!!! All my best missionary friends have so many activities planned for me today. But they're all surprises! I'll probably send another email telling about what we did today :)
I had a super spiritual experience this week. So like I said, we're hurting for some people to teach. There was a night this week that I had a super long prayer. It was probably 15 minutes. The whole time I was begging Heavenly Father. I told Him that we would do ANYTHING he needed us to do to be able to find someone to teach. I was begging. The next morning we got a call telling us that we're losing our car. So we are now a walking area. We will be putting miles on our Chevrolegs and Lambofeeties! I KNOW that this is supposed to happen. I know without a doubt that this is an answer to my prayers. I'm not TOO excited to be walking uphill everyday. But I know that it is meant to happen.
Before we lost our car, our mission had a "car fast". So everyone in our mission for a day was in a walking area. IT KILLED ME. hahaha I was soooo pooped. But I felt so successful! It felt good to be exhausted from working so hard! When we got home, I realized that I was COVERED in freckles and sunburns. Haha And then the next day we went to a huge community orchard with our zone and pruned all the peach trees! I'm an expert pruner now. So if you ever need help with your peach trees, you know who to call! It was super fun! But again....I forgot to wear sunscreen. So I have double sunburn. And double freckles. And I was wearing a braid so half of my chest is completely white and half of it is completely red hahaha it's lovely! But I love doing service! It's one of my favorite things we get to do as missionaries.
A Song: Sniff and Snarls are back!
Love,
Sister (adult) Sarlls
email 17 March 2015
Hello one and all!
This week was swell! We had a blitz in our area. So we had about 8 companionships go around visiting people in our area. We had some miracles happen and I'm so grateful for the amazing missionaries that helped us out!
We've been showing the "Because of Him" video that came out last year for Easter. Of course every time I watch it something new stands out. The part that stood out to me this last time was that Jesus Christ didn't have to suffer for us. All that was required for Him for our salvation was to atone for our sins so we would be able to repent. Him suffering for all of our pains and afflictions in the Garden of Gethsemane was purely out of His love for us. Because He loved us so much that he wanted to know exactly what each of us individually felt. And Heavenly Father could have revealed to Him through revelation how we felt. But He chose to actually go through the pain. How amazing is His love for us!
So in the past 3 days I've run out of all of my asthma and allergy pills. We're in the middle of teaching a lesson and I start SNEEZING MY HEAD OFF!!! Along with I can't breathe and then I start laughing so I can't breathe even more and it's just a huge hot mess. hahaha. It turned out okay but it was funny while it happened. Spring is here and I LOVE IT, but my nose doesn't. :)
We were planning on singing in Sacrament Meeting and we get there and they completely forgot about it! It was kinda a bummer. BUT THEN we see these people and Sister Wharton just starts bawling. They were a couple she knew from her home ward that helped and supported her coming on her mission. I know it was such a tender mercy for her to see them! I know that Heavenly Father needed us to be in that ward at that time so she could see her friends. Heavenly Father is so aware of every detail of our lives and of ourselves. It's amazing how much how cares about us to send us the little moments of bliss!
We had an amazing experience this past week! So I really had to go to the bathroom so we ran by a church building and there was a young black lady standing outside. You have to understand that I've only seen like one black person in all of Utah. So it's rare! I started talking to her and she was a sales lady and she was pregnant so we let her in to use the bathroom. And she was walking around selling with no food! So we gave her a ride to our apartment to have some food. She started asking questions and it just led us right into teaching her the restoration. She was crying and we left her with a Book of Mormon. We probably will never see her again since she doesn't live in our area. And almost everything we did to help her was against the rules. But I feel so good in my heart that we took the time to help someone in need and were able to befriend her. I felt so much love for her and it makes my heart smile knowing that I did what Christ would have done. Sometimes it just feels good to serve:)
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I want you to all to know how much I love my mission. I wouldn't be doing anything else. Yesterday we had a training where an Elder just about to go home told us to make every morning a spiritual experience putting on our tag. I did that this morning and started crying. I never want to take this tag off. It's not forever I'll be able to be Sister Sarlls. And it's not forever I'll be able to be a full-time representative of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary so much. It's the most amazing thing I've ever done in my life. And the most amazing thing I've done for my life. I can't explain the happiness it brings me. I can't use words to describe what I feel in my heart for my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the people in Ogden, and now myself. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world.
Love ya,
Sister Sarlls
email 10 Mar 2015
Howdy howdy!
Well this week was pretty good! A lot of things have been happening! On Wednesday we had a mission-wide iPad training for 5 hours straight with no break. It was a lot but it was super good! I got to see Sister Hadden there so I was really excited to see her! :) Our mission is doing a pilot program for the iPads. They're restarting everything with a new program. So we're getting new iPads and we aren't going to have Facebook or Facebook messenger for 3-4 months. The training was all about how we can use the iPads and technology in general to come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They kept telling us "this training isn't about iPads. It's not about your mission. This is going to effect you for the rest of your life." It was a really spiritual meeting. And it makes me want to use technology more for strengthening others than for Pinterest or googling random things. It's easy to be idle on technology. But there's so much good on there! I'm excited to see what the new program will bring for us to do. :)
Another thing that we got with the iPads is FAMILY SEARCH!!! I've been bitten by the family history bug! It's so amazing to see the pictures and stories of my ancestors and the things that they've been through. I love feeling that connection with them. It's such a blessing to know that I can be sealed to them for eternity. I've tried to do family history before but I've never been able to find anything. Sister Wharton and I got a little training on how to do it and this week I've probably spent 3 hours on it and I've found 107 people that are ready to have their temple work done! It's been a huge blessing in my life and I know it has been in theirs. I can only imagine what It would feel like to be waiting since the 1700s to be baptized and to be sealed to your family. I'm so excited to be able to give all these people the opportunity to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.
At district meeting this past week, someone said something that stuck out to me. They said "obedience brings blessings. But exact obedience brings miracles." And that's exactly what we need right now are some miracles!!! So we've decided to make "exact attack" sticker charts to make sure we're being as obedient as we can be! And we've been seeing a lot of progression in our area since we've started! We've been able to find some potential people to teach. And I know it's from being obedient!
We were at a birthday party and I met this lady who was a music major and she offered to give me voice lessons once a week! I AM SO EXCITED!!! I got permission to spend an hour singing. I'm really excited to start working on music again. :) We've been walking around our area while I play my ukulele and it seems to help people feel welcome to talk to us and it's been a cool outlet/finding tool.
We gave a talk this past Sunday on "Sacrifices that Bring Blessings." There are tons of sacrifices we make. Tithing, fasting, missions, callings, parenting ... all of them sacrifice different things. But the reason we make these sacrifices is the same. It's to strengthen. Whether it's strengthening ourselves or strengthening others. The definition of blessing is "God's favor and protection." Sacrifice brings his favor and protection. Favor can mean favorite. But it also means resemble. As we make sacrifices, we are able to resemble Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The most important thing I think we can sacrifice is our will. I've definitely seen this a lot on my mission. When Christ is in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prays to Heavenly Father. In Luke 22:42-43 it says,
42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
He sacrificed His will because he loved us. And because he loved his father. I love the last part that says that angels strengthened him. Sacrifice brings strength. And as we sacrifice our will to His, we will receive strength to get through anything. His will isn't always the easiest. We will all go through our own Gethsemanes. But we will receive strength. And I can promise that. I love this gospel. I love my Heavenly Father. And I love my savior, Jesus Christ.
Love ya lots,
Sister Sarlls
email 03 Mar 2015
Hello errbody!
This week has been a little crazy. We have no one to teach. Nada. Zip. So you know what that means! A lot of trying to find people to teach! Yaaaaaay! Knocking on doors gets really old really fast. And honestly it's not very productive. SO we tried to think of some fun ways to find people to teach! The one we tried this past week was a youth party. Some youth invited some friends over who might be interested in being taught and we played some games and then had a lesson with them! The lesson went like this...
We had a blank ice-cream sundae which represents our life when we haven't made any mistakes yet. But everyone messes up sometimes. Maybe we cheat on a test (put on mustard) cuss (dog food) bully (dirt) (we had them come up with the mistakes. While we put on more gross toppings) After that we asked them who wanted to eat this sundae. Of course no one did. (I'm glad no one did). But what do we do with it?? It's still good food and we don't want to waste it. Heavenly Father knows that our sundae, no matter how gross, has to be eaten. It's what justice requires. But that's why he provided our Savior, Jesus Christ. To eat our sundae so the food isn't wasted. And so that we can get a new fresh sundae. Jesus Christ is willing to eat as many bad sundaes as He needs to to help us return to our Father in Heaven. The part I loved about this lesson was that we not only got rid of the bad things, but with our new sundae we replaced the bad with good things in our life like family, scripture study, church, prayer. And at the end, everyone got a yummy sundae!!! It was a really fun lesson and hopefully we will be able to teach some of the youth that were there:)
It seems the theme of this week in my studies has been being strengthened through Christ. I'm not going to lie...this has been a hard transfer for me so far. And I've definitely needed some extra strength. I was reading in 1 Nephi 7:16-17. Nephi's brothers bound him up with cords. And in 17 Nephi prays to Heavenly Father to give him the strength to break the bands. When I read that, it touched my heart. I had been praying for Heavenly Father to just take my hardships away. Maybe I wasn't praying for that, but that's what I expected and wanted to happen!!! And it reminded me of the reason we have trials. The reason why we are here on this earth. It's to be strengthened. It's so that we can learn, grow, and come closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior. These are truths I already knew...but I definitely needed a reminder.
I've been learning a ton this week through my experiences, my studies, my companion, and my area. I know that I am here in the Ben Lomond Stake for a reason. I know that I am with Sister Wharton for a reason. And I know that Heavenly Father is aware of every single thing in my life and in my heart. And He is not leaving me comfortless. Nor any of us. (John 14:18)
Also last fun fact, the new mission president for the Houston South mission is in my stake!!!
Love ya lots!
Sister Sarlls
