August 14, 2012
Week 8!  2 months into it!

 My amazing family and friends!

I got your box! Thank you SOOOO MUCH! I loved hearing from you on the tape, too. Wow do I love y'all!  CONGRATS ON THE MOVING PARTY! Thanks to all those who have helped my family out SO much with all of the process!

(By the way I asked our mission president and he is totally fine with me having a violin! So send it on! :) Thanks soooo much!)

The weeks here are so full, it's like a month crammed into 7 days separated by naps. I don't know how we do it! But we are not alone because we're on the Lord's team, so that's probably how.  My body is now finally adjusting to our schedule, and I feel rested even, and full of energy during the day.  My prayers pleading for a blessing on my body (and thanks to all of yours too!) really have been answered with me feeling a lot more settled. This is the most insanely busy part of the year for us here at Temple Square (besides Christmas and Conference...) and President Gillette knows it too.  We had a mission meeting last night where he told us that starting next week, our weekly P-Days will last all day long and that we will be able to sleep in as late as we want, all because too many sisters are sick. That's got to be the first time in all of Mission history :) But seriously, I'm doing much much better.  As my Dad said in his letter this week to me: "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task has changed, but that our capacity to do so has increased."  That's seriously what has happened. I know that it really is from the help of the Lord though.  It didn't happen all at once. In fact, every morning it's still a challenge to get out of bed and do everything to get out on the Square and start the day, but as I exercise my faith and do it anyway, I have been blessed and I am so happy when I am there.

We had an awesome Zone Conference yesterday where we toured the Utah State Capitol Building and then talked all about being a consecrated missionary. It was really great.  It was how to be even more cheerfully obedient.  There's a story we discussed about a stake president in... Russia(?) who had this really poor sister come and ask him if she too had to pay tithing.  He looked at her and lovingly said, "If it were up to me and if it was my church, I would say that you don't have to, sister.  But this is the Lord's church and being obedient to this principle is what blessings are predicated on."  It is so true. The Lord BLESSES us as we are obedient, especially when we don't understand the reason or when it is particularly hard or difficult to sacrifice to do so.  Often times the blessing is the change in us. The change to become more like God or to put Him first by sacrificing our other needs wishes or desires.

We also spoke in a Sacrament Meeting this Sunday.  A ward invited me and three other sisters from Temple Square to come and speak to them.  My topic was on the Worth of Souls.  I've included it at the bottom of the email for those interested.  It really impacted how I think about and do missionary work.  All of us, every single person on the earth, has the potential to become like our Father. That is our value as an individual! Wow. What a thought!

We taught 45 Iranians (from Iran!) yesterday (along with tons of other people that I just have no time to write about). We're not allowed to proselyte because they are Muslim, but they did notice and ask many many questions! One lady was really touched and told us "you are so beautiful on the inside and on the outside!" and another lady from Iran told us she has been here many times.  When we asked her what her favorite part was, she said, "All of the wonderful people who believe this faith." It was a very neat experience. 

As for some cultural funnies...  I always forget to include these, because being culturally diverse happens to me all day long every single day.

Here's your Australian lesson for the day:
Lollies = candy. Bubbler = water fountain. "oi" = hey. Corn syrup is of the devil. "Sistah Fisha" = Sisterrr Fisherrrr. Heaps and Heaps = lots and lots. 'zeds' = z's. Biscuit = cookie. The bin = the trash can.  The loo = the bathroom.

We are teaching on the phone this man who is from Liberia.  When we asked him for his address to send the missionaries to, he told us "Oh, it's the first left on the only Coca Cola plant in the Republic!" When we asked him for an apartment number he responded "Oh just ask for Henry and I will be there!"

Italian for kleenex means = face bed.

My Singaporean roommate almost had a heart attack the other day because the sink was overflowing and she didn't know about the disposal! She kept telling us, "There's a flood, a flood!" :) We just smiled and smiled and smiled all night.

So how did the challenge to adopt a new Christ-like attribute this week work out? How did family scripture study each day and family prayer work?
We challenged L to pray and read with her boys every day this week and this is what she told us last night. 

"When we pray and read together, it's something beautiful. The peace is amazing.  It's that peace that comes to your heart as you pray. Reading together and praying together have really helped my boys through this difficult time.  I really believe that when I pray and read, my family who has passed on is here with me, almost like they want me to read out loud to them. I feel this peace that I haven't found in a very long time!"

It was amazing.  She also attended church yesterday and really liked it and wants to bring her boys next week.  The Lord's work moves on. We have so many people we teach that I'm unable to tell about, but I can testify about what great good the Gospel does in people's lives. L told us last night that she is fine with "submitting her will to her Heavenly Father and letting go and being okay with His will."  That's exactly what I told her a month ago my second day in the field talking to her for the first time on the phone.  She now believes it! And lives it!

Do you all want a new challenge? I know that the Gospel will bless your family's lives and your friend's lives.  It will bring more hope, direction, purpose, peace and vision.  Is there someone that could really use this message in their life? We would love to talk to them on the phone here at Temple Square and teach them these truths that will bless them and bring them hope!  Just send my mom an email and she will pass on their information to me, and we can call them and teach them!

Send me: their name and yours, their phone number and your phone number to fisherfamilymail@gmail.com

I know that it will bless them so much. This Gospel is true and works.  I love it! It changes and transforms lives!

Love,
Sister Fisher

P.S.  Here's my Sacrament Meeting talk I just gave about each one of our worth:

===================================================

The Importance of the One

Elder Hillam of the First Quorum of the Seventy recounts an experience he had in his talk entitled The Worth of Souls :

"One of the talks that has had an everlasting impression on me is one given in a Saturday evening session of a stake conference years ago. The talk was given by a young mother.

Here’s what she said:

“I have been doing the genealogy of my great-grandfather. He and his large family of sons and daughters were members of the Church.

“My great-grandfather,” she said, “left church one Sunday with his family, and they never returned—no indication why.”

She then said, “In my research, I have found that my great-grandfather has over 1,000 descendants.”

And then she said, and this is the part I have not been able to forget, “Of those 1,000 descendants, I am the only one active in the Church today.”

As she said these words, I found myself thinking, “Is it only 1,000, or could it be more?”

The answer is apparent. The spiritual influence that family might have had on their neighbors and friends did not happen. None of his sons nor any of his daughters served as missionaries, and those they would have touched with their testimonies were not baptized, and those who were not baptized did not go on missions. Yes, there are probably many thousands who are not in the Church today, and not in this very meeting, because of that great-grandfather’s decision.”

UNQUOTE

What one person can do, what one person can be, and what effect can one person have on thousands of others? The effects of one can be limitless.

The value of a soul is in whatever potential it has to become.

The value of a caterpillar is to become a magnificent butterfly.

I recently received a letter from a lady in my ward at home where she described motherhood as“raising a parent”. She was not referring to her children as the current state they were in, like “raising a child” but instead, referring to what they could and will become.

President George Q. Cannon (1827–1901) so beautifully put it: “There was a period when we, with Jesus and others, basked in the light of the presence of God and enjoyed His smiles. We are the children of God, and as His children there is no attribute we ascribe to Him that we do not possess, though they may be dormant or in embryo. The mission of the Gospel is to develop these powers and make us like our Heavenly Parent.”

Each and every human being living now, living before, and soon to be living, has the worth of their potential--- the worth of a God. This worth is priceless, or unable to define a price.

While we are priceless to our Father in Heaven, there was however a price that was paid for us through Jesus Christ to allow us to achieve this ultimate potential.

This sacrifice of the perfect Son, the sacrificial lamb, helps us to recognize our worth in the eyes of the Father. If there was but one person on earth that needed Christ to buy them back from the bondage of sin, He still would have drunken the Bitter Cup, sacrificed all, and be crucified, all for that one child.

So what does that mean for us?

In D&C 18:10-11 and 15-16 it says:

“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men that all men might repent and come unto him.

And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!...

And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!”

These souls are those

· who have not found the truth yet, and

· that do not know where to find it,

· those who were given the truth but haven’t found the joy in it yet,

· or those who have found the truth but have lost the way for whatever reason,

Also known as all those called our ‘nonmember’ ‘less active’ or ‘inactive’ friends.

They may have lost the way because, as the Savior put it in Luke 15,

They, like Sheep in a fold of 100, just get lost, having wandered away from the fold and the Shepherd. They didn’t mean to get lost, there were just so many sheep, and the grass looked very green in the other meadow. Despite how naïve or harmless the intentions were, the member wandered away from the church, forgetting the truth they had in the fold, getting lost in the wilderness or the world’s strange paths, snares, and false attractions.

OR

They may be like the lost Silver Coin. The woman in Luke 15 lost one of her 10 pieces of silver, back then worth a full day’s wage. It was important to her, it was worth a lot, but maybe due to a lack of carefulness, inattentiveness to detail or just laziness, she lost that precious coin. This may be a lot like our friends who have just lost those things once precious to them due to a lack of attentiveness to do the little things, such as daily sincere prayer, or daily sincere scripture study, or following carefully the counsel of the Prophet. My Dad back at home, told me that during in his experience as a Bishop, not one of the members who committed a grievous sin (he never told their names) had said their prayers that morning, and had not read their scriptures. Their inattentiveness to detail, or carelessness is what led to them getting lost. I don’t believe they intended to get lost. They didn’t want to leave the fold of the Shepherd, it just kind of happened because they weren’t paying attention.

OR our friends might be much like Prodigal Son. He had tried it his father’s way; he had obeyed the teachings of the church, and thought he knew better. He believed that there was an easier way, or a way that he could have the thrills of the world and still keep his inheritance, or his blessings from the church. We all know how that story ended up however. He lost all that he had. His worth which had started as Pride, or believing he knew better than God, ended in him believing he was only worth as much as livestock, feeding on the very trough that pigs eat from. He felt that he couldn’t return to his father, for he was not worthy of being in His presence. Or, he was not worthy to repent, to accept his own intentional rebellion against God and come back into his church, to start anew, and to find those blessings again.

But I believe that the verses Luke ends with are key:

" And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."

We not just need to, we MUST rescue the one. No matter how awkward, inconvenient, costing or timely it may be.

We need to leave the ninety and nine and go after the lost sheep, or light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently for the silver coin, and search for, love and persuade the Prodigal Son to return home.

And once they have found the flock again, we must embrace them, or call our family and friends together and rejoice for we have found that which was lost. We must kill the fatted calf and rejoice with compassion. For Christ did say “that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”

Invite your nonmember friends who are searching for truth. Love those who do not understand our beliefs, or those so called ‘anti’s. Invite them all to visit Temple Square or to visit mormon.org, or have the missionaries over and talk with them. Invite them to Family Home Evening or to dinner. Search for the one in your Young Women’s class or Teacher’s Quorum, in the Elder’s Quorum or Relief Society who have lost the way.

That person who you have been thinking of as I have been speaking--- they are who the Lord wants you to rescue again and wants to welcome back into the Shepherd’s fold.

A crinkled up $100 bill is still worth $100 to us. Surely a crinkled up soul is still worth the same amount in potential to God.

They should be worth the same amount to us.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Week 7

Dearest dearest wonderful Family and friends!

 How I love y'all SO! Thank you SOOOOOOOOO much for your letters, packages, notes and love.  I will try and respond as fast as I can.  My hands still hurt from last week's writing, but I will respond!!!! (that was exaggerated, but I WILL respond!) Thank you for thinking of me! Your words, no matter how long or short, are a JOY to me! [A, your picture of the cello is hanging on my wall-- it one the award for best drawing this week! THANK YOU!!!! I'm excited to hear you play on your tape!]

Interesting tidbits: I met Judas Iscariot the other day.  I guess I should rephrase that.  I met the actor who plays Judas Iscariot on the new Bible videos on lds.org (if you haven't seen them= they ARE PHENOMINAL!) [ http://www.lds.org/bible-videos?lang=eng] 

People all over the Visitor's Center ask him why they know him/say "It's Judas!" (he has his beard still because they're still filming) It was actually pretty funny. He says he gets that alot. Haha.

The Salt Lake City Temple:

We talked to this man named J, who is a member who is helping do the renovations/restoration/cleaning project for the last two months-ish on the temple. WOW. He has pioneer ancestors who built the temple in 1850's, and now he, 150 years later, gets to restore and renovate it! They are doing major things to it as he was telling us.  Some of the sprinkler systems for the fire safety are old (1960's), a few large rooms are finally getting air conditioning/heating, and they are painting/redoing locker rooms. And probably one of the biggest projects is for pouring concrete in the temple! AH! He says the workers (all members & dressed in white jumpsuits/sneakers) are always praying because things still go wrong, but because of their inspiration/carefulness, etc. miracles happen. Pretty cool. 

"Eclipse" Celebration! On Wednesday, I will "pass" at about 8 weeks on my mission, which is also how many weeks left Sister C has on hers. So we are celebrating (after we get home and plan of course) our passing. Kind of fun!

Missionary work-wise:

The work is so good.  It is so hard though too. I'm really tired, and my brain hurts sometimes from fatigue. I wonder sometimes how much more effective I would be if I had the same capacity as I did back in college, (from enough sleep/naps/less time on my feet etc.) as a missionary, because so often I just can't even think clearly because we're just going all the time, teaching all the time and walking, all the time.  But then, answers come, every single time you pray and ask a question.  This morning in my morning prayers (at 5:40am, because we had to do our laundry... haha), I asked why that in my prayers for better concentration and energy (so I could be a more effective servant) weren't being answered. I expected that I would receive the energy and concentration that I needed!  That made sense to me. Then a missionary and I were talking and I realized that the Lord answers our prayers, and that His ways are not our ways, but instead is the better way.  Because I'm tired, because I can't think clearly, I am forced to rely on the Lord.  I am forced to only respond with the promptings of the Spirit.  I am forced to go where He wants me to go & talk to the people He wants me to talk to because my decision making skills and thought processes are slowed or fatigued.  The Lord is making me a better missionary because I have to rely on Him.  This is HIS work, not Sister Fisher's.  If He wanted Sister Fisher to better do His work her way, He would grant me those things that I wanted, the way I wanted.  Instead, I am being a better missionary, a better servant of the Lord, a better person, all because I am relying on Him.  It is so easy sometimes to rely on our own arm or strength, knowledge, abilities, experiences, wisdom and talents. But the work and our lives are much better when we have to rely on Him.  I believe that is why we have trials. Trials either turn us towards God or away from Him.  Only relying on God will we find joy, peace and happiness and the ability to do those things we need to do.

It reminds me of an incredible missionary from the Book of Mormon:  Ammon....

 Alma 26:11-12 "But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.... Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

 So as for my usual gospel insights, here are direct clips from Preach My Gospel, from the Christ-like Attributes section p.115, on, that are ultra important definitions about words/qualities we think about all the time.  They changed the way I viewed so many things:

Hope

Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur. When you have hope, you work through trials and difficulties with the confidence and assurance that all things will work together for your good. Hope helps you conquer discouragement. The scriptures often describe hope in Jesus Christ as the assurance that you will inherit eternal life in the celestial kingdom. President James E. Faust taught: “Hope is the anchor of our souls. . . . “Hope is trust in God’s promises, faith that if we act now, the desired blessings will be fulfilled in the future. . . . “The unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God and that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, saved us from death”

Patience

Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. It is the ability to do God’s will and accept His timing. When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully. Patience is related to hope and faith—you must wait for the Lord’s promised blessings to be fulfilled. You need patience in your everyday experiences and relationships, especially with your companion. You must be patient with all people, yourself included, as you work to overcome faults and weaknesses.

Humility

Humility is willingness to submit to the will of the Lord and to give the Lord the honor for what is accomplished. It includes gratitude for His blessings and acknowledgment of your constant need for His divine help…When you humbly trust Him and acknowledge His power and mercy, you can have the assurance that His commandments are for your good. You are confident that you can do whatever the Lord requires of you if you rely on Him. You are also willing to trust His chosen servants and follow their counsel…The opposite of humility is pride, which is condemned in the scriptures. To be prideful means to put greater trust in oneself than in God or in His servants. It also means to put the things of the world above the things of God. Prideful people take honor to themselves rather than giving God the glory. Pride is competitive; those who are prideful seek to have more and presume they are better than other people. Pride usually results in feelings of anger and hatred, and it is a great stumbling block.

Diligence

Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work. The Lord expects you to work diligently—persistently and with great effort and care. Diligence in missionary work is an expression of your love for the Lord and His work. When you are diligent, you find joy and satisfaction in your work. Do many good things of your own free will (see D&C 58:27). Don’t wait for your leaders to tell you what to do. Continue until you have done all you can, even when you are tired. Focus on the most important things and avoid wasting time. Pray for guidance and strength. Avoid anything that distracts your thoughts or actions.

Obedience

Obedience is the first law of heaven. It is an act of faith. You may sometimes be required to do things you do not completely understand. As you obey, you increase in faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection, and freedom.

 My assignment to you all (I know this is a long email, but many of you are about to go off to school and I wanted to include this assignment before you do) is to pick one of these you struggle with (with their new definitions/more clear applications) and work on it.  Find scriptures (Preach My Gospel has a lot in this section) that will help you study them, and help you find examples in the scriptures that you can learn from, and outcomes of what happens as their attribute is strengthened or what happens if it is not.

Clearly, from the above mentioned, I am currently working on Patience.  I thought I was a patient person, I don't easily get upset, I'm fairly easy going, I don't really worry.  But do I emanate the quality/characteristic as defined by that definition? No, I want the Lord to answer my prayers when I want it, how I want it, etc. and yes I am getting anxious and it's hard for me to wait. But as I strengthen my faith and knowledge, it will happen.  

The church is true. By the way, L's coworker was a member and he gave her a blessing and her son too, and it was an incredible experience.  The Priesthood is real.  It really is the power of God on earth today. Wow.  I will never get tired of her saying "wow" to the doctrine we teach her on the phone.  Highlight of my day! Anyway, I love y'all.  I gotta run. It's so great being here, but I miss y'all too.  Good luck at school and work on an attribute!

Love,

Sister Fisher

PS:  Did you follow my challenge and have family scripture study this last week?  If not, there's always next week!!!

PSS:  I loved this talk I read in the July 2012 Ensign:  "A River of Peace"--go read it!

 

July 31, 2012

WEEK 6 ---So much work, joy, love, faith and moving forward and BECOMING!

 Dearest dearest FAMILY and friends!!!

 I sure love y'all.  Thanks for all the notes/letters/etc.  They mean THE WORLD to me.  I will try and respond to them all today... I know I am really really behind.

So I went on splits this week for half a day so my trainer Sister C could have a training meeting, and one of the sisters I served with is Sister H from Taiwan.... who asked me if I knew an Elder Fisher? Which I happened to, which she said that he served in her home ward when she was still home.  So HI!!! from Sister H! :)  And I feel so so so sorry/glad for all the Mandarin speaking sisters here on Temple Square because they are giving Mandarin tours, LITERALLY ALL the DAY LONG.  It's insanely busy (but in a good way).  We take their information and give them a mandarin Book of Mormon (which we constantly have to order because we give hundreds away every day) and tell them we'll call them.  Which we don't because we cant proselyte in mainland China.  However, we take their information and keep it on hold, for one day when the country opens up.  The work will move insanely fast there.  They are SO prepared and want the gospel!  Pray that all the areas in the world that aren't opened up will be opened- okay everyone?

As for sleep/rest/fatigue...  It's getting better! I have energy, and when I get 8 hours of sleep and really work out for 30min and really follow the white handbook and am obedient, when I'm tired, I just pray and tell Heavenly Father that I have been exactly obedient and that I need energy to be able to function, and BAM. I can stay awake. I might have to read while I'm standing up, but I'm willing to sacrifice.  Sacrifice is what brings forth the blessings of Heaven... which sounds great to me! But honestly I feel a lot better. I've really sunken into the groove and habit of the mission.  I'm great! (I did sleep talk the other day and say in my sleep "So, tell me about the Second Coming"--- the sisters I live with were DYING laughing)

 Speaking of miracles/blessings of Heaven,we have had many of those this week:

Leah, our Jewish friend from last week, has made some amazing progress! (ALL IN 13 DAYS!)  This week we told her about Priesthood blessings for her son and herself.  (Her son is dying from cancer) When we taught about that, which she told us that a coworker already asked her if she wanted one, and who she believes is LDS. We prayed all week that that would be true. I was so nervous!

 Yesterday night, we called her and she told us that her coworker IS LDS and that the coworker and two members of the ward came to their home on Friday night and gave both L, and her son (who has cancer) Priesthood blessings.  

She said that it was an experience like none other. She said that has prayed before many times, but she had never felt that immensity of peace and calming feelings like she felt during the blessing.  She even told us later after Sister C asked an inspired question, that she had felt the presence of her parents and husband, who have passed away, and that she sincerely felt that the impression she witnessed was for her 'to keep on, in this path, that this is good, and that what we're teaching her is right'.  She proceeded to tell us about how her coworker's brother died on his mission when he was 21, and how her coworker told her that he is just preaching the gospel to people on the other side. She told us that she felt that her coworker's brother, or at least someone else, was teaching her husband and her parents in the Spirit World the same things she was learning from us here.  

The only thing holding her back right now is the fact that it has been only 13 days since our first lesson with her, and that she wants to make sure that the immense peaceful and happy feelings actually last and are real, which I can respect. What a neat experience for the Lord to let us be His hands for.  She was my FIRST call I made in the mission field after I was so scared.  Sister C and I said a prayer and then Sister C counted down, 5,4,3,2,1! And then I just did it --- I called Leah, and VOILA!  The Lord blesses us when we are obedient.  He really does fill our mouths with the words to say! The thing she is really praying for this week is whether Jesus is the Christ.  Please pray for her.  I know she will get an answer!

 Another miracle is that Sister C's progressing investigator T from Tennessee got BAPTIZED on Saturday!!! We were praying all week that his son would be able to get work off so he could go to the baptism.  Saturday morning his boss said yes, and T's son was able to be there too!  T is so on fire with the gospel- it is a beautiful sight and he just strengthens me with his enthusiasm and even more inflamed love of our Savior Jesus Christ. He told us that his baptism felt like a chalkboard, all the chalk marks literally being washed away and him feeling like a brand new board again.  What a beautiful analogy.

We've taught so many other people.  It's amazing.  My favorite part is hearing their first uttered prayer. They are so beautiful, full of faith and sincerity. It's amazing.  The work is so hard, but so worth it!

Besides teaching all the time here on Temple Square, I also get to do something pretty cool- talk to members all the time and learn from them and their families.  

I met this amazing family who has a 9 year old boy, 12 and 13 year boys.  They read the book of Mormon every school day all year long every school year, and when they finish they do something as a family to celebrate the end.  They scream the last word "amen" down a roller coaster, or around a huge tree in a national park, or up a water park ride etc. every year. The boys knew their scripture stories, the 9 year old read a verse for us, and they were so spiritually interested, polite, responded to our questions and gave incredible insights.  They glowed with the gospel!  In contrast, while I was working at the Beehive house this weekend, we took a family around who had a 10 year old, 14 and 18 year old.  They were nice, but the kids weren't interested in what we had to say, not responsive to our questions, and just looked pretty bored.  When we asked the family what reading the scriptures has blessed their family, every single child passed the buck, and didn't respond besides shrugging their shoulders.  Then the Father of the family responded "Well I guess that means we should read the scriptures more often.."  I seriously was able to see in the results of members the importance of the little things.  The little things are what converts.  I saw the sacrifice of a family that read a chapter every day with their kids, no matter what their age, and the difference that made as a result.  THE HUGE difference it made. HUGE! My challenge for everyone who reads this (that's what I'm going to do with my future family) is to start now, and not miss a day, reading a chapter with your family every day from the Book of Mormon.  Even if they're really young and cant pronounce or read any of the words and you have to speak it and them repeat it.  IT IS SOOOO IMPORTANT! I was stunned. 

Obedience is essential to us.  Obedience is what changes our hearts, allows us to throw off the natural man, and to find peace and joy and confidence in this life! I love this quote from Elder  Oaks:

 "From such teachings [of the gospel] we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become."

- Elder Oaks, Conference 2000

-------------------------------

My challenge is for everyone to think how they can be a little more obedient or live the gospel a little more thoroughly today.  What's an aspect of your life that you can change to become more, to become better, and to become a little closer to your potential?  It might be not doing homework on Sunday and just trusting that the Lord will provide.  It might be reading your scriptures daily or writing in your journal more often.  It might be saying more sincere prayers.  Or it might be taking some time to ponder and ask Heavenly Father what you can do to become better, and then just taking 10 minutes of silence and no distractions and see what the spirit tells you. 

 The gospel is true.  This IS His church.  Our God is still a God of miracles! Living the teachings of His gospel will bring happiness, joy, hope and peace into your life.  I know that. I have watched someones' life changed as they have applied it in just the last 13 days.  It's real. It's true, and it can change your life too.  Please pray for my MTC district, L and her son, T and D, and also Sister C to get over the cold she has. 

 Love,

Sister Fisher

July 24, 2012

Week 5:   T-squared, I love it here,  taught 41 lessons this week to members & 34 to nonmembers in 6 days!

Dearest Family and Friends!

Yes.  I am alive.  And well. And have been in my real mission, really doing missionary work, teaching 41 lessons this week to members and 34 to nonmembers, talking to people from all over the world (the countries I've written down in the last week: France, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, England, Dubai, Finland, Peru, Ghana, Switzerland, Israel, Guyana, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Germany, and Argentina) for just 6 days now.

This mission is amazing.  But insanely busy, too.  We joke that we're the most 'inactive' missionaries, because on Sunday all we go to is Sacrament Meeting because there is no time on Sundays to go to any other meetings.  I love it here.  It is hard, it is hard work, it is insanely busy, but it is incredible.

My comp is Sister C from Australia.  I feel so blessed.  She just returned from outbound (4 months) in Tennessee, and my 12 weeks (two transfers) will be her last two transfers before she goes home.  She is amazing and I love her so much already.  She is quite a bit older than most but very wise, hard working and great.

I live with 6 sister missionaries in my apartment: there's a Tongan sister from California, me from Texas, another American sister, a Brazilian sister, my Australian comp, and a sister from Singapore.  It is quite the cultural experience.  I love it!  We cook our own food for all 3 meals. We are on the Square for lunch and dinner so we have to bring food for that.  There is a small kitchen at the Square which has microwaves and huge fridges but besides that, no.

 I also have urges to play/make music...which I have cured by singing hymns loudly in the shower.  My roommates love it. haha :)

 Well, everyday it's different, and there's a bajillion different (missionary)zones that have different responsibilities. This was a sample schedule we had once this week (& it changes every day)…After comp scripture study, we planned different places on Temple Square where we should walk by to meet people, teach and testify, show around or answer questions.  It's a very careful/prayerful time because we could go anywhere but God knows where His prepared children will be, so that hour we went to the Desk, West Gate and the Jerusalem Map, then we had to 'man' the desk at the Eternal Families desk (answer questions, teach lessons, hunt down sisters for language tours [there's 50 different languages represented in the 160 sisters currently serving here], then we ate lunch, then we texted some of the people we teach, and we picked more places to find people to talk to (Christus Statue, God's Plan, and then the Seagull Monument), then it was hour two of comp study, and then we had a cleaning assignment. Next, we walked from Jerusalem Map, to the Flower Planters, to the Christus Statue, and then we had the Teaching Center where we called up our investigators and taught them lessons/made appointments for other days to teach them again--- just like real, normal other missionaries.  Despite popular belief,  we are not tour guides.  We are missionaries who happen to have a temple, statues, paintings, and the Christus Statue as our teaching resources for teaching lessons!  A bunch of the SLC missionaries bring their investigators here so that they, too, can use the powerful resources here to help teach with.  It's very effective.  Our mission is so busy.  Each transfer, we have a baptismal goal of two people per comp. That goal so often happens.  It's amazing to be here.

So my favorite miracle… (so many have happened in the last 3 days as my comp [Sister C] and I made it our goal that we were going to focus on faith solely; always pray for it, text our investigators scriptures on it, include it in all our teaching on the square, and search scriptures on it...that doesn't mean the miracles just came instantly.)  We worked really, really hard, did the best we could, relied on God to show us who to talk to, and if not just talk to EVERYONE we meet, rely on the Spirit to tell us what to say/teach, and try and commit everyone to learn more, get a copy of the Book of Mormon, or talk to us again and let us teach them etc.  We find that as we move forward and ACT, not waiting, but trusting that the plans we have made and the preparation that we've made will be blessed and if they need to change, Heavenly Father will let us know.  And that as we ACT by sacrificing everything, sacrificing fear/anxiety/”aaah I don't want to talk to them or ask them to be baptized” etc., sacrificing more than necessary. (Following the mission rules is not a sacrifice.  They are an expectation.  We must sacrifice more than just being obedient for miracles to happen.) I TRULY am blessed, and the Spirit truly does testify and I have found myself in amazing situations already where some people are just handed to me, while others I have to study hard for and work hard to get across to, but the miracles happen.  It's amazing.  It's so hard though.  Our faith is tested and tried, people reject us, people aren't interested, people don't talk to us, but ever so often through the many who reject us, there's someone ( RIGHT after having the awful rejection that makes your stomach sink) that comes up to you and asks "So what's the Book of Mormon? And how can I get a copy of it?"  I'm not even kidding.  That happened.  Yesterday .

BUT my favorite miracle started last Thursday where I contacted a referral from Temple Square.  Her name is L.  She is a Mom, who lost her husband to a car crash, who's parents died when she was 10, and who's son is currently dying from cancer.  She is Jewish.  She LOVED Temple Square, and we talked on the phone last Thursday all about it, and when I eventually asked her if she wanted to feel the joy and peace she felt on Temple Square all the time she said she'd love it!  But when I asked if she would like missionaries to come and teach her she said no that wouldn't be okay.  I found out that this is because she can't have visitors in her house, because of the germs for her son who has cancer.  But we taught her on the phone anyway.  We taught her about the Atonement of Christ, God's Plan for the family, eternal families, repentance, the Holy Ghost.  She started reading the Book of Mormon and can't put it down.  On Sunday, we prayed with her over the phone.  This was her first prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.  I was able to hear her say the words and the most beautiful prayer as we all knelt together.  She in Washington, and Sister C and I in SLC. There is no joy I have ever felt that compares to the way I felt as I heard her pray, as I've seen her grow and find peace in the last 5 days.  She doesn't blame God anymore.  She prays. She finds joy, and peace despite hard things.  The challenges haven't changed, but she has.  I love L.  I love being a missionary.  I love that the gospel is what helps people find peace and joy.  Adversity and challenges either soften our hearts to turn TO God, or they harden our heart away from God and away from the Comforter. She had been blaming God and hadn't prayed or read scripture, and that did not work.  She was empty and hardened and depressed.  Now that she is praying, and has a knowledge of why, and who she can become and her family, she finds peace, joy, and strength. 

That is what the Gospel does to people.  That is why it is so important.  The Gospel CHANGES people so that they actually become more like Christ and feel that joy.  I love being a missionary.  It is really hard work, it is very tiring, and the enduring all the time, especially when you don't have little miracles, but rejection is hard. But results don't matter.  We bring people closer to Christ, and they have agency to choose whether they want it or not.  That's fine. But what makes me happy is knowing that I did my best, I relied on God, and I tried to follow the Spirit.  Heavenly Father allows them to open their heart or not (when their heart is closed, it's interesting--- I don't get revelation or feel prompted to say X or whatever, but when they're open it comes!  The ideas of what to say COMES, the scripture verses COME!) but I get to be His hands and help.

 I love it.

Love you all so much,

Sister Jessica Fisher

July 13, 2012

Week 3: Boiling water, Flying, Elders going to Boston :(, Temple Square and Elder Holland

 Dearest Family!

 (Because of Visitor Center Training my Pday got moved to Friday- I leave for SLC for my mission (hopefully if I can get over this cold- I'm fine, just sick - pray for me please) on Wednesday Morning.

I AM SO EXCITED for all the good news from home!  I totally believe and have faith that our Shepherd will provide our need and that everything really will and really does work out!

I know that He is taking care of 'my work'  back at home even though I can't be there.  I love y'all tons and am SO excited for all of the miracles that happen. But just like Shadrach, Mechach, and Abednego - As they say that they know and have faith that God has all power to deliver us from our trials and afflictions, "But if not" ... But if He does not, for what ever reason, we still believe, we still have faith, and we still have hope in the plan that He has for us, because that plan is still always better for us than what we plan.  I have a firm testimony of that! (See Daniel 3:17-18)  

 I saw Sister C yesterday and she looks great, excited and I'm thrilled to see her! I never fail to run into Sister B multiple times in the week - which is always a pleasure! I have run into Sister D a few times too!  Sweet reunions!!! I love those mighty women!

 
Lots have happened this week.  It is hard to believe that I am on my fourth week of my mission already.  It feels like a marathon with naps in between, but yet I am so happy, it's not even funny! 

On Sunday night, I said the closing prayer in the MTC devotional, which was terrifying, but the Lord blessed me and I literally could feel Him providing words into my mouth.  What a neat experience.

After Sunday night's devotional, there was a rebroadcasted MTC Devotional by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland which was INCREDIBLE.  It was amazing. It was entitled, "Missions Are Forever".  He said "There may be one day in the last 40 years of my life that I haven't thought of my mission, I just don't remember when it was."  He began to tell a story about a boy who was coaxed by the Lord to come to the edge of a cliff.  "Come to the edge ",He said." "No, I'll fall!" "Come to the edge", He said.  "No, I'll fall" - was the response" "Come to the edge", the Lord said, which the boy did finally, and God pushed him off the edge... and he flew".

I think that illustrates alot of what the mission is like and about.  We master our fears, insecurities, pride, differences, natural man and things like that, put our trust, open our mouths, be obedient, and then HE allows us to fly.

Another thing Elder Holland said was "Man's extremities, is God's opportunities".   He wants our WHOLE heart, everything, and once we give it all, He can make miracles with us.  If we push as hard as we can, He will make us fly!

We can boil water for hours at 220 degrees (I think...,  I'm no physics major) but it doesn't change.  It's just hot water. It takes the extra few degrees to actually boil into a gas.  We have to give it the last few degrees or else it does not even matter.  A muscle has to go into MUSCLE  FAILURE, before it can become stronger than it once was before.

I believe that is how it is with our life.  We've got to completely overcome our natural desires, insecurities, etc.  We've got to open our mouth the first time, AND the second third and fourth. We've got to roll out of bed on time in the morning, and turn the lights off at night on time on a mission.  If we do that, we will actually change - - God will actually change our desires, our hearts, and change us into beings more like Him, beings that have everlasting joy and peace, not just getting frusterated because we've been working hard at 220 degrees for years and seeing no results.  Let it happen, and Let God take over and allow us to fly!  Face our fears and allow God to make more out of us than we could EVER before at 220 degrees.

 The other thing he said that really caught me was that Salvation was never cheap, so why do we just think that baptisms and finding and teaching should be?  Christ suffered and bled, and cried, and even DIED so that we might all live and have Salvation.  As a missionary, I am bringing others closer to Christ, so how dare I ever think that Salvation should be easy, that people should just accept all over the place and that I shouldn't have to sacrifice?  For something so wonderful, there has to be a sacrifice.  My time, patience, pride, physical fatigue  ... something has to be sacrificed.  We have to carry some sort of cross, because something so spectacular shouldn't come without a price!  This is GOD'S WORK.  So we must do it His way.  If there was a better way, He would have thought of it. Salvation is not a cheap experience. If it wasn't easy for Christ, why should it be easy or painless for us?  It's hard, but because it is hard, it is so worth it.  Nothing that is worth it was easy. That's why a mission is so hard, but so beyond wonderful, and fun, and joyful!

 A trial I was struggling with this week was trying to feel the Spirit.  That sounds weird doesn't it?  I'm at the MTC!  I've sent emails home describing amazing experiences all the time... feeling the Spirit? That's an odd problem. That's what I thought, too.  It was bugging me so I went to talk to my branch president about it.  He had an inspiring thing to say about it:    God does not give us inspiring spirtual experiences all of the time. It doesn't mean that what we're doing isn't right anymore, or that what you're saying isn't true, or that you are not worthy, or that you can't feel the Spirit.  God gives us spiritual experiences because we *need* them, not for *maintenance*.  What that means is that every time I bear my testimony, just because my heart isn't pricked everytime I hear something or whatever, it is because I already know that.  I already know that it is true, I do not need a confirmation of it!  I do not need a spiritual pat on the back every day every single time I might question or doubt.  I already know that because I have already had the experience.  If we had the spirit confirm every single time and every single moment of the day, we would be walking on knowledge, not by faith.  We have to have faith that what we have felt before is true, and that what we are doing is right. Besides, it's like your body adjusting to the temperature of water.  Once you adapt, you can't feel anymore whether the water is warm or cold.  it's the same with the Spirit. We get so used to it that we may not even notice it.

Now that being said, I will tell one last story.  On Wednesday, we went to SLC Temple Square for the Visitor Center experience.  I was really nervous because we were busing down from the MTC TO MY MISSION, where I will be for 16 months or so of my life.  I was anxious, scared that it wouldn't add up to all my expectations and that I'd be let down.  I got off of the bus and walked into the Square.  The minute I saw the SLC Temple in it's glory, I started crying.  This is a big deal for me.  I haven't cried since my first day at the MTC.  I didn't cry when my Elders left for Boston this past week, even though I miss them TERRRIBLY!!!! (We all got so close, it's not even funny.  I LOVE them so much!  Who knew I could love a bunch of 19 year old boys so intensely?)  It just all felt right.  We then went into the north visitor's center and up to the Christus Statue.  If I wasn't crying already, I was crying even harder.  It felt right. I was at peace.  I was excited to be there and excited to get started.  It's way different because I am a missionary now. I've been there quite a few times, but NOW as a missionary, it's way different. I see people and I no longer think, "That's a nice shirt, or their hair is nice" ,or whatever, I think, "I WANNA GO TALK TO THEM!!! Find out about their life and how I can show them how to be happier!!!" 

It's interesting seeing the change.  I love it. I love it. I love it!

 ***THANK YOU to my BYU Ward who sent such a fun poster with signatures and messages from everyone there. I love y'all so much and you will always have a special place in my heart, because that was where I began to be prepared to serve a mission.  Missions are the BEST!

Also thank you to all of you who sent me letters this week despite having crazy busy schedules! Love  you!

 The church is true.  This is the place where we can find peace and joy, not as the world giveth, but lasting joy, joy that comforts us to the core and brings us peace, even when there is a storm on the outside.

I love being a missionary.  I love it so much!

I love y'all too.  Please pray for the Sisters and myself who leave on Wednesday for our mission, and to all of my district's elders who left for Boston this week.

 Love,

Sister Fisher

WEEK 2:   HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!, Albuquerque, Wisdom in the Lord, Stuck in an elevator, and burn that DROSS!!!

 Hello Family and Friends!!!

 1. I LOVE THE MTC!  It's still so great as it is week 2!

 2.  Happy Birthday Dad!!! (I waited until Pday to write you/mail your card to you, and well.. today is PDay so that's why it will be late- LOVE YOU bunches though!)

 3. Albuquerque, New Mexico.  For those of you who do not know, that is the place I've joked around for months saying that I did not want to go, etc. Well.. I have been severely humbled because the new District that came in to our zone is going to none else than Albuquerque, New Mexico.  That's when it occured to me. Who am I to say that God loves his children in Salt Lake City more than in Albuquerque?  That's absured.  So I'm now even willing to go there and I'll even smile about it.  That's progress huh!

 4. I had a very humbling experience this weekend (which is what I have been praying for) My Branch President asked me last Thursday night if I would play violin in Sacrament Meeting for Sunday, so there wasn't much time to prepare anything, but luckily I followed promptings (that'd I've had for weeks) to go and audition for a special MTC musical number, but then I missed the audition times and so I just kept it in my folder, so a "Poor Wayfarying Man of Grief" was sitting in there ever since then.  So long story short,  President Hemmert asked me to get one together, the same night that a new district came in and zone leaders were called from there.  One of them plays piano.  So I asked him (the second day of his MTC experience) to figure out some time to practice the music so we could perform a few days later.  He practiced and he prepped it well. We got together and were rehearsing it, (I borrowed an MTC violin instrument) and the entire time I seriously was in Music Major mode. I was thinking of all the stuff that was wrong with me and how I played, and I seriously was oblivious to the Spirit that it brought as we rehearsed.  Random people kept coming into our room to hear us play.  This fine elder then made a suggestion, asking if he could say a prayer.  I was like, "well sure if you want to", not thinking too much about it.  He offered this beautiul prayer asking for us to remember why we are doing this music, and how it's not about us, but about the Spirit, and how this piece was remembering the many missionaries before us going out into the field to establish the Church first. 

Talk about humbling for me.  It was a call to repentence for me.  The Lord is aware of us individually, our thoughts, our weaknesses everything, and this elder was inspired enough to point out those flaws to me and make me realize once again, that this work is NOT ABOUT ME. It is about everyone else.  The musical number went very well on Sunday and the Spirit was there really strong.

Lesson B of this story is that we all need to follow promptings.  I was really hesitant to ask this poor elder to find time in his 16 hours planned out/day schedule to practice but I am glad I did.  He told me how it was an answer to his silent prayers.  He LOVES the piano and said that he quit practicing it two weeks before he went into the MTC to make the transition a little bit easier, since he knew he could not practice as much or play much at all on his misison.  He then said that being handed that music that he was required to practice made the transition into the MTC and the mission so much easier and felt really blessed to have had that experience.  Follow promptings.  We bless others when we do.

 5. Now after this experience, I was sitting in class and we were talking about spiritual gifts, how we work for them, ask for them, pray for them, and it is not that we 'earn them' or 'deserve them' because of our work and effort, it is because God rewards our sacrifice because He loves us and wants to bless us, so it is by His grace and mercy that we actually obtain spiritual gifts..... and talents.  We learned that EVERY SINGLE good thing comes from God.  Not just is 'of' God, COMES FROM God.  So the dagger stabbed me in the heart as I told lots of people the day before that, "No I don't have a gift in music (or thinking that a 'gift' from God just meant somethihng like a freebie or something God just kind of hands away), I have just worked my tail off for years- that's why I am good at the violin."

That's when I was called to repentence again.  NO, Sister Fisher, you have desired the talent and gift, worked your tail off for it, God blessed your sacrifice and what you put into it, and GAVE you, because he loves you, what you wanted, sought for, and worked for.  And why do we get given gifts and talents? To bless others.  God blesses us, so we can bless others.  That's how it works.

So then in my scripture study, I was reading how 'strong in stature' Nephi was in 1 Nephi 4: 31.  Applying this new knowledge, I learned that this was a gift from God.  In this scrupture, it talks about how Nephi was strong in stature but was also given great strength from the Lord in the time of need to hold Laban's servant down.  Nephi was blessed with this talent or ability to be large in stature SO that he could fulfill his purpose that God had for him.  He had to be able to be strong enough to not get killed all of the time from his brother's beatings, since he was a young person, and then he had to be able to even look like Laban in stature to fill out his clothes, & be able to slay him with his gigantic sword, etc.  He was given his abilities for a purpose- to fulfill God's work, and to help others. All of our gifts God gives us.  NOthing is something we just earn or deserve.  Everything comes from HIM!!

 6. Wisdom in the Lord---  Nephi 5:21-22.  It talks about how it was 'wisdom in the Lord' that Nephi and his brothers got the plates AFTER they left Jerusalem the first time.  They had to go back.. They didn't know what they really needed to but that the Lord felt it was important.  They didn't know how much benefit it would be to their posterity or them but jsut that God felt it was important.  So they went. And they did!  And they learned things they probably wouldn't have if they did it in the most efficient, timely or effective way (they tried 3 TIMES and failed the first two!!! Not efficient at all...) but it was WISDOM in the Lord.  That's all that matters.  And that's all that matters in our lives.  We need to trust God that He knows what He is doing and that the reason why things turn out is BECAUSE it is wisdom in His plan for us.  We don't need to know anything more than that.

 7. So one more really neat thing happened. At the devotional (which was all about Joseph Smith) on Sunday, after the aweswome, powerful spiritual monologue of Jospeh Smith's secretary that someone did (resembling one who was there at the martydom) we all sang Praise To The Man.  All 2000 missionaries.  Halfway through the first verse, a few Elders couldn't help themselves.  They had to stand up.  There's no way to show the respect and awe that we all felt.  As they stood, many more did, and despite a security gaurd freaking out about 2000 people standing up, by the end of the verse ...ALL 2000 MISSIONARIES were standing showing their own respect, singing at the top of their lungs with all that they could muster.  It was a really really cool experience. 

 8. One last cool thing happened.  We were in the TRC, teaching a lady named B.  I love her so much!!!  She had no real clue to the nature of who God was and was very confused and hesitant to accept the view of God as our Heavenly Father during the first lesson.  The second lesson, the Spirit was so strong, and we showed her scriptures even in the Bible to the true nature of God and she began to see!  As I showed her the reason why Moses wasn't burned as he saw God was becuase he was transfigured, and right as I looked up a verse about it in Matthew about how Christ's apostles were transfigured to be able to behold his glory, I turned to my companion (we did not plan this at all. It was totally on a whim) she just looked at me and said that she had already had the scripture looked up.  That was not planned at all. It really answered Barbara's questions and her brain was accepting the idea and even loving it!  After the lesson, my companion, Sister M, told me that she had NEVER HEARD of the Mount of Transifiguration, but that she had a thought to go find it in the bible dictionary and it led her to Matthew.  We had both been in tune with the Spirit and listened to the same revelation and had recieved the same prompting.  It was really neat!

 9.  So.... my elders and I and my mission companion got stuck in an elevator for 45 minutes yesterday.  It was.... kind of funny.  Let's be honest.  They are 19 year old boys.  Need I say any more?  So they found that in some elevators you can JUMP in them and be fine, but in this particular one, if it feels itself going faster than usual, it will just freeze.  An electrician came and finally got us out, but it was.... pretty interesting. All I can do now is laugh.  And laugh really hard. Ohhhh the MTC :)

 10.  Lastly, in the 5th verse of How Firm a Foundation, there's a line talking about dross, or the extra impurities of gold that gets burned out through the refiner's fire. It's been our district's spiritual motto:  "BURN THAT DROSS!!!"  Whenever we dont want to work, and feel lazy, or tired or distracted, someone says "Just keep burning that dross!!!"  Burn the natural man out of ourselves.  And it's hard while we're doing it.  It's uncomfortable... because it's CHANGE!! But we just keep going and burning that dross!!!

I LOVE y'all soooo much.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU,THANK YOU to all of those who have supported my sister in particular in the last few weeks.  You are an answer to prayers.

I am so happy here. I know this is where I need to be, doing what I want to be doing! Missionary work is the best.  It is true.  I know it.  I believe it. 

Go forward and BURN THAT DROSS, all of y'all!!!

 Love,

Sister Fisher