Shine Bright!

Well well well, the time has flown. The time has gone by so fast, and yet so much has happened! My last companion, Sister Marsden got home fine, and Sister Nielsen, who was in the MTC with me, and I are doing really well. We basically worked ourselves to shreds. We kicked it hard in our area, trying to get the work really rolling. In addition, we had responsibilities for three other teams of sisters as well as providing training at two different zone meetings--it kept us running! Our motto has been that we were held together by 'Duct tape and the Holy Ghost'. It feels super accurate. Sister Nielsen twisted her ankle, I got sick and so on...but the work goes forward!

Part of the fun/stress of being a Sister Training Leader is exchanges, where we have another team of sisters work with us in our area for about 24 hours. I love exchanges. They are proper fun, but they can also be stressful, because we have to plan enough work for two teams to do in a day in one area-- it's like planning for two companionships at once. But all the work is worth it because we have seen so many miracles while on exchanges. It's a great opportunity to learn from what the other sisters do well and to support them in areas they want to improve.

Probably the best part of exchanges is the madness that happens after planning is over and we have about an hour for ourselves to write in our journals and get ready for bed. After a long day of work, especially when a lot of walking was involved, you're so tired that your brain ceases to function properly. Sister Nielsen and I have had some rather hysterical moments at that point in the day--like the time we found a massive spider in our flat at 10:00 at night. Good  times...

I want to tell you about some very real miracles that have happened to me here in Nottingham...

The Miracle of the Pizza:

This one happened with Sister Marsden. In order to appreciate this one, you need understand a few key facts. I am very lactose intolerant. A tiny bit of cheese or cream or even butter and I'm in trouble. Sister Marsden was gluten and lactose intolerant. Great combination.

The last week that we were together, Sister Marsden's previous companion came back to visit after having finished her mission and returned home. We took her teaching with us and then to a dinner appointment with a member that she was really close with. When we got there, the member told us that she hadn't had time to make us food, so she had just bought gluten free, everything free pizzas from the shop. Sister Marsden and I looked at each other, and I asked her if they were dairy free too. They weren't. 

Basically, the situation was next to impossible. She didn't have anything that we could both eat, we couldn't just leave because we had Sister Scherf with us, and we were basically just stuck. So sister Marsden and I made the decision to just eat the pizza and suffer whatever consequences might come. Sister Marsden said a simple prayer, blessing the food, and asking Heavenly Father to keep it from hurting us. And then we tucked in.

We had had a long day, and we were starving. We both ate loads of pizza. Normally, that would mean almost instant disaster for both of us. But we were okay. And we just continued to be okay. Like, neither of us had any problems at all. Normally, half that amount of cheese would have laid me out for the rest of the night. But I felt nothing. It was a very real miracle. God spared us. He intervened and made it so that we would be alright. It was amazing.

The Miracle of the Petrol:

We do a lot of driving here. Just around our area, to the Mission Home, to the other sister area, and even just driving around our area every day uses a lot of petrol. One week, we were running low on petrol, and we kept meaning to go fill up, but it kept getting put on the back burner. So we found our selves on Sunday afternoon, almost entirely out of fuel, with a considerable amount of driving still left to do that day. We couldn't get any fuel right then because it was the Sabbath, and after one of our appointments, we got into the car to find that the fuel needle was completely at zero. Not just in the red zone, but at zero, zilch, zip, nada. And we had to go to another meeting on the other side of our area.

Just like with the pizza situation, we were stuck. So we did the only thing we could do. We prayed that somehow, some way, God would provide us with the means of getting around that day. We apologised for our negligence with what He had given us to do our work, and asked Him to help us now in our time of need. Then, we started driving home for dinner.

As I drove, the needle on the fuel meter started to go up. At first, I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but after another minute or so, there was no denying it, the meter was going up as I drove. By the time I got home, it was halfway up in the red zone. By the time we finished all of our driving for the day, it was at the top of the red zone. The meter just kept going up as we drove. It was a miracle. An absolute, literal miracle. God intervened and gave us what we needed to do His work. And the next day we went and got petrol first thing.

The Miracle of John:

This miracle is of a bit of a different nature to the other two. This one is less material and more spiritual. Some of you may have heard it from me before, but I'm going to tell it again.

In missionary work, there is a lot of paperwork. We keep records of everything, but most especially the people were teaching. When someone decides to discontinue investigating the church, we don't get rid of the record, we just move it into the 'former investigator' category. Here in Nottingham, we have a whole extra binder for our formers, and we've been trying to go through it, calling and stopping by as many as possible to see if any of them are still interested.

A couple weeks ago, on exchange, another sister and I were stopping by formers in a part of our area called Sneinton (I love Sneinton), but something just didn't feel right. It was what we had planned to do the night previous, but something just felt wrong somehow. We both felt it, so we decided to stop and say a prayer. We prayed for guidance and direction--we prayed to know what God would have us do. After we prayed, I wasn't feeling anything in particular, so I asked Sister Wadsworth what she thought we should do. She said that she'd looked up and saw a bright blue door straight in front of her, so we thought, 'shoot, let's go knock on the blue door!' 

We headed toward it, but as we rounded a corner, we nearly ran into a man walking with a cane and carrying some shopping. Almost in unison, Sister Wadsworth and I asked if he needed any help. He said that he didn't, but he quickly identified himself as one of the former investigators we had in our book, who we had stopped by and called. When we had called him, he wasn't interested. When we met him on the street, he invited us over. Everything he said was golden. It was like he was reading straight from the script that we dream of as missionaries. 

We've taught him several times since then, and let me tell you, I've never seen a man with a more childlike and humble heart. He desires so much to do what is right for the right reasons. He's got some things that he struggles with and it will be a while before he's ready to be baptised, but he's committed, and he's making very real, very noticeable progress. Sister Nielsen and I are calling him our platinum investigator. It truly was God who placed John right in our laps. He's met other missionaries before, but God knew that it was his time now. And so he put us in just the right place at just the right time. It's amazing how directly God can intervene when He really wants something done.

One thing that I notice while I was writing this, actually, is that each of these very real, very powerful miracles have a similar pattern to them. Something wasn't going right. Everyone had tried their best, but it hadn't turned out right. We were stuck. Absolutely stuck. And then we prayed and asked for help, and the impossible knot unraveled in a way that neither of us could have imagined. 

The difference was prayer. The one thing that changed everything in each of those stories was prayer. Prayer is powerful. It is real. That's something that I've really learned here in Nottingham. I've gained a greater understanding about why we pray. We don't just pray to say thanks or to ask for things that we need. We pray to show God that we're willing to involve Him in our lives. We pray to show our humility, we pray to acknowledge our weakness and plead for His strength, and most importantly, we pray because He's listening, and He will help us. There is true power in prayer. If you don't know that, test it. If you do, never doubt it. God is listening, and He loves you.

It's a darn good thing that I've learned this about prayer, because I'll be needing all the help I can get next week. I got a call last Friday that I'll be training a brand new missionary next transfer, which starts on Tuesday. Sunday, I found out that I'll be going to Worcester--pronounced 'Wuhster'.  That means neither me or the new sister missionary will know anything about our new area. It feels like I'm going back to the beginning--this is exactly how I started my mission with neither my companion or I having any idea what we were doing! There are so many missionaries coming in this transfer, it's amazing with even more coming the next few months. In the summer we had a couple of huge groups leave. We had so few people left after their departure that a lot of areas had to be temporarily closed. Now, we've heard from President that by the end of the year, we'll have enough people to fill every area we've got in this mission. It's really exciting! 

I'm excited to train. I meet my new sister missionary tomorrow, and I can't wait to know who she is and get rolling on the work together. It's a little daunting to be trusted to be a missionary's first experience in the mission, but whom the Lord calls, He qualifies. If I don't have what I need, God will give it to me. I'm lacing up for what could be the biggest adventure of my mission. I don't know much of anything, but I do know that God wants me to do well, and He will help me.

This, of course, means saying farewell to Nottingham. It's a bit ridiculous, actually. I feel like I just got here, and now I'm saying goodbye again. The same thing happened to me in Cheltenham. A two transfer turn around--that's only three months! After spending six months in my new are, that doesn't feel like much. We're really seeing miracles in the work here, and we've got some great investigators who I'm really excited about, so I'll be sad to leave. Our relationship with the ward is great, they all love us, and it's time to go. Oh well--that's just how the mission works.

My trainer, Sister Pickett, said something to me at the beginning of my mission that has really helped me be chill with the upcoming change. She said, "Whatever happens, always leave an area better than you found it. Leave it stronger. Leave the ward more excited about missionary work. Leave more investigators than you found. Leave it happier, leave it more hopeful, leave it more obedient, etc. Whatever you can do to make it better, do it. And then when the time comes to go, as it inevitably will, you'll know that you shone your brightest, you did all that you could, and it's time to do the same somewhere else."  That's what I've tried to do here in Nottingham and that makes it easier for me to let go and move on.

If I had to sum up what I've learned this month, it would be what Sister Pickett said: shine bright. Love with all your heart, pray more earnestly, try harder. Even when you aren't feeling your best, just keep giving until you feel you can't give anymore and then give a little more. That's when the growth and the goodness comes.  I wrote a poem that captures how I feel about this--here it is...

The Place I Belong

As one night I took rest 

From the cares of the world

Into my mind came 

The voice of the Lord

He said, "My child I am proud

Of the work you've been doing

But there are greater vistas 

That you could be viewing."

"So wake up, get up, pack up

And get on your way

There's a mountain to climb

And it all starts today."

I got up right then

And began to pack

Up the mountain I'd go

And I would not look back

With my gear all assembled,

Resolve in my heart,

And the mountain before me,

I made my start.

Thought the trail was far from easy

And my pack far from light

Because God stood beside me

I knew I'd be alright

And so I went onward

But as I neared halfway

I found my strength waning

From the heat of the day

My heart struggled to carry

The weight on my mind

My strength was not enough-

It was all I could find!

The summit was mocking

As I stared at defeat

I could not go onward-

I'd have to retreat

At this crucial moment

I thought of my Lord

T'was He who sent me on this way

Did I truly doubt His word?

'No,' I thought with firm resolve,

'On His arm I will trust

Run or walk, I'll carry on-

I'll crawl there if I must.'

Then into my heart and mind

Swelled courage from above

My Lord and God was proud of me

And I could feel His love

So with Him at my side 

Onward I went

And slowly but surely 

Conquered the ascent

That night, as I rested

With great cause to rejoice

Into my dreams 

Came this gentle voice

Saying, "My child, I am proud

Of the work you've been doing

But there are greater vistas 

That you could be viewing."

"So wake up, get up, pack up

And get on your way

There's a mountain to climb

And it all starts today."

God continues to carry us onward and upward. He never lets us stop and rest for too long, He loves us too much. When we trust Him, He makes sure we get where we need to go. Have a great month--I'll tell you all about my new sister missionary next month!

Sister Pike