Why Serve a mission?

When I was 15 years old I listened to the mother of a close friend talk about serving a mission. For the first time I remember really wanting to serve a mission when I turned 21. I just had to hear hundreds of missionaries sing "Called to Serve" in the MTC! Time went on, and I prepared for the different eventualities of life. When the age sister missionaries could serve dropped to 19, I was super stoked! I was 19, almost 20! I could go early! Well, it turned out that wasn't the time for me. November of 2013, I felt strongly like I should reconsider the mission idea. I did, and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place :) This is all really nice, but it's not really the WHY, it's more of the HOW.

So WHY am I choosing to dedicate 18 months of my life away from my family, friends, school, and a closet full of clothes to talk to people in Missouri? Well, 33 years ago, 2 male missionaries started talking to my dear sweet Momma. The message they shared with her changed the course of her existence, and our family. I'm so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and the knowledge I have of who He is, and what His plan for His children is. I can't help feeling like if I choose not to share this message with others that I'll be ungrateful for the amazing gift that I've been given. I've also been blessed with some talents that I'd like to give back to the Lord. As much as I love my family and the other things listed above, I love my Heavenly Father and Savior more. They have called, so I'm answering.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

This should be called Miracle Work instead of Missionary Work

Hello Everyone!

This week was GREAT! Not just because the sun came out for a few days, but because we were able to be apart of so many miracles! Missionary work is so great :)

Funny Moments from this past week: We were tracting on Tuesday night and we knocked on this door. Someone behind the door asked who was there. We told them it was the missionaries, and they responded, "Sorry, no one's home!" haha Too bad! They missed out :p

So I don't know if I mentioned it before, but lately I've been struggling with losing my nametags/keeping them in one piece! In desperation last week, I taped a safety pin to my slightly cracked tag with medical tape... Sister Madsen likes to tease me about that one! Oh the remedies you find with limited resources! :)

This week was great! We started teaching some super solid investigators that we've been trying to pick up for a while, but it just worked out the past week. Something that the Lord is continually teaching me is to trust Him. Trust that He sees the bigger picture and that He's desiring to bless me, because He is! Whenever I trust in myself more, that's when I get into trouble. I'm so thankful for repentance though so I can get back on track. I love the Gospel!

Two years ago I remember hearing one of the Sisters from the General Relief Society board tell us that the most important endeavor of our life is to understand the spirit and learn to respond to it's promptings. That's something that I've been trying to learn more about as a missionary. I've learned lately that mostly the spirit just inspires us to do good things! It's not always distinct promptings, but just encouragement to be better or do better!

Alright cool story time: So last transfer I SCOURED the area book about information for people since we were white washing. Well, one day I decided to flip through some of the blank pages. In them, I randomly found an old referral (about 2 years old). We decided to try and go see this man again. Well, we tried a few times to no avail. I felt that we should keep trying, and we FINALLY met him! It turns out he had asked for the missionaries. They had stopped coming and he never found out why. Well, this week we were able to have a lesson with him, and it turns out he's been trying to get back into church for a while now, but due to his health he's home bound. He told us he's already read a lot about our beliefs and he believes them. So cool! It was amazing to see that what I didn't recognize was the spirit at first was definitely the spirit. It didn't tell me anything big or grand, but just encouraged me to do good things.

Last night we had a really cool lesson with our investigator who speaks French. His French Book of Mormon had come, so we read it out loud with him. We would read and then stop and talk about it. After we finished the first chapter, he asked if we could read another! He has such a desire to learn about and follow the Savior. It's so amazing to be a part of his conversion. We were truly lead to him.

I'm so thankful for the opportunity I have to be a small part of this work! I'm grateful the Lord works through the weak to show his strength. I know the Lord hears and answers our prayers. If we're true to Him, He WILL be true to us! I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week :)

Lots of love and support,
Sister Edgel :]

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