Happy. Transfer 10: Week 2

this move is happy so far! it's so much better to be happy than not. i
love sister pickering's example of that. she's never not happy. it
made me laugh when she told me her first thought when she was told
that we'd serve together was, "cool. she's a happy missionary." she
also once said that she can't picture me getting mad. funny huh? we
still have 5.5 weeks ahead. we'll see... (this move is a seven week
transfer. i'm not sure why.) other happy things of late- tomorrow
elder bednar is doing our mission conference. i'll get to see sister
stratford, elder chen and an apostle of the lord, all in the same
day!!

ether 6. because i will not let another week pass without telling you
why i love this chapter so much.
ok, so the brother of jared and his family/friends are embarking on
their journey. christ has just touched the stones that the brother of
jared has gathered and they are set to go. verse 3 sets the symbolism
that i found throughout the next part. christ has given us his gospel,
light. it will always be with us, helping us through our life "across
the great waters". but why were the stones able to shine? because of
the brother of jared's faith, obedience and humility. when we move
forward in the gospel with faith, it will light the way undoubtably. i
know this. as they head on their way (verse 4) the group "commends
themselves unto the lord." i see them climbing on the ship saying, "we
don't know where we're going: we don't know exactly how we'll get
there. but, god, we trust you. we will give you our lives and do as
you ask us to." i rarely have this attitude, which is so wrong on my
part. this week i'm working on developing this type of faith and
humility, being able to turn it all completely over to the lord. in
verses 5 through 7 trials come. the barges are tossed all over the
place. i'm sure that it was frightening, and difficult. at the
beginning of verse 5 we see that trials come from the lord, they are
given to us. he caused the winds to blow. in verse seven we see the
best response- they pray, they cry unto him and they are, therefore,
brought to the top of the waters, brought to peace. verse ten is my
favorite. they had light continually! whether in a time of calm or
during a trying storm. i know that christ and heavenly father are
always there for us, if we choose it. the brother or jared was
constantly expressing gratitude (verse 9). he chose the light of the
gospel. they could have easily forgotten god during the times that the
sailing was smooth (literally). they could have relied on themselves
at that time. or they could have become angry and bitter during the
storms. but they didn't. and we don't have to either. they will help
us through any challenge that is given to us. they will lead us
through darkness. untill we get to the promised land (verse 12) the
celestial kingdom!!
that is why i like ether 6.

highlights from this week:
-amazing lessons filled with love. this transfer, one of my focuses is
loving everyone and properly expressing that love.
-singing at the train station. we have an investigator that lives
really far away, like 3 hours by bike. we don't see her very much, but
she has a "layover" at the trainstation this week, so we went there to
see her. she talked about how much she likes the hymns. sister p
offered to sing. i felt so uncomfortable. singing at the train
station? but we did and it was amazing. the spirit was strong, and a
woman came and asked what we were singing. we were able to share a bit
with her. it was really cool!
-our new investigator chen yihua! she's great. she came to conference.
she came to a family home evening. she's praying. she's good. we love
her!
-we rode to dalin (1 hr 45 min away) and did service with old people
there. they were so cute and took a million pictures of us. i think
that some of them had never seen white people before.
-hong yunling has a baptismal date! may 16!!!! she's so wonderful! she
was worried that her dad would oppose. we asked if she had a desire to
be baptized. she said yes, and then chose a day!
-conference was so so so great. i don't have time to write the best
lesson i learned, maybe next week. mainly , i'm too prideful. i have
too many of my own opinions. i'm changing this.
-i'm working this move to record what i learn. every day i learn so
much! why haven't i written it all down? i don't know. but, i'm making
an effort to ask myself, "so what? i learned this cool thing, but so
what? how will i repent and change accordingly?" i'm hoping to see a
lot of growth this move.
-how did it take me this long to realize that successful living
patterns are found in the gospel? we have perfect guidebooks. no
wonder the apostles are all such amazing, accomplished men. they live
the gospel. they live gods way. they live after the manner of
happiness. i am trying to too.

i love you all. i hope your easter was great! stay well.

love,
jade, sister jade