Hola Familia!
So this week FLEW by. No Joke! It seems like we just had p-day and did laundry yesterday! This also means that I have 3 more weeks until I'll be heading out to Cali! CRAZY! LOCO! Hermana Dastrup leaves tomorrow. Hopefully she and I will have the opportunity to be comps out in the Sacramento Mission field.
This week has been lots of fun. The firesides and Devotionals have been GREAT. Tuesday, the speaker talked about Sacrifice and as I sat there listening to the talk, I realized that serving this mission may be a sacrifice but the Lord is blessing me in so many ways that I don't even think about it as being a sacrifice! Wow, I really wish you could have been there. And as we discussed the talk in our district that night, we talked about how when we sacrifice, it's just a way that Heavenly Father is really blessing us!
Yesterday was awesome. First of all, THANK YOU EVERYONE for all the Easter goodies. The elders loved the cookies and ate most of them and then I ate most of the brownies before bedtime all by myself this last week (my comps already had their own goodies they were partaking of!). Although, the peeps were a little bit of a let down. They didn't taste as good as they looked on TV but oh well, they were still good! So thank you! So yesterday was a fabulous day. The General Primary President came and spoke to us on Christlike attributes. It was amazing. I seriously felt like she was talking to me because this whole week I have been reading through that section of Preach My Gospel and I have been trying to apply Christlike attributes in my life. It was a great talk and gave me more insight on what I was already studying!
After Relief Society, my comps and I ran into a couple sisters from Switzerland and Latvia. They were both headed to temple square. As we were talking about their missions and such, the topic of how the sister from Latvia became converted came up. It was an amazing story and such a wonderful opportunity for me and my comps to hear her story. She grew up going to church 1-2 times a year and was taught that she would be saved by the grace of Jesus Christ. But she thought that was too easy so she decided to try the Catholic church, which had ordinances and stuff but she still thought that it was too easy so she was praying to know what was right and that's when the sister missionaries invited her to church. And when she came to church she thought it was a little weird at first, but decided to listen anyway. She listened to the missionary lessons and she said she was feeling really guilty about past sins in her life that she just couldn't get rid of. One Sunday she was at church, the bishop got up and said that he had planned to talk about something else but he felt inspired to talk about this instead. He said that if anyone was feeling guilty or ashamed of something they've done in the past, give those sins, that are like stones, to Jesus Christ. Through His Atonement, he can lift and carry those burdensome stones for you. After that she was baptized and 3 years later she is here serving a mission!
A couple things that really stood out to me were 1) Her faith and willingness to leave her family and most likely pay her own way for her mission, to share the gospel with others and 2) she said that she didn't remember what the sisters taught her in those lessons but she remembers what she felt! It was so neat to hear her say that. At one of our Group Meetings, the speaker talked about how God is preparing the hearts of the elect and that when we find the elect, it will be the spirit that converts, not our teaching! I know this is true. This was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father really is preparing the hearts of his elect, where ever they may be, to be prepared to receive his gospel. How wonderful a blessing it is to me that I get to be the instrument through which He will be converting the hearts of His children to come unto Christ and use his infinite Atonement in their lives to return to live with him again. This work isn't about how many people you baptize or even people being baptized, this is so much bigger than that. This is about bringing people unto Christ and doing those things that they need to do to receive Exaltation and live with Heavenly Father and their families for Eternity!
I love you all so much!
Love Always,
Hermana Bradfield!
On Wednesday, March 5th, we took Kelly to the Missionary Training Center (MTC). She was supposed to be there by 11:30. We got there a little early, so we could take some pictures.
When we went in to the building, Kelly had to go into the special missionary entrance, so she could check in and receive her name badge, and her dining card. Kelly's name badge, along with all the other new missionaries, had a special "Celestial" orange dot on it, meaning she would get special treatment because she was a new missionary.
Kelly's Dining Card
After we finished taking pictures in the lobby we headed down to the orientation room. As we walked through the halls, I felt a rush of different feelings. I felt sad at the prospect of saying goodbye to Kelly so soon, and I felt excitement and happiness for her. Jason said as he and Kelly were walking down the hall he said to her, "You are probably feeling nervous, excited and anxious all at once," and Kelly agreed whole heartedly. In the orientation we started by singing the hymn, "Called to Serve". We sang it faster than I have ever heard it before. I could barely keep up. A couple of the administrative people at the MTC spoke, and they assured the parents their missionaries would be looked after and be well taken care of. They talked about the good the missionaries would be doing as they served. There was such a good feeling there. I admire Kelly so much for being willing to serve the Lord and do his work for a year and a half. I know she will be blessed for it. She was so calm the whole time we were at the MTC with her. Even when we had to say goodbye, she was so strong. I could tell she was sad to leave us, but I could tell she was very excited for everything to come. She had a special sparkle in her eyes. 