Heavenly Father Understands

What a week. So it was brought to my attention that I really haven't said much about my companion! Her name is Sister Xayadeth (Sigh-uh-debt). I cannot tell you how many times I have heard her explain to people how to say it. Basically she's "X" and I'm "boat" you know, pretty great! She is from South Jordan, Utah and is a U fan as well. She is 19 and has not done any college yet. She is great and we have a lot of fun together :)

This week was humbling. I was sick Tuesday and Wednesday so had to stay in. Sister Xayadeth got sick Thursday so we basically lost 3 days this week. Being sick as a missionary makes you feel guilty; all you want to do is be out! I was feeling pretty down while Sister X was sick because I just wanted to be out. I was reading conference talks and the thought and overwhelming feeling that came over was that Heavenly Father understands. It's okay. He knows us and He knows that we have limitations, but He also knows when we are doing our best. Feeling the approval of Heavenly Father is the best feeling in the world.

So basically the week was lessons with Jessie! We taught her 4 times! She is doing so well and began to live the Word of Wisdom this week. She has so many good questions that the gospel answers. The Gospel (and specifically the Book of Mormon) answers all those questions we struggle with from one time to another! It's incredible. She still has a baptismal date of December 14th and is planning on coming to church this week! Which is especially great because Sisters Bennett, Stoker, Xayadeth, and I are speaking this week (All the missionaries serving in the Ventura 2nd Ward). All the members were encouraged to invite a friend, so hopefully they follow through! It's going to be really powerful :)

This week, we gained a couple strong potential investigators. We met the girlfriend of a new investigator! We were trying to contact her boyfriend, but met her instead. They have a Book of Mormon and have read parts of it. She seemed excited to learn more, so we will be trying to teach their family this week!

Saturday was a great day! It was so good to be working again! We went to visit a potential investigator that we found in the area book and met Rosie. She is awesome! She grew up Catholic, but then started going to a Christian church and understood concepts a lot better. She still has lots of questions though and does not attend church currently. We taught her a lot of the Restoration. She asked us where our church is and said she wanted to come and see! She wasn't there yesterday, but we are hoping to get her there this week! The rest of the potentials we contacted near her only spoke Spanish. I did my best to communicate with them. Basically I can tell them we are missionaries and what church we are from. After that, it's like a battle in my head trying to remember Spanish and keep it separate from Portuguese. I really should just start speaking Portuguese to them and see if they understand. Maybe one of these days.

I learned a lot this week! And have had some really neat experiences. I can now truly say I love being a missionary. I was struggling to be able to say that before. It's definitely a big adjustment! I've been praying for experiences that will strengthen my testimony of missionary work, and I have seen major changes in my life. I love it! I love it! Heavenly Father is amazing! I've also been beginning to realize I may not mind staying here. I love it here. This is my mission! This feeling probably came at a good time seeing as visa requirements are changing and so I've got lots of papers to fill out and more fingerprints to acquire and such. I may be here for Christmas! We shall see!

Another thing I didn't truly realized is how powerful the Restoration really is. Every member knows the story, Joseph Smith... grove of trees... lots of churches... but do we really KNOW the restoration? Do we understand the significance? I would invite each of us to really study the Restoration! Grab a Preach My Gospel! That's an excellent study source. Chapter 3, Lesson 1.

I love you all! Thanks for the prayers and the letters! They are so appreciated. More than you could know.

Love,

Sister Shipp