Sister Annelise Record: Chicken Legs and Cadbury Eggs

Area: Serenada
Companion: Sister Melissa Rowley

Hello ya'll! It's great to be alive at such a time as this! :D

Sister Rowley's mom just sent her that skirt. We didn't even plan on wearing the same skirt today,
thought we should capture this monumental occasion. :)

There are moments when God's hand is so obvious, we just can't deny his love for us. Sister Rowley and I had such a moment this week. Each transfer we have what's called a "wishlist". That is a list we send to our district leader each transfer to inform him of needed supplies such as pass along cards, pamphlets, copies of the Book of Mormon, etc.. I don't know why they call it a wishlist. Our district leader texted us, letting us know it was time to send in wishlists. We listed the things we needed, and jokingly included Cadbury Eggs. To which they replied, "Anything else?" We thought for a moment and said, we wouldn't say no to starburst jelly beans. Ha ha. We got a giggle out of it, then forgot all about the whole thing. The very next day we received a package from Sister Rowley's mom. She got a cute new outfit, and guess what else? CADBURY EGGS and STARBURST JELLYBEANS! :D We could not believe it. We laughed, and we ate some, and couldn't deny that it was a tender mercy from Heavenly Father. Heavenly Father doesn't care about candy! But he does care about his children. And he does occasionally, or perhaps more often than we think, send us unexpected tender mercies that bring us delight, joy, peace, or even love. He loves his children. He loves us. And those things could not have come at a more perfect time.

Transfer calls are coming up this Sunday. I get the feeling that there will be a change. I'm not sure what kind of change. We will see. Next time you hear from me, you'll know!

We had fun helping her plant her strawberries.

We had the delightful opportunity to help Sister Cox, a woman in our ward, with her garden. She has two full-time jobs; Mother and farmer. She is a hard worker. She has a daughter serving a mission. It was fun to work with her for an hour. Unfortunately it was a challenge to keep the chickens away from our handy work. They loved the freshly hoed soil with all the bugs now easy to reach. I love gardening!

General Conference has been amazing. I did get to watch all the sessions. I loved listening to Sister Linda K. Burton as she addressed the importance of Fathers and husbands. What a noble role it is to be a Father and husband. Dad, thank you for being such a prime example of a good husband and Father. You honor the priesthood that you hold. I also loved President Eyring's talk on the law of the fast. Elder Holland spoke beautifully on the fall of Adam and Eve and our dire need for the atonement. I took pretty good notes throughout, but Elder Holland’s talk was so compelling, I only wrote a couple points down. I was very touched by Brent H. Neilson's talk on the prodigal son and the example of his sister falling away and coming back. Everything was so good!

Before my mission, I mistakenly had the idea that missionaries are always teaching people. Not so. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we were teaching someone every hour of the day? Or even just one person each day. A huge part of the Lord's work is finding those who are prepared to receive his gospel. That doesn't always happen in the blink of an eye. The past few weeks we've been focusing almost solely on finding people. The Lord has promised that he is preparing hearts wherever we're at. In our search, we also see many who are not open or desirous to listen. What do we do when we meet those people? Love them, but move on. It has been humbling to be on the Lord's errand. Success is not measured by our outward results, but by our commitment to find, teach, and baptize. Our commitment is what counts. There are times in a mission where we are teaching people constantly. Even if we are teaching constantly, we can still fail if our commitment to the Lord is not there. I learned this at an early age. Success in the world's eyes is different than success is God's eyes.

Because of this somewhat slow time, I've learned to really cherish and appreciate teaching opportunities. It has helped me stretch to improve my teaching skills. 5 minutes before the second session of general conference started, a man who wasn't interested referred us to his next door neighbor. We decided to risk being late, and knock on her door. She ended up being very kind and open and wanted us to come back. What a tender mercy!

I know that the Lord lives, and loves us. He is aware of each of his children. His gospel is the way that leads to happiness in this life and joy in the life to come. I bear my humble witness that I am not here to represent myself, but I am here to represent him. Even Jesus Christ. In his great name, amen.

Love Sister Record