Family,
First, I need to apologize for any typo's that might be in this email. The keyboard I am at is a silly one and I don't have time to go through and correct any mistakes made. Sorrrrry! :)
Thank you dearly for your birthday wishes and emails. It was so great, as always, to hear from you all. Your words are always exactly what my heart needs to hear. Most times, my prayers are answered through you and your words. Thank you so much. I am so grateful and so blessed for my family.
My week was a hard one. Wonderful and beautiful, but hard. I think the fact that it was hard is what made it so wonderful. I love that hard times brings us so much growth and tender feelings of the spirit. I love the words to the song 'Savior, Redeemer of my Soul' when it says "chasten my soul till I can be in perfect harmony with thee". This is truly one of the greatest desires of my heart. This song changed my life in the MTC when Sora Ewell sang it in Relief Society. I stopped and realized that I never want my life to be "easy". I hope that Heavenly Father always trusts me with trials and continues to chasten my soul so that I can grow and become more like my Savior. Maybe it's a silly request, but if hard weeks mean I get to feel the spirit like I have this last week, then I'm okay with that.
When I say I had a "hard" week, I hope you don't think that means that I am not grateful for everything that has happened. Maybe even the reasons that it was hard will seem silly to most of you.
Interviews with President and Sora Hill were splendid. Meeting with them was one of the highlights of my week. I went through every spectrum of emotions as I met with them each of them. It was great. I started with Sora Hill and was able to sit and talk to her as I would talk to my own mom (almost) and pour out to her everything I was feeling. She is such an amazing woman. She listened to me, comforted me and encouraged me onward. Just as my own mother would do. It was just what I needed.
I'm grateful that my interview with Sora Hill was first so that I could get all my emotions out and be more composed for my interview with President Hill. He and I had a nice chat. He is such a wonderful man. I love how much love I feel from both him and Sora Hill. I truly feel like when I am in an interview with them, that I am the only missionary they have to take care of. I expressed my fear of leaving Arad to President Hill and he confirmed my fear by telling my I would most likely be leaving this beautiful city at the end of this transfer (next week!).
Which may or may not be a contributing factor to why this has been a bit of a difficult week. Arad is my home. It's been my home for the last 8 months. Everything outside of Arad is so foreign to me. It has become my new comfort zone. The branch has become my family. I love it here. The thought of leaving just makes my heart ache. That isn't to say that I am not excited and open to new experiences, just sad to leave a place that I have come to love so so dearly. I feel right now much like I did before leaving on my mission. I was excited to start my mission, but so sad to leave home, family, and my comfort zone. I'm grateful that I've only had to feel this feeling once in the last 8 months and that Heavenly Father saw it fit to allow me to be apart of the work here in Arad. It's a beautiful city with beautiful people. Arad will always have a piece of my heart.
Tina is progressing perfectly, just as she should be. Her husband is still not letting her get baptized, but little by little, he is opening his heart. Tina is bound and determined to be baptized by March 29th. She is praying adamantly and asking us to do the same that her husband will allow this to happen. She is so excited about the gospel. We were able to meet with her four times last week and she gave us two referrals. She invites all of her neighbors to hear about the gospel and how the Book of Mormon has changed her life. The Elders were able to come visit her with us last week so that she could receive a blessing to help her stop smoking. Since that morning she hasn't smoked one cigarette. If only you could hear her bear her testimony. It is beautiful. Thank you all for your prayers on her behalf.
For the last few weeks, I have been studying gratitude and what it means to be a grateful person. What attributes does a grateful person personify? How can you tell when someone you meet is a grateful person? In studying this topic, I read a talk by Ray L. Huntington gave a talk and said, "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend... Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
In Doctrine and Covenants 59:7and 21 it tells us "Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things... And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments."
Those scriptures pierced my heart as I read them. Studies have been done that tell us grateful people are a happier people. I believe that we are commanded to thank God in all things because it brings our happiness and our joy is so important to Heavenly Father. As I continue to study this topic, I will be keeping a gratitude journal and carrying it with me everywhere I go. I am trying to be grateful in all things and have asked the people around me to catch me anytime I begin to complain and ask me what I am grateful for in that moment. I want those around me to be able to look at me and my actions and words and know that I am a grateful person. More importantly, I want my Heavenly Father to know how grateful I am for His hand in my life.
I talked to President Hill about gratitude in my email to him last week and this was his response. I quite like it.
First, I need to apologize for any typo's that might be in this email. The keyboard I am at is a silly one and I don't have time to go through and correct any mistakes made. Sorrrrry! :)
Thank you dearly for your birthday wishes and emails. It was so great, as always, to hear from you all. Your words are always exactly what my heart needs to hear. Most times, my prayers are answered through you and your words. Thank you so much. I am so grateful and so blessed for my family.
My week was a hard one. Wonderful and beautiful, but hard. I think the fact that it was hard is what made it so wonderful. I love that hard times brings us so much growth and tender feelings of the spirit. I love the words to the song 'Savior, Redeemer of my Soul' when it says "chasten my soul till I can be in perfect harmony with thee". This is truly one of the greatest desires of my heart. This song changed my life in the MTC when Sora Ewell sang it in Relief Society. I stopped and realized that I never want my life to be "easy". I hope that Heavenly Father always trusts me with trials and continues to chasten my soul so that I can grow and become more like my Savior. Maybe it's a silly request, but if hard weeks mean I get to feel the spirit like I have this last week, then I'm okay with that.
When I say I had a "hard" week, I hope you don't think that means that I am not grateful for everything that has happened. Maybe even the reasons that it was hard will seem silly to most of you.
Interviews with President and Sora Hill were splendid. Meeting with them was one of the highlights of my week. I went through every spectrum of emotions as I met with them each of them. It was great. I started with Sora Hill and was able to sit and talk to her as I would talk to my own mom (almost) and pour out to her everything I was feeling. She is such an amazing woman. She listened to me, comforted me and encouraged me onward. Just as my own mother would do. It was just what I needed.
I'm grateful that my interview with Sora Hill was first so that I could get all my emotions out and be more composed for my interview with President Hill. He and I had a nice chat. He is such a wonderful man. I love how much love I feel from both him and Sora Hill. I truly feel like when I am in an interview with them, that I am the only missionary they have to take care of. I expressed my fear of leaving Arad to President Hill and he confirmed my fear by telling my I would most likely be leaving this beautiful city at the end of this transfer (next week!).
Which may or may not be a contributing factor to why this has been a bit of a difficult week. Arad is my home. It's been my home for the last 8 months. Everything outside of Arad is so foreign to me. It has become my new comfort zone. The branch has become my family. I love it here. The thought of leaving just makes my heart ache. That isn't to say that I am not excited and open to new experiences, just sad to leave a place that I have come to love so so dearly. I feel right now much like I did before leaving on my mission. I was excited to start my mission, but so sad to leave home, family, and my comfort zone. I'm grateful that I've only had to feel this feeling once in the last 8 months and that Heavenly Father saw it fit to allow me to be apart of the work here in Arad. It's a beautiful city with beautiful people. Arad will always have a piece of my heart.
Tina is progressing perfectly, just as she should be. Her husband is still not letting her get baptized, but little by little, he is opening his heart. Tina is bound and determined to be baptized by March 29th. She is praying adamantly and asking us to do the same that her husband will allow this to happen. She is so excited about the gospel. We were able to meet with her four times last week and she gave us two referrals. She invites all of her neighbors to hear about the gospel and how the Book of Mormon has changed her life. The Elders were able to come visit her with us last week so that she could receive a blessing to help her stop smoking. Since that morning she hasn't smoked one cigarette. If only you could hear her bear her testimony. It is beautiful. Thank you all for your prayers on her behalf.
For the last few weeks, I have been studying gratitude and what it means to be a grateful person. What attributes does a grateful person personify? How can you tell when someone you meet is a grateful person? In studying this topic, I read a talk by Ray L. Huntington gave a talk and said, "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend... Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."
In Doctrine and Covenants 59:7and 21 it tells us "Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things... And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments."
Those scriptures pierced my heart as I read them. Studies have been done that tell us grateful people are a happier people. I believe that we are commanded to thank God in all things because it brings our happiness and our joy is so important to Heavenly Father. As I continue to study this topic, I will be keeping a gratitude journal and carrying it with me everywhere I go. I am trying to be grateful in all things and have asked the people around me to catch me anytime I begin to complain and ask me what I am grateful for in that moment. I want those around me to be able to look at me and my actions and words and know that I am a grateful person. More importantly, I want my Heavenly Father to know how grateful I am for His hand in my life.
I talked to President Hill about gratitude in my email to him last week and this was his response. I quite like it.
"Gratitude--what an important attribute to have. President
Eyring once spoke of getting ready to go out to visit a stake conference. Elder
David B. Height, then a very senior apostle who was too feeble to travel,
approached then Elder Eyring and begged the latter to take him along. "I
just want to go serve." President Eyring realized that this great apostle
was feeling great gratitude for what the Lord has done for him and just wanted
to do his part in return. To me, gratitude implies a keen understanding of what
God has given us or what another person has done for us. If we're not
spiritually sensitive, we won't be able to comprehend what we should really be
grateful for. As Elder Haight was approaching the end of his life of diligent
service, he was becoming more and more aware of the magnitude of the Savior's
gift to us and he wanted desperately to acknowledge the Savior's gift through
service to others."
I hope it's okay that I continue to talk about this in future emails as I continue to study gratitude and it's importance in our lives.
Last week, I was laying in bed trying to figure out how I can improve in the language. I said a silent, little prayer in my heart asking Heavenly Father what I can do and I had a strong impression that I needed to start saying all my personal prayers in Romanian. We say all our companionship prayers in Romanian and I've hesitated switching my personal prayers over because, well, I guess I'm pretty selfish of my time with my Heavenly Father and I so much cherish that open communication. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to express myself to my Father in Heaven but as I've started doing it, I have noticed how much more help I have received with the language and that I am actually able to express myself in my prayers and that as I do it, I realize words that I don't know and I write them down and expand my vocabulary. It's wonderful!
We find out transfers this week. I have no idea what Heavenly Father has in store for me for the next transfer, but whatever happens and wherever I go, I know that it is exactly where I am supposed to go. He has a plan. And I am so grateful to be apart of it.
I love you all dearly! Please be safe and take care of yourselves. You are in my prayers.
All my love,
Sora Cook
I hope it's okay that I continue to talk about this in future emails as I continue to study gratitude and it's importance in our lives.
Last week, I was laying in bed trying to figure out how I can improve in the language. I said a silent, little prayer in my heart asking Heavenly Father what I can do and I had a strong impression that I needed to start saying all my personal prayers in Romanian. We say all our companionship prayers in Romanian and I've hesitated switching my personal prayers over because, well, I guess I'm pretty selfish of my time with my Heavenly Father and I so much cherish that open communication. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to express myself to my Father in Heaven but as I've started doing it, I have noticed how much more help I have received with the language and that I am actually able to express myself in my prayers and that as I do it, I realize words that I don't know and I write them down and expand my vocabulary. It's wonderful!
We find out transfers this week. I have no idea what Heavenly Father has in store for me for the next transfer, but whatever happens and wherever I go, I know that it is exactly where I am supposed to go. He has a plan. And I am so grateful to be apart of it.
I love you all dearly! Please be safe and take care of yourselves. You are in my prayers.
All my love,
Sora Cook
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