6 July 2015
Soooo, transfer week and.. I AM STAYING! And so is Sister Hauglid. It's true everyone, Heavenly Father does answer prayers ;) There was a crazy spin on things, the 'Massey' sisters got double shifted out and so we are all alone in the flat. A 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom & 2 lounge room flat to ourselves. It's massive. It's not even a flat but a house. But it's the best and we inherited all their food so we won't starve anymore haha! And we can both shower at the same time. Finish in in luxury or? haha, anyway not that this is relevant to anything, but I am excited about it!
Anyway, this week was another pretty normal week. Which is AWESOME because being a missionary is the BEST!
(We are going up to Whangarei next week so I'm not sure how long ill have to email, probably even shorter!!!!)
Something that has scared me for a while is the prophecy in Doctrine & Covenants which talks about "in the last days mens hearts shall fail them". On my mission I have met less active Bishops, Stake Presidents, returned missionaries etc and it breaks my heart. I have realised that no one is safe with their testimony. We need to work hard at it, very hard. I have learnt from 3 Nephi 13:19-21 how to solve that. Where do your treasures lie?? Do they lie in the things of the world, or the things that moth doth not corrupt???
Moral of the story is if you want to be happy, come unto Christ :)
Sister Heal :)
20 July 2015
Valerie Heal, AKA Nan, AKA best friend.. passed away on Sunday 12th July at night.
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| Nan, before I left on my mission |
I got a call from my dad last week on Monday, hence not really emailing everyone last pday :)
This has probably been the hardest week of my mission for me. I have a strong testimony of the 'Plan of Salvation', and I don't doubt for one second that I will see Nan again. But the thought of not being with her in her final moments by her bedside, or at the funeral, or with the family whilst they mourn as well.. was something that was challenging to bear. There were many moments where the thought would catch my attention and I would pretty much break down into a ball and cry. I am so grateful for my companion. She wrote me a little note on Tuesday morning saying how my Nan was encirceled about in Heavenly Father arms. I guess He was too busy with my Nan so Sister Hauglid stepped in God's place and on many occasions literally encircled me about in her arms of love :)
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| Love her! |
Most of you reading this are members of the Mormon faith and know the 'Plan of Salvation', but for my friends and family who arent let me share a little bit with you :)
-----------oooOooo-------------
Before we came down to earth, we lived with God. We were His spirit children, one big family, every single one of us! God had a perfected glorified body and we wanted to become like him. SO he set this plan for us to follow. A plan where we would come to earth, gain bodies, gain experiences and then return to live with Him again.
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| Honoured the 'Heal' name.. |
So one by one we all came down... Each one of us gaining our bodies and being born into families. Whilst on earth we are here to be tried and tested, here to have families, here to follow Jesus Christ's teachings and return back to God. There are 2 things that stop us from being with God... one of them is physical death, each one of us will eventually die. The other is sin. When we make a mistake (sin) we become unclean and no unclean thing can live with God.
God provided a way for us to overcome these 2 obstacles, and that way was Jesus Christ.
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| The top of Mt Mania |
Jesus Christ was many things, a great moral teacher, a prophet, a man who changed history. But the most important thing is he was, is our Redeemer. He performed something called the 'atonement', it's the process of becoming 'at one' with God. Firstly he took upon Him our sins. Every single mistake we have ever made he has paid that price. We can receive that forgiveness if we simply follow the steps of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. Through these steps we can stand clean before God. The other thing Christ did was, he was killed on the cross but more importantly, he rose 3 days later. Because of that, each one of us will also 'rise' as well.
When we die, our bodies go into the ground and our spirits are taken to the spirit world. A scripture in the Book of Mormon explains the Spirit World better then I ever could.
(Alma 40:11,12)
11 "Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.
This scripture gives us in detail, exactly where my Nan, and your deceased ancestors, friends etc are at this time :)
The spirit world is just a waiting room. There will come a time when each of us are resurrected. Our bodies and our spirits will come back together in a perfect form, never to be separated again! Our bodies won't be weighed down by sickness or imperfections, but each of us will be perfect like Christ and God!
How great is that!!
After this we are each judged and placed into one of 3 kingdoms. We often hear of 'heaven and hell' but there's much more to it then that. Celestial kingdom, Terestial kingdom, Telestial kingdom. The Celestial kingdom is where we can live with God forever, our families and friends, and have a fullness of joy. There are things we must do to enter into this kingdom but it is possible.
—————oooOooo-------------
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| My lovely companion |
THIS IS WHY I AM A MISSIONARY. To share thismessage with all my 'brothers and sisters' and help them see that this life is such a small small portion. There is a lot more that we don't see, but we will.
I know that the 'plan of salvation' is true and comes from a God who loves us and wants the best for us. I don't just hope for it but I know it without any doubts.
I love you all. I love my family. I love my Nan. I miss her every single day, but no word of a lie, I feel her with me when I am out teaching and sharing the gospel.
Til we meet again!
Sister Heal
27 July 2015
THANKYOU to everyone for all your kind words and wisdom over these past few weeks in regards to the passing of my Nan. I truly do appreciate it. I know she is safe now and looking over each of us :)
All right, so I am currently in Kaikohe.
Here's some dot points for this week:
- There's this Samoan family we have been trying to contact for ages and everytime we go to the door a different person answers it. Well this time one of the teenagers opened it and was like "do you wanna come in?" of course we said "yes", so we entered in the home and was lead to the loungeroom. One by one people came into the room and sat down... 12 kids later the Dad also joined us!
We shared a short message about Christ and invited them to hear the missionary lessons and they said "yes"! They're also coming to our activity. So, we are now teaching a family of 12 and 8 are baptismal age! I love the NZAM :)
We have a ward activity coming up, a simple talent night BUT we have a 'kapahaka' group performing from Pomaria Primary and a few other local performances .... it escalated really quickly and our chapel isn't big enough, so it's moved to the stake centre because we have guaranteed 150 non members attending, plus the ward, and others that people might bring. That's exciting :)
Sister Heal
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