Back to the Basics

Hellllllllllo! This week has been pretty good! Sister Hicks and I went on exchanges with the Spanish-speaking sisters in our zone and it was fun! Hermana Winterton came to Karenland with me. We had a super fun day together. We were able to see some people that we haven’t seen in a while. One of them is Naw Mu. She has been an investigator for a reeeeally long time. In fact, all of her children are baptized, but the Karen culture of only getting baptized once has stopped her from being baptized. But even though she isn’t baptized, she was just like a member. She would come to church every single week and she had a testimony of the gospel. However, in the beginning of June she got super sick. No one knew what was wrong with her, she was just constantly in excruciating pain. She was so sick she couldn’t come to church. We would still visit her every now and then though. A month or so ago, she just started feeling way better. We were slacking and hadn’t seen her for a while though. So Hermana Winterton and I went and saw her and she’s doing great health wise, but says that since she got sick it has been super hard to come to church and that Satan is working hard on her. It's super sad to see. She was so consistent and never missed a week of church, but when she got sick she got completely out of the habit of coming and lost her testimony of the importance of church. I was thinking about how easy it is for this to happen to anyone. So many times we see people who have strong testimonies of the gospel get out of the habit of praying daily, reading scriptures daily, and coming to church regularly. When we stop doing those little basic things, we can lose our whole testimony of the gospel. When President Russell M. Nelson came and talked to us in May, he talked about this. He talked about if we want to know something and we do those basic things and search for our answers, we can gain a testimony of every aspect of the gospel. But when we stop doing those things, we can lose our testimonies completely. Don’t let this happen to you. Keep doing those basic things that God has asked us to do. And if you have stopped, start again. It’s never too late to return to the gospel or learn about the gospel. God is always waiting for us with open arms. I’m so thankful for His unconditional love. As humans, we all make lots of mistakes. But God knew that we would when He sent us down here. And because of His love for us, He provided us with a Savior so that we can repent and become better each and every day. It’s only through our Savior Jesus Christ’s sacrifice that we can repent and eventually return to live with our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of Jesus Christ’s gospel that has been restored to the earth. The gospel has blessed me so much in my life, and I know that God will bless anyone who strives to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Thank you for always showing me love and support.️

Enjoy this picture of Sister Hicks and don’t tell her I sent this out. I’m so grateful for her. Her goofy self is always keeping me laughing. Thankful I get to spend 10 months of my mission with my best friend.️

Hermana Winterton (from Las Vegas) and I with Moo Eh Wah. 

Mom notes: I asked her about the lighter coat she is wearing in this picture. She said even though it's 30 degrees, it doesn't feel very cold to her yet. I'm so glad she has a warmer one for the temperatures we know are coming!