Attitude
"Heavenly
Father had our backs today because even though we only taught one lesson, and
then tracked a ton and only talked to 2 people, we were happy"
In
his conference address entitled "Be of Good Cheer" President Monson
proclaimed:
“The
history of the Church...is replete with the experiences of those who have
struggled and yet who have remained steadfast and of good cheer as they have
made the gospel of Jesus Christ the center of their lives. This attitude
is what will pull us through whatever comes our way. It will not remove our
troubles from us but rather will enable us to face our challenges, to meet them
head on, and to emerge victorious. …
My
beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as
bright as your faith"
This
week was awesome, even though the rest of our week had about the same number of
lessons as Tuesday's. I guess what made it so great was just that we kept a
positive attitude and did our best.
.jpg)
I'll
admit this area is slower moving than the others, and more often than not it
feels like this is where we're at.
Speaking
of being happy, ever had a "red-neck taco"? It's the best thing in
the world. It's a hoe cake with coleslaw and meat and white sauce stuff... The
Dunns from the office and our friend Daniel went out with us to Martins BBQ and
I got to try one :)
So
since being on this "positive attitude" kick, I thought it might be
humbling to share a moment when I lost it a little bit. We were teaching a less
active, Ellie, who is getting pretty old. For some reason she just wouldn't
stop going on about how terrible her life was, all the "woes me" and
refusing to see the bright side of anything.
"you
know what Ellie?" I burst out, "you have such an awesome life. You
have a son who loves you, a ward family who cares, missionaries who come by and
doctors who you can go to that know what they're doing. You've got a beautiful
house in a free country and man Ellie, I'm just so grateful for your good
attitude in all this! You are such a great example to us!"
I
don't know why I said the last part, but Ellie was quiet, and then with a smile
thanked me sincerely for noticing all of her hard work in staying positive. It
was so funny. Sister Rawlings and I just laughed. At least it got her to think
she was positive, so maybe it'll help her do so (:
Remember
when Paul said that we must “suffer with Christ"? He wasn't implying we
would suffer what Christ did, or that we should go looking for any such
opportunity; rather he meant that we would go through our OWN suffering with
him.
Elder
Keith R. Edwards of the Seventy explained that: "it is the attitude
with which we approach our hardships and trials that allows us to know the
Savior better. … We can have a greater appreciation for that which He
did, and we can feel His spirit succoring us, and we can know the Savior in a
very real sense” (“That They Might Know Thee")
My
exchange this week was with Sister Crossley who learned with me that we can do
anything Christ asks of us. She is still in training, and was nervous about
having to take over the area since her companion goes home this week. But she
totally did it and it was awesome! We had a great time and the more positive we
were the more confident she became. I really like her, she totally reminds me
of Ashley.
While
in Bellevue with Sister Crossley I met Sister Morris, she's a ballerina and her
husband is a philosopher. She is totally the Carlsons cousin! AND I know her ex
boyfriend. AND I've tracked into her In-laws and know them too. Small world
right?
.jpg)
Seeing
as this was the last week of the transfer a lot of different things came to a
close and a lot of goodbyes were said. Our final district meeting was sad, but
quickly turned into a comedy when during our closing hymn "God be with you
til we meet again" Elder Colver began playing the piano in a very eery key
with ominous dynamics and we all busted up. It was a great transfer for us all
and we FINALLY hit our district goal of getting 40% of our lessons as member
presents. We played a game where you had to find a scripture to go with a
certain concern and Elder Walsh kept score. Whoever found it first usually got
the point (unless someone else had a better fitting scripture). To remind us of
this Elder Walsh kept saying "time is a factor". We felt like we were
on a game show and that was his catch phrase. It was funny.
Let's
see, we had the ward camp out that we got to go to the dinner portion for, that
was fun.
I
was again reminded of the importance of attitude when we went to visit anew
family in the ward. She told us her oldest son and his wife had moved here too,
but they hadn't brought their records and weren't active in the church. She
told us she didn't want to push them or anything so she wasn't going to say
anything about bringing their records over here. We got their address from her
and went to visit them without very much hope. When the wife opened the door we
were greeted with excitement.
We then spent an hour getting to know this couple
and finding out their history of her being a recent convert and him working on
coming back after so many years. We asked about their records and they said
they didn't even realize that was a thing they had to do! We invited them to a
church activity and they willingly accepted. They are so awesome! He is like
the exact replica of Hunter Risk (not just in looks, but in the way he thinks
and the the things he says and likes) and she is a young Vegas hair dresser
with a tattoo artist for a dad. They're SO awesome. I only wish we and their
family would've had a better attitude about them because they're so great! So,
lesson learned, keep a better attitude about people!
But
having a positive attitude isn't just a missionary thing, it's totally an
everyday thing for everyone! The other day I was declined a scholarship I had
worked really hard for and was depending on for getting me to college when I
get home. At first I was really sad, but then I realized that there was no use
feeling down about it because A) it already happened, I can't change it and B)
a bad attitude keeps me away from the spirit and then I can receive revelation
about what I need to do next! So I changed my attitude and now I'm feeling much
better about it :)
A
positive attitude is something I've really just set for a goal for Sister
Rawlings and I this transfer! When she found out she was staying with me she
was sad, but not sad because she doesn't like me- sad because she doesn't want
me to see her at the end when she's all sad about having to go home. I really
love her and want her to see that we can still work hard and be happy and it
doesn't have to be a rough time at all!
Despite
not having many people to teach, when I'm going about my fathers business, how
can I not be happy?
Last
night we tracked among the most beautiful houses and the sun was setting and
the weather was perfect and it was all just so great, even though no one we
talked to wanted to hear from us.
We
ended our day with dinner at the Jensens. We made smores with their massive
fire place outside. Sophia got messy. :)
Oh
have I told you our latest nickname? The assistants call us "Celine and
Baby Spice" because apparently that's who we remind them of. We took this
picture this morning as a gag (our neighbor is a singer) lol.
I
love you all! I have a great testimony that the more we try to become like
Christ the happier we are. Most the time it's a changed attitude that changes
the circumstance, so keeping thinking positive thoughts! You're a child of God,
so you have reason to smile.
Sister
Hochstrasser
Write to me!
Sister Jennifer Hochstrasser
105 West Park Dr Ste 190
Brentwood, TN 37027
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment