Put your boat in the water

So good to chat with you people every week :)

Every time I feel as if I have to bundle every day into one email...which is basically impossible but I always try! Mostly I wanna talk about what I have learned. You guys (my regular readers) should know my daily schedule by now, with district meetings every week and church, and teaching lessons but you don’t know what I get out of them now do you? 

One of my goals, amongst many, is to not be competitive but follow the will of the Lord. I’m competitive with the language, progression (not outwardly, but inwardly, personally I want to win, kinda weird)...sadly I think after 14 years of soccer, my mentally is win win win! Oh be the best, be the best. However, that’s not realistic. That’s not how God’s missionary work flows. I need to think as He does as well as act. When I think like Him, I don’t want to be better than others or be the best but equal. I want to help them be better even though they might pass me (intellectually, spiritually). There’s a great scripture in Psalms 143:10 which was my weekly scripture. Look it up :) Enjoy.

I’ve also realized that we can repent in many ways. It doesn’t just have to be a serious sin. We can repent after thinking angry, prideful, or sad thoughts. We can repent when we know we can do better etc. There are so many things we can do better and can use the amazing gift of repentance! Our Savior understands everything. Repentance helps us back onto the path; back to that beautiful hike.

We have some investigators who we are helping with smoking, coming to church, understanding why it’s important to pray in respect to what we teach and I use an analogy about soccer to explain the commandments and why we have them. In soccer we have rules for everyone’s benefit. When everyone plays by those rules and stays in bounds, it’s fun. Everyone has a good time and feels the fairness of the game but when they are broken etc. the mood changes. Just like when we live the commandments, our bodies, minds and spirits are protected. We have fun, and amazing lives. But when these rules are broken, life changes. It’s not the same. Without rules and commandments, life is chaos. There is no reason to do good or enjoy these moments.

In a three-some now

One more metaphor! Yesterday we had the opportunity to watch the missionary devotional (that we were in as the audience) again with future missionaries in our stake and at the end someone said, "put your boat in the water" which made me think if my boat was in the water....yes! I was living a great life on my island of family, college, work but had the opportunity to set sail for Brazil; to bring a bag filled with seeds of faith for the other inhabitants lost at sea. I don’t know where I’m going at times. The winds change. Sadly, sometimes sharks attack but how glorious it is when I can yell, "land ho!" as I find a new island or person who is ready to plant that seed and try other fruit besides the usual mangos that originated there. They now have the fruit of this gospel, the atonement, and have the opportunity to nurture it and produce their own tree, with seeds, ready to share once more. Boy do I love metaphors!

Anyway, I think you get the idea. Life as a missionary is wonderful. Every day my Savior helps me become better and my relationship with my Father in Heaven grows tremendously. Set sail on this wonderful adventure of life, with the gospel, with things that are here only to help us.

Until next week,

I’m Sister Oldroyd signing off from Cotia, Brasil :)