Week 25

Hey y'all!

Ahhhh this week… Wow, I am not sure how to express it fully.

I cannot express how amazing things have been with Sister Egbert! I have been dealing with some health difficulties --which I am working on figuring out-- and she has been so patient and loving. We have gotten along very well (per usual) and thoroughly enjoyed the work together.

Although health has not been ideal, we have been out, about, and doing the work! We hit the standards of excellence again this week and it feels so good. Numbers are not what matters, but we have to have clear and SPECIFIC goals (along with clear and specific plans) to be motivated and pushed by, in order to achieve. This is something that I have had difficulty learning, as I am WAYYY not about numbers -- as in, I want to teach and share with individuals meaningfully and personally, not robotically or to add a tally mark to the board. As a result of my strong feelings, I'd previously allowed myself to forget about the importance of setting those kinds of goals (WITH NUMBERS). The goal is to have a clear vision through our numerical goals / standards and to place REAL people behind those numbers -- to envision the wonderful souls that we may come across and have the opportunity to open the doors to a greater grasp of God's love to! Since my adjusting to and focusing on these kinds of goals, we have seen the fruit of our labors.

 Sister Egbert and I have decided that our #1 focus is now to unify and support our ward. We have made it a point to do so before, but we are making it an even greater focus. Even in the short amount of time that we have begun to do so, we have seen miracles! Members have given us referrals, seemingly nonstop. We have also prayed fervently for our relationships with leadership to be mended (issues from past missionaries, unfortunately). I know as we work to unify with our ward and leaders and to strengthen each other, everything else will fall into place!

I was studying in the Book of Mormon this week and came across verse 13 in Mosiah 27:

"... the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people."

This only magnified my desire to unify and strengthen our ward! It is of the utmost importance that we are unified in uplifting and strengthening one another as followers of Christ. It is those that have come to know Christ and fallen away that will overthrow His church.

Stake Conference was this Sunday and boy oh boy was it incredible. One of the most impactful moments for my companion and I, was at the beginning of our stake president's address. He mentioned he'd had some important things on his mind lately, of which he wanted to share before he began his planned talk. He invited EVERYBODY to pray for and support the missionaries and he spoke well of our desires and hard work…He said "the missionaries can't do the Lord's work without the support of members and leadership!"  His words were seriously an answer to our prayers and efforts -- both Sister Egbert and I were in tears. The air already feels clearer and our hope brighter (: We needed someone well known and respected to help us get members involved in the work -- there is NO WORK without you all!

This also stood out in my studies:

Mosiah 27:14 & 16
"And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith."
"... And now I say unto thee, Alma, go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more, that their prayers may be answered… "

The Lord ALWAYS hears our prayers, He knows the desires of our hearts! If our desires are righteous, He will ALWAYS grant them (whether in this life or the next). He will not take away the agency of others though, as shown in the story of Alma the younger in the above verses. The Lord heard the prayers of His people and of Alma's father. He sent an angel for the purpose of answering their prayers but it was up to Alma in the end to CHOOSE to be the answer. Had he not chosen to repent and turn to the Lord, the people may never have known that the Lord answered their prayers -- because Alma would not have shown God's answer.


CHALLENGE:
Feed yourself and others spiritually. Ask yourselves: Am I truly converted to the Lord, and to the Lord only? Rather than other members of His church, the organization of the church, or otherwise?
REMEMBER: God hears our prayers, but He will not take away the agency of His children.
Don't be discouraged if you can't see God's answers right now. He may have already answered you, but the choices of others may hide it from your view.
On the flip side: Be the answer to the prayers of others! Act upon promptings, make the needed adjustments in your life to bring you closer to God's will and work for you.


Fun Moment:

For Valentine's Day weekend, Sister Egbert and I gave out flowers to people in our ward and later, to passers-by downtown. It was the most WONDERFUL thing! As missionaries, we have never been treated SO WELL by strangers. There were women AND men that came close to tears when we gave them a flower and wished them a happy Valentine's Day. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! We gave with no strings attached -- just for the sake of giving and to brighten their day -- and people were taken aback. Here's some examples of our encounters:
We met a sweet old man and his dog, Georgie, who we ran into again the entire evening. We held lots of cute and random conversations with him, heheh.
We met Ben, Jesse, and Shaun, along with a few others, who were delighted at our gift and proceeded to flirt with us until they asked our names… which right now, start with "Sister" heheh.
We came across many that were drunk and using who knows what else! They reacted very hilariously. One of them thanked us profusely and as we walked away, he swore and asked what the flower was called. We answered "Carnation!" and he said "Sweet! She'll love this!" As he hobbled across the street. Heheh.

I am going to have to continue doing little things like this throughout my mission and when I get home. We were on such a high after all of that!


So much love and gratitude for you all!
Sister Alger (:

This van reminds me of home!

Short Street (:

I

LOVE

YOU!!!!

Face prints in the snow

Week 24

Hey Y'all!

I think this has been the best week yet with Sister Egbert! We hit the standards of excellence this week!! We found 2 new people to teach (Gavin and Skylar, 9 year old identical twins), we got a baptismal date for Aurora (a 10 year old we're teaching), we had 6 people at church on Sunday, and we got into contact with some people that have disappeared! We also had a really cool experience with exact obedience this week…

So, as missionaries, we have studies every morning and we have to be out of the house for part of it. We often use the church building because it is covered in snow outside and it's a pretty small town, so there's not a lot of public places good for studying. We'd recently been asked to not be at the church as much as possible, though. As a result, Sister Egbert and I found a café / crépes and waffles place downtown and carried out our studies there. After being there for a good while studying, discussing, and planning, an employee named Raegan came up to us. It started off with her asking where we were from, leading to her co-worker Hannah joining the conversation, and then led to us explaining concepts from pretty much all of the lessons we teach as missionaries! Raegan is non religious and Hannah is part of another faith, but always wondered what was true about Mormons and their church. We talked for a LONG time and were blessed that nobody was coming into their restaurant so we could continue. Raegan gave us her number and we promised to come back and see them again (: We ended up hurrying out after all that to meet with someone who hasn't responded to us for weeks, until that very moment!

Now, remember how we were asked to study somewhere other than the church building? Well, Sister Egbert and I were both feeling somewhat hesitant and maybe a bit annoyed at the inconvenience of that request! Nonetheless, we did as we were asked and what miracles came from it! We had wonderful conversations about Christ and His gospel, bore our testimonies, made new friends, and got a call from someone who has been out of reach.

The blessings of exact obedience to missionary standards, guidelines, etc., as well as to God's commandments, are SO REAL. They may not be as obvious as this special occasion, but they are there. Obedience brings blessings, and EXACT obedience brings miracles!


The next topic I want to touch on….

Neither Sister Egbert nor I have had cooperative bodies this week, but we have been full of joy and determination to do the Lord's work at every moment we could possibly manage. Why has this week been so wonderful despite the many difficulties and challenges? Physical and emotional?

President Russel M. Nelson has said:
           “The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives."

Our FOCUS -- the lens we see our lives through -- THAT is what will determine who we are and how we feel.

            “When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation … and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. …
“If we look to the world … , we will never know joy. … [Joy] is the gift that comes from intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as taught by Jesus Christ.” -- Pres. Nelson

As Sister Egbert and I have had crazy busy schedules, difficult situations, and other interesting situations we've had to deal with, we've remained focused on our missionary purpose (which is to bring others closer to Christ) and on the little moments, blessings, and miracles in our journey. We find reasons to smile, reasons to love, reasons to laugh, reasons to reach out. → REACH OUT ← Life is not easy, but we can make it joyful!  So reach out to those around you and most importantly, reach out to Christ.

At times, we may feel weighed down by the heavy burdens placed on our backs or life might slap us in the face. Our afflictions may be so great that we feel surrounded on every side, without a way to deliver ourselves from it all (Mosiah 21:3 & 5)... Good thing we are not meant to save ourselves! The Lord knows what His plan is for each of us and He will fulfill His word and will, as He always does (Mosiah 21:4).
We cannot escape suffering in this life -- especially if we seek to become like Him, for "charity suffereth long..." (1 Cor. 13:4 / Mor. 7:45). He is the source of all charity, which is His pure love. As we follow His example, we strive to have charity as He did and to exemplify His pure love through our efforts.

Christ suffered ALL manner of afflictions and has descended below all things! We are not greater than He that we should escape suffering! (D&C 122:8) No, but He suffered so that we don't have to suffer as He did -- ALL THINGS. (D&C 19:16-19) He made it possible for us to overcome such, reap eternal joy (D&C 109:76), and receive a crown of life! (Rev. 2:10) As we are partakers of suffering for His sake, we can become worthy to reign in the kingdom of God with Him! (2 Cor. 1:7, Phil. 1:29, 2 Thes. 1:5, 2 Tim. 2:12)

Suffering is a part of this life, but the Lord will provide for us that we should hunger not, neither should we thirst; yea, and He also gives us strength, that we should suffer no manner of afflictions, as they will be swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now, this is according to the prayer of our faith. (Alma 31:38)

Learn to suffer with joy. Allow your suffering to be swallowed up in the joy of Christ!

Philippians 4:6-7 says:
     "[Don't be unduly concerned about anything]; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your [thoughts, desires, and longings] be made known unto God.
     And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall [guard] your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

     "Just as the Savior offers peace that “passeth all understanding,” He also offers an intensity, depth, and breadth of joy that defy human logic or mortal comprehension. For example, it doesn’t seem possible to feel joy when your child suffers with an incurable illness or when you lose your job or when your spouse betrays you. Yet that is precisely the joy the Savior offers. His joy is constant, assuring us that our “afflictions shall be but a small moment” and be consecrated to our gain. …
     If we focus on the joy that will come to us, or to those we love, what can we endure that presently seems overwhelming, painful, scary, unfair, or simply impossible?" -- Pres. Nelson


INVITATIONS:

I invite you all to ponder the things that I have shared with you today. Find how this all applies to YOU. How can you change your focus to bring more joy into your life? How can you reach out to Christ and rely on Him more?

I would also invite you to study the talk I quoted and paraphrased:
"Joy and Spiritual Survival" By President Russell M. Nelson, Oct. 2016 General Conference

I love you all dearly, give this week a taste of heaven I know you all have in you!

Sister Alger (:

Lots of love ❤️

Big hair, don't care (:

DEEP snow!

We had a warmer day,  not freezing, so we washed the truck.

And then SO MUCH SNOW!

This nail polish changes colors, between blue and purple, depending on my body temperature.

Montana is GORGEOUS!!!!

Our mighty Zone Leaders, Elder Steelman and Elder Helms