Thanks for all your letters and support. Camille truly loves all your letters. She is doing great.
Love,
Rosalee
Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 8:28 AM
CIAO!!!
What a great week this has completely been. I can't explain how much I have struggled and grown, and how much joy and happiness I have been blessed with. I'm going to include some journal entries this time...it's pretty accurate as to how my week has been. Business first...THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LETTERS!! To everyone, I can't explain how wonderful it is to hear from each of you. It's like Christmas after Lunch and Dinner...please write, even if it's a little note :) DEARELDER.COM is the way to go...seriously. You too Mom, I've seriously missed hearing from you this week. Speaking of letters, Mom, if you wouldn't mind, there is an Anziano in our district who has not recieved one letter since his stay here at the MTC...His name is Elder Luke Bradshaw, and he has the same address as me. If you could just DearElder.com him with some words of encouragement, that would be wonderful. He couldn't refrain from crying yesterday...it's a sad situation with his family and he's really, really struggling. Thank you so much! So...On to my week :))
Thursday March 24, 2011
BUONGIORNO!! I am SO tired, but I know today is going to be a good day. I'll work my hardest for it to be that way. :) It's personal study time right now and Iv'e decided to work on patience as an attribute of Christ. PMG asked us to ponder and study Alma 26; this is when Ammon is rejoicing in the Lord and bearing his testimony on the blessings of being patient. At frist I wasn't really reading the chapter, and I didn't even notice! BUT a little something just urged me to start over and REALLY read the chapter. I am SO glad I did (tender mercy!) because it brought a whole new light to being joyful in the Lord and to share the gospel among those who inhabit the earth. As a missionary myself, to BE like these men in the BoM! They STRUGGLED to bring souls unto Christ. In vs 27 the Lord promised them that if they "bear with patience thine afflictions" the Lord says "I will give unto you success"...Sometimes I get down when my weaknesses come up, but I have been able to look at my struggles in a whole new light! Bruce C. Hafen said: "Struggling with problems is at the very core of life's purpose. As we draw closer to Go, He will show us our weaknesses and through them make us wiser; stronger. If you're seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you're moving nearing to God; not farther away." In the MTC our weaknesses are shown to us, I have definitely experienced that. I have had INTENSE struggles in such a short amount f time that I thought I was not doing good...? But in reality, it's because I'm working on coming closer to the Lord. I just have to be patient with myself. When I struggle, the Atonement can come into my heart and my joy becomes more full! Ammon speaks to his brothers, or rather TESTIFIES of the goodness of God and how they had only HOPED to bring ONE soul unto Christ as stated in vs 30. They were beaten, stoned, spit upon, cast out of cities, and yet they STILL pressed forward. And BECAUSE of their diligence in the work, the "fruits of their labors...are many" as stated in vs 31. they were able to, through the power of the Lord bring a whole city of the Lamanites unto the Lord! A WHOLE CITY had a complete change of heart and rejoiced in the knowledge of their Savior; they felt this So much so that they'd rather die than go to war and rather love the people who came up against them (33 &34). All the struggles will be worth it. How easy it may seem to give up in the moments of torment, and I really mean torment. But how BEAUTIFUL the PROMISE of the Lord, that if you "Bear with patience thine afflictions...(the Lord) will give unto you success." As missionaries and the person I'll be after the mission, I just have to keep fighting the good fight and bear my struggles with patience :) REJOICE OH MY HEART! AND SING THE SONG OF REDEEMING LOVE! (Alma 5:26 and 2 Nephi 4:30)
back to NOW...Little did I know that after this entry I would struggle even more. I have been on my face before the Lord mutlitple times...more times than I have been in my life. I don't have enough time to enter more journal entries, but let's just say I am growing...so much, and with that, experiencing growing pains. But the beauty of it all is, I am learning how to deal with it. The Atonement of the Lord has NEVER been more real in my life and prayers are answered ON MY BEHALF everyday. I cannot TESTIFY as to how I KNOW that the Lord hears and answers my prayers....in such short time too! I was given a calling on Sunday, right before Sacrament meeting and I am now the Coordinating Sister for the District. I'm basically a Sister Zone Leader. I'm in charge of all the sisters, interviews, introductions for the greenies, reports to the branch presidency and even the MTC women's board. I was SO excited for the calling, but at the same time, I became truly humbled. I realized that the Lord really does have a great work for me to do, and at that it became daunting. I struggled all Sunday to overcome feelings of inadequacy and how I needed to be an example and step up the bar. I learned so much that day. I bore my testimony in Italian, and that was a wonderful experience, but even then I became depressed about my ability to learn the language. Yesterday, I needed a blessing, and so a few Anziano gave me one as I was sobbing :Z Meh, I'm learning...good thing is...they still love me. In the blessing, the Anziano, at the last minute reminded me that I was a chosen daughter of God...and honestly, I had forgotten that. I needed to hear and be reminded that I NEED to love my self and press forward. Later that day, we had to teach an investigator...and that was another Tender Mercy of the Lord....
Monday march 28, 2011
What a GREAT experience I had today. I felt overwhelmed again and just inadequate. Some of the older sisters came and gave me advice and I felt I needed a blessing. The elder who ended up giving me a blessing...I've been struggling to come to love him because he has a LOT of pride...but I let go of my own and went with my impressions. The Lord knows our hearts and mine especially...We had our first investigator at the TRC who spoke a rapid and strange dialect of Italian. It was daunting, but my companion kept me going...We then had the BLESSING of teaching a little old man who tried SO HARD to speak Italian to us, even though he wasn't required to. Seeing him truggle with the lang., I could still feel his spirit when he asked to pray in Italian in our behalf. It wasn't a usual TRC experience...he talked about his family and then pretended to be Catholic. With my worries about the language and then the blessing, i was able to say all I had wante3d to say and still felt my Saviors love to teach me...I was able to teach this man in complete Italian while my comp translated. The Lord DOES answer my prayers and I NEED to be receptive to His guidance. The Lord will put people in my life that I'll be able to teach and the language WILL COME. With the blessing I received, it taught me humility and the blessing of truly loving people. Things I have been fasting for. Che bello "the grace" di Dio.
Back to now...I have cried almost everyday...due to either stress or the spirit. I testified of the above experience in my district, and again, I was able to bear my testimony in complete Italian. Mom and Dad, family, friends, my time is short...but know that I KNOW that my REDEEMER LIVES and that His grace is sufficient for me. Shame on me for thinking any different. I have a new resolve in my heart to share this gospel to the world, and I will take whatever comes my way and LOVE IT. I know more struggles will be in my path because i am fasting for patience, humility, love and understanding...what a rockin' roller coaster the Lord is sending my way. I love you all and the Lord is completely within my life and I testify that he is in each of yours as well.
Fight the good fight and notice the tender mercies because I PROMISE they are many. I hope this letter finds all well, and your prayers are DEFINTIELY being heard.
Vi voglio benne, (I love you all)
Sorella Bowman
No comments:
Post a Comment