Lazy Mountain: I have wanted to hike this mountain since the time I served in the lazy Mountain Ward and lived on this mountain. The one time our zone planned to hike it, my companion and I ended up going to the doctor. Now that I'm back in the Valley we finally made plans to go on Memorial Day because some members wanted to go with us and they had that day off. We were up and down in 6 hours and 40 minutes. We started right after emailing and I think I was in over my head trying to hike this mountain only accomplishing the top of the Butte prior which you can see in some of the pictures taken from Lazy. Everyone we talk to says, "There is nothing lazy about it." We all question the naming of this mountain. It is over 3,700 feet! We did the switchbacks going up but came down the basically vertical trail down which started the pain of different muscles than on the way up. So fun though.
Pass-off: We had our pass-off lesson to the YSA elders. It is a lot harder to teach in front of other missionaries. We would testify here and there but we let the elders teach the lesson so that Aaron could become more familiar with them. We still keep in contact with Aaron and his mom since they are good friends with the Hensons. After the lesson Sister Henson had me use these body massages which made me feel like a new person the next morning and I was able to walk much better after that.
Judith: We did some yard work for one of our potentials named Judith. She is just so nice to us. We were able to have a gospel discussion with her. She reads the Bible everyday and I feel that because she does, she has a better understanding of the nature of God and of Jesus Christ. Many people who go to church don't read the scriptures all to often and now have a skewed view of who God is and of Jesus Christ. We know they are two, separate individuals who are "one" in that they are one in purpose. They are united in their goal of having us all become more Christ-like (being better people) and return to live with them again. God is the Father of our spirits and Jesus Christ volunteered to come down and be our Savior so that we could return to live with our Father again. If you know Jesus Christ than you know the Father because Jesus does everything the Father would do not because He is the Father but because He has the eternal perspective to do the same, good things that His and our Father would do. They both love us and want the best for us just like our earthly parents.
Service: We have done a lot of service this week. We helped out at Hannah's organizing all this Styrofoam that was everywhere. The next day we had back-to-back service opportunities. While on exchanges Brother Henson wanted all for of us to help out with a non-member's garden in the Colony area which she was most grateful for. As from my understanding, the Colony sisters will be helping her out on a weekly basis. Sometimes it takes service for peoples' hearts to be soften to then listen to the message we have to share. Right after that went to another service. That morning we received a text from some sisters serving in the Chugach zone needing our help with members who were moving things out of a storage unit in Wasilla who couldn't lift any heavy boxes because of injuries they have had. This family called us and we went over to help right after with Brother Henson wanting to help as well.
Morins: We were eating at the Morin's and while at dinner, one of the sons who is very much the class clown and can make jokes up on the fly was egging on his mother. She then poured the remaining of his soup on his head and his clothes. The youngest children were laughing up a storm. Our spiritual thought with them was doing the prayer knot. After 40 minutes of them trying it and not wanting us to tell them how to do it they looked up on YouTube how to tie a knot without letting go and this guy was doing it not the way we teach them how. They still couldn't figure out how to do it on their own so we finally gave them the solution and all of them left saying they were done because of how simple it was. So funny.
Miracle: We went to visit this one family while on exchanges that we had called and set up an appointment with to visit. When we got there the Relief Society President and her husband were there talking to the mother about some crazy neighborhood threats going on and we ended up just talking with her kids outside the entire time. The RS President came and apologized to us on Sunday about being there while we were there which was fine. Then she told us that the mother told them that she has been praying a lot and that her children really want to come back to Church. We haven't seen this family since the beginning of last transfer so it was definitely us being led by the Spirit to go and visit them now. I see more as a missionary how much we are being led by our Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost to certain people and being an answer to peoples' prayers. But it is not just us who are being led. Everyone is being led to help those around them. God could come and visit every single one of his children but He allows us to be the answer to desperate prayers. We can be apart of this work and gain Christ-like attributes that maybe we wouldn't receive if we were just focused on our own lives. We also gain the blessing of helping those in need. Pray for opportunities to be led to those in need and the ability to share the gospel with everyone.
Sent from ALASKA!
Sister Shelley Willden
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