Week 6- April 2, 2012

Hello all of you amazing people!!!

Good heavens! Wasn't Conference just amazing? Oh my gosh, my life is so good right now. :) Sorry to burst all of your bubbles, but conference wasn't for you. It was for me, Sister Gillman, and the Lafayette 2nd Ward area. ;)

My top 5: 
5. Come thou fount (so beautiful! brings tears to my eyes every time.) 
4. Praise to the Lord the Almighty (how did they know that is one of my favorites?!?)
3. Everyone else's talks that isn't in my number 1 and 2 spot.:)
2. Elder Nelson (the human body ROCKS!)
1. Elder Scott (no explanation needed. It was amazing.)

Elder Nelson....thanks for the anatomy lesson! The human body is amazing! What an incredible gift! You should all take anatomy.....here's why: We are created in the image of God....so when you study the human body, you are studying the anatomy of the Gods! If that isn't deepening the understanding of Diety (as Elder Hallstrom suggested we do to become sufficiently converted), I don't know what is! I gained a greater appreciation and understanding of God while I was with my cadaver friends last Spring semester than almost any other class I've ever taken. He's right..."anyone who has studied the human body has seen God moving and working within it." What an incredible gift we have! Lets take good care of it! 
May I also comment on how he talked about the body being a tabernacle of our Spirit. Our Spirit gives our body personality. Why, then, do we look at their bodies when we are considering who to become friends with, date, or marry? I hate the comment, "Oh, he/she is great...but [insert comment on his/her looks]" The guy I marry will love me for the right reasons....for who I am. Anyways....sorry for rambling! Moving right along....:)

Elder Scott rocks! What a solid talk! :) I loved it all. Especially because he talked about several ways we can receive revelation. 

1. From beings on the other side of the veil. President Collins (my mission President) told me that sometimes missionaries get eerie feelings because they feel like someone is right next to them during lessons, difficult times, and during study. He said that he knows that there are people on the other side of the veil helping us, comforting us, and helping us on our mortal journey. I have felt that on occasion - before my mission and even a few times here in Indiana during lessons with one of my investigators. I'm grateful for my guardian angels. Its interesting...if we are paying close enough attention, we can get an idea of who it is that is there with us. I love it. And I love that Elder Scott said that we can strengthen our relationship with them. So cool. I love my guardian angels!!! :)
2. Fasting and scripture study - sounds old school? Yep. But does it work? Totally! I love having the time to study on my own for 1 hour every morning and two hours with Sister Gillman (two hours because she's training me!) We can learn so much from the scriptures. In last general conference, Elder Scott talked about how scriptures can become true friends! We can recieve guidance from the scriptures when we carefully study and apply the things we read!
3. Dreams. Holy cow, wasn't that powerful what he said? That the Lord communicates with us in dreams by putting trustworthy people in our dreams that we will listen to? I need to pay closer attention to my dreams. One of our investigators said he had a dream a few days after he first met with the missionaries and he saw himself filling out some paper work and one of the questions was, "What religion do you belong to?" and he wrote "Mormon" into the box. He's working toward getting baptized now. Powerful, huh? Dreams are so cool!

Other thoughts that struck me:
Larry Wilson: "Wise parents prepare children to get along without them" ....but applied to missionary work: "Wise missionaries prepare investigators to get along without them."
Elder Soares: "Christ banished all bad influences that could have taken him away from his divine mission"
Eyring: "God wants her to be polished a little more" and oh my gosh, his entire talk was amazing too!!! 

Anyways....wow. Thanks for listening to my religious rambling/ranting. Haha....well, that's what I thought of conference! :) I hope you all enjoyed conference as well!

One of the pictures I have attached is of me eating octopus. Yes. Octopus. After Saturday evening session, Sister Sproat (a PhD student whos husband was going to priesthood session) took us to a Chinese buffet. AND I got brave and ate the octopus. :) Not too bad....just like a spicy rubber band. :) Haha....yummy huh? ;)

And one of the other pictures is of Brother C*....he's going to be baptized hopefully April 28. He calls us Charlies Angels. Oops....I just said his first name. Oh well. You don't know his last name though! :) 

The miracles have not ceased here in Indiana! This is the Lord's work and he's watching out for each of us! :) 

Take care everyone! I love you all more than I could ever say. :)

All my love, 
Sister Donaldson, Sister Dolphin, one of Charlie's angels....that's kinda sketchy...but oh well. :)