Because I am happy!!

I cut my hair!!

I am just happy. I am happy to be a missionary. I am happy to be me. I am happy to be serving in the incredible Ohio. I am happy to be a servant of Jesus Christ. I am happy with my life. :) 

this has just been a good week. Things worked out really well for us. We had a lot of success, especially with working with the members. We got 4 new investigators this week and they were all referrals. It was awesome. The work is moving pretty well here in Cherry Grove. :) 

But yeah. I am just so grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission. Yesterday at church we had a missionary come home from Norway. She gave her homecoming talk and I was on the verge of tears. It made me realize more and more that one day that will be me. My mission will come to an end. That is a scary thought to me. This has been the BEST 11 months of my life and I will remember them forever. I will always cherish being a missionary. 

Sorry this week was not very eventful. Just remember that God loves you. Read The first great commandment by Elder Holland. It is great. "The greatest characteristic of love is loyalty." :) 

I love you all! Have a great week!

love

Sister shaw

Ether 12:6

11 months!!!

This week has been a great week. I have learned so much just this week. I think I have grown closer to my Heavenly Father this week than my entire mission/life. And the best part of it all, I grew closer because of my weaknesses. 

So this week began and ended with me read Ether 12:27 that says 

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I have been praying for many weeks to come closer to my Heavenly Father but after reading this scripture I asked Him to show me a weakness of mine. In the middle of the week I discovered a major weakness of mine that I have had my entire life. It was hard for me to accept at first but I humbled myself I realized that this would be a chance for me to help other people. I humbled myself more and turn to the Lord and asked for help to make this become something more, something better. As the week went on I noticed that each day it was become easier, better. I was just in general happier. Now as of today, I can say that I am the closest to my Heavenly Father than I have ever been. 

I know that I am a daughter of a king. A Heavenly king who loves me and I love him. I have promised in my covenants to stand as His witness and I will never move. I know that just like it says in Docrtine and Covenants 122:7 "that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good." I know that these things are true. I know that Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson are Prophets of God. I know that Jesus Christ lives and write all of these things in His name, even Jesus Christ. Amen.

Death Bed

Hello again from Beautiful Cincinnati! :)

So... the reason I called this letter Death is because.... Get ready for this.... I thought I was going to DIE! Sister Fausett and I got FOOD POISONING! FOR 5 DAYS!!! We were out from Tuesday to Friday and had our first full day back yesterday. Holy cow it was awful. It is not fun being sick on your mission. My diet this week has been crackers, Gatorade, and tortillas. (Sorry I had to buy all of that on my personal card) haha. 

But yeah. I am actually grateful for this week though. I learned a lot. 

1. I learned that food poisoning is not fun

2. I learned that I can survive it.

3. I learned that I am not much of a complainer anymore... which is not perfect now but I am doing a lot less of it. 

4. I got a lot of great spiritual insight because we were inside so much. 

So I really want to tell you what all I learned this week. So I want to start off by talking about what I just finished reading in the Book of Mormon. I just finished Alma 26 and if you know what that is you know that it is the humility chapter, and when Ammon talks about how glorious it is to be an instrument of God. It was just so cool to see that Heavenly Father is allowing us to help Him. Heavenly Father can make things happen when He needs them to. I know this is true because this week we only met with one of our investigators once (yes, while we were sick...don't worry we didn't get sick on them though) and they still came to church! Heavenly Father lets us help Him so that we can gain experience. 

I also learned a lot about the first and great commandment. To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, might, mind, and strength. Elder Holland had a talk on this from the October 2012 general conference that we watched. It was incredible and the quote that stuck out to me the most was, The greatest characteristic of LOVE is LOYALTY. That really hit me because all we have to do to show Heavenly Father, and each other that we love Him or each other is by being loyal. It was just a really great lesson I learned. 

But yeah. That was my week. Remember, that when life gives you lemons, or food poisoning, then make lemonade, or have spiritual experiences! :) haha. Have a great week! I love you all!

love

Sister Leslie Shaw