Becca's Mission: March 25, 2013

March 25

Hello Family,

Can you believe it is almost April?! Time is going by way to fast. I was thinking about you all and Chelle yesterday and how in exactly one month she will be entering into the MTC. I can't believe that. Chelle, I can't wait to hear all of your exciting adventures and miracles. I can't believe that I have almost hit a year! I am with you mom, it does seem just like yesterday. I am so glad that I have been able to be here in California. There is nothing else that I would love doing right now then serving the Lord. It is the best thing for me.

To start off, I have been put into a trio for about a week until transfers. It has been so much fun. I love the companions that I am with. Sister Fogavai is so funny and makes us laugh all the time. We work so well today and have gotten along. Trio's can be hard, but this one isn't too bad. We love each other and are willing to help each other when we our down and discouraged. We are in perfect unity and that is always the best and keeps the spirit with us. I am going to be sad when transfers come this week. I want to be with Sister Fogavai again soon. She is incredible and has a powerful testimony. Sister Allan is doing wonderful and it has been so exciting to see her grow so much since the day that I picked her up. She is also incredible and is such a loving person. (I am back covering the other ward that I was in before)

Some things that happened this week:

We were able to do some service for Jan this week. It has been a lot of fun to serve her. As we show our love for her by serving in softens her heart and we are able to teach her at the end and we always have a great lesson and I truly feel that she is starting to change. It still is going to take lots of time, but I know that someday she will want this gospel in her life. For now we are just taking baby steps with her. She is amazing. We were able to teach her about faith and how we need to have faith and hope for things. She has been having us pray with her. She needs to make a decision and she doesn't know what to do about her car and so the other day she asked us to pray with her. That is what lead us to talk about faith. She said the faith is something that she struggles the most with, but will work on it and will pray to know what she should do. That lesson went really well and we are excited to teach her again this week. We are going to be taking her the LA temple visitor center this week and are very excited about that. When we asked her if she wanted to go with us she was so excited. This made me happy! :)

We were also able to teach the Cotten family. They are doing super well and coming along great. They are preparing to get their Patriarchal Blessings and that is very exciting. We were able to teach the how to prepare for that and a little bit about what a Patriarchal Blessing is. Sister Cotten is excited to get hers and thinks that she will get hers before Brother Cotten. Brother Cotten is doing well and still taking the Priesthood classes and is coming along. He said that he is starting to recognized the promptings of the spirit and to follow those promptings. I thought this was amazing and it touched me so much to see him so excited about that and really started to understand how the spirit works. I love this family and I can't wait for that day when they can be sealed together as a family.

We saw the Baisley's again this week and they are doing wonderful. We were all able to say our favorite scriptures and then our conversation turned into the Atonement and that was powerful. The spirit was so strong there and I could tell that Sister Baisley was feeling the spirit. I hope that if we continue to come by that they will want to always have that spirit with them and come back to church. It hurts me to see them not come and they know that they should be coming, but just have found that they like staying home on Sundays. They are wonderful people and I have hope and faith that they will one day return again.

We met with Leslie this past week and also taught her about the Atonement. The lesson started a little rough, but it got better. We all prayed in our hearts that the spirit would be there with us and would give us the right words for Leslie to her. We talked about Mosiah 4 and bore our testimonies of the Atonement and how the Atonement can pick us up when we fall and make mistakes and how we can be comforted in any trial or challenge that we are facing. Leslie has had a lot of challenges and she was touched by this. The spirit was so strong and we had a great and powerful lesson with her. She really thought a lot about what we were saying. We challenged her to really read with a desire and a real intent to know if the Book of Mormon is true and if she finds out that it is true then will she be baptized. She said YES! I love Leslie so much and I want this so much for her. I know that if she really reads and prays that she will get an answer and that she will find that peace and happiness that she is longing for. I am excited to teach her again this week.

We also met with Mark yesterday. We talked more about his baptism and for the final date he will be baptized on April 20. He came to church today so excited and was fun to see. He was glowing. He is so ready and I love his excitement and eagerness to learn more and read and pray to know if it is true. We followed up on his commitments and he is still reading and praying everyday and is keeping the Law of Chasity. We were able to teach him the Plan of Salvation and that lesson went really well. I was actually quite surprised at how well he knew everything. It was also powerful. We brought a young women with us on the lesson and at the end she bore her testimony on the Atonement and that was super powerful and with that we committed him to repent of his sins so that he could have the Atonement in his life and to be able to use the Atonement. He said he would. He is doing so well and I can't wait for his special day. I thank Heavenly Father every night for letting us teach Mark and to help him grow in the gospel.

I know as I have studied about the Atonement that my understanding is growing and that I am able to use the Atonement in my life. If it weren't for Jesus Christ I don't know what I would do. I am so grateful that He was so willing to come down to this earth, to set an example for all of us and to atone for all of our sins. It is because of the Atonement that I am able to get through my trails and hardships. I know that I can also count on prayer and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are always there for me. My faith as also grown from this and I can see a change in myself which is helping with the work that I am doing here. I have been thinking more about my investigators and the ward members so much more and am always thinking of how the Lord wants me to serve them. I love everyone that I am working with and love seeing them progress. I know that this is the only true gospel and that we need to be cleansed of our sins and receive the Holy Ghost to return to our Heavenly Father.

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week! You are in my prayers everyday. Good luck with everything!!

Love Sister Ackley

Pictures: Sister Fogavai, me Sister Turner. (dropping her off to go back to SLC), Sister Turner and I, Three musketeers Sister Fogavai, Me and Sister Allan