Sister Sadie goes to Louisiana!: caterpillars and butterflies and 1 year. what.

Well yall.

Sorry for not emailing last week, life is crazy here in S-Laughter.

We went on a rad waterfall adventure!! It was so fun. It felt so good to hike and see water and be relaxed and outside!

but sorry about the lack o email. hopefully this makes up :)

But its been a good week!

yall its been a good year.

Last week I hit one year for being on a mission and its a crazy crazy feeling.

This was one year ago last week! can you believe that. just a little sister mish

ready for this reunion :)

I have learned alot alot alot in the past year.

It can pretty much be summed up in this quote my wonderful companion showed me this week.

[ How does one become a butterfly? One has to have the desire to fly so badly, that they give up being a caterpillar. ]

wow. thats honestly been my goals and the summation of the last year in one quote.

Trying to become what God wants me to become.

Trying to be someone God can depend on always to listen and then do what He wants me to do, no matter what the occasion, situation, person, or action.

Trying to be someone who you can see Christ by seeing or knowing me.

Trying to be 100% committed to God and motivated only by love.

Trying to give up [ me ] & the things [ I ] want and purely be a servant for God.

And some days I do really good at these things!

Other days I am not so good at these things.

And other days I am doing good but especially adept to seeing only what I need to improve.

And these are the days that have made up the past year.

I just really want to become the butterfly God sees me as and God can use me as and give up my caterpillar self and tendencies.

Moral of the story: LOTS O LEARNING, LOTS O GROWING, AND LOTS O CHANGING

Here are some things that I have learned:

1. to depend on Christ and the Atonement to be enough.

sometimes we mess up. sometimes we don't do all that we can. sometimes once we get in the car and start to drive away we realize what we should have done or should have said. sometimes we don't know what to do or where to go and we have to be the strong ones.

but I've learned that, thats okay. and we can do it.

only when we rely and depend on Christ.

and I know this because each one of these things happened to me this week. and I'm here trying to be better today than I was yesterday. and I can only do that with Christ.

2. to [ l e t g o a n d l e t G o d ]

sometimes we worry. sometimes we say the completely wrong things. sometimes we really ruin a door approach. sometimes we really want to take away our investigators agency.

but I've learned to let it go. not only let it go but let God take it for me. give it to Him and lay it at His feet.

and I know this because each one of these things has happened this week as well. and I'm at peace with my mistakes (& how to be better) and others decisions and I'm giving it to God.

3. how to treat others, how to care for people, what makes others feel good

sometimes we aren't as patient, loving, caring, compassionate, humble, kind, Christ-like, as we should be and sometimes we are. sometimes others serve, write, love, say, do things that make us feel good and feel cared about and sometimes its the opposite.

but I've learned how to be more Christ-like and how to treat others the way Christ would, how to love and speak and react with love even when its hard and even when its not reciprocated. and I have learned alot from the members, investigators, and missionaries here about how to care, serve, and

4. my personal relationship with God and Christ and what that means

God is my Father. who really loves me. and blesses me alot. and blesses those around me alot. and sometimes I get to be the tool He uses. and thats the coolest thing ever.

Jesus Christ is my brother. who is my number one cheerleader, supporter, listener, friend, example, and everything else that is good in the world. He is all of that and more.

And they each know me very personally. and want and do the very best for me.

5. value of time

Have you ever realized how much you can get done in one day when you plan it and wake up early? ALOT YALL. you can get alot done.

Have you ever realized all the stuff that you need to do and want to do and how little time we have in a day? or in a week? or a month? or on a mission? or whatever stage of life we are in? or on the earth? NOT ALOT YALL.

So why waste it on pointless activities or time wasters that are not helping us progress?

6. what makes me happy

God trusting me.

seeing people change their lives

helping people change their lives

becoming converted and changed through the Atonement

louisiana

Christmas

talking to people

talking about God and Christ

making friends with strangers

making friends with missionaries

cats

eating louisiana food

making fun and irreplaceable memories

learning new things daily

laughing

Christmas

feeling successful

feeling the Spirit

petting cats

getting prayers answered

being the answer to others prayers

being on the Lord's errand all day every day

Christmas

driving a truck

dirt roads

christmas music

sister henrie

jamming to christmas music in the truck with sister henrie on dirt roads

looking at pictures yall send me

[ being a representative of Jesus Christ and servant of God ]

7. why I'm on a mission

because I love God and I want to serve Him.

because there is no other way to be saved except through Jesus Christ and baptism through this priesthood and the people in this world NEED that.

because I want to help people have the peace and happiness through the gospel.

because I want to help my brothers and sisters access the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

because it MAKES ME HAPPYYYYY

wow. moral of the story.

I've learned alot. here are just a few things. a few of my favorites.

and I am so THANKFUL.

for my mission, for the knowledge of the gospel, for the miracles I get to see and the lessons I get to learn, for the eternal friends I get to make, for my wonderful companion who is full of energy and love for her mission and life.

and especially for YALL.

headed to zone conf with bbygirl henrie <3

update on missionary work in s-laughter town!

this is what we do all day everyday. roam the roads and knock the houses.

we have meet lots of rad God-fearing people.

GOOD NEWS: we taught 2 lessons this week! actually in their houses! so that was really exciting and see the work move forward. lots of hopes for this upcoming week and the one after thanksgiving