The Struggle is Real!

   That has totally been the theme of this week for Sis Venable and I! We've been saying it constantly.  At the beginning of the week, we had a promising few days ahead of us, filled with solid appointments and potential investigators.  One by one they dropped us flat on our faces. During our weekly planning session, we didn't even know what to do! We had set all these goals and made these plans in faith, and then we had virtually no one to fulfill them.  It was a pretty rough time. Thus, the theme of the week: The struggle is real!

   In the middle of all of this, I made an off-handed comment to Sister Venable that we must have been on the verge of some pretty great blessings for all this opposition we were getting.  The week took a turn about half-way through, and because of our diligence and our persistence and a whole heap of help from the Lord, we ended up having more non-member lessons than I have seen in this area! It was truly a miracle. Then, to top it all off, one of our investigators that we've been working with made a huge step to come to church on Sunday. 

   I can't even describe the love that I feel right now--for my companion, for my investigators, for you and your support, and ESPECIALLY for my Savior and my Father in Heaven, who lift me and carry me when I need it the most.

   I wanted to send this quote to you all from President Joseph Fielding Smith.  It is from a letter that he sent to his family while he was serving a mission in England. I think it expresses my feelings at this point in my service.

   "I know that the work I have been called to do is the work of God or I would not stay here one minute, no, I would not have left home. But I know that our happiness is dependent upon my faithfulness while I am here. I should be willing to do this much for the love of mankind when our Savior could suffer as He did for us. … I am in the hands of our Heavenly Father and he will watch over me and protect me if I do his will. And he will be with you while I am away and watch over you and protect you in all things."

I love you so much!

Sister Pratt

MEET THE MORMONS

  Alright. I don't have a whole lot of time, but the highlight of this week was TOTALLY getting to see a screening of the movie Meet the Mormons. It was So good, and I was laughing or crying for most of it. GO SEE IT! 

  Because of Columbus Day, yesterday, we don't have any time to share much about the week. I just want you all to know that I love this gospel and I love this work!

   One thing that happened that was kind of a big deal was my year mark in the mission. Honestly, it was kind of a hard day for me--so many emotions! I didn't know how to cope with the fact that I only have 6 months left of this phase of my life. I was also finding myself frustrated by the number of people that have used their agency to turn away from the light of our Savior. I kept thinking to myself that I was here to serve the people of Star, but they didn't want me. Why was I spending so much effort trying to help them when they didn't appreciate or even acknowledge my help? 

   I had a change of heart during our Gospel Principles class on Sunday. It was about obedience, and the teacher made a point about the "Good, Better, Best" concept of obedience. 

Good= You obey because you fear God. You feel a sense of duty or obligation

Better= You obey to receive the promised blessings. You look for a reward from your service

Best= You obey simply because you love God and want to serve Him forever.

   I realized that I was at the "better" stage for my motivation. I was looking for the tangible reward (i.e. baptisms, lessons, etc.) I didn't necessarily want them for myself; I wanted them for others. However, it was still a focus in my mission.  I'm still trying to work toward the "best" reason for serving, but I know that when I get there, it won't just be for my mission. It will be for my life. I know that as I struggle with my motivation to do anything else in the church, or if I feel that my other reasons for helping have become irrelevant, that I will be able to continue on with nothing more than a love for my Father in Heaven.

   Thank you all again for your love, support, and prayers.

Sister Pratt 

Zone picture--I guess Elder Sessions decided to not be in the picture...... good job.

I got to have dinner with Aunt Sylvia again! It was so much fun, and she made red beans and rice for me :)

 I loved it, and Sister Venable was also appreciating the southern cuisine 

Well, hello there!

  Well, this week has been amazing! Instead of having our district meeting in a regular church building, our district decided to take a hike! It was pretty crazy. I have no idea how they got it approved (maybe they didn't ask). Anyway, it turned out to be a wonderful experience! The training was on prayer and personal revelation, so the District Leader told us all to come with a question that we wanted to receive revelation about. During the meeting, we all split off in this clearing and just had personal prayers. It was so wonderful to feel the peace of nature and the Spirit. I learned a lot and was inspired by the testimonies that were shared afterward.

   Well, the other amazing thing that happened this week was General Conference (obviously)!!  I decided to take the Conference challenge and pray for a question to be answered. Well, I didn't really have a question, but there was something I wanted to hear.  I was praying all last week to have someone testify of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I just wanted to feel the Spirit and power of their testimony. Well.... then Elder Anderson started speaking.  It was a whole talk dedicated just to that! I was almost laughing because it was exactly what I had prayed for. It was almost ridiculous. I know that God hears my prayers, and that the Prophets and Apostles of our day receive their inspiration from Him. 

   That's all for this week! Hope you're lovin life as much as I am!

Sister Pratt

The promised picture of the dress Mom sent me!

Happy Halloween!  This little girl was really fond of this terrifying mask.

 

September 29, 2014

"Not Much To Say"

 

I know you're all probably waiting to hear the news about my new companion! Her name is Sister V, and she is from Hammond, LA. She has the greatest accent, and I wish she would just talk all the time. I love her voice! The other crazy thing about her is that she isn't actually new.... I mean, she's new to Idaho, but she has already served in the Baton Rouge mission for 8 months as a service missionary. So... I'm not really training her at all. Haha, talk about pre-trained! She is such a hard worker, and we totally killed it this week.

   We are both SO tired right now because this morning we played nerf wars with our zone for like 2 hours. I'll just tell you about one funny thing that happened this week. Elder C ate a ghost pepper. You might not think that is funny... but it was HILARIOUS. A member in our ward grows them in his garden, and the Elder asked for one. When we gave it to him, his companion joked with him, "You should just eat it right now." He declined the first time, but without much pressure (seriously, we didn't even make him do it) he just popped it in his mouth. The effect was pretty bad, as you can imagine, but we were all laughing so hard! He was like sweating and crying and looking like he was gonna die. His companion texted us later, "Best. Day. Ever." It was a pretty memorable experience.

   Well, I finally got all the pictures from the zoo trip! Enjoy.

Love,

Sister Pratt

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Saying Goodbye to Sister Chen

 

Dart Zone, it was so much fun, but I am going to sleep well tonight!

I found my street!

Now for the zoo pictures!

Aren't we all so cute!

CONDORMAN!  bababababududududubabbuhdada CONDORMAN!

Chillin' with the zebras

I love all of my hermanas!

I'm finally in my element- SAND

Check out these Pratt ears!

 

Dinosaurs?  At the Zoo?

My new companion and I!

Me falling asleep on my way home from Dart Warz.  I was pooped!