EAT PRAY SERVE: CSI Araçatuba!!!

Monday, January 5, 2015

So we got to the chapel Sunday morning before any of the meetings started and the bishopric started to tell us how the building was broken into and they stole TVs and DVD players and tried to pry open other doors...the window they used to break in looked all "crime show" so that was cool but what is so not cool is that the meetinghouse was defiled. I love how beautiful the chapels are and to see them defiled made me really sad....

What also made me really sad is that this week we had a day that was 126 DEGREES.......THATS HOT ENOUGH TO JUST COOK THINGS ON THE GROUND. I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I'm almost positive my organs started to cook! (haha)

So my thoughts for this week: If you're comfortable, you're not progressing. This applies both to me, the missionary, and to any and all investigating the church. Everything I do day by day is 100 percent out side of my comfort zone. EVERYTHING. While this is a sign of progression, it can be stressful and sometimes turn our attitudes to be unhappy. BUT, then comes the step of prayer! Because prayers are SO, SO essential for progression! In order to progress and gain a permanent attitude of gratitude we need to pray, but sometimes we don't know how and sometimes we don't know what to ask for. So this is the part where the important ingredient of reading the scriptures to find answers to our questions comes into play. We are promised in Alma 33:8 that God will be merciful unto all those that cry unto Him. So then comes the action in verse 11; we cry unto Him in our afflictions and find our joy in Him. When to do that is in every activity and in every hour of our lives (Alma 34:17-27). Something I also really love about prayer and about life in general is that it begins in an act of faith and ends with the faithful showing our gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the guidance we receive. (Alma 34:38)

So my thoughts are somewhat jumbled, probably because of how hot it is here and my brain is at a unhealthy temperature, but :) we need to constantly be progressing using our faith to pray to our Heavenly Father and ask for help and express our gratitude to Him. He blesses our lives and he especially is blessing us in the moments that seem the very hardest. Draw near unto Him in prayer and thanksgiving!

I love my Savior and I love the struggle!

Sister Anderson