"He does care, and you can know it"

Hey everyone :)

This week flew by! I can hardly believe it's Monday again. This morning we woke up a bit earlier than normal and hiked the "M" with some sisters here. I am in awe at the beauty of Missoula. It's still so green, which is amazing to see at this time of year! What a wonderful world we live in!

This week was great! The trip to Helena went...fairly smooth... Haha that's a story for another day. It was soooo great to see so many people who have become some of my best friends. Our discussion on mental illness went well. Definitely not the way we had planned it to go, but I think the point we were trying to get across was made clear enough. :) Of course we also chatted with president about how transfers will not be accepted at this time...to which he responded by laughing...and continuing to eat his pizza....  So basically we're doomed. Haha I was more exhausted after that day than I have ever been. It was great :)

Lots of dead ends with finding this week. It was pretty frustrating. It seems like everyone is out of town on their last vacation of the summer. Or they decided they hate us...hmph. Also. That brings me to another point. HOW IN THE WORLD IS IT AUGUST. Panic panic panic. There are simply not enough hours in a day. We are struggling to get investigators to meet with us consistently and to commit to coming to church. Jonathan was SET on coming....and then didn't show up :( We taught him the Law of Chastity this week. Super fun :) Haven't been able to meet with Shantel, Morgan, or Darlene really at all last week. But we are hopeful for this week.

I went on exchanges in the 1st Ward with a sister and we tracted these SUPER weird apartment complexes. They had turf outside of each door (as if it was carpet). Only in Missoula I guess...haha  This sister and I had a great chat after getting rejected by literally every single person there about how sometimes we show our faith in finding people by continuing to work despite not seeing success. Yes, we do sometimes have to alter our plans when things aren't as effective as we would have hoped. But if the spirit guided you to that place, then there's a reason. Sometimes that reason is God wants a chance to build up your faith and trust in him that he WILL lead you to those who are prepared.

In studies this week I've been focusing on the Restoration and modern day prophets. There were SOOOO many great things I learned that strengthened my testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ as He taught when He was on earth IS restored on the earth today. It's restored because our Heavenly Father loves us, and wants us to know how to be happy and return to live with him someday. There's a dialogue in the Joseph Smith movie where the Joseph Smith is explaining to a lady why we have to have modern day revelation through a prophet. She says, "what makes you so certain, Mr. Smith, that [God] even cares?" To which Joseph replies "He does care, and you can know it. But first you have to trust him" I LOVE LOVE LOVE that. How he so simply testifies that YES, God does care!! And you can know it! That is exactly the message that I carry as a missionary, that God does care about us. We are his children!! And so he will ALWAYS give us guidance and direction. In the Book of Mormon there is a repeating phrase in the Isaiah chapters that says "His hand is stretched out still." And it is. No matter how far we stray. No matter how lost we are. No matter how much we maybe don't want to come back. "His hand is stretched out still."

I am so grateful for the Restoration. I know that it's a reality we can see and experience every single day. The Book of Mormon is evidence that we truly do belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. The only true church, because it is the only church with HIS power and authority to perform essential ordinances to help us get to heaven. It's real. And that makes me soooo happy :)

Love you all!
Sister Fletcher

 

Helena meetings.

 

Sister Wadsworth <3 She is a master teacher and one of the best role models I could have asked for. 

(Right up there with my mom of course ;))

 

 

Obviously I was not meant to work construction...

 Hiking the M this morning in my bear socks #truemontanan

 Pretend that says MBM hahahaha Montana Billings Mission!!!

Ooo-da-lally golly what a day

Heeeeeey :)

I started this week out by climbing a mountain. Needless to say, lots of great this happened the rest of the week. :) I absolutely adore Missoula. It's a special brand of Montana culture and I love it.  We had two exchanges this week with some amazing sisters! One of my favorite parts of being a missionary is making so many friends :) We had a lot of cool miracles happen here in Missoula and then later in
Hamilton. I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK.

My brain is so scattered.

Ah.

We still don't have a phone... So that's fun...

Hamilton is AWESOME. I want to serve there sometime. Such a cute town.
We almost got eaten by a dog. Other than that, lots of great work going on over there. :)

I about had a heart attack yesterday when I got a message from the mission presidents wife saying to "call president as soon as possible" Cool... I'll just sit through 3 hours of church and try not to PANIC. We were convinced it was going to be a mid transfer. Turns out, we just have to give a discussion in MLC. NBD. (Ha. Very big deal)
But I'm not panicking.
Nope
Not at all....#thankspres #loveyatoo

We had our ward 24th of July party on the 23rd. SO GREAT. The Kearney's (new investigators) came and they loved it! The ward also sent us home with allll the leftovers... I think at this point we've eaten an entire watermelon between the two of us. :)

All of the craziness aside, this week has been pretty darn stressful and has caused me to ponder a lot on the atonement and our Savior. The discussion we are giving tomorrow in MLC will have to do with mental illness. It has become SO prevalent in this world, and missionaries are no exception. As I have studied, the thought that keeps sticking out to me is this: We live in a fallen world. None of us are perfect. We all will suffer temptations, trials, and hardship. MULTIPLE TIMES in our lives. Sometimes, it will seem never ending.

But, there is hope.

There is always always hope.

Hope that we can get through ANYTHING.

We need to realize that with every temptation, every trial, every hardship that we absolutely CANNOT do it alone. We can't. It's not possible. These trials are designed to help us to know that God is real and that He is there and that He can help us "after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23) That means we need to get the help we need. Priesthood blessing, professional help, medical, ect. It's when we use all the resources that we have that hope and light become real. :) Being on a mission, I've learned that darkness is real. It's so so so so soooooo real. And if we let it it WILL overtake us. But light is also oh so very real, and it can lift us and help us to see the good, true, and beautiful things in this world. But only if we let it!

So. Let's open up the blinds. Let's open the doors and window and let in the LIGHT.

I know without a single doubt in my mind that our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can comprehend. He knows us perfectly, and he loves us perfectly. Jesus Christ is our brother and our Savior. He lives. He is there for us ALWAYS. No matter what. No exceptions. I know that it is only through him that we will be able to have eternal life. We will be able to be with our families FOREVER if we just trust in Gods divine plan for us.

Love you all!
Sister Fletcher :)

 Hamilton sky<3

 so...much...food.

 MLC last transfer. Love those crazies.

 Wahoo for exchange slumber parties!

Sister Harris and I. Oh how I LOVE HER!

Thunderstorms, thankfulness, and talking to EVERYONE

Heyyyyyyy YOU! Happy Monday!

...will someone please explain to me how I am once again sitting and staring at this iPad screen completely bewildered that it is once again Monday?! It seems like this is the only time of the week when time pauses. Crazy.

Today we have a lot of shopping to get done and then some volleyball to play! Then tonight we will be street contacting and finding people to baptize :) WHAT A GREAT DAY. :) There was this INSANE thunderstorm last night. Sister Hodgson and I huddled together by our window smelling the rain and taking in the FANTASTIC lightning and thunder. It took me back to nights in the cabin at Fish Lake.

This last week we really focused on talking to absolutely everyone in sight wherever we go. In preach my gospel chapter 9 it says "talk to as many people as you can each day" and we have really been taking that to heart. It's sometimes terrifying, but also really fun :) We've had some terribly awkward conversations. A few days ago we were biking and I was leading the way on a decently busy road. There was this man walking in front of us on the sidewalk and I had NO CLUE how to talk to him without freaking him out. "HEY YOU! Missionaries coming behind you!! *toss pamphlet* DO YOU WANT TO GET BAPTIZED?!" Probably not a good idea. ;) Hahaha so we went with "heyyyy! Do you happen to know directions to..... *blanking on street name* ummmm Guerdette drive?" Yep. That street doesn't exist. It's the last name of someone were teaching. #oops We recovered from it though and pronounced it a different way to match a street that we DID know. Thank heavens there's a street called "Gharrett" and he totally believed us when we changed it to that street name. We talked to him for a while! He's not from Missoula but he has lots of member friends in California! Hopefully he asks them questions about what the crazy missionaries do! :)

This week I went to the beautiful town of Darby on exchanges! It's right near the Idaho-Montana border and it was SO GREAT!! I relished every second in that small town. There were 5 main streets and then just outskirts of the town. So it's pretty tiny!! The sister I was with is AMAZING at using the scriptures when she teaches. She explained each verse we read with people so clearly and simply. And the spirit came into the lesson SO STRONGLY because of that. It was awesome. Something I want to be better at. We tracted for about an hour and met tons of cool people. Not interested....but very sweet. :) The next morning we helped at a small food bank. I refilled bags of sugar while my companion put orders for people together. Everyone was so happy! And we got to teach one of the workers a little bit about what our church believes. Wahoo!!

It was a great week. :) I'm SO thankful for so many things.

My awesome companion for putting up with me singing Vocal Point at the top of my lungs when we go on road trips.

The RAIN.

President and Sister Wadsworth and the mission office staff (Especially Elder Kay for not hating us when we break our phone by dropping it in a puddle...)

Facebook messenger and almost everyone having a Facebook....it's our only means of contact now...

A ward missionary who refilled our fridge with amazing food.

The Hendersons. I LOVE living in their home. Their dog Gracie *almost* likes me.

The great Elders and Sisters I serve around. They're doing amazing things here in Missoula!

The Book of Mormon. It's true true true! And that makes me happy :)

Being a MISSIONARY. I'll never be able to thank my Heavenly Father enough for trusting me with this little corner of Montana.

Have a happy week! LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

Love, Sister Fletcher

There was a deer chillin the the yard! We almost pet it! The
second we pulled out the camera it turned around :(

 Our broken phone:(

One of our Ward missionaries and a pile of dirt we had to comb
through for good pieces of sod. SO FUN. Also. That pile was quadruple
that size before we attacked it. Just sayin.

 The things you find in zoo town....

"I like where I'm at right now"

Hey all!! :) 

Well hey, yet another week has passed and I am again in awe at just how fast time flies. There have been so many times this week where I have been able to see and feel just how amazing missions are, and particularly how perfect mine has been for me. The growth and the desire to be better is unending and I LOVE IT. It's not very often that we are able to truly see change in ourselves so I'm super duper grateful to have been able to see just a little glimpse this week. The previous Bishop of the first ward I ever served in on my mission spoke in the 3rd Ward on Sunday with his daughter. WORLDS COLLIDING. It was crazy. Its fun to think of little missionary me just hitting the mission field running blindly but with a big smile on my face. It's still pretty similar....running as fast as I can...mostly blind (still have no idea what I'm doing). It's the best leg of the race of life so far :) 

As I have been thinking of what to write this week, I keep coming back to some personal experiences I've had throughout my mission that have been on my mind lately. This week was a bit tricky. I was down and pretty much out for a few days with a nasty little stomach bug. So that was really annoying. Mosiah 4:27 seems to be a theme of my mission. Coming up on a year ago my dad sent me that scripture telling me quite clearly to stop pushing myself too hard or I would not be able to finish my mission.  He said it a bit nicer than that but it was pretty clear that he was directing me to make better choices ;) And he was right. It was a hard reality to come to. I wanted to do so much, accomplished all the things God wanted me to. And so pacing myself wasn't necessarily in the plan. But I have gained a great love for this verse of scripture and what it teaches as I have pondered it this week. "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order." 

I want to share a little something that stood out to me this week in that verse.

So...what are "All these things"? 

Talking to literally every single person I see, have amazing personal study every morning, work well with my companion, remember to eat a healthy lunch, write that report to send to the zone leaders, do your hair so you don't scare everyone away, exercise each morning, daily contact all of our investigators, update the ward mission leader, get members to every lesson, have a stellar nightly planning session, write in your journal...

Basically. There's a whole lotta things. 

But here's the important part

"It is expedient that he should be diligent"

So often we get focused in doing "all the things" that we miss the point. The point is (expedient-aka very important)  that we are DILIGENT in all things. The dictionary definition of diligent is: having or showing care and contentiousness in ones work or duties. 

So what really matters in WHATEVER we do is that we show that we truly care about it. That we truly love what we are doing at that moment. And if that's all we do all day, it's okay! So sometime the way that we show a love for life is by simply taking a step back and enjoying it. That doesn't mean that that's all we do. Believe me, I know that's it's in THE WORK that the true joy comes. And there is no happier work than this one. But in order to do it, we need to exercise wisdom and order and do the things that matter most, everything else comes over time. 

So that's my little thought of the week :) it has brought me a lot of peace to have that perspective. It's a lesson I know I'm ALWAYS going to be relearning and reapplying but it's one that I've needed :) 

I'll end with a cool moment we had this week.

So Jonathan has been trying to find his place in the church. He feels a bit like the odd man out. He has a few friends, but just doesn't feel like he really fits in. Sister Hodgson and I have been absolutely racking our brains trying to figure out how to help him, and this week it felt like it finally all fell into place. It came up in a lesson that Jonathan wanted to learn more about family history, so on Tuesday we met him at the family history center and had people help him set up his account. Sister Hodgson and I had to leave to skype into a meeting, but when we came back an hour later Jonathan could hardly keep a smile off of his face. I have never seen anyone so excited and so content. That night he called us and we talked for a good 10 minutes. One phrase brought tears to my eyes. "I like where I'm at right now" followed by his expression of gratitude for us not giving up on him and saying "I found my place, I found something I can do to help people and to help myself" Now this is coming from a 71 year old man that has traveled his whole life. He rock climbs, he bikes distances I can only dream of, he has lived all over the world, served in the army, he has tried every religion, political view, and practice you could imagine looking for his place in the world and never being content with any of it. And where does he find it? With. His. Family. In. The. Gospel. I can't even imagine the joy that all of his ancestors are having in knowing that their temple work will get done (of course they can choose to accept or not :) 

THAT is missionary work. If that's the only good thing that happens for the rest of my life, I'm completely satisfied. What a miracle the gospel is. We can truly find our place in it, no matter who we are. 

Loving it here in zoo town :) 

And I promise I still love you all too ;) hahaha 

Love, 

Sister Fletcher

 Big Dipper ice cream. Yum.

Rain and Rainbows

Stranded. Welp.

 Missoula Zone