Sorella Rebekah Tiffany Acton: Week 8 Finding Joy in the Journey

Monday November 25, 2019

This week went by super quick! We had a lot going on, and honestly I feel like the week just started-I can't believe it is already P-day.
Tuesday I had to go the questura again and finally this time I got my permesso finger prints done, so I don't have to go back there until it is time to pick up my actual card that says I can live here. We did some contacting, some studies and then that night we had English Course, which is always a lot of fun. As I was doing my studies, I realized how weak I am and how I really need to strive a lot harder to have charity and treat all of God's children with kindness. Also, my companion and I waxed our "mustaches" and it hurt sooo bad. But ya know, you gotta do what you gotta do for "comp" bonding, right?!
Wednesday was Mission Tour and oh my gosh it was AMAZING!! Elder and Sister Sabin came, he is an area authority of the seventy here. They came and they taught a couple lessons to us which were literally so perfect. I felt the spirit so strong. A lot of what they said motivated me to become a better missionary. Also, our Mission President and his wife gave a lesson; they taught a lot about becoming "the one" and finding "the one." And how we need to obtain Christ-like characteristics. There's a couple of things that I want to share that I really liked from those talks. Our Mission President's wife talked a lot about "one by one" and the "Light the World" that is going to be coming up now that Christmas is coming around. She told us that we need to watch "The Christ Child" videos. Then our Mission President, President Smith, talked about being spiritually self-reliant to become life long disciples of Christ. And how instead of having specific rules given to us he wants to give us principles and have us be self-reliant and follow those. He believes that principles are eternal truths framed in a way to promote maximum agency. We talked about better ways to teach and then he also told us that if we truly loved our Heavenly Father we wouldn't need rules because we would have that desire to do all we can to be close to Him to where we needn't rules outlined for us. That was a big roast. Then Elder Sabin got up and he talked about how there was a lot more time than the here and now; there's a hereafter. And that much more then what we say is what we are, which was really good for me to hear since I am not able to say as much as I would like because of the language barrier. We also talked about more joy and that having joy is a choice. The most important thing we can do and learn is how to recognize the spirit and have the courage to follow it. We can receive revelation at any time as long as we have faith. That was really good to hear; to really find joy in the moment. Then Sister Sabin got up and she talked about how we need a Savior and that there is opposition in all things. And where there are weaknesses there can be strengths. I really appreciated that because especially as a new missionary you realize how weak you are and how many weaknesses and imperfections you have but where there are weaknesses there can be strengths. As long as we rely on our Savior, He can turn our weaknesses into strengths. Faith is trust that leads to action, faith is physical or mental stretching. She also talked about joy, she said serve joyfully and let the stress go focus totally on the work and have faith. Faith is doing what the Lord wants us to do without seeing the outcome. Because sometimes we can have a lot of faith and we may not see the outcome; true faith and trust in the Lord is by continuing to follow Him even though we might not see the outcomes of our work. Then we had lunch and afterwards Elder Sabin talked to us again. There was a question that he asked us that I really liked and want to focus on that says "What does He want you to become?" Our true identity and worth is the most profound, simple, and misunderstood truth in the world today. We need to make sure that we are teaching the people we find what their identity is; everyone is a child of God. Then he talked about how happiness is a journey not just a destination so find joy in the journey. There is something in each day to enjoy and cherish. Take a moment and be grateful for all the things you are blessed with. You will never be more happy than you are grateful. That was perfect especially now that it is around Thanksgiving. It was a good reminder to me that I need to be looking for miracles and noticing the happiness and joy that I find in each one of my days. He continued to go on and talk about never forget who you are and never forget the work of the Savior. And then something I really liked that he told us was that when he was a Mission President and had missionaries coming home he had them write a whole list of all of their blessings starting with the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Resurrection and then he had them write another list of things they would never do. I really liked that and I want to apply that in my life because if we sit down and write out a list of all of our blessings then on those days that are a little bit harder we can go back and we can look at all of our blessings and realize that God's hand is in our lives. And that he really does loves us and we have a lot of things we are blessed with and maybe we are just overlooking them and taking things for granted, so it's a really good reminder. And then also its cool to write a list of things that you would never do, then you can go back and look at those in times where you're struggling and remember the things that are important to you. Then he also talked about how most of our challenges in life are great blessings in disguise, which is so true. I think it is important that we look at every trial and challenge in our life and try to find the blessings that can come through that; whether it be strength or whether it be that our testimony of the Savior can grow stronger through it. He also said that our mission is life long and then he shared with us that there are angels round about us and he promised us that they truly are round about us, bearing us up. That was really touching to me because of having family from here in Palermo. That was really special to think there are angels around me bearing me up and that they could be our family members. Some other thoughts from his talk that stood out to me were; Live with an eternal perspective, tough times is when you are learning. Joy has everything to do with the focus of our lives. Replace the words "if only" with "because of". He doesn't care where you've been but where you are going. How will you always remember Him. We will be measured by the work we do. We need to teach to the people's needs and have the courage to ask inspired questions. The main statement that he left us with was "Don't fear, just live right. We become better by wanting to." I really liked that and Mission Tour was everything that we needed. We were all very uplifted. It was amazing that Elder Sabin and his wife came to our Mission not knowing us but pointed out all the things that we needed to hear. That night we went and got gelato with a less active and her mom.
Thursday when I woke up I wasn't feeling all that well because we got flu shots the day before at Mission Tour. We had some other sisters staying with us that had come for Mission Tour. The other thing that Elder Sabin talked to us about on Wednesday was the importance of waking up right at 6:30 and how important it is to work out and it's not a work out unless we break a sweat. So even though we were all feeling sick we got up and did quite the ab workout. Later that morning, Sorella Johnson and I went out to visit a lady in our ward and her area was so beautiful. It was really good to go out there and visit her, she is pretty lonely. Afterwards, the two sisters that were staying at our apartment and my companion had to leave to go to Rome for a Mission Training Conference since they are all STL's. I went and joined the Sorelli from the Palermo II area and we were in a trio. Thursday night we had English course which was really fun. We had five new people come so we had them introduce themselves and it was a lot of fun. That night we went over and had dinner with the member that lives right below us in our apartment.
Friday we woke up and went over to the other sister's house and did some studies and had pranzo and then we went out to a lesson. We were teaching the Restoration. We did role plays and I was able to actually contribute a good amount to the lesson so I felt really good about that. We did some finding and then we went to reward ourselves with some dessert and we ended up talking with the guys that were in the bakery for about 45 minutes. That was cool to realize that no matter where you go, the Lord can put people in your path. That was really fun. After that we went to another appointment with a family from Africa. They were so fun and so cute. I had "fufu" for the first time, which was really yummy. I will include some pictures with my email. We taught them about families and showed them an object lesson about how when we are alone we are weaker but if we are together we are stronger. I really enjoyed being with them and I love seeing the Lord's hand in our lives, every single day.
Saturday, not a lot happened. We had a lot of running around and errands to do; picking Sorella Johnson up from the station and then that night we had a gesso. I had a little bit of time to do some reflecting and realized that I need to not get discouraged when I'm feeling weak because God does like to choose the weak and the simple to do His work. I just need to have courage and really trust in Him because that is the only way that I'm going to grow. We don't grow when we are in our comfort zone; that was a good reminder for me. It's a lot easier said than done, but it is something that I'm going to be trying to work on.
Sunday was amazing. We went to church, we were expecting one of the people that we have been teaching to show up so we were waiting around for her. It was time for church to start and she hadn't shown up yet, so we went and sat down. During the sacrament I prayed and asked Heavenly Father to please help us understand His will. I said to Him that I trust Him and knew that everything is on His timing. (In the Preach My Gospel manual we learn that having faith in Him means trust in His timing and that it's His will. And that miracles can be wrought through us, but its' according to his will). So, I just asked to please understand His will and that I was just going to keep having faith and trust in Him and maybe it just wasn't the right Sunday for her to come. After the sacrament was over we looked back and we saw her and also her husband and they were both able to get there in time for the sacrament. I went back and sat by her and was having to fight back tears because it was such a testimony builder for me. God really does know us, he knows our wants and our fears and as long as we keep having faith and trust in Him, miracles really do come to pass. She came to sacrament and said she thought it was beautiful and was a bit teary so we know she was able to feel the spirit. Afterwards she invited us to have pranzo with her and her husband. After pranzo they invited us to go up with them to see their house that is in the mountains. It was so beautiful. It was so much fun to get to spend time with them and get to know them better; they are really incredible. It helped me realize that if we are looking, we truly can see miracles every day.
This was a great week and I really appreciated the Mission Tour and the great reminders we received there.

Love you all

Sorella Acton