Winter Wonderland

Washington is beautiful when it snows because the Evergreen trees are, well, evergreen. And the snow is beautiful and white, and it looks likes Narnia, until ice rains comes and plink on everything and makes driving or walking dangerous. We have seen a couple cars fishtail from braking too fast or driving too fast and slipping. Also, some zone leaders slipped on black ice and ended up in a ten car pile up. All of this is new to this missionary from Arizona. Yesterday church was cancelled because of the ice and snow. Today we are again ice/snowed in.  But this is a blessing because our miles are going to be much lower this month.

 Besides the cold weather and snow and ice and rain, everything has been grand! Sister Nilson and I had a resolution to be more obedient, like waking up at 6:30 instead of 6:31 and really trying hard to talk to at least 10 new people a day. Blessings came from that. Just on Wednesday we talked to 21 new people.

 Some of my favorite experiences:

"I do not have a name, I am Catholic."
We witnessed a drug deal.
At least 12 people were smoking marijuana.
"I don't feel like talking about Jesus today."
We met a bisexual couple who looked like they were siblings.
And a potential investigator who is so awesome! Actually a lot of potential investigators.

We have agency- the ability to choose and to act. We have the ability to define ourselves, create ourselves. We can be what we want to be, but we don't have the ability to choose the consequences that come from that. That is something I have been thinking about. We define ourselves as different things: a mother, an employee, a student, a kid, a soldier, disabled, female, male, a musician, anything. We can choose that. But something I have noticed is once that thing that we define ourselves is taken away, we become lost. There is depression, anxiety, feelings of inadequacy because what we were is gone. We literally don't know what to do or what we are.

The only lasting solution I have seen to this, the only thing that brings true peace, comfort, and joy, is defining ourselves as who we really are: sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. That identity and divine nature will always be there, even if we don't acknowledge it. But, if we do acknowledge it, then when we lose our other titles, we can always lean and support on the fact that we do have a loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who died to lift us up.

This is one of my favorite things to teach people: that everyone has worth. That there is a God, who is tangible, who I like to refer to as Heavenly Father. That we are His spirit sons and daughters and that He really does love us. I love it because it is true and when I realized that, I became a much happier, sunnier person.

We are working with so many less actives right now who don't know their worth. That is why I love the poem "The Touch of the Master's Hand", because I am seeing the beauty that comes from people realizing their worth when they allow God in their life. The gospel of Jesus
Christ helps us realize that beauty and light inside of us. It helps us to change and grow. It helps us become like our Heavenly Father and achieve eternal life.