The calm after the storm.

Sister Frisch and Sister Mortensen

There is a part in the New Testament in Mark where Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles are sailing on the Sea of Galilee. Christ is asleep, very exhausted from his day's labor, and a storm has risen on the sea. Winds are crazy, waves are scary, and I'm sure the torrent of water seems endless and frightening. By this time the apostles are full of fear that their boat is not going to survive the storm as they battle to keep their boat from capsizing . So, they wake up Jesus, and in verse 39 of Mark chapter 4 it says, "he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."

Lately it's been super stormy in Seaside. Like 80+ mph winds and high tide warnings, power outages, and trees and signs (metal speed limit signs being completely bent to the ground because of the wind) falling all over the place, and hail. Lots of it. So it's been pretty awesome. Right now though, as I type this, the sun is peeking through and I am actually seeing a blue sky. How beautiful. 

A week ago- Monday- as our district was playing gatorball (a mixture of soccer and rugby) I received a call from the mission office. It was Sister Burgoyne calling to tell me Bonnie, someone I taught for six months in Vancouver was getting baptized this weekend and I was going to give the talk on the Holy Ghost! HOLY MOLY !

Backstory on Bonnie. Missionaries first came in contact with her two weeks before I came as a newbie missionary to Vancouver. She was the very first person I invited to be baptized and she downright told me, "no." Well, over the course of six months, her answer to that question

became a "maybe", to a "when it will happen, not an IF it will happen." She has a huge testimony of her loving Heavenly Father and has faith. As Alma puts it in the Book of Mormon, "And now as I said concerning faith--faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

So, in the past month and a half I've been gone, she found her faith and has been growing it and was baptized on March 12th. Sister Mortensen and I were able to receive permission to travel the 2+hours from Seaside, OR to Vancouver, WA to participate in her baptismal service.  Sister Tauala and Sister Nilson (my two previous companions) were also there because they taught Bonnie. It was a joyous reunion. I started crying because I was so happy. I love something Sister Tauala said. It went something like this, "I pray that if the reunion in the Celestial Kingdom is just like what all of you witnessed today in the gathering of all these missionaries, I pray that all of us may be there." Man, we tasted a little bit of the happiness and joy found in the Celestial

Kingdom and the love Heavenly Father has for each and everyone of His children.

This moment- Bonnie's baptism, is just one reason why the mission is worth it. There are so many hard, trying moments on the mission and in life that often leave me to cry out, "Lord, save me." In contrast, the calm afterwards is so sweet as I do reach out to my Heavenly Father who has been there all along, and he says, "Peace, be still." Right now I can feel that peace as I continue to look to my Savior and see miracles taking place.

True peace and happiness are found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know God lives and loves. The Atonement is real and works. How grateful I am for the Atonement, especially the enabling power which allows me to feel of God's love and heals my soul. As we look to our Savior, we can always find peace.

All my love,

Sister Frisch