Dear Family and Friends,
WHAT A CRAZY WEEK! We were so busy! I couldn't believe all that happened this week. Some highlights include going into Kyiv, getting a wonderful package from home, sharing a message with so many members about hope, taking one of the young women with us on a missionary day, peppermint patty miracles, teaching a new investigator, and a whole bunch more!
Thanks so much for
the package! I loved trying all the gluten-free treats! My package was
inspected by Ukraine, I hope it all made it haha :).
Searched package
This
week we did a 24 hour exchange with Veronika, (Sister Clark). It was so
fun! :) We taught some language and lessons and at the end, she told us
that she for sure wants to serve a mission.
Veronika, our cute mini :) (yeah I gave her that skirt)
more pictures with Veronika
we ate ice cream :)
pretty Kyiv :)
I bought a traditional Ukrainian shirt and wore it to church on sunday. I am now EVERY member's favorite missionary...seriously! It's cool :)
District gangster pictures :)
"And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles. And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth. (Mormon 9:18-19, 21)"
As I shared that scripture and we testified, Oksana started crying. She then at that point asked if she could receive the miracle of forgiveness of something that she has done in the past. I guess for several years now, her family, church, and friends have told her that she has no hope and that she can't repent, which is heartbreaking. What a special experience it was for me to be able to testify that yes, repentance is hard, yes, it takes a lot of work and patience and faith, but it is possible and once we have repented, "I, the Lord, remember them no more" (D&C 58:42). As we shared that hope with her, we promised that the next time that we taught, we would teach about repentance. That was on Thursday and we don't teach until tomorrow, but I am so excited. To prepare for that lesson, I have been studying repentance like none other, and I have learned so much! Repentance is such a huge blessing in our lives!
As I was studying repentance, I noticed a theme in the scriptures that I was reading, I'll list a few and see if you see the same theme:
And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth! (D&C 18:13)
And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy,having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them. (Mosiah 4:3).
And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea,my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! (Alma 36:20).
"We will come to feel great joy in repenting daily" (Preach My Gospel, Chapter 3).
The theme that I noticed was that after someone in the scriptures repented, they were filled with JOY! And so I started thinking and studying more and more about joy. I thought a lot about what joy is, and really liked what the guide to the scriptures says, "Joy is a condition of great happiness that comes from living the gospel. The purpose of mortal life is for all people to have joy. A full joy will come only through Jesus Christ." As I thought about that, I realized that the gospel is a message of joy! The reason why I am here is to help others find joy! We so often refer to the great plan of salvation as the plan of happiness, but how often do we really think about that? How often do we take the time to consider that this brilliant plan that our Heavenly Father created for us, that is possible only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, was designed to help us have joy? As soon as I started to think about that, and as soon as I realized that this gospel message is a message of joy, I started seeing evidence EVERYWHERE! For example, in the very first pages of Preach My Gospel, we read, "Although they (people we meet on the street) may not know why, they need relief from feelings of guilt that come from mistakes and sins. They need to experience the joy of redemption by receiving forgiveness of their sins and enjoying the gift of the Holy Ghost". Lehi teaches in 2nd Nephi, "Men are that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). Both the sections in Preach My Gospel that talk about enduring to the end teach that joy comes through living the gospel. Even the Lord himself teaches that joy can be found through and only through him, "For in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full." (D&C 101:36).
The theme that I noticed was that after someone in the scriptures repented, they were filled with JOY! And so I started thinking and studying more and more about joy. I thought a lot about what joy is, and really liked what the guide to the scriptures says, "Joy is a condition of great happiness that comes from living the gospel. The purpose of mortal life is for all people to have joy. A full joy will come only through Jesus Christ." As I thought about that, I realized that the gospel is a message of joy! The reason why I am here is to help others find joy! We so often refer to the great plan of salvation as the plan of happiness, but how often do we really think about that? How often do we take the time to consider that this brilliant plan that our Heavenly Father created for us, that is possible only through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, was designed to help us have joy? As soon as I started to think about that, and as soon as I realized that this gospel message is a message of joy, I started seeing evidence EVERYWHERE! For example, in the very first pages of Preach My Gospel, we read, "Although they (people we meet on the street) may not know why, they need relief from feelings of guilt that come from mistakes and sins. They need to experience the joy of redemption by receiving forgiveness of their sins and enjoying the gift of the Holy Ghost". Lehi teaches in 2nd Nephi, "Men are that they might have joy" (2 Nephi 2:25). Both the sections in Preach My Gospel that talk about enduring to the end teach that joy comes through living the gospel. Even the Lord himself teaches that joy can be found through and only through him, "For in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full." (D&C 101:36).
I think
that we, so often, we take advantage of the fact that we have a
knowledge about the restored gospel and the peace and hope and joy that
comes from the gospel. In the 128th section of the Doctrine and
Covenants, Joesph Smith writes an epistle to the Saints. This is in the
year 1842, about 2 years before Joseph Smith was killed. It had been 22
years since Joseph had had the first vision, and only 12 years since the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had been organized. In this
epistle, Joesph is giving further instructions of baptism for the dead,
and at the end of his letter, Joesph takes a moment to rejoice in the
restored gospel and the joy that is brings. In verse 19, he says, "Now,
what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of
gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the
earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and
the dead; glad tidings of great joy. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of those that bring glad tidings of good things, and that
say unto Zion: Behold, thy God reigneth!" Do we feel that joy in our
life? Do we recognize the blessing of the restored gospel? Do we, as
Alma asks, "if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have
felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so
now?" (Alma 5:26). As I have been on my mission, I have had the
opportunity to watch people change and desire to be baptized. As they
repent, they change. They feel that joy. Their hearts change and the
process of repentance "makes you a new heart and a new spirit" (Ezekial
18:31). They are full of that desire to be good and to ALWAYS choose the
right. We sometimes say that they are "on fire". Ammon, a missionary
from the Book of Mormon, felt that joy and said, "behold, my joy is
full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.
(Alma 26:11). I know that I have felt that joy (although maybe not to
the same extent as Ammon, because he spends a lot of his time passed out
because his joy was so great). I've felt that joy as I have repented, I
feel that joy when I testify and when I see those around me change and
make covenants with God.
Going
back to one of the quotes, I listed earlier, "We will come to feel
great joy in repenting daily" (PMG, chapter 3). I thought about that a
lot. None of us are perfect. All of us have made mistakes. All of us
need to repent everyday. But the Lord is so merciful, because he
forgives us! When we repent, we feel his love! We receive JOY! In the
vision of the Tree of Life, what does the tree represent? Elder
Maxwell said it best, "The tree of life … is the love of God. The love
of God for His children is most profoundly expressed in His gift of
Jesus as our Redeemer: ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son’ To partake of the love of God is to partake of Jesus’
Atonement and the emancipations and joys which it can bring." When Lehi
partook of the fruit, he said, "And as I partook of the fruit thereof it
filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be
desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it
was desirable above all other fruit." (1 Nephi 8:12). When we have used
the Atonement in our life to become better and to receive a remission of
our sins, we want to help others feel the same way. I know the joy that
comes into my life from the gospel, from repentance, from the
Atonement, and I want Oksana to feel that joy! I want my other
investigators to feel that joy! I want my friends and family members to
feel that joy!
I
know that this gospel is a message of JOY! I know that obeying the
principles of the gospel brings happiness, peace and JOY! I know that
through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receive forgiveness of our
sins! I love my Savior! I am so grateful for His love! I challenge you
all to look for the JOY that the gospel brings. Maybe you can feel it
strongly in your life right now, but maybe you aren't feeling it so
strong at the moment. If that is you, follow King Benjamin's advice when
he said, " And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye
have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of
his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission
of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls,
even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in
remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his
goodness and long-suffering towards you... and humble yourselves even in
the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and
standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come... And
behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and
be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your
sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that
created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true."
(Mosiah 4:11-13). Remember what God has done for you! Pray and be
grateful and keep going in the faith! Stay strong! I love his promise
there, that if you do that, YE SHALL ALWAYS REJOICE! The JOY in the
gospel really is so great! :)
I love you all!
Sister Kati Ford
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