Oops! I forgot to post last week!

This week has been so crazy busy. I look through my planner and I see that it was packed full and yet I feel like we didn't do much. But we did! We had a special sister training leader training meeting on Tuesday and Mission Leadership Council Wednesday and then we had a Zone training meeting on Friday Morning. We had an exchange Friday to Saturday and then had a very busy weekend. And all the times in between the meetings we were finding people. See we were busy! hahaha The meetings were so insightful. Our mission council is really doing everything we can to tailor our missions training to the needs we feel need to be addressed most. I have learned more about being apart of council this week than ever before. All our opinions and insights have been so important. It was been a real learning experience. 

Probably the highlight of the week was Sugar's baptism. All day Saturday she was worried about remembering the importance of her baptism instead of being worried about meeting her boyfriends parents right before the baptism. We gave her a scripture to memorize and then memorized it with her all day Saturday: 2 Nephi 31:12 "And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, Follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do." It seemed to help her so that by Sunday she was calmer about it all. On Sunday we had many small bursts of excitement as the time drew closer for Sugar's baptism. When the evening came we were asked to fill in on the piano for an invitation only baptism. It was super top secret for whatever reason. During the confirmation I realized that we had left the form at home for Sugar to be baptized. Knowing that the last time I had a baptism they requested to see the form. I started stressing because home was at least a 20 minute round trip run and it was a quarter to the hour. We flew out of the building telling people we would be back soon with the paperwork. We hurried as fast as we possibly could. As we were pulling back into the church parking lot we got a phone call from some Elders trying to locate us. We walked in and they sushed us. We stopped and realized that they had started the program without us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Okay I am going to breathe for just a moment because I am trying to let this go.) I have really had a hard time with our Stake President. Everything that goes with a baptism for whatever reason has to be under his control. He has to be present at each baptism.... we only do it on Sunday so people can attend (even if the person being baptized doesn't want others there), and they always push to start right on the dot even if the family for the person getting baptized isn't there. Here is what really gets me about last night: the baptism before us started 20 minutes late, and the Stake President didn't throw a fit like he did with ours not starting on time. But he starts ours without the missionaries who just taught the person being baptized for the last 6 weeks? Then he asks me if I am okay when I am upset and its very clear my companion and I are upset? Are you kidding me????????? If we had been 5 minutes later in arriving from getting paperwork they didn't ask for this time, we would have completely missed Sugar actually getting baptized. I am pretty sure I have been repenting hourly for this one because the man simple makes me want to become the Hulk and throw him through the roof to the next state or into the ocean. ;/ I am trying to support him as my leader but I most certainly do not agree with his politics. I know for a fact that I am not the only missionary that feels this way. We have all had it past normal stress levels with him. He makes getting someone baptized very difficult and then tears us down in the process. However with all that has been said and done I am trying to focus on the positives of the night. Sugar did get baptized and we did get to see it (barely :D ). Sugars boyfriends brothers girlfriend is soon going to be investigating the church (we are teaching her for the first time tomorrow) and many of our ward members came out and supported Sugar. It was a wonderful service and her confirmation was beautiful and simple. Just like it needed to be for her. So that was my week.

Throw in a little drama with Sisters arranging exchanges for themselves with other missionaries and not telling their leaders (TOTALLY AGAINST THE RULES ON ALL COUNTS!!!!!), then having to correct them and not have them hate you for it, then having another set of sisters lock themselves out of their apartment (they stayed at our place last night) and you have a very busy weekend.  hahaha missionary life is so weird!!!!!!! The things that make it an adventure are totally different than "normal" life worries. 

I am grateful that I have a new week ahead of me. Hope you all have a wonderful week too!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

Experiences!



Okay first I must open with last Monday. Sister Kemp and I went and played tennis again with some of our ward members. We were there in the afternoon and had a blast. Sports are a great way to get to know members we have decided. The weather here has been very warm for "autumn," at least the fall weather I am used to. As we were playing we started to feel like we were getting sunburned. Sure enough we were!!!!! In fact all of us were. ITS NOVEMBER!!!! WHO GETS SUNBURNED IN NOVEMBER?????? It was a reality check for sure..... WELCOME TO CALIFORNIA! But the leaves are changing and that makes me happy. Also as the week has gone on there is a chill in the air. Its finally Fall!

This week has been super busy for Sister Kemp and I. We have been on 2 exchanges and they were amazing! I got to go back to Chatsworth and work the area for 24 hours. It felt so good to knock on the doors that were once so familiar to me. I don't know why that area holds such a special place in my heart but it does. We met many new people during exchanges and were able to teach alot. If I remember correctly, after the 1st exchange I didn't have much of a voice the next day because we had talked SO much! It was wonderful! On Thursday we helped President Hall during interviews. We trained a zone about setting daily goals of how many people to contact each day so that in the end we are baptizing more. It all stems from Elder Ballards talk this last conference. He said, "You full-time missionaries, if you want to teach more you are going to have to talk to more people." So the idea is to contact 50 people each day outside of specifically planned finding activities. In the end we want to talk to 1000 people a week! We literally must talk with everyone! During the interviews we got a call from the institute building. Apparently a young woman had walked in and wanted to talk with the missionaries. We raced over there and met her. She said that she had been on her way to buy cigarettes because she was mad and decided to do something crazy. As she was driving she decided to pull over to  the "church" building and give that a try first. In our conversation with her we discovered she is a less active member. We invited her to our upcoming activities and to actual church. The good news...SHE CAME! It was so wonderful to have her there.





At Sugar's baptism there was a potential investigator who attended. I'll call her Gem. Gem is such a sweet young lady. We had the opportunity to teach her with her boyfriend in attendance. Her boyfriend is the brother of Sugar's boyfriend and is a member of our ward. Are you seeing the pattern? hahaha I am happy to report that she is a new investigator! She has a 10 month old baby and she is the cutest little red head I have ever seen! We talked to our  Bishop about teaching her since she has a baby. In the end we decided it would be better for us to teach her since her fellowshipper and support (Sugar and her BF) attend our ward, and since her baby is too young to attend Nursery. We also had to take into account that Gem's BF is not a strong member and if we asked him to attend another ward we risk him going inactive. So the plan is to get her baptized and married from our ward before her daughter is old enough to go to nursery. ;D We are helping make eternal families from the singles perspective! It's so fun!

We visited one of our ward members who lives in a mental group home. She is such a sweet heart! During our conversation she discovered that there are quite a few movies I am not accquainted with which are popular. She asked, "Where have you been?" Sister Kemp being the wonderfully funny, and slightly absent minded person she is (I love her so much!) said, "I dont know, in a cuckhoo place?" I looked at her in disbelief and it caught her attention. I couldn't believe what she had said!!!!!! I watched as recognition of her statement came to light. We burst into laughter realizing that our member hadn't heard the comment. We were all laughing but for different reasons! It was hilarious! I think she does feel slightly bad but it was more funny.

I am constantly amazed by Heavenly Fathers intelligence in giving us opportunities to sympathize with others but to also learn and grow. This weekend has probably been the hardest weekend of my mission. I have helped many sisters get through homesicknessas a leader but I have never really experienced it myself....until now. I couldn't believe how debilitating it felt to miss home that much! During my lunch break on Saturday I literally laid down and just let myself cry. I cried myself to sleep. Once I woke up I felt much better. Why was I so homesick? Because I love my family very much and I knew that even though I am serving my Savior and I am where I need to be I was not present at a very special event where a majority my family and friends would be. It was so hard to pull myself out of my selfeshness and focus on the work. However I did get back to work.

Saturday night our phone turned itself off and wouldn't turn back on. We tried EVERYTHING to get it to come back on. This is a slight dilemma in our work since all anyone does is text us and we had alot of calls and texts to send that night. We also realized that our alarm clock wouldn't be available since it was on our phone. We decided that the normal beeping clock would not be a good thing to wake up to so we decided to use Sister Kemps ipod clock. When Sunday morning came around we woke up to a beautiful deep voice singing "Hallelujah". We slept through the bag pipes in the song but woke up to the deep voice. The group was the Canadian Tenors. I highly suggest trying them out. As I was laying there listening to the music I decided that I could wake up to them every morning! It was so nice and it was a lovely wake up call. ;D We got a new phone this morning but I think we will continue to use the ipod hahaha

Well that's it folks! I love you all very much! Have a lovely week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell
 

C.P.R

There have been so many blessings in my life as a missionary this week that my heart is drawn out in gratitude. At the top of this list is Sugar. As I mentioned last week she is dating our ward clerk. It was a shock and surprise to hear and see the news but now its almost old news since we have seen them quite a few times this week. Sugar constantly asks us questions like, "Have you heard of the concept of twin souls?" In short Sugar and the clerk are very similar people and get along fabulously! We went to the temple visitors center for a tour on Saturday night before her baptismal interview. It was such a spiritual experience and it had all of us in tears. We walked around the grounds and talked a lot about Sugar's progression and how they are doing as a couple. It was such a good evening. When her baptismal interview was over our District Leader came out and stated that Sugar's testimony is solid and amazing. Now I cannot take any credit for that because she has done a lot of work to get where she is at today. I am sure that with her boyfriend a lot of it has been solidified. I just simply told her what we believe and she has chosen to believe it. So now it is official! Sugar will be baptized on November 10, 2013 at 6pm! I am so excited!!!!!!!! Sister Kemp and I both realized a couple days ago that she is the only investigator either of us has had that we have seen from Start to Finish. I feel so extremely blessed to have been here for this part of my mission. It has been so fulfilling to watch her progression and the changes that have come to her and to her life. She is a totally different person now than who she was 6 weeks ago. As I watched her reaction to the things in the visitor's center I know she understands the step she is taking next week. I watched her feel the Holy Ghost and recognize it. And when I saw the tears of happiness streaming down her face it was the icing on the cake because then I had tears running down my face too. ;D Honestly I think I have been able to sense a little piece of Heaven this week. I can't wait to see what happens down the road. :D

Also this week we have seen many miracles on being able to get in contact with several less active members of our ward and actually have a lesson with them. One of them in particular says he is not sure if he believes in God. We had a member with us during this lesson and he proceeded to ask him many questions just to kind of help us get an idea of what this less active is truly struggling with. One of the questions asked was what his core beliefs are. He really struggled with this and when we finally dissected it he knows families are good and that we learn in families. He knows he has to work to be successful. He knows that because his parents raised him with good values he is a good person. But he really just isn't firm in a belief of God or Jesus Christ. He was also very careful in his comments to not attribute anything to a higher being. I am 100% sure that he has had spiritual experiences and has forgotten them or is ignoring them. I think he is just being lazy because if you think about it, it takes a lot of work to keep your belief active and firm that God lives. We go to church, we read scriptures, we pray and we talk about it to others. We have to literally work to maintain a testimony. These 3 things are called C.P.R. (church pray read) the components needed to survive spiritually. If we stop doing them then we start to die spiritually. It makes me sad to think that he is just being lazy. The other thing I have figured out about him is that he hasn't taken the initiative to actually figure it out himself. He grew up in the church and did everything he was asked to simply because he was told to. He has never done it for himself. I am convinced if he did he would have an experience to remember, but its pretty hard to convince him of that.

I have been working on a project as I read the Book of Mormon this week. My goal has been to mark every reference to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Oh My Goodness!!!!! my pages are practically yellow! There are so many references to them. It has been such a testimony builder that the Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It really does prove that the words of Christ and what the 12 apostles taught are true. I love the Book of Mormon and I love finding the little things that make is so much more intriguing. I was reading Jesus the Christ this week and in one of the note sections at the end of the chapter James E. Talmage suggests that the destruction of the Jaredites would have been ending approximately around the time that Lehi landed in South America. Which also suggests that Coriantumr lived more than 400 hundred years just so he would be found to fulfill the prophecy which was given him. That was also after the time that Heavenly Father made the lifespan of man 120 years. Interesting, right? I just love stuff like this! It makes my mind ponder all the possibilities of things we don't know yet and the things we will discover along the way. ;D

Well everyone that has been my week. Kind of a short report, I promised we worked hahaha

I love you all very much!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

Don't Miss This Boat!

The leaves have finally started to change colors and they are starting to fall! I am so excited for the sound of leaves crunching underneath our feet as we walk around. The mornings are so brisk its refreshing. The days get pretty warm. I think they are still above 80 degrees. then the night comes and its cool enough for a warm sweater. I am loving the weather change!

This week has been so busy and crazy. We had the new missionaries come out with us for the afternoon. Sister Betenson was my new missionary. She is taller than Sister Kemp and I felt so tiny! She is an even 6 ft tall. Anyway we had the most amazing experience of teaching a lady on her front porch. The spirit was so strong and she was touched with the message we shared about prophets and the word of God being taught through the scriptures. We asked her if she would want missionaries to come back and teach her and she very quickly answered that she would love it. We walked away totally exhausted from the moment and knew that it was through the spirit we were able to teach her. It was such an amazing afternoon!

Transfers were so good as usual. I love being able to sing "Called to Serve" while the new missionaries walk in. The song will never be the same for me. The words will always touch my missionary heart and bring to remembrance the impact I have felt of being a servant of the Lord. ;D

We moved into our new apartment and finally got all unpacked. It took a couple days just because we had other things to be doing. I had an interesting experience the other night. It was the beginning of the weekend and of course its a holiday season. There was a party in our building somewhere. Only we could hear every word of Spanish/English being spoken. It sounded like it was down a few doors on the floor below us. I would go in and out of sleep for what seemed like all night. Finally Sis. Kemp woke up to the noise level and looked out the window. I of course was up and told her it had been going on all night. It felt like it was 5 am. When I checked the time it was only 1:30 am!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was about to cry. All I wanted to do was go to sleep and stay asleep. We talked it out and decided that since we didn't want to leave the apartment that I would yell out the window and ask them to quiet down a bit. Well I did and it was so loud that they couldn't hear me. I then called our complimentary patrol officer and received the message "Sorry the person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please try again later." I was super annoyed at this point. So what else did I have a choice to do? Wait for it......I totally called the Police Station hahahaha and left a complaint. They said they would send a police officer over. Well they must have had one near by because in 10 minutes it was almost completely dead silent! So the missionaries were able to finally fall asleep at 2 am. ;D

Sugar is doing very well! We had another member come to her lesson this week. We half expected him to be there since she is the one who told us he might be coming. Then on Saturday when we asked him to come he told us he was already planning on being there. We were a little puzzled but didn't dwell on it too much. Well we were definitely in for a surprise. During the lesson they would hold hands intermittently. Talk about having a hard time staying focused! We were teaching tithing so I hope she at least got something out of it. Then on Sunday the member informed me that they were in fact Dating. The Sunday school lesson was on eternal marriage and when I looked back over my shoulder they were holding hands again. Kind of awkward! Sugar told us later that the member had explained a little about the temple to her the night before specifically sealings. Talk about the perfect lesson to have them attend! So I guess our investigator is now dating our ward clerk...... He is a great guy and has a lot of similar experiences as Sugar. He is very cautious about things before her baptism and is trying to make sure he is out of the picture enough emotionally so that she can focus on her baptism. Once she is baptized I will have no concerns. I think this is a very good thing for both of them. It was just not expected at all! Oh the joys of working in the Singles ward hahahahaha makes for some awesome stories!

Probably the most wonderful thing of this week was Sunday in Sacrament meeting. Our Bishop has gone crazy and has released almost everyone from their callings and extended the calling of ward missionary with the assignment of their previous calling. We have been in on the plan for weeks now. However on Sunday the talks were specifically tailored to missionary work. Sister Kemp spoke and did such a great job of explaining how easy it is to be a member missionary. Then Bishop got up and said a few things then conducted the ward business. As each person stood up and their new calling was announced the spirit was so strong! It continually hit me in waves. Each person brought more tears to my eyes. I was literally bawling in sacrament because I realized just how very blessed I am. The Lord was so kind to me this transfer. I have had the opportunity to witness the hastening of the work in my ward here. I have seen the Lord's hand in the work. Miracles are happening people!!!!!!!!!! It is more than time to catch the wave of missionary work! Get caught being a Mormon. Its simple. Let people know what you did over the weekend (hopefully you went to church), let them know why you don't do certain things. Share the gospel through the example you live by. They will notice! They will feel and see the difference in you. Be open not shy. Know the answers to their questions by reading the scriptures and attending church and by praying to know for yourself if these things are true. There is no reason to hide because of what you believe in. I promise that you will see miracles happen. This Church is True!!!! This is the Lords work and we are moving forward. Jump into your boat because this wave is getting big and you don't want to miss it! I love being a missionary and I wouldn't trade anything in the world for this experience.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

BAM- Be A Missionary!

 

 

 

 

 

Another week has past in the Great California San Fernando Mission. It was a tense week for all of us who started to dread the inevitable phone calls coming Saturday telling us of our fate for the next transfer. It was so hard to focus at times. I am grateful for my companion who helped me out so much! I guess the reason why I was so distracted about getting transfered was because I have never been in an area for longer than 3 transfers. Well I just finished transfer number 3 so my mind would wander to this subject. Well transfer calls came on Saturday afternoon. I am happy to report that I am staying for at least another transfer in the Northridge YSA ward AND Sister Kemp gets to stay too! WOOHOO!!!!!!! I am so excited. Right after we got the call we got another call from the Assistants telling us that we are moving on Tuesday into a brand new apartment! This I am excited for. The apartment we live in is pretty run down. So we have a brand new car and a brand new apartment. Another reason why I am so excited about this change is because it has been so difficult to talk about our Sisters in our Apartment when we have other sisters living with us. So now we get to really focus on our Sisters and help them with their needs.

We went on exchanges this week. They felt so off. There has just been something this transfer going on in our mission. None of us quite know what it is but all of the leaders are starting to talk about it. We feel like we have been trained to be robots, and that missionaries dont know what exchanges are or for. I wont say who but there was a previous Sister Training Leader who told her new missionary that exchanges are just a visit. I couldn't believe it! Exchanges are so much more than visits. They last for 24 hours! And we train the Sisters on what they need help with. Before Elder Kopischke came we were given a training plan to execute on the exchanges but now we are tailoring them specifically to what they need help with. Which make so much more sense to me! We have so many new missionaries in our mission that we have a lot of work to do to "catch them up to speed." We need them to know whats going on and how its going to go on. Of course things will need to take time to sink in but there are just some things in mission life that you need to know and understand right off the bat. So Sister Kemp and I will be working hard this week to figure out what we need to do to build our boat of "curious workmanship" like Nephi did. We will be working with the Lord closer than ever, and receive the revelation we need in steps to ensure that our boat floats and doesn't sink.

Sugar is doing so well!!!!! She is the ray of sunshine in my life that I have needed for so long. Not only is she understanding the Book of Mormon as she is reading it but she is doing everything in her power to become a part of the culture of the church. She comes to every activity she can get to (she doesn't have a car and rides are sparse sometimes). People in the ward now know who she is and she is becoming fast friends with some of them. This week her work (the candy store) put on a halloween party for a former pussy cat doll. We were really worried about her having a hard time keeping the Word of Wisdom. We gave her some lines to use if she got put in a situation where she was offered a drink. She made it successfully through the night!!!!!!! She got nervous at one point but was able to get out of the situation. The next morning she was reporting how the night went and then she remembered that she had a whole thing of sweet tea right before the party!!!!hahahaha poor thing she was trying so hard to avoid the alcohol and missed the tea. Its okay though its getting much better! We love her so much. She also informed us that she prayed one night about us not getting transferred. " Heavenly Father, please bless that Sister Cottrell and Sister Kemp will not get transferred and that they will stay in this ward, and in this area." When we told her we weren't getting transferred she literally jumped up and down yelling "Yay!" She jumped so high that she almost hit her head on the ceiling in her apartment. What made this more funny was that two of the guys from our ward were there when it all happened. hahahahaha So now we get to stay for her baptism and get to continue to watch her amazing progression. Sugar is a miracle for this area and its about time the ward got to experience all of it. I am so grateful to stay in this area and actually get to continue working with the ward. We are making progress through the Bishop and I get to be apart of it all!!! hooray!

One of our former ward members gave us a paper with the words "BAM! be a missionary" I thought it was so clever and so true. So whenever you think about the word BAM just know that you are telling yourself to be a missionary! hahahaha Also we just found out that the guy who plays Satan in the new temple video is one of our former YSA's! His name is Corbin Allred. Its Awesome!

Other than these main events we had a pretty slow week. We took a Sister to go have a surgery and have just been there helping in her recovery. Its been a draining week but good overall. This next week is going to be very busy and very fulfilling. I hope you all have an amazing week! Keep hanging in there. Dont let the flu bug get to you.

Oh and to my wonderful cousin Dillon- Congratulations! California is wonderful you will love it! You may not believe it but it gets cold here in February. You will need a warm jacket. Maybe not a coat but at least a jacket. I cant wait for you to experience going on a mission. You will never regret it!

Well I love you lots! Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

 

 Picking up the brand new mission car!

 Sister Cottrell and Sister Kemp

Birthday temple trip!



What a Week!

To be truthfully honest I am slightly glad it is a new week!

We had so many things going on last week its hard to keep all the days straight. To start off we had Elder Kopischke of the Seventy do a mission tour this week. We have been anticipating this visit for about a month. Last year when we had someone come it scared us all into submission. Really.... But as he walked into our zone conference Love just eminated from him. He asked to meet every missionary and did so! He is so warm and gentle. He loves to laugh too. He had us think of questions that we wanted to have answered and to write them down. He then told us to only write down the impressions we received from the spirit. Let me tell you with in minutes of him speaking I had almost every question with an answer. It was simply amazing. As we approached the half way point of our meeting I started to get nervous because my turn to get up and play was coming. Well they accidently skipped it! During lunch they told us they would do it first thing when we started again. Okay nerves=through the roof. Heart=pounding in my ears. I am NOT a pianist people! I am a violinst. So I started praying. I knew that if I was going to get through this I needed help. I asked for the calming peace I know comes from my Heavenly Father. I was still pretty nervous as I sat down to play but then the most remarkable thing happened. As the vocalist came in I felt the stage fright literally melt away. I felt peace and love start running through my viens. I totally calmed down. I was able to play the song with fervent love for my Savior. Both of our testimonies were borne as we preformed. I was able to play this song without noticable mistakes. Of course there were little ones, but only I was able to notice them. I sat down when it was over and just started crying as I realized the blessing in full that I was given. It was a remarkable experience and I am excited to continue accompanying missionaries for their muscial numbers. So that was just Thursday. Then Friday we had another early morning meeting with Elder Kopischke for the Leaders of our mission. We learned so much!!!!!! Lately a couple of us have been feeling as if we have become robots throughout our mission. He totally addressed all of our concerns! It was simply amazing. Something I learned that was just profound is that our exchanges need to be when the Sisters need them and not when it is convenient for us. For example: if they are struggling with the ward council our exchange needs to be over a sunday when we can be there to help. If they are struggling with weekly planning then our exchange needs to be over Thursday when we do our weekly planning. Simple, right? Totally mind blowing!!!!!!

Funny Stories: One night we were driving through a neighborhood. It was dark. I had never been through this neighborhood so I was relying on the GPS. Suddenly there were 6 horses and their riders crossing right in front of us at a stop sign! I couldn't believe it!!!!! I so badly wanted to take a picture but couldnt get my camera out fast enough. The only other place I have seen horses is in Chatsworth so it was a total surprise! We laughed about it forever.

Last night I had a startling experience. I had somewhat of a hard time falling asleep last night and just when I felt myself really sleeping I got a very scary wake up call. The fire alarm was blarring! I was so groggy I could barely think how to turn off the alarm. I grabbed a chair to stand on since the alarm is very high up on our wall. I didn't even think to see if there was a fire now that I am reviewing last night. hmmm..... ;) I thought it was just our alarm. The sisters from the other room finally emerged and asked what was going on. None of us could think striaght. We finally made our way out to the living room we realized that the alarm sound was also coming from outside. We put jackets on and stepped outside to find that many other people were coming out of their apartments with confused looks. The alarm finally turned off and we got the word that someone had a cooking accident and it had caught fire causing all the alarms in the complex to go off. Now this happened probably in about 5-10 minutes. It was the scariest thing. Super annoying too. hahaha but all is well and we all learned an important lesson that should a fire happen we need to be prepared to leave the apartment with clothes to cover our garments. ;) heeheehee

I learned how to eat with chopsticks this week!!!!! It was a success! I didn't spill once! I was so excited!

An update about Sugar: She has had some pretty hard days this week. But on a long drive down to San Diego she was praying and as she finished her prayer the sun broke through some pretty dark clouds. She found herself filled with hope. A hope for the future. She is so amazing. I know I say this every week but its true. She continues to grow stronger every day and her testimony that the Book of Mormon is true is deepening. She is truly GOLDEN!

Mostly this has just been a calm week. Not too much to report other than Elder Kopischke. His comments have filled my head all week.

I love you all so much. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell

I Know My Redeemer Lives!

What a very mind blowing General Conference weekend!!!!!!!! Its no surprise I am sure to anyone but I LOVE General Conference!!!! I get so excited over the anticipation of the topics that will be covered and of who the speakers will be. I love them all but I just get so excited over it all! As I was sitting listening to President Monson talk the first time in conference I had another experience. My testimony was strengthened once again. I know that my Redeemer Lives!!!! This was my experience. My testimony burned within my heart as I thought of this phrase over and over again. It might have been such a powerful thing to me at the time because I have been so focused on this song. This week I was asked to accompany a vocalist in our mission for the english zone conference. Lets get the facts straight for a moment. I am a violinist not a pianist. Although I can play very few select hymns and this is what everyone hears when I play for meetings. Now the Lord has been blessing me with the ability to learn more hymns however I feel that there is a big difference between hymns and vocal solo music. But I trust the Lord and so I agreed to look over the music. At first glance the music was terrifying but the more I played it the more simple I was able to make it to fit the skills that I possess. So I am officially playing the piano for the musical number on Thursday. However your prayers would be appreciated. ;D Because I was also asked to play the other songs for the day. Now you may ask why is this such a big deal? It is simply because Elder Kopischke of the quorum of the Seventy's will be presiding at the conference!!!!!!!!!! HELLO! my nerves are through the roof hahahahaha

So.....back to conference. I loved the talks they are so inspiring. I found myself in awe several times when the sanctity of women was brought up. It saddens me that our society has gotten to the point when this has become necessary. I have discovered myself during several points of my mission with the longing of wanting to have my own family. Before the mission one of my co-workers asked me if I was going to be the kind of returned missionary that is obsessed with getting married. I answered no at the time but then later decided that I should consider it. After this weekend I have made the decision that marriage is something that will be a focus for me not an obsession. With the many talks on women's roles in the home this decision has been made stronger. I love that they talked about the fact its okay for women to stay at home and that they should! I have seen the effects of single moms and working moms on families. Its devastating to me because these children are definitely left wanting for more. I want to be the mother that my children can turn to in times of need. The mother that will be there to nurture them. I want to rear my children in the gospel and help them strengthen their testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. I desire motherhood far more than any career that could be mine because it is the career I have been designed and destined to have.

I am also very impressed with Elder Bednar's talk regarding tithing. Many times I have found myself thinking of the blessings received by paying my tithing. While I was in high school tithing to me was something I understood that I needed to do but didn't really truly understand the effects of. I didn't understand that it was a commandment which came from God. It wasn't until a tithing settlement some years ago. I wasn't prepared to assign myself as a full tithe payer. When the Bishop informed me that I was no longer worthy to enter the temple I felt a very really void in my heart very deep within. I was desperate to fill that void and I knew very clearly that the only way to do so was to repent and pay my tithing. Within the week everything was squared away and I felt the sweet presence of the Holy Ghost witness to me that I was once again worthy to enter the temple. I was promised in my patriarchal blessing that the temple would be a strength a joy to me. Knowing that this blessing in general was very precious I wanted to make sure that this specific blessing would remain mine. A few years my purse stolen from a church building. My wallet had my tithing money in it and quite a lot of it since I hadn't remember to turn it in the couple weeks before. I felt the sadness enter into my heart knowing that my tithing money was lost over someones else's agency. I felt desperate because I did not want to consider myself once again unworthy to enter the temple. Dad explained to me that the Lord would consider it paid since it was set aside for the specific use of tithing. Since then I have made sure to pay my tithing each and every paycheck. The blessings have become too precious to me to not have. I have spoken a lot of the blessings of temple attendance but the blessings are far more reaching. As a college student trying to make ends meet while living in Nebraska it was sometimes hard to pay that tithing. But for every month that I paid it in faith of the blessings to come, the blessings came flowing. I remember one particular time: It was getting to the end of the month and I had had an unexpected tire replacement to pay for earlier that month. I was terrified because I knew that the money in my account wasn't enough to make sure all the bills were paid on time. But as I looked at my computer screen to view my account I thought I was going crazy. I had much more in my account than I thought I had. The amount was the perfect amount to get me through my bills and to my next paycheck. As I review the History there was nothing to signify over spending or under spending. It was all the same amounts of money as before. Not knowing what else could have lead to this wonderful discovery I remembered the experiences I had had before and knelt down in prayer and thanked my Heavenly Father for the blessings due to my tithing being paid. I know that by paying our tithing the Lord will indeed "open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing." So if any of you do not have a testimony of tithing dont wait for the hard experiences of learning about tithing. Rather lean on my testimony and look for the blessings in your life of the tithing you pay. The Lord wants us to have faith in His commandments and obey them but first we must have a belief. To gain the faith we must act on our belief.

Another thing I loved from conference was the line "doubt your doubt before you doubt your faith." It is so true for all of us regardless of how strong our testimonies are. For those we love who are doubting please follow this counsel. Satan is the only one who wants us to be miserable. He will do everything in his power to get us to leave behind the thing that can and will give us the most peace and happiness. Also it was really funny during Elder Nelsons talk. We all brought our little snacks (i.e chocolate and crackers etc) and as he was talking about how our bodies are temples and how we need to treat them we all ended up putting away or down the goodies and taking more strict notes. hahahahaha I think we even have a treaty being signed sometime today to not eat sweets. Very motivating.

I just loved conference and to top of the week Sugar has a set baptismal date for November 9th!!!!!!! It has just been a great week and with Elder Kopischke coming its bound to be better. Oh and Sister Kemp and I are getting a brand new car from the lot tomorrow! I am so excited! It will be the only time in my life I am sure that I will drive a brand new car. heeheehee

Well I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week and that you rely on the words of our prophets.

Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Sister Cottrell