Words of the Wise

Real influence is wielded quietly, one on one.     -Elder Nash

Not every grieving person is ready to be hopeful.     -Sister Applonie

It's okay to have clouds in life because they make the most beautiful sunsets.     -Josh Beuhner

There are no second class missions.     

Motivation follows action.     -Wendy Ulrich

A break is often as good as a change.     -Wendy Ulrich

Make sure your faith is in Jesus Christ and not the outcome.    -President Stratton

Sunday Quotes

Well, it's been an incredible journey.  I don't have the words to express what the mission means to me, and I think that's because it's all in my heart.  I will be eternally grateful to my Heavenly Father and Savior for this opportunity and to the Spirit for being there every step of the way.  What a joy it's been!

And now, it's on to another journey.  So far, it hasn't been quite as fulfilling as the mission, but this is part of Heavenly Father's plan for me too, so I'm sure it will get there.  I'm trying my best to do as President Monson advises and find joy in this journey, which is making a difference.  So today, I wanted to start a new tradition: Sunday quotes.

These quotes will be from the past couple of weeks.  They're things that have helped, reminded, consoled, and lifted.  Hopefully they do the same for you.

Truth exists beyond belief.   -President Uchtdorf

He who honors God, God honors.     -Chariots of Fire

Discipleship is not a spectator's sport.     -Sister Elaine S. Dalton

The purposes of God cannot be frustrated.     -Doctrine and Covenants 3:1

What we do will never measure up to what we need to be, but that's okay.  God has bridged the gap.     -Kristan Miller

It's not a coincidence that the word "quest" is in the word "question."     -Michael Wesch

Love is not an experience; it's a capacity.     -Michael Wesch

The Lord wants us to be made over - but in His image, not in the image of the world, by receiving His image in our countenances.     -Susan W. Tanner

Of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that are given to deity, he has asked us to address Him as Father.     -Quorum of the Twelve

The Holy Ghost is within whispering distance.     -Elaine S. Dalton

Creation is ongoing.  It is not complete until we fulfill the measure of our creation.     -David Seely

He can lift us perfectly.

600,000 Lights

Another Festival week.  It's been a great one.  I think the sisters are to the point now, where they are really learning how to be themselves when they are talking to people.  I love watching them interact and send the missionaries to these people they meet and testify of the Book of Mormon and just love every minute of this experience.  I'm like a mom.  But I'm really so proud of how these girls/sisters embrace their calling! This is definitely a time for a lot of reflecting, and seeing how good they are really makes me think about how my mission has been.  And I'm grateful there is still time to step it up and be better than I am.

One thing that I love about Festival is the number of international visitors that we've had.  So far I've sent missionaries to someone in Trinidad and Tobago, called someone in Zimbabwe, talked to people from India, South Korea, Vietnam, Puerto Rico, Sierra Leone, Ukraine, and a million other places.  My favorite place to take them is the creche room.  There are creche's from all over the world and it's amazing to see how all of Heavenly Father's children can have the same faith.  And even if the creche includes a turtle and a monkey in the manger scene, Christ is always at the center.  It's so meaningful.  That room has such an incredible spirit that is tangible when I walk inside.  I wish that I could take all of you there! Plus, they put these plug-ins in there that make it smell like Christmas and that definitely adds the magic of it all.

Another miracle we're seeing is that this Saturday, Tevin is getting baptized!  He is ready.  It's incredible.  To me, he is evidence that the study of doctrine changes behavior faster than the study of behavior changes behavior.  He is a miracle.  I'm still amazed at the power of the atonement to change people! At the beginning, Tevin was very angry, and bitter, and confused and I wasn't sure if we were going to make it to a second lesson.  And he had so many concerns with the first lesson, that if we hadn't had the spirit in our planning, we probably would have revisited Lesson 1 over and over again.  But both of us felt like we needed to teach him as if he'd accepted everything and just move forward.  As we did so, his concerns became fewer and fewer, and the light in his face got brighter and brighter, and now he's ready.  Last time we saw him he said that we actually likes church (what 16 year old guy says that?) and he feels ready.  He's happy now.  And it's true.  The gospel changes people!  Bah! I wish you could all see it! This has been one of the most memorable and fulfilling conversion experiences of my mission.  I don't know how to put into words all the feelings of watching Tevin (a 16 year old in the middle of 9 siblings, divorced parents, etc. etc) as he hated the world and all of the unfair treatment he'd received.  He was even called the 'devil child' by members of his family, so of course he had every right to be angry and bitter.  It consumed him.  He never smiled.  His eyes were always squinted just a little so that everyone knew he didn't trust them, and would sit in our lessons and just stare at the table.  But from the beginning, Sister Wankier and I knew when he accepted our message he would be the strongest one in that family.  I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father knew that both of us are the type of people who respond with extra doses of jokes and happiness when people are angry, because that is exactly what Tevin needed.  And Heavenly Father knew that.  We're sure Tevin thought (and probably still thinks) we're crazy as we were burning tea bags on his hand, mixing in ketchup with his ice cream, and doing every ridiculous thing we could think of to teach him the gospel.  The Spirit led, and little by little, he smiled more.  He came to church.  He prayed.  He read his scriptures.  He laughed.  He changed! He's confident in who he is, and he's at peace.  He trusts God and he's happy.  And it's real happiness. There's no way he could pretend to be as genuine as he is now.  Ah, it's amazing.  This is what truth does to people.  

So stay true to those things that are eternal.  I love you all!

-Sister Welch 

Festival of Lights: The End

What a month! We had 90,000 visitors at the Visitors' Center during Festival and over 1000 of them accepted missionaries.  I met people from over 50 countries, all of the sisters developed a real unity, and I could sleep for probably a year now.  Wow.  What a month.  It was fun to see familiar faces too! Every couple of days I would run into someone I knew from school, or home, or just my past life.  Teancum Light, the Wigrens, and so many others.  It was weird to see my mission and home world collide, but normal at the same time. What fun.

Today's will be short and random.  I love having time in the area.  All of my investigators are moving out of my area.  It snowed the past two days, but didn't stick.  It's freezing! And now for a story from Sister Wong.  We were role playing inviting Daniel (Young Single Adult, cynical, ex-Baptist, investigator) to church.  It's fun to pretend to be him because I can use all of my polysyllabic vocabulary (wow, that sounded nerdy), but he reminds me of Dale a little bit, so it's fun for me. 

Anyway, I was being Daniel, and a little difficult, and all of a sudden Sister Wong had this moment of inspiration where she said, I want to tell you a story.  She said, pretend you are a father that lives in a world where there is this deadly disease.  It's highly contagious, and everyone is going to get it and die a painful, horrific death.  Of course, people are trying to find a cure, so doctors world-wide do frantic blood tests on every family.  They test your family and discover that your son's DNA is pure and he has the only blood that can be used to make the antidote.  You, the father, have to sign the papers to allow them to take his blood, and the portion where it would say the amount of blood needed is blank.  You ask the doctor, "How much of my son's blood will you need?"  The doctor looks down and is very quiet.  "All of it," he says.  "Your son is the only person who can save the whole world."  As a father, this is the MOST difficult thing you have ever done, but your son agrees, and you watch as he is sacrificed to save the whole world.  Now every Sunday, you watch as people celebrate Him while they take the sacrament and remember His body and His blood.  You wish they would be more respectful, a little more quiet, and that more people would remember his sacrifice and come to church, but you are a patient, loving and perfect Father and are proud of the few who remember our Savior Jesus Christ.

Let me tell you, this "Daniel" had a very hard time not crying while she told me this story.  It was powerful and I'm using it with all of my investigators now.

I love you all.  Stay true to what is eternal.

-Sister Welch