Howdily Doodily!
I’m sure people are sort of over me announcing how long I’ve been a missionary, but today is literally my six-month mark, which I would categorize as a big deal. Twelve more to go! There are so many emails that we have to fit into that time frame!
In other news, the transfer finally happened on Monday morning. Which means that the last one lasted seven and a half weeks! Unsurprisingly, nothing changed in my companionship. Hermana Likes’ temporary companion, Sister Miller, is now in Hendersonville! For context, Sister Miller’s companion went home the same day as Hermana Dabb, so she and Hermana Likes killed it together until transfers caught up with them. She was here for less than a week, but she had been in Spring Hill for five transfers! The Franklin Zone (and especially me) will miss her awesome questions and sweet prayers.
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| There is only photographic evidence that district council occurred this week. IDK how we forgot to take a picture with Sister Miller : ( or document anything else. Franklin South Hermanas, left to right: Newton, Stevenson, Likes, Fellars. Elders, left to right: Ekins, Hamilton, Gerken, Ward. |
But now we have Hermana Fellars! She was just 40 minutes away in Franklin before moving down to Columbia, and we are so excited to have her with us! I’m mainly focused on me being excited to have her here, but also everyone else. Elder Myers and Elder Herrick are gone, but now we have Elder Gerken and Elder Ekins! Fun times are ahead.
Also, Hermana Stevenson and I are the page admins for the Facebook page now! That means we’re in charge of scheduling posts, assigning people to make content, getting stats, and overall being stressed. This will be a time when I definitely need the Lord, but let’s just say I’m glad this transfer only has four weeks left.
Since you’re on my weekly list, the statistical probability that you’re also on another missionary’s list is very high, so you’ve probably already heard that General Conference was amazing, and it looks like you get to hear that again, because it was so unbelievably good! I took 16 pages of notes! It was the perfect way to celebrate Easter.
I would hate to pick a favorite talk, because so many things were so amazing and exciting and great, but I loved Elder Renlund’s talk so much. I also really enjoyed when Elder Walker (who served in the TNM!) used the Joseph Smith quote that prefaces every volume of Saints! “No unhallowed hand” indeed, Elder Walker. Another highlight was when President Nelson announced 20 new temples! I couldn’t stop smiling as I quickly jotted down all the locations. I’m especially excited about the Farmington, New Mexico, temple, because that’s where my dear friend Brooklyn is serving. And of course the Singapore temple for Elder Parkin!
There were a lot of themes and ideas that I picked up from this conference. One I particularly enjoyed was the personal nature of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He will place your burdens on His shoulders so that you can carry on. It’s direct, it’s specific, and it’s real. I’m not sure if you noticed, but there were also a few scriptures that showed up often this time around. One was Matthew 11:28-30, and another was 2 Nephi 31:20, both of which I’ve already featured in my weekly emails! But another was Helaman 5:12, which I’d be more than happy to share:
12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
There’s an amazing address given by Elder Bednar (when he was still President Bednar for BYU-Idaho) called “In the Strength of the Lord.” In it, there’s a quote about the Savior’s Atonement that I especially love:
“There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, ‘No one understands. No one knows.’ No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands. … He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, and succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying only upon our own power.”
Throughout my life, I’ve often tricked myself into thinking I have to do everything on my own. I still do that. But I’m learning, more than ever, how important it is to be built upon the foundation of our Savior. To rely on and trust in Him. Because I could not be a page admin, or message a random person on Facebook, or be out here on a mission at all if it weren’t for Him. I am not perfect, but I know how firm my foundation is, and that is what I’ll trust in.
— Remembering all of you,
Hermana Newton
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