I'm so glad to hear things have been going well back home! So many things happened this week! It's been awesome.
I
also just found out that I'm being transferred!!!!! I can't believe
it!! I've only been here for 1 transfer! I'm pretty sad because I love
Victoria with all my heart. Leaving is going to be so hard! I hope I can
return someday. The people here are so wonderful and I love them so
much and I'm sad I won't get to see their progress. Also the ward here
is amazing! I feel like I'm leaving my home! Also mom, you should be
getting an email from our AMAZING ward mission leader. He said he writes
the mother of every missionary that comes through. He is so awesome and
does so much for missionary work here! He is so committed to his
calling and missionary work in general. I'm going to miss Victoria SO
MUCH!
Anyways, you're probably wondering where
I'm going! I'm going to Brookswood, a ward in Langley! It's really close
to the temple so that should be pretty cool! Also I'm going to be
companions with Sister Beckstrand's current companion!! I'm pretty
excited! I was not expecting this transfer call at all though. It's so
crazy! I still can't believe it. I always kind of had a feeling I would
be assigned to Victoria, so coming here just felt so familiar! Victoria
is so awesome. And I'm sure Langley will be totally awesome too!
This
has been a spectacular week! This week as we were park contacting
(which in Victoria pretty much just means talking to people on the
beach) we found a random piano! It turns out there are pianos all around
Victoria! So me and my companion tried this new thing where I play the
piano while she talks to people as they're walking by! We got to talk to
a lot of people, but decided it wasn't the most effective so we
probably won't do it again. But it was such a cool experience! While we
were doing that we met these 2 really nice old ladies. One old lady told
me that I had a genuine happiness about me that she could visibly see.
Later that day we met 2 old men who told us they weren't interested but
they could see that we were "wonderful representatives of the message
printed on our name tags." The gospel is the only source of pure and
lasting happiness. Once we have the gospel in our lives that happiness
is visible and different from the rest of the world, and people notice
it. Happiness is fleeting. But the pure joy that comes from the gospel
lasts forever.
We also met this incredibly
kind old lady who let us in and talked to us for a long time. She is
obsessed with sea shells and showed us her collection of all her sea
shells. She even gave us one! We were invited to come back later too!
She just made me so happy and I loved her instantly! I honestly love the
people here SO MUCH! I love being a missionary! Sometimes it can be
discouraging when you feel like you're not doing enough. But if you try
your best and leave the rest to God, miracles happen.
Lately
I've been thinking a lot about something my mission president said to
me. He said "your mission is going to change you even more than you can
comprehend right now." I know that what he said is true and I can
already feel my mission shaping me. Jeffry R. Holland once said "God is
determined to make more of us than we thought we could be." Sometimes it
can be scary to turn everything over to God. But I know that as we do
he helps us to become who we're really supposed to be. I've been
thinking about that a lot lately because of our transfer calls. I was
wholeheartedly expecting to stay in Victoria. Getting transferred did
not even feel like a remote possibility. So much is changing in my
mission and my life that it feels a little crazy sometimes. But I know
that if I just trust God, then everything will work together for good in
the end.
The gospel of Jesus Christ means so
much to me. Jesus Christ means everything to me and I want to devote my
life to serving Him. I know the church is true!
Anyways, I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Sister Bloomfield
