Have You Found Joy?

Here is the latest from Sister Birch. Really grateful for her message this week, when Sierra was writing this email we were watching the Secret Life Of Walter Mitty( which I would recommend seeing!). The movie and the message she shared this week really parallel one another. It made me want to look at my life differently and find joy now, not "when this happens" or "if this goes the way I want it to" then I will be happy. There is my two cents for the week :) Love, Misty

Hello, Hello, Hello!

Mama to answer your question, the guy who tagged Sister Fitt and I in the cups video was just being funny :) The song is a re-make of the "Pitch Perfect" song but the Elders changed the words to be about the Plan of Salvation I think? I have only listened to it once. The guy who tagged us in the video is hilarious! :)

This week has been interesting to say the least. We ran into some challenges that will change the next few weeks at least for us drastically. However, I know everything happens for a reason. I know that these changes are only for our benefit somehow. We will find out soon though. 

We really great lessons this week!! It is all due to the Lord prompting both Sister Fitt and I do plan differently. It has been really great having the opportunity to train a new missionary at 3 months. Sister Fitt and I have been together for almost 3 months now and I feel like we have trained each other. We both rely on prayer and guidance from the Lord a lot! Because we lack in experience, we haven't had any other choice but to go to the Lord in all our dealings to try and help those we are teaching the best we can. It has been the best blessing! If this is not a sign that Heavenly Father wants to talk to Sister Fitt and I, I don't know what is. He put us in this situation to learn. We have both learned immensely about not giving up, working hard, having faith, and being positive even when an area isn't particularly "fruitful." This has been such a wonderful experience :)

The conference talk I would love to talk about today is called "Finding Joy in the Journey" by President Monson. (I don't think I have shared this one yet but if I have I need to share it again; it is that good :) This talk explains how we need to find happiness today. Everyday is wonderful. We hear often about how "every moment is a blessing" and messages like that. It is true! If anyone has any doubts going through their mind of situations or circumstances that weren't joyful, I invite you to think about the plan of salvation. We all used our agency to come to the Earth. Think for a few seconds about what we knew we would be getting into. 1) We would be receiving a body that we have never had before that is uniquely ours forever that is promised will be "perfected and glorified" just like how Christs was. 2) We would have zero memory of our purpose, the plan, where we came from or where we are going. However, the more we study the teachings of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ either from his words himself or through his prophets ("...whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.") we come to remember what we were taught in the pre-mortal life and we start to feel a sense of purpose and belonging. 3) We are not only tempted by others in the flesh, but also by unseen forces that again we can only understand through the teachings of Heavenly Father and Christ. This life is hard! There is no if, ands or buts about it. It is difficult and at times miserable. If we can remember what the Lord told Joseph Smith during one of his greatest times of struggle, "that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." "So let us rejoice" and give thanks to our Father in Heaven for this experience! Let us be joyful in all circumstances that is given to us. Let us find joy today rather than waiting for what we think will bring us happiness because it is never certain what things will come. 

This email hopefully doesn't sound depressing. Rather it is happy! :) We have so many things to be grateful for. Try looking for the tender mercies throughout your days! 

I love you all, truly. I don't know who all reads this. I do know though that I love all of my brothers and sisters. We all need to love each other genuinely, support each other and most importantly help lead each other towards Heavenly Father and Christ because we know that is where the true source of happiness lies :)

I LOVE YOU!!!

Love, Sister Sierra Birch :)

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/10/finding-joy-in-the-journey?lang=eng

The Gospel Blesses Families

Hello Everyone! :)

 

This pic is Sister Birch and Sister Fitt celebrating ( with Martinelli's ;) Sister Birchs' 5 month mark!!Yay can you believe it?!!-Misty

 

 

I hope everyone had a great week and has fun plans for this upcoming week! We had a great week here in beautiful St. Helens Oregon! Just a lot of finding and teaching, you know, missionary work ;) It is going really really well within my district and zone. All us missionaries get along really well. It is sad that transfers is in a few weeks because most likely Sister Fitt and I will no longer be companions. She is amazing! And I have learned so much from her. We will definitely be close friends throughout our lives. 

I love seeing how everyone is doing on Facebook! It is a treat that we are able to be on there now. Obviously I am only on there for a short amount of time and I can't stalk or anything ;) but the few posts here and there that I see are fantastic! 

One small thing I want to add to the email that I look forward to every week is when Sister Fitt and I get to visit Bob (I changed his name). Bob is the father of a woman in our ward. He was born and raised in another faith and is still very strong in it. His wife passed away some years ago and she was baptized and received her own endownments right before she passed. He has not been interested in the church. He has always been friendly to the missionaries but hasn't been interested in having them back more than a few times. The family who are members had us sisters over for dinner a few weeks ago when their son mentioned that Grandpa lived next door and loved to play a particular card game (us 4 sisters love to play cards!). He invited Sister Fitt and I go to over and meet his Grandpa and ask him if he will teach us how to play. Now we go over there weekly. We only feel comfortable sharing a small message and a prayer at the end but he is inviting us to come back. He is the nicest man! He buys treats and we have a great time! So many people think that when missionaries come out to serve that they are going to meet someone and baptize them 3 weeks later (which does happen on rare occasion). Missionary work is so much more than that. We love Bob because of his hospitality and because he raised an amazing daughter who is a great asset to our ward. He isn't particularly investigating the church but we know he is closer to our Lord and Savior when we visit him. He has been a little lonely since his wife passed so we take comfort in knowing that we help him with that as well. If any of you are considering inviting non-member or less active friends to church or to learn more about it, it does not require you to invite them to take the missionary discussions or to invite them to church. Love them. Be friends with them. Find something you both enjoy doing and add in the gospel to the amount that you both are comfortable at. For each person it will be different. Sharing the gospel is difficult when we think about it to much (even though I am a full time missionary, it is not easy to share the gospel). but I promise you, when we rely on the Lord to help us and we have more faith than fear it is a piece of cake. 

Something that I want to share because I am noticing this more and more the longer I serve my mission is the importance that families play in Heavenly Father's plan. We first off have divine roles as women and men. Within a family as husband and wife it is essential that we are true to that divine role when it comes to raising children. Children are precious souls that Heavenly Father gives the privilege to couples to give them mortal bodies and raise them in righteous homes. That is the ideal situation. We all know this world is not like that in every household and it will continue to become less common as time goes on. However, we must not stray away from the way families should be in the Lord's plan and how the world thinks it should be. There are families who are not born in to the gospel (like most, if not all, of the people who will read this email is). They will probably raise their children in a wonderful environment and they will have a great relationship as parents. We may look at that family situation and think "they are fine, they don't need the gospel." The gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentence, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end) is for everyone. We can absolutely be happy without it. However, to be happy for eternity, it is essential. Those families will be greatly benefited and grateful for the gospel in their lives. They may not accept it at first or they might; the timing is not important. What is important is that we are inviting all to come unto Christ. To those families who have been blessed to have the gospel in their lives be very grateful! To the parents who are members of the church, always cultivate your childrens testimonies. "Everyday, everyday, everyday." That is through daily scripture study, morning and evening prayers, and family home evening. My testimony in family home evening has grown significantly since I have become a missionary. The children who have families who do family home evening often (notice how I didn't say weekly; striving to be perfect if schedules don't work out is perfectly fine) have a deeper understanding of the gospel, they get along better with their parents, they respect their leaders, they enjoy attending church and they are more likely to share the gospel with others. What defines F.H.E? According to Sister Sierra Morgan Birch, family home evening is time set aside during the week where all members of the family come together to discuss Christ. There are many different ways to do that through: music, scriptures, conference talks, testimonies, etc. Whatever it may be, we have to ensure we do this. We are not only willing to share our time with our families, but we are showing our love and devotion to the Lord  as a family. Parents, we have to keep Christ in the center of our homes. A few paintings here and there in our living room is not good enough. We must have "his countenance engraven on hour hearts" so the children are raised they know who to turn to "in all times, (for) all things, in all places." I testify to everyone who reads this (hopefully it is many friends and family) the gospel will bless your family. Any of you who are not active or not members of the church, test it out. I promise you, you will be happier and your relationship with your family members will grow. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Birch :)