MLK

Shoutout to MLK for being such a rad person back in the day!! I'm happy that you were born, man!  

Well howdy everyone! I hope that your new year is going wonderfully! I hope that you still have your resolutions at the forefront of your mind and that you're working at them as diligently as you intended to on December 31 ;) 

This past Tuesday we were able to have interviews with the mission president. I love sitting down to speak with President Johnson. I am so grateful for his leadership and love. It looks as though this will be my final week here in Lebanon. That's just a wild guess though. I'm trying not to read too far into President Johnson's subtle question: "So, Sister Bills. Are you ready to leave Lebanon?" 

He is the master of subtlety, my friends. 

The master. 

I've been having mixed feelings about the idea of leaving. Here are my thoughts:

"I hate packing."

"I hate packing!"

"I hate packing."

"I really like the people here. How am I supposed to say goodbye?" 

"I finally know my way around this place. I'm gonna be so lost in a new area!" 

"What if my new companion and I don't get along?"

"I've never been transferred before. I don't know if I'm ready to leave my first area."

"It could be fun..."

"I'll probably really like my new ward"

"Maybe they'll have a baptism lined up for the week I get there..."

"I should probably just do what the Lord wants."

"I wish I could just stop stressing about it"

So that's how I'm feeling this week.

I don't have a lot else to report on. We got really sick this week. There's been a nasty nasty flu making it's way around Lebanon, and we managed to be some of the lucky ones to contract it. Seems like it's hit almost everyone we know at this point.

Hermana Landa was puking on Tuesday so we stayed in. She was still sick all Wednesday so we stayed in. It was a boring day, because I was completely healthy. I studied the scriptures a lot and did some jumping jacks and tried to remember how to do simple algebra. College should be interesting.

Thursday... I woke up sick. So we stayed in. Friday, I was even worse, so we stayed in. That gave Hermana Landa ample time to recover. 

Saturday it was back to business. We had a zone training in Harrisburg, so we didn't really have an option as to whether or not we felt bad. We just kind of had to be better again. ;) No, I'm kidding. We were so done with being cooped up in the apartment. It was really sweet though, the members and the elders in our ward really reached out to us and took care of us. They brought us food and came to give us blessings and brought us medicine and really just nursed us back to health. I love being a member of this church.

Zone training was awesome. We learned about the different ways people learn from a guest speaker from a different ward in our stake. He was really knowledgeable and funny. It was a very interesting training. 

When we got back from Harrisburg, we went over to one of our less active families homes for a lesson with Nate - our investigator. 

So little refresher on Nate. He's wanted to get baptized for a while. He likes the church and everything. But in HIS mind, he was thinking that "maybe 5-10 years" before he would set a baptismal date. So we haven't been pushing the baptismal thing. But recently, his Fiancee (the less active member who just had a baby but didn't know she was pregnant... ps I love her so much she's the funniest person ever) got really sick. She was suffering from a lot of pain and a really high fever, and she received a priesthood blessing, which he was present to witness. They testified that the spirit was so strong and then Nate shared with us that he knows that the priesthood is real. He knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. He knows that Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet on the earth today. And he wants to be baptized this May. 

Needless to say, Hermana Landa and I burst into tears and couldn't compose ourselves for a while. It was the greatest miracle ever. 

I've been thinking a lot lately (because of Nate and others) about Christ's hands. There were many things that our Savior did with His hands. He healed, he lifted, he encouraged, he rebuked, he loved... But the image I love most of the Savior is of Him with His hands outstretched... because He never stops reaching for us. In the Church today, we are Christ's hands. He sends us to heal and to lift and to love. He sends us to His children to be His example, and He expects us to constantly be reaching out to those around us. I am so grateful for those people in my life who constantly had their hands stretched out for me, because they are the reason that I am who I am today. I am grateful for my home teachers and my young women's leaders who never gave up on me, even as I was struggling with my testimony. I am grateful for my wonderful and faithful friends who have constantly supported me - before and during the mission. I am thankful for supportive family for lending their help to me constantly. I am thankful for the countless prayers that have been offered on my behalf and in behalf of other missionaries around the world.

I am so grateful.

I am especially grateful for the Savior, who loved each of us enough to suffer and die for us; and I am grateful that He lives again. I am grateful for the gift of repentance. I am grateful that I can be washed clean weekly through the renewal of my baptismal covenants. I am grateful to be a part in watching others come unto the Savior. 

I love this gospel. 

Go share the love with someone you know this week!! 

I'll let you all know next Monday if I'm getting transferred for sure!! 

Talk to you soon! 

-Hermana Bills