Week 72: CONFERENCE!

October 6, 2014

Dearest family and friends,

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIANDRA! I hope you have an AWESOME birthday this week and that you enjoy hanging out in BOSTON! I am jealous! You will love it!

Big news! Remember Alex? He's the Cape Verdian kid that Sister Patterson and I miraculously ran into in Amherst and started teaching. His mom has recently been in on the lessons and has been very supportive and now Alex is getting baptized at the end of this month! I am so excited! He is such an honest seeker of truth and he is so sincere and loves his family so much! I can't wait for them to one day have the same happiness I have in knowing that they have been sealed together for eternity!

We had another missionary birthday here in Cromwell. I redeemed myself. :) Actually, it was a team effort. Sister Watts and I made Elder Terry the best breakfast ever and this time, we made sure we had oil for the pans! (And thankfully Ruth, after we helped clean her garage last week, gave us better pans and some cool ceramic serving dishes so we could actually make a presentable breakfast!) The best part was when we were walking into the front door of the Elders apartment complex and Sister Watts tripped over the doorway and almost biffed it with the ceramic dish full of the breakfast. We were laughing so hard when we knocked on the Elders door to sing Happy Birthday. Pretty sure they think we're always laughing maniacally... It might be true. :)

I think one of the greatest lessons I learned this week came from a visit we made with our Relief Society President, Sister Spencer. We went to visit a less-active woman who just moved in and who is really struggling. She spent most of the visit talking about all of the terrible things that have happened to her in her life (and they were some DIFFICULT things). Sister Spencer listened patiently and compassionately and at the end, suggested a few things for the woman, including a Priesthood blessing, which she was happy to accept. It's always just magic when you take a member to a lesson. Seriously. Most of the time, I just feel like the facilitator. :) But on the drive back, Sister Spencer talked about how she herself had experienced every. single. one. of the things that less-active woman had experienced. And she said, "But what's the difference in us? While she has turned from God asking, 'Why me?!', I have turned to God and said, 'Teach me.'" It was powerful. And I felt like such a spiritual infant next to my sister who has gone through so much and has grown so gloriously.

And Conference... SO GOOD! If you didn't get to listen, CATCH UP! I received so many answers to questions and prayers and feel so uplifted and ready to change and progress! I think one of my favorite talks was when Elder Andersen challenged the youth to strenghten their testimonies of Joseph Smith by marking scriptures in the Book of Mormon that they knew were true. I tried it out Sunday morning and was so uplifted! A couple verses I feel strongly about are:

2 Nephi 2:27
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."

Mosiah 2:41
"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I saw both of those in action this week. Everything God commands us to do is for our benefit and HAPPINESS! Satan wants us to disobey so that we become miserable like himself. He tempts us to do so by turning away from God, forgetting to do the small and simple things that build our relationship with Him, getting caught up in addictions and habits that limit our ability to choose. He works really hard! Which is why we must work even harder to continually strengthen our relationship with our Savior by obeying His commandments. All He and our Heavenly Father want is for us to be happy! And they have given us everything that is expedient.

Our Savior lives! This is His church and gospel that was restored through a true prophet and continues to be led by a living prophet. And in it we find the greatest the peace as we access his Atonement through restored Priesthood power. How grateful I am!

Love you all!
Love,
Sister Wheeler Jr.

Pictures:

Elder Terry is so happy with his amazing breakfast!

And Jord, that tree beats any Canadian trees, just sayin'! :)