greetings from your favourite friendly snow angel!!

greetings from your favourite friendly snow angel!!

i feel like a penguin today sliding on all the ice haha it's pretty fun :)

 

WELL what a week. i got two letters from you this week i think! i'm glad to hear the boys are tearing it up in wrestling, way to go :) and you asked what we do on p-day... well we wake up at the same time and do exercise until 7:30, then breakfast/shower/etc until 8:30, then personal study till 9:30, companion study till 10:30, cleaning (we clean the bathroom & our bedroom every week, and we vacuum the car every week) till about 11:30, then we eat lunch and then drive over to the library to email, then around 2pm we head to Walmart to do our grocery shopping, we get a car wash and gas, then we go home and write letters or whatever, eat dinner, then at 6pm we're back in missionary mode :) so not too exciting but very nice :)

 

so the B’s took their Christmas stuff down yesterday and there are only a few houses left now with Christmas lights up... too funny. i really do love it though haha.

 

[also side-note: can you edit out the names when you post letters online? i want you all to know the names but we're not supposed to post them, especially last names, on the internet. and no personal details or identifying anything blablablah. you can just use initials maybe? whatever you think is best. thanks] :) :)

 

BROTHER R. so golden. we've had pretty good daily contact with him, either texting, having a lesson, stopping by to see him, or having a member friend call and check up on him. :) he just loves the gospel and it all makes sense to him, "i always knew I lived with God before I was born" and all that :) :) and he was in radio for like 47 years so he has a talk radio voice which makes EVERYTHING awesome hahah. we've had such great support from the members and it's really been amazing for us, for them, and for br r :) he's on track to be baptized in less than two weeks! and he just can't wait! one of the things i love about teaching & testifying of the gospel truths is that it strengthens MY testimony so much and I learn every time. early in the week we went over to teach about the Restoration, and we were sitting at a round table in the dining area of his apartment complexy place. so i was sitting kind of next to him and testifying about the First Vision and how I KNOW God loves His children and i KNOW that He answers prayers. and he just is looking me in the eye and nodding and says "i know," and it's really cool. then a couple days later we're having a lesson at the M's (WMLs) home about the Plan of Salvation, but first Br R asked if he could say a few things... his lessons are so funny because we don't even have to ask him how reading is going or follow up on commitments, he does it before we can even ask haha. also he LOVES the Book of Mormon and he thinks Laman & Lemuel are "whiney complainers" haha. and he really relates to Nephi being asked to do hard things because God asked him to and all that. but anyways, sister casdorph had asked him to journal about some of the spiritual experiences he was having so he'd brought his journal and asked if he could read some of it to us. and towards the end he was talking about our last lesson and he looks at me and goes "this is for you Sister Proffit" and talks about how when we were talking that night, he could see in my eyes that I knew what we were talking about was true. and it had a huge effect on him i guess. i dunno, that feels weird to talk about and it's hard to explain but it was really cool that he could SEE my testimony and my faith, and it helped him? i don't know. it's hard to explain haha. but anyways it just made me grateful to know and to KNOW that i know, and for him to be able to see that :) that probably doesn't make sense haha oh well. it was just cool :) and talking about the Plan of Salvation is my favourite because you can really feel the truth of it and know how much God loves us and how much He trusts us and wants to help us make the right choices and repent every day and become better. What infinite potential He sees in each of us!!! what love He has always had for us and continues to feel for each of us. what a great plan!! what a wonderful Gospel :) :)

 

speaking of preach my gospel!!!!! (kind of...) okay i think i have a complex/disease where i just have to plan things for people. but you obviously don't have to do this and i'm not the boss of you and it's your thing. but i was thinking, new missionaries have a 12 week program we work out of where we read pretty much all of preach my gospel and learn great stuff and practice the 8 fundamentals, and it occurred to me that 12 weeks would translate really well into 12 months if anyone wanted to get a great study of PMG in the new year. so obviously you do not have to do this, but i made up a schedule based on the 12 week program if you want it. because i have a disease that compels me to do things like this haha. SO it goes like this. but just take it for what it is :)

 

each month - pick a Christlike attribute from ch. 6 to work on

jan - ch 2, missionary handbook

feb - "The Restoration" (ch 3 lesson 1), "How to Begin Teaching" (ch 10 p176-177) - seriously learn those HBT points and use them!! in talks, whatever. learn em :) so good

mar - ch 9, ch 7, "teach people not lessons" (ch 10)

apr - "The Plan of Salvation" (ch 3 lesson 2), ch 13

may - ch 8

jun - "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" (ch 3 lesson 3), "revelation through prayer"

jul - ch 5, "revelation through the Book of Mormon"

aug - "The Commandments" (ch 3 lesson 4), ch 11

sep - ch 12, "we invite they commit we follow up"

oct - "laws and ordinances" (ch 3 lesson 5), "role of the Holy Ghost" (ch 4), "revelation through church"

nov - ch 10

dec - ch 1, "the doctrine of Christ - the missionary purpose"

:) so feel free to use that if you like and obviously adapt it to meet needs because that's what we do too :)

 

also the CES devotional last night was so so good!!!!!!! and SO on point. it's like President Uchtdorf is an apostle or something ;) we watched it with A at her house, which was great. actually it was SO great because saturday night we went over to teach prayer & family prayer, and we read from Moroni 10:4.

speaking of moroni 10 - study verses 3-5. why is verse 3 there? what's important about what Moroni is asking us in that verse? how does that set up for verse 4? how can we help others to do that? what is the difference between "read" and "receive"? what can we learn from those verses? SO so good.

so anyways we were focusing on verse 4 that night and on the three key things that make our prayers effective (spoiler alert, you should look up that verse now so i don't ruin it for you ;) ) sincere heart, real intent, and faith in Christ. so we talked about what all of those mean. what do you think they mean? something that i've learned about "real intent" from PMG is that real intent means REALly INTENding to act on the answers we receive! so true. so we asked her which two she felt she was strongest in (sincerity and faith) and which one she could work on (real intent.) and then we invited her to pray to pray with more real intent, which made her laugh haha but she said she would :) and we invited the whole family to have nightly family prayer (3 ne 18:19-21)

which of the 3 do you feel you're strongest in? which one could you improve? i know that those 3 things are the key to having effective prayer :) also there's a section on prayer in PMG ch 4, and also ch 3 lesson 4, that is really good :) i like the scale it gives to evaluate your prayers, and how "do not recognize answers" and "confident that God answers prayers" are opposites :)

 

Br J (a's boyfriend) has been pulling away recently, which is dumb. he says he knows the Book of Mormon is good, but if it's basically the same stuff as the Bible, the same gospel and all that, he's just going to stick with the Bible. "some people play keyboard, some drum, some both, but it's all the same music. i think i'm just going to stick with the keyboard for now." arrrrrghhhhh hahaha. not sure how to really respond to that. he's very COMFORTABLE with where he's at, which makes things hard. he has no desire to change, not even to ask God for anything. he's good with where he's at. which is prideful. everything bad comes back to pride haha. but anyways. we're working on that. he still lets us come over, he just doesn't participate as much any more. :( sad face.

 

oh also we got to meet a woman named K! I think i told you about how we tracted into her in december and i didn't want to get out of the car cause the house was dark, but we did? and then she texted us to reschedule? well we got to go over to her house and teach her on tuesday, and she's great. she had some great questions about baptism and where we go after we die, and she said she'd invite us back to teach more! and when she prayed at the end she prayed that God would help her to learn more and receive more truth. and she's reading from the Book of Mormon which is great :)

 

speaking of the Book of Mormon, Luke Proffit sent me the GREATEST letter last week haha i LOVED it. he said "i have some goals for you for your mission... bring 10 people into the gospel, give away 15 books of mormons, and at the end of your mission, find your true love" with a big heart around "true love" hahaha. i loved it!! he's such a sweet kid, i loved getting a letter from him :) and thanks to all the family and ward family members who sent me mail over the holidays!!! i so appreciated it :) :) Braden even said he missed me at Sunday dinners haha that made me smile :)

 

speaking of the Book of Mormon, guess who else is reading it! L S! she is a wonderful lady who is really an honest seeker of truth. sister casdorph had had a few lessons with her before i came, then lost contact over the holidays so we kept having to go back and she kept not being home and i was like okayyy clearly we should move on now but we didn't and we went back "one more time" and she was outside plugging in her lights!! and she let us in!! and she's been reading from the Book of Mormon a little bit each day since she last met with missionaries back before i came! she said she felt like it portrayed an angry God, which isn't what she believes in since she knows God is loving, so we tried to resolve that concern. i was just impressed that she kept reading haha. she doesn't like the idea of God cursing and smiting people. how would you respond to that? :) i'm interested to hear your thoughts. and then i'll tell you what we're teaching :) i never thought the Book of Mormon portrayed God as angry! so that was surprising to hear. so there's a scenario for you. let me know what you think, how you would respond :)

 

I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU ALL TO BECOME MISSIONARIES. especially the full-time variety :) Nathan - about preparedness. I'll probably send you a whole letter full of unsolicited advice because that's my disease, but for now I'd just say focus on attributes over skills. skills will come over time just from doing missionary work a lot. but attributes must be carefully and diligently developed and lived. focus on who you are, not what you say, because who you are will have a much more powerful effect. i think you all are amazing, you've been developing those Christlike attributes all your life and that's what makes the largest difference. also -- D&C 31:3. :)

 

i'm giving a talk on Sunday! hahaha. which is actually cool because i got to invite L to come! and she actually might! even though she's afraid of church and has an idea of it being all "sinners in the hands of an angry god" nonsense. also i'm going to invite K b/c the gospel principles lesson is on families and she loves her family :) :) i'm speaking on how we gain a testimony. i'll send you my notes next week :) speaking of which, next p-day is wednesday the 23rd because the 21st (monday) is a holiday which means we get to do missionary work all day! haha.

 

brother m, the ward mission leader, used to look like count dukuu (sp?). i saw a picture. he and his wife used to be hardcore bikers, like devils angels, smoking 3 packs a day drunks. crazy!!!!!!!! you'd never know it now haha they're the greatest. gramma proffit would really like them i think :)

 

also -- we went to visit a less-active sister whose (active) sister just passed away. she told us - and i felt the Spirit so strong as she was saying this - "i know what i need to do now. I need to come back to church. I need to be fully active in the gospel. I want to be where she is, I want to be together forever." crazy that it took something like this to get her to wake up to the gospel, but so amazing!! i know it brings her sister joy. read Alma 13:24 and tell me who you think those angels are :)

 

also, people have no idea who i am, and it doesn't matter. I'm a Missionary, so I represent the Lord. it's a crazy thought. a crazy way to live. :)

 

also look at 3 ne 11 and see what the first things the Savior teaches are. why do you think that is? how could that help somebody?

 

also we have another baptism schedule! brother y his wife & step-daughter are members. he's had a few baptismal dates before, since over a year ago, but they've always been pushed back and pushed back so he just gave up. but this time it's going to happen! and this time it's going to be a lifestyle change. he's not quitting smoking cold turkey, he's doing it right this time, and he's doing it for himself, not because he feels pressured. hooray for repentance and change!! seriously the greatest :) :)

 

"like" is pronounced "lake" by some people here. also lots of southern accents, which i love :) :)

 

aaaaaaand that's about it for this week i think!! another great, great week. i hope life's been wonderful for you!!!!! I love hearing about your lives :) i'm sad your emails got deleted twice! haha but that happens. i look forward to your letters each week, they're the light of my life :)

 

i love you all!! the gospel is true!!! FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER, huzzah!!!!!!!!!!!

 

love love love

 

biiiig huggggg, liiiiiittle kiiiiiiiisssss

 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxxx :) :) :)

 

sister cece :) :)

 

can you believe i've been out for 6 weeks?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm here at least another 6, and then who knows where. ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :)

also i hope you all watch the CES devotional!! & tell me what stands out :) :)

OH I FORGOT TO SAY. the whole point of talking about A & the devotional & Moroni 10:4 is that we read it saturday with her. and then sunday we texted her about coming with a question in mind to watch the devotional and listening to the Spirit to receive revelation. and President Uchtdorf totally quoted Moroni 10:4!! and afterwards we were debriefing and she was like "yeah it's funny cause we were just talking about that last night!" and how she didn't get a direct answer but it's too much to have been a coincidence that President Uchtdorf used the same scripture and talked about the same thing!!! she totally got an answer and she even recognized it!!!!! i love it :) :) :) also she LOVES President Uchtdorf haha she thinks he has such a way with words and she says "he rocks, and if he showed up on my door i would totally let him in" and she wants to wallpaper her house with his quotes :) :) hooraaaaaaaaaay, apostles!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :)

 

the Church is true!!!!!!!!! :) :)


love love love

 

 

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxxx :))))))))

 

http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/mormon-missionary-age-announcement-response

 

the elder in the 4th picture sat next to us for thanksgiving lunch :) fun pictures! great article!!

 

also so good : http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#your-potential-your-privileges

BROTHER BROWN, WE ARE READY FOR BAPTISM!!!!!

:))))))))))))))))))))))) hooray!!

 

[note: please don't post people's last names on the blog, privacy stuff.] :)

 

okay but first to respond to your letters from the day after Christmas.... haha basically i love reading your conference notes and reading my conference ensign, nathan's lion king "it is time!" cracks me up every day, aaaaaaand i love you all. haha. i hope i get another letter soon......... :) love em.

 

in other news....... last wednesday. day of miracles. okay so here's how it went. wednesday we volunteer at a thrift shop kind of like DI except it's run by lutherans. so a few weeks ago another volunteer came up to us and asked us what church we were from and then said how much he LOVED and respected members of our faith, and we're not supposed to proselyte there during work hours so that was the worst!!!! haha so we just prayed for him.

 

AND THEN, last wednesday HE came up to US and said i'm so glad you guys are here today, i'm interested in learning more about your faith, DO YOU KNOW ANYONE THAT I COULD TALK TO TO LEARN MORE !!!!!!!!!!!! and we're like uhhhhh... yes. that would be........ us. hahaha. so since we were supposed to be working we said we'd talk to him afterwards! so we did and we gave him a mormon.org card and got his number and set up a time to meet! which was only possible because our 4:30 appointment canceled! so that turned out to be a good thing, otherwise we wouldn't've had time! :) and also HOORAY for good happy members of the Church who probably had NO IDEA the impact they had on this man! THEY are the reason - people like YOU are the reason - brother rivers came up to us and ASKED to learn more!!!! also it's SO COOL TO BE A FULL-TIME MISSIONARY :)))))))))

 

so THAT was great. also, a while ago i remembered how the snohomish elders put "mormon.org" as their text signature on their phone, so we decided to try that, whatever. then on WEDNESDAY we had been texting a potential investigator and after we came out of a meeting we checked the phone and he'd said "hey do you know where i can get alex boye's cd i went to that website on your text and watched some videos" :))))))))) so that was also awesome!

 

aaaaaand wednesday night we went with the relief society president to some appointments, and the first person (we tracted into her and left her with a book of mormon and asked her to read 3 ne 11) didn't answer, sad day, but luckily the next person (a less-active member) could meet with us early! which was good because she and sister b**** (rs pres) talked forEVER haha also she has a dog that looks like a horse. it is HUGE. EVERYONE HERE HAS DOGS AND CATS. anyways that ended up being great. sister g****just went through 6 months of chemo so she can't remember anything she reads........ which is awkward when you want to talk about the book of mormon haha. she's like "oh i read it, i just have no idea what it's about." blink. blink. "oooooookay, well....." so we summarized quickly haha but basically sister b**** saved the day because we're just sitting there SO awkwardly and sis b***** goes, "... i just love the book of mormon" and launches into this really beautiful testimony of how it brings her closer to Christ. so that was perfect, and then she invited her to all these relief society activities at her home and basically saved the day, amen. hooray for members! :) :) and she even suggested a scripture journal to help sister g**** remember stuff haha.

 

also - basically everyone here is a 1st generation member, so that's cool. :)

 

also i went to culvers! and ate fried cheese curds and custard. yummmmmmm :)

 

oh and THEN we checked the phone and it turns out the person we thought had blown us off had actually texted us!! and she rescheduled with us!! so we're going to see her tomorrow, hooray hooray :)

 

so basically, i've just been so grateful to be a missionary lately :)

 

also i just got done being sick, hooray! the tiny tim cough was starting to get on my nerves haha :)

 

GREAT scripture - Alma 17:3. i love how it says, "THEY HAD GIVEN THEMSELVES." reminds me of helaman 3:35 and d&c 4:2. give yourself :)

 

other thoughts.... gummy bears taste like children's shampoo.

 

update on sister a**** d****: "i watched like 30 Mormon Messages and like 28 applied to me!" :) also her dad came to the appointment the other night, unannounced, to see what his daughter was getting into. he said he could see the "beauty of God" in us (he's cuban, which was surprising since a**** does NOT look cuban) and we heard him later on the phone with his wife saying "no, no, they believe in Jesus Christ" haha. so we gave the spanish elders his information! hooray! :) :) and j**** and a**** both got to share the book of mormon with her dad and tell him how it testifies of Christ, which was awesome :) :)

 

people here leave their lights up, which i love. i guess they do the "12 days of Christmas" starting with dec 25th as day 1? so last sunday was the 12th and about half the houses still have lights on them haha i love it. Jesus is still born! and He's still the Light of the world, so hooray! :) we went to a house that had lights choreographed to music on the radio. yeah. legit. :)

 

let us all just remember that God knows better than we do what will bring us ultimate happiness, amen. :)

 

and remember to set goals AND make plans to achieve them!

 

OH YEAH I FORGOT WE'RE HAVING A BAPTISM :)))))))))))

 

we met with brother r***** on Saturday! fact: I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR MEMBER HELP. the work does NOT progress with out members!!!!!!! so we called sister m**** (a ward missionary) and asked if she could come and if she knew any men who could give br r a ride to the church for our appt (no car) and she mentioned brother f****, so we called him and he said he'd clear his schedule and give brother r a ride to the church! which was ACTUALLY PERFECT. we met in the gospel principles room which was also perfect because there are two paintings in there - the resurrected Christ at the tomb in Jerusalem, and the resurrected Christ in the Americas. and so when we introduced the Book of Mormon, Brother F*** pointed that out and Brother R**** was all, "that makes so much sense!" and (hooray for scripture mastery!) when he asked if the Book of Mormon replaced the Bible we were able to go to (guess where............. ezekiel 37! correct!) :)

i'm almost out of time aahh so i'll write the full story later but basically we invited him to be baptized on january 26th!! and he said yes!! and it made him so happy! and he wrote it on his calendar! also he brought a notebook to take notes haha so cute. (he's like 65 and retired btw)

and he came to church on Sunday! and he loved it! he felt the Spirit! he met the Bishop and the ward mission leader! and Brother F**** gave him a ride again and sat by him in all the meetings, even gospel principles!! hooray, hooray, hooray for wonderful members!! we seriously SO appreciate the sacrifices they make to come out with us and pray for them every prayer (which is like 23904378 times a day haha) :) :)

 

anyways i'd better wrap up but i love you all!!! more details next week about brother rivers :) :) i love the Book of Mormon!! i know that it's the true word of God and a companion to the Bible. they testify of Christ, and they bring me closer to Him than anything else. I love sharing it with people!! I KNOW that the Gospel brings peace and happiness! everyone needs it!! I know that God lives, and that He is always aware of us and wants to bless us with maximum happiness! hooray for that! I love the gospel and I love being a missionary! also HOORAY FOR ETERNAL FAMILIES. i KNOW that our family can be together forever and i'm so grateful for temples and the blessing we enjoy because of it :) :) everyone needs this!! it will improve the quality of every life :) hooray for missionary work!!

love love love love love you guys :)

xoxoxoxo

cece J

ps - i basically felt EXACTLY like that elder from the best two years writing "1" down for baptisms hahaha love it :) :) :)

week of miracles!!!!

hello!! it has been an AMAZING week here and i hope i can get it all down in a way that makes sense!! sorry this letter is so long in coming -- the library was closed monday and tuesday and then we were SO busy yesterday so this is our first time at the library :) but it's been good! okay here we go! (also i got your letter from right after Christmas but i forgot it at home so i'll respond to that later.......... but i loved it!!! haha) :)

alma 60:21-22. sister casdorph flipped open to that while we were wondering what to do haha.

So the week around Christmas was pretty hard, I don't know if you could tell from my letter haha hopefully not but being a missionary definitely is hard. But the Lord is so good and so loving, and I love Him and His gospel :) Christmas is great but lots of people are busy! so we didn't get to teach that much. and it's just hard being away from home and all. and Satan is real, what a stinker. but Jesus is more powerful! Hooray!

So on Thursday the 27th we had a great lesson with a less-active sister who really is SO inspiring to me every day in how she's trying to hard to live the gospel again and how grateful she is for this "second chance." she tells us stories of when she chooses the right and the blessings she sees and i just love it, hearing about how her faith is increasing increases MY faith. so we were talking about the 10 commandments and we talked about the second one, no other gods. and she brought up how sometimes we "worship" other people, we love them more than we love God, and she brought up her fiancee who she's living with and how she sometimes has to choose between him and doing what God wants, but she loves God more so she chooses to live a godly life. and it reminded me that I feel the same way -- I love God and Jesus Christ way more than I love my music/clothes/bed(!)/anything. I even love Jesus more than I love you guys!! and that is a LOT haha and it was just a great reminder that that is why I'm here. I'm choosing God's will above my own, because I love Him more than anything!! (also -- read p. 62 of PMG on repentance. SO GOOD.)

lessons went really great that thursday, like God was blessing me cause He knew I'd been having kind of a rough time so that day went GREAT. lessons went so well, we prepared well in advance and we really felt the spirit direct the lessons as we taught about ether 12:4 and increasing our faith bit by bit (like a snowball!) and how prayer is the first step to increase our faith. i just LOVE bearing testimony of God's love and promising His blessings in these people's lives.

also we taught a part member family, and the wife grew up in England then moved to the south so her accent is WONDERFUL hahaha i LOVE it. and they gave us trifle!!! and that was a tender mercy too cause i know that's your favourite mom :) i'll send you the recipe :) (the husband is the one with the rocker ponytail and earrings. they're like 80 and live in an old people residence, not a nursing home but almost.) and also, dinner was really great. Julia Child's recipe, and Sister U. almost has a Julia Child accent so i died haha loved it :) :)

Mosiah 18:20 - nothing but REPENTANCE and FAITH. the two first principles of the gospel. so good! all we need! EVERYTHING in the gospel comes back to helping us increase our faith and leading us to repentance, and if it doesn't then it's a waste of time cause it's not leading you to Christ. not to be harsh haha. if you haven't already, read preach my gospel chapter 3, lesson 3. it's the gospel. it's Jesus. it's GREAT. :) :)

also about referrals... non-members are way better about giving us referrals hahaha when we ask people if they know anyone who could use a message about Jesus Christ that would enable them to improve the quality of their lives, non-members hear just that and are like "yeah, everybody i know!" and sometimes members seem to think we're asking "do you know anybody we could wrestle into the waters of baptism by this saturday?" haha that's not it at all! we just want to talk about Jesus Christ and help people improve their lives :) (through coming unto Christ and receiving the restored gospel through faith, repentance, baptism, etc.) :)

also - Friday was Tracting Miracles Day. I sort of kind of hate tracting. or at least i used to. it's so awkward and scary and i feel like it's not really effective. so i try to avoid it. BUT BUT BUT. last friday it was great. we go around to less-active members homes to visit them, and then we usually try their neighbors on either side too cause you might as well. also -- if you flick your blinds and quiet your dog, we know you're home. we know you're ignoring us hahaha we can see you. but fine! don't answer the door. we'll just try your neighbors. and we'll come back until you tell us to go away hahaha. :) so we tried the neighbors, a teenage girl answered and said she'd ask her mom, then as we were walking away a dog chased after us from the next neighbors. well! we can take a hint, Heavenly Father. so we followed the dog back to her owner (EVERYONE HERE HAS DOGS) and talked to her about how she's seen Christ bless her life, and she shared some amazing stories with us and we left her with a Book of Mormon so that she could read more about Christ and come even closer to Him and then we prayed together :) then we went to another house, and when i checked the paper we had i noticed that they had actually moved so we were like oh... and the lights were off and the car was gone... but we figured we were there so we might as well show faith and get out of the car. AND THEN. someone was home!! and she came to the door and talked to us for a while and we talked about how Christ has blessed her life and asked her if there was another book that taught about Jesus Christ would she read it and she said it depended on the book so we showed her the Book of Mormon and invited her to read 3 Ne 11 and pray! and she said she would and that we could come back next week and talk about it!!! and then we prayed!!! and ahhh i love it. and what if we hadn't gotten out of the car??? what if we'd relied on our own wisdom and listened to our fears? namely my fears? haha sister casdorph loves tracting....... i do not. yet. ;) anyways i was so glad we went there! it was SO worth waiting on the doorstep in the cold and dark. :) :) we do a lot of waiting on doorsteps haha. and then the last house we went to, the less-active sister lived there and she invited us right in and we got to teach a lesson and set up a return appointment there too so hooray! i love love love it :) :) hooray for coco the dog and miracles and praying! lesson learned: don't be afraid! just knock on the door :)

then Saturday we got to go to a baptism! and A****came with her daughter S*****! and when we asked her how she felt she said "jealous" haha ahh we've got to get her baptized!! side note: if everyone would just live the law of chastity, they would be SO MUCH HAPPIER

whoops i accidentally pressed send..........

anyways they wouldbe SO MUCH HAPPIER seriously everyone we're working with has problems stemming from not living the law of chastity. all of them. JUST KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS. IN THIS THERE IS SAFTEY IN THIS THERE IS PEACE!!

so anyways, the baptism was great, Spirit so strong :) we got to look at the pictures in the church building and talk about Jesus being baptized and Joseph Smith seeing God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, so that was awesome. I just loved it :) and at the baptism, a little girl came up to me and said "YOU are a missionary!" and i loved it! yes I am :) and what a special calling that I get to have for these 18 months, a FULL-TIME missionary. :) not everyone gets that, and we only get it for a few short months. :) another great reminder from a loving Heavenly Father about why I'm here :)

lessons went great again on Saturday, we're working with a former investigator who's mother is a member struggling with activity, so it's like a double-whammy :) we get to testify of Christ and the blessings that come from His gospel! hooray!!

also -- sister casdorph kind of reminds me of elisha a bit. which is great :) speaking of which, elisha should write me ;)

AND THEN. this is the big one. oh my goodness. SUCH A MIRACLE.

more from my journal... "she says she can't believe in a God who would send her to Hell just for being herself. heartbreaking! we testified of Christ's love and tried to help her feel that she is NOT evil and NOT beyond the reach of God's love. she told us she'd needed a friend that day. she hadn't known it, but she'd needed us to come, and she asked if we'd gotten her name off of a list or something and we explained how we were trying the people net door and then just went to the neighbor - her! and she had a "praise Jesus!" moment and believed in God for just a moment. when we asked her last name, it sounded kind of familiar... and i realized we had been told that she was a "do not conact"! CRAZY. i guess God had really wanted us to go visit her, because we probably never would have on purpose!! so wild and crazy. and awesome. i've been thinking a lot about her and what she said. it was so heartbreaking. i can't imagine feeling like God had created me evil and would condemn me to Hell for it. and she was so back and forth about not wanting a message, and then letting us share one, not believing in God, yet looking for Him in her life, yet being so terrified to believe in Him and not feeling His love. asking us to come back, then being unable to set a date. i just felt for her. so confused and lost :( so here's what i've been thinking about since then. first of all, there is room for EVERYONE in Christ's gospel. "He layeth down His own life that He may draw ALL men unto Him. wherefore, He commandeth NONE that they shall not partake of His salvation." (2 ne 26:24) Jesus stands with open arms to receive ALL those who will come unto Him and be saved. that's a fact. there is room for EVERYBODY in God's family. Second, Hell is a choise. Agency is required to sin. that's what I think. Also, God did not MAKE anybody evil. God makes perfect things. Why would He do that? God DOES allow us to be born into a fallen world because He knows that only through our struggles can we learn and become like Him. The "natural man" is an enemy to God. "for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." none of us can just "be ourselves" and return to live with God again.Some of us struggle with tendancies toward pridefulness, or depression, or whatever. we are imperfect beings in an imperfect world, but we serve a perfect God whose perfect Son wrought a perfect Atonement so that we could be changed and return to live with Them :) So I can't just do whatever I like, whatever makes me happy because ultimately that will NOT make me happy! just like eating chocolate makes me happy but then i get sick! ha. the whole idea of life is choosing God's will above our own and becoming TRANSFORMED through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. "Bringing our lives in line with God's will through repentance is a central purpose of our lives." (PMG). the fact is, God accepts us and lives us just the way we are, but He refuses to leave us this way. none of us are perfect, but through the grace of God we ALL can become perfected. He will make us into MORE than we are - if we'll let him! So come. Come to church in your pants. Come as you are, but please don't leave as you were. Come unto Christ, & be perfected in Him. deny yourselves of all ungodliness. "Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive, and blessed are those who come unto me." "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee." "Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin which doth easily beset you... come, and go forth, and show unto God that we are willing to repent." "Remember that the Lord surely should come to redeem His people, but that He should not come to redeem them IN their sins, but to redeem them FROM their sins. & He hath power to redeem them from their sins because of REPENTANCE." THAT is why repentance is a central purpose of our lives. God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. THANK GOD. and thankfully His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts." then i go off about how great preach my gospel is haha and quote, ""as we change, we recognize that we are children of God and that we need not continue making the same mistakes over and over. as elder kanahele (from new zealand) would say, "so true. so true." :)"

also - the Lord needs faithful feminists, faithful intellectuals, etc. :) just like Elder Hollands talk!! the call is to come and stay true and lift and help!!!

D&C 19:6!! it's for everyone!! repent!! :)

lion king - you are MORE than what you have become :)

also - "we see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today... God sees us in terms of what we may BECOME."

"the best smell at church is cigarette smoke because it means someone's trying." - sister casdorph

trying to make yourself happy will never make you happy. it's not about me or what I want! "He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge." :)

one thing I LOVE about being a missionary is that "WWJD" is everything. as representatives of Jesus Christ, we take "what would Jesus do?" super literally into EVERYTHING we do. [side note: someone we're teaching wants "WWJD" tattoo'd on her hand so she can slap people with it hahahaha]

D&C 4:2 / Luke 8:3 / Mosiah 2:11 - what connection do you see in those verses? :) (the Luke one's kind of hard to find the connection but i still like it) :)

can i have the banana muffin recipe please? :)

lots of "best two years" moments writing 0... 0... 0... in our planners haha but it's still good!

mom - i thought of you when i read the talk "be anxiously engaged" and i thought it should be called "BEE anxiously engaged" ha ha ha... ;)

J**** prays that the "church girls" will keep coming because "it's a good thing." :) & S**** loves to pray and repeat the words of scriptures after us :) she's feeling the Spirit! Alicia felt like Alma 36:12-20 (the first part) on monday the 31st. we're working on getting her the second part, esp v. 20 :) we read Enos 1:1-8 -- think about the phrase "when the night came." how can that apply to us??

we had a GREAT lesson with them new years day - she's almost to the book of Helaman (!!!) and she was like "I didn't get on mormon.org today but i did read about 85% of this book" and then held up gospel principles haha i love it. her faith is increasing!!! so so good :)

the Briggs take such good care of us. Br Briggs gave me gatorade for my cold and sparkling grape juice for new years. happy new year by the way!! we celebrated at 8pm with our sparkling grape juice in real crystal glasses! and i made the glass sing! so that was fun... haha :)

speaking of "eyes to see the miracles" -- Mary Magdalene! in John 20. :) have patience, and the Lord WILL raise your vision to help you see the miracles :) that's the lesson of this week.

Sister Casdorph went to school in powell! :)

every morning when i grab some copies of the BoM, pamphlets, dvds, mormon.org cards etc i feel like i'm grabbing my weapons/tools/armour of God haha i love it. it's an act of faith! i know that if i bring it, God will lead me to someone who can use it :) start carrying around a mormon.org card or Book of Mormon and see how your faith can work miracles!!

there are so many more miracles to share!! and so little time!! ahhhhhh i think i need to end but yesterday (wednesday) was CHOCK-FULL of miracles - tell the elder's thanks for making "mormon.org" their text signature cause we did the same and it led to a miracle :) and also, someone came up to US and asked "is there anyone i could talk to to learn more about your faith?" uhhhhhhhhh YES haha about about us?? more on that later :) :)

also look up jamestown lights! we saw them yesterday! all the wisconsin people still have their lights up! haha i guess most people usually leave them up through january? :) i love it.

okay i've got to go before this becomes the world's longest letter but i love you!!!!!!!!!!! more details about yesterday in my next letter on monday, i promise :) i love reading your letters!! i carry it around with me sometimes haha i love you all so much!!!!!!!!! i'm so happy to be here!!! i go to sleep with a smile on my face every night :) i love being a missionary!!! Alma 26:12. yes yes yes i love it :) :)

i love you all so so much!! you're the greatest ever and i'm so proud of all of you :)

see ya later eh! ;)

love love love

sister cece proffit :)

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxox

26 Dec 2012

Christmas was great, the members here took really great care of us and we even got to go caroling so that was fun :) we went with a less-active member named Sandi. we stopped by her house when i first got to Racine and she was pretty grumpy... but Sister Casdorph wanted to see her again before Christmas so we went back friday night when we were in the area. and she let us in! haha. and when we asked if we could share a message she said yes! and then i joked "maybe we should sing the message haha" since it was Christmas and i love Christmas hymns but Sister Casdorph was like "actually let's do that" so Sandi picked a hymn (silent night) and then SANG ALONG and she has a great voice so we invited her to come caroling and she said yes! which made me so happy because i really wanted to go caroling! and thennnnnnnn she showed up at church on Sunday for the first time in like 20 years and no one even had to ask her to come! so that was awesome :) and we got to have crepes on Christmas Eve morning with a family in the ward, so that was super fun. :)

also the people here go cRaZy with the lights haha it's awesome.

did i already tell you about the bottle of Squirt we got with the label that said "may your days be merry and Sprite!"? haha i thought that was the funniest thing ever.

Gramma and Grampa Proffit I wrote you a letter but I forgot to mention that Jellystone Park is in my area! haha :)

and I wrote Lindsay Pugmire a letter too but I can't send it cause I don't know her Snohomish address..... and the envelope the schwartz's letter came in got thrown away so I don't have their address either haha.

something i've been thinking about lately is how knowing that something will be hard, that it's supposed to be hard, knowing why it's hard and even being grateful that it's hard doesn't change the fact that it necessarily IS hard haha. i think i thought that if i understood WHY something was hard, that would make it go away? or be less hard? nope haha. but it's so much better to know that there is a purpose - to make us more like Christ! everything has a purpose - Jesus Christ doesn't do anything that's not for our benefit. He loved us so much that He laid down His life so that He could draw all men unto Him (2 Ne 26:24) :)

and I think there are two different kinds of "hard"... Jacob what you wrote made me think about how we have to be true to what we know, even if it is hard, and it definitely will be hard, but in a good way, a transforming way :) it's much more difficult and also pointless to "kick against the pricks." (Acts 9:5) When we know that what we're doing is right, we will still face trials, but we can know that they're shaping us and making us more. If we fight against God and His will, we're just making life difficult for ourselves and we're not even improving! haha hopefully that at least kind of makes sense... :)

something else I've been thinking a lot about on my mission so far is the character of Christ and what that means... because a mission is really so not about you, it's all about other people and their needs and helping them come closer to Christ. so I've just been thinking about Jesus Christ and how His mission probably wasn't all fun, and how He didn't things He probably didn't necessarily want to do, and lots of things were frustrating and hard but He did those things because He wanted more than anything for us to be able to have eternal life and live with Him and our Heavenly Father again. And I've also been wondering why He asked me to go on a mission. I know that He did, and I know that every commandment He gives us is for our benefit and ultimately to make me more like Him, and so I'm thinking about how Jesus Christ never made anything about Him, even when by all rights it should have been about Him! the Atonement, His birth, His life, His miracles - nothing more significant had ever happened or will ever happen ever. but He never brings the attention to Himself! after His cousin John dies He goes to have some alone time, but because it's never about Him, He feeds the people who have come to see him. Right after Gethsemene He is healing someone's ear, from the cross He is concerned about others... it's incredible. and that's how He wants all of us to be. and so He gives us opportunities to forget about ourselves and what we want and what makes us happy, and instead focus on others, and become more like Him in the process. :)

"where is the pavilion?" - great talk.

what have you all been reading and learning from God? :)

a scripture chain for you - I told you about the first two last night but the romans one is great too :)

mosiah 3:3, matt 1:24, romans 13:11

alma 33 - is this the great undiscovered chapter of my life? maybe so haha it comes right after Alma 32, which we all know is about what faith is, but Alma 33 answers the question - "okay how do we begin?" ! so awesome :) what do you think the answer is? :) (also look at the first part of alma 34)

more scriptural goodness -

isaiah 40:28-29 (28-31) (actually all of isaiah 40)

2 cor 12:7-10

we've been reading PMG Ch. 13 this week and it's pretty interesting, reading about how it's all supposed to work haha it's cool :) and you should definitely make a family mission plan! it's on PMG p. 220 :)

here's the thing....... Preach My Gospel is the best. it has everything. all you ever need is Preach My Gospel and the scriptures, amen. i can't believe all the stuff in there I never knew existed!! The little mini one would not be bad to have in addition to the big one because we take PMG with us everywhere and my big one's getting kind of beat up, plus it's just big. but i like having it to take notes in and mark up and stuff :)

Before you go on a mission you should definitely get real familiar with the 10 "how to begin teaching" points on pp 176-77 of chapter 10, learn the principles behind them and use them often! and chapter 1 is so good & important. and definitely know chapter 3 super well before you get to the MTC. you could spend a whole day's study on each of the principles in the lessons, so good. and then learn to teach each principle in 60 seconds or less. try that! haha it's kind of hard. you could try what Sister Casdorph and I do, teach a principle (God is our loving Heavenly Father) in 60 seconds, then the next person testifies, maybe asks an inspired question, then teaches the next principle (the gospel blesses families) in 60 seconds, than the next person testifies/asks/teaches in 60 seconds, until you've finished the lesson. it's kind of fun haha but maybe it's only missionary fun.... anyways it's good practice! i joked this morning that i spent 60 minutes studying a principle and then i have to teach it in 60 seconds haha but it's good, and it helps you to really understand it :) also! Nathan (but also other future missionaries) - learn the doctrine of Christ. i wish I'd known before I entered the MTC that the doctrine of Christ (see 2 ne 31, 3 ne 11, 3 ne 27) aka THE GOSPEL aka HOW TO ACCESS THE ATONEMENT aka THE MISSIONARY PURPOSE is everywhere! it's the 4th article of faith haha but i never even noticed it... the 3rd article of faith is WHY we teach, the 4th is WHAT, and the 5th is HOW :) so that's cool. anyways go through the Book of Mormon and mark all the times faith, repentance, baptism, the holy ghost, and enduring to the end are mentioned. it's everywhere! because the Book of Mormon, along with the Bible, contains the fulness of the GOSPEL :) it's how we take advantage of the Atonement every day! it's how we live our lives :) everything comes back to increasing faith, repenting, making & keeping covenants, living with the spirit, and continuing on faithfully for the rest of our lives :) the gospel is what allows us to be saved FROM our sins, not IN our sins (hel. 5:10-11). that'd be like sitting in a dirty diaper for all of eternity. disgusting. instead of being like "oh that's okay, i love you anyways dirty diaper baby!" the grace of Jesus Christ allows us and helps us to CHANGE, through faith and repetance, and be clean! and become better! hallelujah! :)

a cool story about recognizing spiritual promptings that i heard in the MTC - "the 20 mark note" http://www.lds.org/liahona/2009/06/the-20-mark-note?lang=eng&query=%22the+20+mark+note%22. the cool part was we learned the story from Elder Bednar's perspective, how he didn't know the whole story until 40 years later when President Packer gave this talk. he didn't even remember handing President Packer the money. he said, "i could not have told you in that moment it was a spiritual prompting." interesting!

also i've been eating like a hobbit lately (how was that movie? did you see it?) haha i just get so hungry!!! i found my yummy granola here though haha so i usually eat that with some greek yogurt at about 7:30 and then i'm starving by the time studies end at 11:30 so i work in "second breakfast" and "elevensies" and all that haha.

also i had custard for the first time, delicious and weird haha. they have a restaurant out here called "culvers" that i guess is pretty classic wisconsin? or something. i still need to try their wisconsin cheese curds hah

We taught a lesson to a part-member family in an assisted living community and when Brother U******** came around the corner I almost fell out of my chair because he has a long like punk-rocker ponytail and earrings hahaha no one warned me!! they gave us cookies and aprons :) so sweet.

QUESTION for you all - and i'm still learning about this so I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas - WHY Nephi? in d&c 33:8.

another question - why does God have us set goals we don't achieve? sometimes Sister Casdorph and I prayerfully set goals and we feel good about them, we feel it's what God wants us to work towards, but then we don't achieve the numbers we set our goal for. how come?

some thoughts (but i'd love yours as well)

p.146 of PMG has some goodness on the topic of goals and what they're for.

also I was thinking about Nephi and how he probably had a goal to help Laman and Lemuel stop being stupid and get their act together. and Nephi worked consistantly towards that goal and did everything he was supposed to and never gave up even though they weren't very nice and told him to leave them alone and even tried to kill him (i would've given up after the first murder attempt, i think. they were probably marked "do not contact" in the area book ;) ) but Laman and Lemuel never came around! Nephi never reached his "goal" where they were concerned. Does that mean it was a bad goal?

let me know what you think :)

other things i've been thinking... the church puts out so much good media for us to share :) i loved the "o come o come emmanuel" christmas video this year :) mormon messages, "i'm a mormon" videos, all so great :)

how is maddy doing? is she still meeting with the missionaries?

also i'm almost out of that great shampoo.... :) and music would be good. we listen to cds in the car and we only have two haha. we could listen to my efy cd or my lower lights cd or anything mo tab or anything church really :) we listen to ipods in the house.

there are TONS of geese here, i'm not sure why... and EVERYONE has at least one cat or dog, usually more. EVERYONE haha.

also, the lady who we help out at the thrift store where we volunteer is named "Siri" and everytime we ask her something I feel like I'm using an iphone haha. Sister Casdorph doesn't know what Siri is so that's weird haha. she also doesn't know what one direction is!!! also Lyndy sent me the most hilarious letter about moving a cardboard cut-out of Harry Styles around the house and scaring people hahaha i was dying.

this is kind of Christmas-y but still good - i was thinking about the wise men in matthew 2:2, 9-10 (verse 10 is especially interesting... why did the rejoice when they saw the star?) and wondering if they could see the star the whole time or if it came & went, and why did they have to stop and ask Herod for directions, and sister casdorph pointed out that usually you can only see stars at night, so I wondered if you could apply following the star to following the Spirit and how we can't always see clearly where we're going or feel the Spirit super strongly, we just act in faith and as we go, we get to see the "star" and that makes us rejoice and leads us to Christ :) just interesting!

well sorry this letter is kind of scattered and repetitive haha, i feel like they're always that way so oh well :) i love you all so so much!! it was so so good to see you and i miss you all a lot. but i'm glad i'm doing what i know i'm supposed to be :) write me letters!

i love you :)

sister cece :)

ps NATHAN i want to hear all about the temple & your first semester of COLLEGE! how did it go? how were finals? nice job on your mission prep final :) what did they teach you in that class? what did you learn? what stuck beyond the final? haha love you lots

xxoxo

also ammon's pose in the morrill family christmas letter cracked me up hahaha

17 Dec 2012

another week here in Racine! & it has been a crazy one haha. i forgot to say a lot of things last time haha i always get so excited and then i forget what i was going to say so i tried to be a little more organized & take notes this week. we'll see how it goes :)

mom - thank you for the skirt! i love it & i wear it :) haha i loved the package from you!! I got your "sunday letter" on friday dec 14 so that's about how long it takes i guess :) i loved getting that too! for Christmas this year I just want letters haha :) also tell Sister Volkert thank you for the card and that it was an answer to prayer!! i prayed that i would get a letter haha and the next day I got her card! so she sent it even before I prayed for it..... hmm God's timing is so great! :)

so - to answer your letter!

it's actually not that cold! today it's actually pretty nice haha. yesterday was pretty nippy but i'm good with my coat, a few layers of leggings, & my gloves. all the locals say it's crazy mild this year so we'll just call that a tender mercy haha. the people here L O V E the packers, they decorate their houses like it's Christmas and they have the flags and everyone wears packer stuff all the time. also - pop quiz! - what does the "G" stand for on the green bay packer logo? not "green" haha - "Greatness." so now you know :) also, everyone here says "green BEY" not "GREEN bay" like i would. and, i heard someone say "see yah later eh" just like the canadian moose from brother bear, so that made my day. also, some of my clothes smell like cigarettes haha.

Jacob - definitely pray about when to serve a mission! God's timing is so great, and life is so great when we're following His timing :) didn't President Eyring give a talk about that kind of last conference? maybe look it up and let me know haha. also, this is only semi-related but President Eyring's mormon message "choose ye this day" is really great :) i loved that you sent me that part about Ammon & King Lamoni's joy :)

yeah when DID joseph turn 16??!? what the heck. haha so great. the ward here has exactly 9 youth, i know this because they did a musical number yesterday and i counted. crazy huh? like i said, the church feels SO young here, very few "born-and-raised" members. also, no one really knows who/what we are.... i feel like in Snohomish, people at least recognize the mormon missionaries as such. here, people have NO idea. we were volunteering on wednesday at a lutheran thrift shop (like DI) and another volunteer (except he gets paid by his school to volunteer?) was asking us the FUNNIEST questions haha he could not understand why we were actually volunteering for free... "don't you guys like shopping??!" hahaha. he also was like "yeah i would go to church except i do the weed" and we didn't really know what to say..... haha. it was funny.

Which mission is Lindsay going to?? there were sisters in my MTC branch going to tampa and they were WONDERFUL. i'm so excited for her!!! she'll be great :) :) love her.

I loved that you said "the Son of Man is come to save that which [is] lost" because I feel like as a missionary especially but really everyone who has been baptized and taken upon them the name of Christ is called to do just that! Luke 4:18 is a great definition of my (our) calling as well :)

also i love the sacrament because it means that every day can be Christmas! when we "always remember Him" :) how BLESSED we are to be members of His Church & to know Him & love Him & draw closer to Him each day :) :) love love love it.

Mom I love your December filled with service! I just love you so much - you're such a great example to me & I've really been grateful lately for our family and how we've been raised because so few people get that. It's a miracle to be a part of this family :) and to have two parents who love the Gospel and each other and us, and to have been raised in such a gospel-centered home... really a miracle and such a blessing. :) anyways i just love all of you and love being part of your family!! and i love the service-centered december, and i know Christmas is so much more meaningful as we make it about loving Him & serving Him :) which reminds me - mormon.org/christmas! such a great resource, i hope you're using it! "This Christmas season will have greater meaning as we seek to follow His example and live His teachings." :) it's awesome to be able to teach the Christmas message to so many this season :) also - Book of Mormon Christmas! I read 1 Ne 11, Mosiah 3, Alma 7, Helaman 14, and 3 Ne 1. i read the whole chapters haha cause how can you go wrong with that ;) give them a look! the first three are actually my favourite :)

also mom I LOVE that verse in moroni 9:31; Sister Casdorph and I talked a lot this week about our weaknesses haha. and I loved "every person eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand. don't be surprised when it happens to you!" so true. and we can be refined and strengthened!! and it's also true that we cannot fall when our rock is Jesus Christ! because He always wins!

I LOVED looking at Helaman 5:10-12; we had Zone Training on tuesday and we looked at those verses and it changed my life. so good. Look in Helaman 5:10-11 how it says that we are not saved IN our sins, but FROM our sins. i never really got that before but on tuesday it hit me - WHAT A BLESSING. seriously, who wants to be saved IN their sins? whooooooo even wants to be an immortal sinner? that would be the worst! that's what Satan is! nooooooooo thank you!!! Jesus Christ's Atonement is so great, His power is so infinite that He can save us FROM our sins! WE CAN BE FREED FROM SIN. w h a t a miracle that is. we aren't saved IN our sins, but FROM them. WE CAN BE CLEANSED FROM SIN. we can be TRANSFORMED through the atoning blood and grace of Christ. what a MIRACLE that is, and how grateful I am for Jesus Christ and His life and Atonement. oh my word. so good. thank you thank you so much Jesus. and He has POWER to redeem us from our sins because of REPENTANCE. here's something i'm doing - every time i see the doctrine of Christ in the book of mormon - that's faith repentance baptism holy ghost enduring to the end aka THE GOSPEL aka HOW TO ACCESS THE ATONEMENT - i box it in red. it's amazing how much it shows up and how much i never saw it before haha. but anyways, through repentance we can be saved from our sins - THEREFORE he hath sent his angels aka MISSIONARIES aka ALL OF YOU to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the POWER of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls. How great the importance to make these things known unto the children of men! (2 ne 2:8). what glad tidings of great joy! (mosiah 3:3, also luke 2) ahh so good :) what a blessing to be His angel. read moroni 7:25-39 and replace "angels" with "missionaries"... and we know that we are all missionaries :) replace "angels" with your name! :)

and then back to helaman 5:12 - guess who shall have NO power? satan. what a loser. haha. Jesus = INFINITE POWER. satan = no power, IF we build our lives on the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. (omnipotent means "all powerful") :) haHA! we win :) :) which reminds me of Elder Holland's talk where he got in our faces and singed our eyebrows a bit - "the way a good coach does when the game is close and VICTORY MEANS EVERYTHING." viiiiiiiictoryyyyyy, viiiiiiiictoryyyyyyyy through Hiiiim that Redeemeth! viccccctoryyyyyyyy vicccctoryyyyyyy through Jesus Christ our Lord! vistory! vistory! victory! through Jesus Christ, our Lord :) :) hallelujah!

which reminds me, since my (our) purpose is to "invite others to come unto Christ" I pretty much just walk around singing "comeeeee to Jeesusssss! flyyyyyy to Jesussss!" and it reminds me of my efy friends haha. they should write me! hint hint :)

Julia i love that you got to be Mary, hooray :)

I am liking Wisconsin! I think it's so so so so beautiful and hopefully i can send you pictures soon! also - if you send me an SD card with pictures on it i can put it in my camera and look at them all any time i want :) so that's a cool idea sister casdorph gave me.... that would be a great present ;) haha

Maryanne I love that scripture!! i read it to Sister Casdorph and she loves it too :) thank you so much!!

we had an interesting discussion last night, sister casdorph and I, about what it means to have "success." actually i'll just tell you everything that happened last night cause it's great :)

so I was praying and saying what the man in Mark 9:24 says "Lord, I believe! help thou mine unbelief" because that is just my mantra right now... seriously. and so i decided to look up that story and see what happens/ what Jesus does after that, and then I would do it. :) (side note - so grateful i got to study and teach Mark for seminary!) so I was flipping through mark trying to find it and i saw a note i'd written in the margin next to mark 15:33 about how the people who saw Jesus on the cross didn't even get what His mission was, and I commented to Sister Casdorph how that has to have been one of the worst parts of the crucifixion, hearing people say things like "oh yeah isn't he the guy who was going to tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days?" and feeling like you'd failed because they hadn't even gotten what you were there for! they didn't even realize. ack. and i was talking about how isn't satan the worst because he's always doing that! it's always IF thou be the Son of God, do this or do that. it happened on the cross and it happens in matthew 4. there's really only the one temptation - IF thou be the Son of God. doubt yourself, doubt your mission, and PROVE it. show me a miracle to prove to yourself that you really are the Son of God. that sneaky little devil. so I just said that kind of off-handedly as i was flipping through the Bible and Sister Casdorph said something like "i think i really needed to hear that right now, thanks" so that was cool.

side note - sorry - but one of my favourite things about being a missionary is that my purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ, and I can ALWAYS do that! even if no one will listen or let us in or anything, there's always at least one person I can serve and invite to come unto Christ - my companion! and i can write home and encourage you all to come unto Christ, and have faith and repent and be baptized/keep your covenants and live worthy of the Holy Ghost :) so i can ALWAYS be a successful missionary, regardless of other people's choices :) hooray, missionary work! anyways, back to the story.

so I found the verse I was looking for - Lord I believe; help thou mine unbelief - in Mark 9:24. and i read what happens next and i landed on verse 29 - "and He said unto them, this kind can come forth my nothing, but by prayer and fasting." and i was like - fasting! no! i'm always so hungry! that can't be the answer.... and then i was like satan! you sneaky little devil! you're trying to get me to not do what Jesus asked! you're lame. so I quick told Sister Casdorph that I was going to fast tomorrow (today) so that I would be accountable, and she said she would fast too. so TAKE THAT Satan. haha. I know that was my answer! so that's cool. God answers prayers, amen :) and the scriptures are GREAT.

Ether 12:27 is still the verse of my life haha that whole chapter is so great. also moroni 7, and 8, and 9, and 10... what's cool about the last 10 chapters of moroni (that's the whole book...) is that they especially were written JUST FOR US, and we almost didn't have them. Moroni ALMOST didn't write them! he's just wandering around alone running from the lamanites and waiting to die, but then he gets the impression to write more. and WHAT IF HE HADN'T. what if he hadn't listened to that prompting and he'd just finished up after ether!! we wouldn't have moroni 7, or "moroni's promise," or the sacrament prayers in the book of mormon, or any of that stuff! so you should read those chapters some time :) haha you should just always read the Book of Mormon always, and read it to receive revelation! go in with a question, and watch God work His miracles and answer you as you turn to His word :) so great!!

so that's me answering your letter.... haha :)

other cool things i learned...

commandments are a blessing, because they allow us to be obedient so that God can bless us! so more commandments - like the missionary handbook - are a great opportunity to be MORE obedient and get MORE blessings! Alma 29:9 - study that one. SO GOOD. ah so good. I learned at Zone Training that we can't ask other people to be obedient to things like the Law of Chastity (i'm looking at you, investigators who shall not be named...) if WE'RE not living in exact obedience too. and one of the rules i need to obey is to exercise in the morning. we have exercise time from 6:30am-7:30am and for a while there I was mostly doing "yoga" and by yoga i mean "relaxation pose" and by that i mean sleeping on the carpet in the basement. haha. so i decided that i need to be more obedient, and so now every morning i throw the weights around and do the stretches and stuff they gave us in the MTC. so now i'm SUPER SORE haha but I tell myself i'm doing lunges for Jesus! and that makes it better.

just in case anyone was wondering - there is NO WAY i would be doing lunges in a basement in racine wisconsin at 6:30 in the morning if I did not love Jesus. the Church is true! let my early morning lunges be a witness of that haha owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. ;)

also! GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS and He reaches out in so much love to us every single day. even though our days here are really hard sometimes haha and we don't have much "success" numbers-wise and we write a lot of 0's... (like poor elder whatever his name is from wyoming in "the best two years" haha) God still reaches out in love to us and He answers our prayers, usually through other people :) LIKE SISTER SUE JOHNSON. let me tell you that story. but first of all, I AM SO GRATEFUL for your prayers, I can honestly feel them and I need them so much, and last thursday especially I just felt Mom's prayers and Dad's and all of you and the grandparents and cousins and aunts and uncles and friends and everyone, I just knew that you were praying for me and it meant SO MUCH and God answered those prayers and this is how :)

Sister Johnson is a ward missionary and she is great. she is so willing to help us in anyway and we just love her. So on Thursday we asked if she could drive us around to a few places that are maybe a little sktechy so we need a member, or kind of far and we don't have many miles on our car, things like that. and of course she said yes cause she's wonderful. so she drove us ALL the way out to the far reaches of Racine and didn't even mind. even though no one was home haha. she was so cheerful and she's also the seminary teacher so she was talking about that and those kids are so lucky to have her, she cares so much and is just so great. so that was fun, and then after a couple of hours with no real "success" she invited us over for dinner and gave us the most d e l i c i o u s creamy chicken noodle soup and little cheese sticks and jello and she set the table so nicely and it was just SO NICE of her, it meant the world to me and it was such an answer to prayer. and the people here are funny when you thank them haha they're very much "oh don't mention it" "no SERIOUSLY don't mention it" haha so that's fun :) AND THEN she brought out peppermint ice cream which is my FAVORITE and it had a little <3 sugar cookie in it in a fancy bowl and it just made my whole life, i loved it. treat the missionaries well when they come over haha it's a special treat, at least here :)

we've eaten meals in some weird places haha the other day we went to a house with no table so we ate sitting on the couch and drank (water) out of Budwiser cups hahaha. it really is a foreign experience, even just here in Wisconsin! the culture is so different from back home, and the ward is really different. more tattoos & piercings in sacrament meeting than at home haha, and a lot of the people are new members or are just coming back to church, things like that so it's very... i guess accepting and when we brought A**** & J**** (oh - A***** AND J***** CAME TO CHURCH! and they brought s***** the 5 yr old) :) they didn't stand out much. not as many skirts/dresses/suits here. so that's different (not in a bad way) and the people are much more open, like in relief society they'll just tell you they messed up so they can't go to the temple, or that this is the longest streak of church attendance they've ever had, etc. also there are several single parents, part-member families, partially-active families etc. Also - and this is sad - active members are the minority here. :( but we're working to change that! :)

also it's not weird having a companion go everywhere with me, but it is weird not to be independant anymore. now everything i do has to be a WE thing... if that makes sense. i don't do hardly anything by myself anymore, which is taking some getting used to haha since i'm so independant? but Sister Casdorph is great and I love her and I'm so grateful for her patience with me haha :)

anyways, this is officially the world's longest letter haha. things here are good! keep the prayers coming, i need them and love them :) and i love you! so much! we pray about once every hour haha every time we leave the house or the car or begin or end anything... it's great. never repetitve because we're honestly just BEGGING for help and giving so much praise back :)

and thanks to everyone who's sent me letters!!!!!!! i love them so much :) :) and merry christmas!! i'll write again next monday and we'll set up a skype time!! :) be good to the missionaries in our ward :) invite a family over for dinner and then invite the missionaries too! let them give a Christmas message of Christ and then y'all can sing Christmas hymns :) i miss singing with y'all!! we sing every day here, just me and Sister Casdorph :)

also check out the CD "nearer" from shadow mountain... we listen to it in the car and it's good. my kind of music, but hymns :)

and we have a tiwi who yells at us when we speed haha. whenever we drive with members it's terrifying cause they actually drive over the speed limit haha. and yes, i do have to get out and back sister casdorph every time we go in reverse haha.

okay this letter is officially WAY to long but i love you all so much!!! merry merry merry Christmas!!! i'll write a better Christmas letter next time haha it doesn't feel much like Christmas here yet - no snow!! or christmas music! or family! but lots and lots of Jesus so that's good :) write me often & soon!!! i love to hear about your days :) mom feel free to edit out all the boring stuff haha whoopsie.

i love you all!!!!

xoxoxoxoxx

Jesus lives & He is the Son of God :) hallelujah! He is our Saviour :)



SISTER PROFFIT

oh i forgot - sister casdorph taught me later that we don't have to "prove" that we're good missionaries through our numbers. no "IF thou be a good missionary, do xxx in racine." nope! we've gotta stay humble. it is NOT ABOUT US! nothing is on a mission. get the character of Christ! :) miracles WILL happen here, but not by our own efforts. only through Christ! :)

hopefully that makes sense haha

love!

also we can't tract during packer games HAHAHA

xxxox

ALSO I HAD A DANISH KRINGLE AND IT WAS THE YUMMIEST THING EVER. peppermint & chocolate. also a delicious bagel that changed my life with cheese on it. (the cheese here is good)

also i met a 180lb dog who didn't eat me, yay!

and God protected us in the ghetto when we went to visit someone there. i was scared so we prayed. and we were protected haha yay for that :) and yay for our house! and for snohomish! and for all the blessings we have! and for Dad and his job! we really are SO abundantly blessed :)

okay now i'm done for reals haha love you xoxoxoxox

cece :)

hello from racine!

i'm here in the lovely little town of Racine, WI, and the missionary work is just grand :) also my companion/trainer Sis. Casdorph is wonderful, AND she's from worland, wyoming. so that's fun :)

Racine is kind of the ghetto which is kind of hilarious. Don't worry we're very safe, we just can't go on this one street & we're supposed to take members with us other places & be home after dark etc. Sometimes I laugh because we're just two little white girls and other people don't have teeth.

Yesterday in church I saw someone yawn and their jaw moved but their teeth didn't. (dentures.)

Hopefully this will be a very uplifting letter eventually haha.

anyways it's fun here, and i think it's really pretty so it's lovely :)

it's definitely different than home/utah though... first off it's SO weird being the missionary now & i can hear people talking about "the sisters" and i'm like oh that's me... I'm not really a person anymore I'm a Missionary if that makes sense? which gets me into strangers homes (so weird) and also makes some people hang up on me or shut the door in my face haha. it's funny. tracting hasn't been too bad, we don't do it very much since it's not very effective but sometimes we knock on doors looking for people and then try to get in & then they shut the door. but everyone's really friendly about it!! haha it makes me laugh. such funny people.

the ward here is very small (exactly 20 sisters in relief society yesterday including we two missionaries) & i can hear like one other person singing during sacrament meeting haha. but they're good people & the church is true in wisconsin too! also the income level here is pretty low, a lot of people are unemployed/underemployed/on welfare/etc. so it's a very different dynamic. way fewer white shirts & ties. a few more tattoos & piercings haha.

I was sitting in Gospel Principles yesterday kind of thinking about that actually and wondering where Jesus would go if He came to church and I feel like He wouldn't go to Gospel Doctrine, He'd go to Gospel Principles. If you think about who Jesus spent time with while He was alive, it wasn't the people who had it all put together, it was the poor & the sinners & the people with issues they were dealing with. So it's cool to be where (I think) Jesus would be if He were to visit the Racine Ward.

Every day I get to ask myself the questions, "what am I doing to invite others to come unto Christ?" and "what am I doing to become more like Christ?" every single moment is a WWJD moment when you're wearing His name on your name tag. which is kind of awesome. and intimidating haha. also the Atonement is awesome. also Preach my Gospel is awesome. it has EVERYTHING WE NEED in there. & the little ones are so cute :) read the 3rd lesson of the 3rd chapter. it details how to access the Atonement of Jesus Christ. hello, where have you been all my life. why did i not know this existed. the awesome thing about the gospel is we can have DAILY repentance. we can access the Atonement DAILY and make changes to become better through Jesus Christ. how awesome?? if you're not repenting every day........ what what what are you doing. don't let the Atonement go to waste!!

also it's fun to have a Christmas message of the gospel of Jesus Christ & how EVERYONE can come closer to Him & how His gospel is restored & Christmas means so much more than just presents & dinners & getting fat :)

my first lesson EVER, literally 2 hours after we left the stake center where we met our trainers, was on the Law of Chastity. we taught A***, who is living with her boyfriend & raising two kids with him. {note: mom please don't post any details about investigators online... i don't care if people read MY personal stuff, but not other peoples'. :) ) it was good actually, but pretty intense for a first lesson haha i had nooo idea what i was doing. she has a baptismal date set for december 29th so we're trying to help her either have J**** move out or marry him before that day. Also, real investigators are 3309480283 times more complicated than the ones at the TRC haha. but she's great & we love her :)

also my first member meal included purple potatoes. which are actually really delicious. they're like sweet potatoes kinda. & it was fun because we ate with a new family in the ward, they have an 8 yr old daughter who reminds me of myself at that age & then two little boys. we watched a nativity video from mormon.org/christmas and the little girl Alayna said she felt "amazed & happy" so we talked about what the Spirit feels like & how we can make Christmas more about Jesus :) even though "lex is mean sometimes we still have to be nice to him" haha

which reminds me, VISIT MORMON.ORG/CHRISTMAS. it's really cool & also whenever someone in our area requests a missionary visit we get a text & then we go visit them & it's really cool :) so check it out & share it on facebook etc :)

also I love this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugV6QGcafEE & you should share it on facebook since I can't :)

We live in a member's home on the upper floor, it's a middle-aged couple, the wife works a lot & the husband works really far away so he's only home on the weekends, so we usually have it to ourselves. but last saturday i heard the husband talking downstairs and he sounds E X A C T L Y like, i mean EXACTLY like Mr Hamm/the abominable snowman/the circus flea/Mac etc from all those pixar movies. it is unCANNY. so if you're wondering about what the people sound like, that's it.

also the accents here are WONDERFUL hahaha i have to keep myself from laughing sometimes :) yesterday at dinner Sis. June said "ahrson scaatt cahrd" and i almost didn't register that as "orson scott card" haha. I'm the one with the funny accent here so that's weird. anyways the accents are just as strong and prevelant as anyone could ever hope for :) it's wonderful. basically every vowel becomes either "aaaaaaah" or "uuuuuuuuu". okay that's hard to type but hopefully you get it. :)

also awesome thing! Alma 8:19 - Alma met Amulek because he was hungry. What a human weakness! and yet the Lord used it to make MIRACLES happen :) we pray for miracles every day here & just hope that we're not getting in the way of God doing His work here in Racine :)

there's a man here at the library who looks precisely like that evil guy from LOTR who whispers in the King of Rohan's ear & then kills Saruman. the library's having HobbitFest & i hope that's who he goes as. He could also pull off a great Smeagol though, so it might be a tough choice.

ALSO I NEED TO TELL YOU THE MIRACLE OF YESTERDAY. so tracting is fine, like whatever, except it never ever works & no one lets us in & sometimes they're grumpy BUT THEN. after church we were going to stop in & visit a less-active member who no one's ever seen named J*****. also it was raining. & we have a car but limited miles & there was no legal parking in this neighborhood (?) so we parked really far away at a nursing home & walked in the freezing rain. whatever, we're missionaries, nbd. so we knock on the door, no one answers, we wait a while, knock again, we hear some swearing from inside haha and then the door opens & it's a lady in a green bay packers shirt (people here LOVE THE PACKERS SO MUCH) and she's like oh i thought you were someone else so we're like uhhh no haha does joshua live here, no he doesn't but can i help you anyway? oh no, we're just looking for him... actually, we're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we have a message about Jesus Christ, would you be open to hearing more about it? and she says............ YES come on in I could use a little more God in my life right now can I get you something to drink here have some cookies do you want some homemade fudge can I make you a pizza. ??????? this NEVER happens hahaha so we obviously walk in and just take a drink of water from her and she tells us a lot of stuff but the gist of it is she just ended a 24 year marriage because he cheated on her and she was sitting in a pit of despair writing out Christmas cards when we knocked on the door so she knew we were sent from God. and it was just SO AWESOME, God's timing in leading us to D*** (that's her name) at that exact moment & everything about it was just a miracle & we gave her a Book of Mormon & when we asked her to be baptized she said "absolutely, what day?" and then said "you know who else would like to hear from you guys? my neighbor, S****..." and we went and talked to S**** & set up an appointment with her for next saturday to share a Christmas message. ANYWAYS it was just a miracle & such an answer to prayers because i prayed that someone would let us in the house because it was cold & we prayed that whoever lived in the house would have an open heart and they DID. God answers prayers!! Hurrah for Israel! So that was cool. We're not sure how well she exactly understood our message because she mostly just talked and cried, but we prayed with her (twice) & set up an appointment to come back on thursday :)

We do a lot of praying with people... sometimes they won't let us come in but they'll let us pray with them, so we do doorstep prayers which are pretty cool. it's just awesome to be God's hands in His amazing work :)

I love being a missionary!! and I love you!!!

 

:)

if you send anything to the mission office make sure it's united states postal service not FedEx or anything, or else they can't fwd it to me & i won't get it for a long time haha

thanks for the oatmeal & cookies mom!!! they saved my life haha we haven't been able to go grocery shopping yet :)

pray that the hearts of the people of Racine will be open & that Sister Casdorph & I will have the faith to work miracles here!!! and read preach my gospel!! and the book of mormon!! they're the greatest!!


Jesus Christ is born! & He lives! Hurrah for Israel!!

xoxoxoxox

sister proffit :)

ONE DAY MORE!

It's my last day in the MTC!!!!!!!!!!!! SO crazy. the time has FLOWN by and i'm really going to miss it here and all the friends i've made. we talk about how this is like the garden of eden, it's pretty perfect but there's only so much we can learn, only so far we can progress here & it's time to learn & grow more out in the real world. it's time to leave the nest and try out our eagle's wings :) hopefully some natural instincts will kick in soon and we'll be able to fly haha. & if we're true & faithful to what we've learned here, we'll get more & more out in the field & for the rest of our lives :)

SPEAKING OF WHICH I have new address!
Sister Cecelia Proffit
Milwaukee Wisconsin Mission
5651 Broad Steet Ste 1
Greendale WI 53129-1889


Mom - I can read conference talks but I LOVE when you send me quotes since I can't get on the computer very often. and i don't know if i'll be able to out in the field so please send me more!! :) we get to use the computers on p-day & sunday. but just lds.org, mormon.org, & the missionary website haha.

also the gyms are fun here! there's a small gym with machines & weights & tvs to watch mormon messages & church movies on hahaha. i watched the martyrdom of joseph smith like a dozen times..... kinda depressing haha. but the machines are really nice, and there's a big gym with volleyball basketball weight machines elipticals bikes & a track & stuff. so it's fun.

POP QUIZ: true or false when we are baptized we take upon ourselves the name of Christ.



FALSE. we show we are WILLING to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. :)

I learned things here that I can't believe I didn't know sooner!! So I will tell you so that you know :)

The GOSPEL = the DOCTRINE OF CHRIST = ACCESS TO THE ATONEMENT. faith repentance baptism holy ghost enduring to the end. that's how we access the atonement. WHY DID NO ONE EVER TELL ME THIS. it's ALL OVER the scriptures too, especially the Book of Mormon but also the Bible. 2 Ne 31, 3 Ne 11, 3 Ne 27. check it. those are the main ones but it's EVERYWHERE. look for it in Mosiah 4:9-12.

the RESTORATION is about JESUS CHRIST restoring His Gospel - His WAY for us to more FULLY ACCESS HIS ATONEMENT. that's why it's so important!!! it's Jesus' way for us to take COMPLETE & FULLY advantage of His Atoning Sacrifice. He restored doctrines, principles, authority, ordinances, & covenants - all about helping US come unto HIM. that's is the purpose of missionary work!!! we INVITE OTHERS to COME UNTO CHRIST by helping them to receive HIS restored GOSPEL. it's just the 4th article of faith!! it's that simple! why did no one ever tell me this!!! to access the Atonement of Christ, have faith, repent, be baptized & keep those covenants, live with the Holy Ghost, rinse wash & repeat forever!! it's that simple!!! incredible.

the question was raised in class the other day - are we living as if the Atonement never happened?? or are we taking advantage of it EVERY SINGLE DAY. are we repenting every day, or do we just rely on the Atonement when we really need it? think about what life would be like if the Atonement never happened -- and then NEVER take it for granted and use it every. day. (nacho libre voice)

"crying repentance" just means inviting others to ACT & keep commitments. we aren't here to convince people of anything, we just invite them to act in faith & ask God for themselves. check D&C 18:11-14, 19:16

also, if you plan on serving a mission, READ PREACH MY GOSPEL BEFORE YOU GET HERE. they teach us here the 8 fundamentals - teach people not lessons, revelation through church attendance, revelation through the holy ghost, revelation through the book of mormon, revelation through prayer, we invite they commit we follow up, how to begin teaching, and something else i can't remember hahaha. anyways, with revelation through the book of mormon we've been doing something really cool that i think you should try :) we come up with questions, things we want to know, and then we start reading the book of mormon as a class, out loud in a circle one verse at a time, and if we have a thought we share it and we all gain revelation together :) it's awesome to see how this works with ANY chapter of the book of mormon because it IS THE WORD OF GOD.

i've been thinking about Elder Bendar's counsel to "BECOME a missionary long before you GO on a mission" (btw we just watched a video of his devotional, only Elder Holland has come in person.) :) and i'm realizing that being a missionary isn't about having "missionary experiences" it's about INVITING OTHERS TO COME UNTO CHRIST - all others, in all ways. ALL WAYS ALL THE TIME. it's a way of life, not something that you do. develop attributes, not skills. we represent Jesus Christ. read "my mission commission" by elder mcconkie. so good. Luke 4:18 - the Savior's purpose is MY purpose now.

serving a mission is not like school where you can just get by without studying because it's not about KNOWING stuff it's about showing FAITH and receiving revelation and that takes WORK, every day. we study not to know stuff, but to show our faith & access the blessings of heaven. & you can't skimp on that.

also there will be about 500 new missionaries every week starting in january!! and maybe 25, 30 new missions!! that's all just speculation but it's kind of incredible :) also i saw Elder Ferguson a LOT this week cause of all the departure stuff, so that was fun. we took a picture, i'll send it later :)

Nathan! Watch out for Elder Simmons & Elder Pfister in Ft Worth. We took a picture with them haha since we sat next to them so often & i was always so excited about them going to your mission. :) i'll send that too.

Elder Holland said that this is HIS work (God's) and we do it HIS way, or it doesn't get done. That is a fact.

Also a Christmas thought - be like the star of Bethlehem & lead people to Christ. :)

So grateful for all of your prayers :) I'm very weak & inadequate, and I'm praying every day to rely more on Jesus Christ & be more humble. it's incredibly, incredibly humbling work. Ether 12:27 - as I come closer to Christ, He shows me my weakness. but His Grace is sufficient if I humble myself, so please pray that I'll be able to do that & rely more on Him every day :) and pray for the people of Wisconsin, that their hearts will be softened & that they'll be open to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We're leaving at 4am tomorrow!!!!! so we'll get to the airport around 5am, then we have to be ready to board around 6:45 so I'll call probably around 4:30 your time............ is that okay??? I hope so!! I really want to talk to all of you!!!! Nathan I want to call you too :) so answer your phones!!!!

I love you all so so much :) :) I'm so happy to be a missionary every day, even though it's hard & humbling & hard, it's also great & wonderful & great and honestly GOD'S WORK and I love being a part of it. love love love :) we've had hard lessons & great lessons & they're all lessons that i'm grateful for :)

"It is true that we are in many ways ordinary and imperfect, but we have a perfect Master who wrought a perfect Atonement, and we have call upon His grace & His priesthood." - D. Todd Christofferson

"Missionaries... are young in the ways of the world. But they are blessed with gifts - such as the power of the Holy Spirit, the love of God, and testimonies of the truth - that make them powerful ambassadors of the Lord... Missionaries strive to follow Jesus Christ, in both word and deed." Russell M. Nelson

GRAMMA PROFFIT et all THANK YOU so much for the cookies!!! i loved them, and i loved all the letters & pictures!!!! love you all so much :) :) I loved that quote from Uncle Robert - "The best adventures you'll ever have are the ones that happen in your own soul." can't wait for this adventure!!

& thanks to everyone else who's sent me letters!!! i'm working on replying to all of them but it's been a crazy busy week :)


love you all so so so so much & i'll try to send pictures later today :) :)
i thought of you during the Christmas devotional last night - so good. miss you guys :) i like how singing Christmas carols reminds us of how it felt when we shouted for Joy that Jesus would be our Savior :)

xoxoxoxoxxooxoxoxox families are forever :)


SISTER PROFFIT