Week 53

Subject: Read this when you’re in the mood

Hi everyone.

So this has been a really good week. Not quite as good as last week. We were really busy. Spring is coming, and I'm starting to catch back up on sleep. We are looking forward to Sister's Conference tomorrow. I'm going to be leading one of the discussions with Sis Sumner, and everything else should be really fun. Especially the 3 hour train ride. It's been a long time since I was on a train. It's weird.

I have had a really interesting week and a lot has happened. I know the Lord takes care of His missionaries. I left home with nothing and am returning with so much. I'm starting to see what the future will really be like and realizing that it is all going to be ok. I know the daughters of our Heavenly Father have a special role to play. We are just as important. It's hard for me to see that sometimes, but I am understanding it more and more. I hope I can live up to the examples of the wonderful women who have gone before me. I have two wonderful grandmothers who are pillars of faith and hope and an extraordinary mother who seemed to learn it all on her own through her diligent study and self awareness and improvement.

I also have grown tired of doubt, pessimism, and fear. There will always be nay-sayers to everything. It's just up to us to decide what is most important and stick to it. In the end, it's the Spirit that we feel that determines how we should act. People always have an angle and can find 'facts' to back anything up. If you take everything that's 'true' and put it all together, there seems to be a mess of doubt and contradictions. I've heard a lot on my mission. Numbers of people telling me they know what they know to be true because of such and such a reason. They all make sense and they all are sound reasons, but I cannot deny the experiences I've had. If what we are doing today wasn't of the Lord, why all the miracles? Why the joy? Why the manifestations of the Spirit?

I just want to bear my testimony that I know that God lives. I know he strengthens His children when they turn to Him. He never forgets us. I don't understand how He does it, but I know that it's true. I found my Spanish speakers this week. Over a year of searching, and I've found them. They are three teenage boys that live below a Spanish-speaking member of the ward. I know the gift of tongues is real. The power in the room was tangible yesterday as we bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith in the language they understood best. It had been a long time since I spoke Spanish last, but it came back almost completely. I can testify that the hand of the Lord is in this work. I want you all to remember that. I am so grateful to be His representative. My mission just gets better and better. I'm so looking forward to these last three months, but I know that I will have a joyful return, knowing I gave it my all. I love you all, and I hope you have a wonderful Spring and General Conference Weekend. It should be glorious!

Syster Maxwell