What a Week(s)

Well, the end of the semester really had me stressed so that's why I'm late on all three of these letters. The semester is officially over for me now! I am no longer a sophomore, which means I'm now an upperclassman, which also means I'm halfway through my collegiate career... I don't want to talk about it. Time seriously flies and it's crazy to think that this summer, Mikel is coming home! It doesn't feel like it was that long ago that we were just graduating and starting our adventures. We got the official flight itinerary this week!! June 16 is the official day. It's starting to feel so real!

April 10th

"We had a lot of conference this week. General conference and then normal church and then zone conference. I was pretty exhausted by the end of it all.

Zone conference was super awesome! We talked about our desires as missionaries and discovering what our inner desires are and should be and how to fulfill them.

I learned something I thought was interesting. Two words were put up. "motivation" "uplifted" we were comparing the two. We kind of came down to this. It's like working out. If your goal is to get a six pack, then after you get the six pack you stop working out. However, if your goal is to be healthy, even when you get the six pack, you continue to work out to stay healthy.  One is short term and the other is more long term. Also, motivation is more temporal while upliftment is more spiritual. In life we sometimes get motivated to become better and do more and then it fades, we really want to get uplifted so that we can maintain that same motivation over an extended period of time. It was a really good discussion over the two words.

Something my companion mentioned was "becoming the real you".  Something that I always talk about is how we are all sons and daughters of God and how that is something quite extraordinary and special. Our Father is the greatest King to ever exist! He is our dad and that's why he loves us. I have talked about this before but I don't care. He is God, he is incapable of doing anything less than perfect. He created us and by divine design we are perfect, for God is unable to do anything but that. The problem is that perfection is deep down in us. Throughout this life we take on corruption, from all around us we see and consume corruption. Nevertheless, their is perfection in each on of us. The question then lies, How do we pull this perfection out of us? Now that is an interesting topic! Well, we always want some grand explanation or demonstration. If someone told us that to bring out the perfection in you and to become that perfected person you must climb the highest mountain and eat of the fruit there on, we would probably try it. The thing is, its much more simple and we can all do it. We just need to focus on the basic. Scripture study, prayerful conversation and relation, and thoughtful church attendance. If we are to do these small and simple things then great things are brought to pass. In turn we begin to bring the perfection out of us. the "real you" begins to shine. I could go on and on but sadly time never seems to be on my side.

I know that we all have perfection placed in us. We don't have to try to imitate someone or something else, just be you, do you and become who you really are! That's what God intends. Now this rarely is achieved here and now but is an eternal pursuit full of trials and learning. As we learn to become the "real you" You begin to see the "real you" in others around you. You begin to see the potential and value of all of God's children and grow to love them all in their faults, quirks and shortcomings.

Be the Real You! find the joy in life, find the presence of God within and around you! live it and love it!"


April 17th

"So we had some deep stuff happen this week.

First was with Nokozotsa, one of our investigators getting baptized on the 30th. We left her with a copy of "Family a proclamation to the world" and we were going to go over it. We got to her house at 3 o'clock and knocked on her bedroom door. no answer. We tried again.... no answer. We looked through the key hole and saw her in bed. We assumed she was sleeping. This was on Easter day. We came into the room and planned to scare her, you know me and my silly games. Well turns out she was not sleeping but was crying. We had no idea what was going on. She took a few minutes to try and compose herself and left the room. She came back and then proceeded as if everything was normal. We took her hand and asked her how she was and then she lost it all over again. We spent the next 15 minutes in silence, sitting on the bed side just being there for her. She began to tell us what was wrong. She explained how she didn't know what family feels like anymore. The pamphlet was too much for her, both her parents died while she was young and she had she had to take on the role of Mother for her siblings. She was in High school trying to do her best and also acting as a parent. no easy task. It was Easter Day and she was still in Bloem, she didn't go home for the holiday because there wasn't a true home to go to, at least not one with love. She sobbed as she told us the pain she has felt as she couldn't understand why she had to go through this pain. Why God had to take both her parents away, and so much more.

Its moments like this when you feel completely unqualified. After awhile I couldn't help but smile as my mind was flooded with pictures of the temple. As I remembered many experience while inside and also other experience about eternal family. After listening for a while we were able to gain composure and she proceeded to ask what we had to share. I lit up and said excitedly, this! While pointing to a picture of the Salt Lake Temple. I asked her what she saw. She told us she saw a beautiful building. I went on to say, let me tell you what makes it so beautiful. We began to talk about temple sealing, and baptism for the dead. We talked about how God will restore everything and every opportunity will be had again. I shared from experiences in my life of close ones being lost and how knowing where they are, how they are and how I can be with them again makes it all bearable. The spirit was felt and we were able to realize Gods love for us, even in the darkest moments. We then expressed on how we are on big family and we are never really alone."

"We were met with another instance of great turmoil as one young women whom also is studying at the college UFS here told us of some bad news. She has had a cyst on her ovary and has been in the process of removing it. She discovered at her last check up that it had spread and that they would now have to perform a more intensive operation that will no longer allow her to have children. She is in her early 20's and the news was devastating. Again, we felt unqualified and unsure of what to say to a soul weighed down so much. We listened and listened some more. I have come to learn a great way to solve a problem is by listening. As we listen not just to the person present but to the Holy Spirit, our minds begin to light up with insight and direction. We testified again to her and offered a Priesthood blessing. After which we were able to smile and to enjoy the rest of the day. Her outlook remains positive still and we are hopeful for good news tomorrow after her check up.

Wow isn't mission an adventure. I have come to learn as Elder Stevenson of the twelve apostles shared, The spirit is seemingly the only way we can gain comfort and peace in the tragedies of life.

Also, happiness never comes from looking around us but rather by looking up. Look up to our savior, look up to our Father and look to their guidance and love. The world looks to compare, discriminate everyone and thing. True happiness is not found in becoming better than another or having more of something but rather from within. From the peace of the Spirit of the Lord. True happiness is found in the soul and shine forth from the eyes.."

April 24th

"We are preparing two people for baptism on the 30th! One named Rethabile, she has met with missionaries in the past, just over two years ago but it didn't go anywhere. She grew up around some members and one even brought her to church a few years ago. She saw us in the street about two months ago and stopped us. She asked us to come see her that week! As we have taught her its been as if she has been teaching us. She really studies what we give her and has a great understanding of the gospel. She has been going through a lot of trials lately but through it all she says she has just been happier, more patient, and hopeful since we have started teaching her. She knows its true!

Nokozotsa is our other investigator getting baptized on Sunday. We met her almost three months ago. We stopped her in the road and began sharing our purpose. She said that she was new to Bloem for school and didn't have a church but really wants to go. She promised us she would visit that Sunday.... she didn't.... but we didn't give up. We saw real potential and new she was ready. We called her, it didn't work, called again she was busy. She had soccer. We decided to go and watch her soccer match. She afterwards came to church and has been ever since. She has had an incredible history and a tough one as well. She has risen to every occasion. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and is in 2Nephi. She loves it! We are really excited for her to make the next steps towards entering the celestial Kingdom."


I love hearing about his investigators and how well they are doing. The thing I love about it is that each of the people he is teaching or has taught has had different experiences and are in different walks of life, but the gospel applies to each of us. There is always something to teach us regardless of what we have done or who we are.

Just some quotes from church today that I loved:

"We are called, we are chosen, we are Christ for one another."
"It shouldn't be fake it til you make it, it should be faith it til you make it."
"Don't try to do one great thing in your life, just do many small things with great love."

New Mission President!

So just last week I went to two wedding receptions which is only the beginning of the weddings that are coming up. It feels like everyone I graduated with is either getting married, already married or on a mission! It's crazy. Most of the weddings I will miss because of soccer, but it's still crazy how many invites I've gotten lately. I was telling him about all of the weddings I've gone to and how different all of them are. Some with no dancing, some with lots, different venues and foods and all that good stuff. All I know is that at my wedding we're going to have dancing! Because it's boring without it haha.

"Our wedding will be so much better, I will refuse to do it in a chapel because you feel like you need to be reverent, no I am going to roast an entire pig and we are going to dance and it will be fun buy golly!

Just think that all these weddings are helping you to plan the best one yet! and their cant be that many more before I get back right? the summer bulk is probably almost over and then you got the winter weddings right? probably not haha.... people are just marry hungry."

"We had a braai at Brother Thebes house. Ate with our hands right out of the bowl, African style!"

"Interesting week. the week started off just as any other, teaching preaching and knocking on doors. Come Thursday we went to the mountains to continue to help Sis Lineo (Di-nay-O).  We spent most the day up there just digging holes, not in the snow this time. 

We went to go teach Bolelang a little bit latter and boy was that an interesting lesson. We got there and started to follow up on the lesson when me and my companion just started laughing.... we couldn't stop. It was an inside joke from earlier and it just erupted in an unprecedented fashion. We would stop for a few honorable second but inevitably erupt into laughs and tears. All the while Bolelang sat, waiting, confused and probably concerned, not just for us but probably for her safety as I am sure.  We seemed to have completely lost our minds. Eventually we were able to start the lesson though. We are currently undergoing addiction recovery with her and that is a first for me so we are really praying for the guidance on how to help her kick her habit. We asked about her Book of Mormon reading and she told us she finished first Nephi but restarted it so she could go through it with the student study manual we gave her so she could understand everything. She is power and always has great questions. She hasn't missed a day of church since I met her over two months ago!!!!

We are beginning the last week of our transfer which just blows me away. I don't know how the time is going so fast. Days are longs and weeks are short, that is so true! Elder Leonard has been a hoot, but think I may be getting transferred this time. I don't know how I feel about it but I think I am ready for a new area and a good kick start for the year. 

Elder Leonard will be going in for surgery to get a new cornea in his eye this week. when he comes back he will be on bed rest for about one to two weeks. so that's going to be tough on us both. I will be rotating with the other missionaries every day so that I can still do missionary work and not sit on my rump for a week and a half. but it will still be weird not really working in my area."

Soda Floats!

"So the big news was President Thompson this week. He is here!!! I was quite anxious to meet him but also thought it would be super awkward when we did.  However, it actually felt quite normal. I really like him. He loves the outdoors. He likes to laugh and smile and I just think I will get a long really well with him. I feel like we have a lot of the same interests. He also brought his 18 year old daughter who will be here for maybe a month or a few. So the mission was quite the  buzz and about seeing her haha I guess that's what happens when you don't have sister missionaries in your mission. I also found out that sister Thompson, our new and amazing mission mom, has been reading my letters... eish..... and so she may read this as well..... I hope she like it..... maybe not the part about mentioning how excited the mission was to meet her daughter haha. They are from Boston but have lived in Alpine Utah for the past little while. I am very excited to see the new things that President implements into the mission. I think we are going to focus a lot more on the Book of Mormon which is great!"

"Getting swole digging in the mountains"

"I ate myself sick while we were in Bloem. it was worth it... but not really the next day if you know what I mean haha. We went to a buffet for dinner which was pretty good but I think that's what killed all of our stomachs the next day. We had McDonalds for lunch and then the next day a buffet at the hotel, then unlimited pizza for lunch and yes McD's for dinner again.... Needless to say I am out of money and probably chubby now but hey when you live Lesotho and you don't have any of these things you get excited.... :)

So I have related mission to a big hill before, and I think it is quite true. You spend your first year going up, it is hard, you slip but you keep going up and working hard. You get to the top and look and see the beauty of it all. You have done so much worked so hard. but now you got the second half, down hill. Now I see two approaches. One, you go down and hit the brakes. You slow down, and coast. You see this a lot as missionaries are getting ready to go home. Or you run. you go down the hill faster than you came up. You do as much as you can and you don't stop, don't slow down, and you "finish strong"as we say. I  hope I continue to run rather than slow down as I go through my second year of mission. I am so excited that I get to spend another entire year serving my Lord and God."

"I know that the work I am doing is good, I know it is true! I know that our savior Jesus Christ died, rose, and continues to lead us today through a living prophet named Thomas Monson. I know that the work of God is lead by His power and watchful eye. I know that my Father in Heaven loves me. I know that the book of Mormon is the most true book you can find here on earth today! I love it, I know it!"

"apparently I am getting more mature according to my last mission president. I still think I do a lot of childish things though but then again I will always retain a bit of the goofy childishness because I lauve it :)

We sure are getting along great, He is awesome! we laugh a lot!!!! I love you babe, we are almost there. Dont forget when it seems so hard you have to temple. and you can remember why.

Always

Elder Mookie"

Halfway There!

June 23rd marked one year since he left! It's so crazy to look back on that time and remember how I felt like time was never going to go fast enough. I remember thinking that two years is so long, even one year felt like an eternity, and yet here we are. One year down and one to go!

"This week was an interesting one.

We had our final interview with our mission president, he goes home in under two weeks now. It was quite weird to say the least. Said our good byes and he talked a bit about the changes he has seen in me since the beginning of my mission, that was probably the highlight of my week.

The work was okay this week. We also went to the mountains for a service project to help dig holes for sister lineo. She needs us to dig 3000 holes to plant trees..... its rough.... but its also good service and a good back work out. So we headed the 45 min drive to find that she bunked us! she said she was worried about snow and didnt want to do it that day. well we just drove almost an hour and we werent about to waste that time. so we drove a little bit further down the road to get to some mountains with snow! yes snow in Africa!!! We parked on the side of the road and started our journey up the frosty slope. of course this is the day I forgot my camera so I didnt get a ton of great pictures..... eish..... but onward.... We were about 30 minutes behind the first group of elders. The mountain we decided to climb didnt have a path or trail by any means so luckily since we were behind the first group we were able to follow their foot prints in the snow. None of us were quite expecting to take an expedition through the snow but hey, adventure is out there! there were parts along the mountain where the snow got fairly deep. When we got to the top we took some cool pictures and then built a snow man. some of the Elders were to cold and left early but we toughed it out and froze our fingers to do something that none of you will ever get the chance to do in your life. and that is build an amazing snowman in the mountains of Africa.... worth it! After the snowman needless to say we were all frozen and ready to go home..... but unfortunately we had a snowy slope to get down and home seemed far far away. we decided the best approach would be to run! I still don't know how no one broke any bones as we were sliding down the mountain as fast as we could, slipping and falling along the way. Elder Adlard did get a nice gash in the leg and filled a nice circle of blood in his jeans. we then found it to be to dangerous to run down so I then sat down on my butt and scooted down creating a nice slide for the others to freely follow. now we were cold and soaking wet head to toe from sliding, rolling and falling in the snow. but finally we made it to the bottom. it twas quite the adventure."

Saying goodbye to his mission president

Mission Coin!

"Well it was a pretty weird week with a lot of spare time and other things happening so I guess that's it.

Love you all!

Elder North"

Package!! :)

He sent a package a little while ago and it finally came this week! I went over to his parent's house to pick them up and hung out with them for a bit. I got an Africa necklace, his name tag, two keychains: one of a lion and the other spells out my name, a South Africa bag, a mini traditional Lesotho hat and a handmade ornament with my name embroidered (spelled wrong, but he knew that haha) and a letter. I seriously love all of it so much! He is the best.

Fixing a toilet of less active member with Elder Changler

Glass coke bottles

"Our awesome investigator studying the Book of Mormon like a boss!"

Semp and beans

Time has flown by in so many ways but there have definitely been some slow days, weeks, and months. I've had a lot of time to reflect on this last year of life and it just kind of hit me how much we've both grown up in such a short time. Don't get me wrong, I still feel like a kid trying to adult with no idea what I'm doing sometimes, but I at least have a year of trial and error under my belt haha. We've somehow gotten through one whole year of being apart, of growing, of learning, of trials and setbacks, of sadness and joy and through all of that we still have each other. I think back to how I felt during those last few days together, how scared I was, how excited and sad and happy I was at the same time, but also how much I loved him and would miss him. One year later and I'm still a little scared. Scared of the future, scared of not being what he needs me to be or what the Lord needs me to be. One year later and I'm still excited about so many things. Excited about our future, excited about how much more we'll get to grow and learn in the next year and of course excited to see him again. One year later and I'm still a little sad, because it's hard to be without my best friend and the man I love for so long. One year later and I'm still so happy, because I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have him to love and to love me in return, even if it is from far away, and I'm still so happy because he gets to spend this time serving the Lord and His people. One year later and I miss him so much more than I ever thought would be possible, and I miss him more every day. One year later and I've only fallen more in love with him in every sense of the word. I didn't know it would be possible to love someone this much, especially being apart, but I've learned to love him in new ways that I don't think I could have if he were here. One year later and I'm still sure that he's the one I want to spend the rest of forever with, to share those sacred temple covenants with and take on whatever life throws at us hand in hand. It's the best thing ever that I get to say that I'll see him in one year!!!

This is just what I sent to him last week, and I'll include his response:
"I'm thankful for every moment I've gotten to share with you, together or apart. This last year has been one of the hardest of my life but with you by my side cheering me on it's been one of so much growth and maturing and I wouldn't change a thing. One year from now we'll be together again, and I can promise you that I'm never letting you leave me again :) But until then, here's to one more year of learning, experiencing, growing, trials, triumphs, and love. Continue working hard, giving your all to your mission and loving the people with all of your heart. I'm so proud of the man you're becoming and it's amazing to see your testimony grow. You are such a strength to me and I'm so thankful for you every single day."

"one more year. one day closer, one step further. to be together as one. I love you so much. I am not really going to even try and say something as great as that or act like I have this all under control but all I really know is that I love you so much and always will! You make it so easy to love you! thank you babe.

Always
Elder Mookie"

This one made me laugh hahaha

"Got my new suit today!! I lauve it!!!"

And here's some fun little throwback pictures to when he left. :)

This pictures still almost makes me cry every time.