Happy New Year

Hello!!                                                                                     January 6, 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :) I can't believe it's 2014. But I've got a whole year to get used to it, so eventually it will probably sink in. We finished the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price on New Years Eve and New Years Day. It's amazing what patterns you notice when reading the scriptures that fast in a short amount of time. The Lord truly teaches us in patterns. 

Austin came to church yesterday and was making friends with some of the branch members. He is still looking solid for baptism on the 19th of January which makes me super excited! We taught him about the Plan of Salvation this week and lots of the commandments. We brought Kate, a soon to be missionary, with us when we taught the Plan of Salvation and it was such a great lesson! Austin is so in tune with spiritual things. I learn so much from him! 

Sarah is another investigator that came to church yesterday and she is amazing too! Though she knows a little about Christianity, she doesn't have a Christian background. We spent a lot of time teaching her about the Atonement and it was extremely powerful. Seeing the Atonement with fresh eyes makes me feel incredibly blessed that I've known about it all my life. She really liked church because everyone was so welcoming and kind. I think fast and testimony meeting was really powerful for both Austin and Sarah. It's incredible how much I love these people! I wish I could describe or explain it to you. But most of the time the language of God can't be translated into the language of man.

Sister Dyer gave part of the instruction at District Meeting this week and it was so awesome! Elder Hardick, our District Leader, assigned her to talk about how faith plays a role in receiving a witness of the Spirit... Awesome right?! Just the topic gave me a lot to think about. Sister Dyer has such an incredible knowledge of the scriptures and doctrines of the gospel. That is definitely one of her strengths. Sometimes she just writes a list of scripture references about a certain topic and finds connections between them! That is kind of what she did with this topic. She talked about "Receiving, Recognizing, and Remembering" spiritual promptings. She contrasted Lamen and Lemuel with Alma the younger. They both saw angels and miracles, but what was the difference? FAITH. Receive. Recognize. Remember. So awesome. Then Sister Wanlass, another sister in our district, gave an instruction about the Holy Ghost and she shared a scripture that I've been thinking a lot about. It's a short but extremely powerful statement. "Quench not the Spirit." 1 Thessalonians 5:19. In the footnote for quench it says: extinguish, hinder, suppress. Most decisions you make as a missionary, actually most decisions in life are whether or not to follow something that the spirit just told you. I find missionary work and life is easier when we DONT QUENCH THE SPIRIT! It's so much easier to just give in to the Lord every time instead of fighting against Him. I'm so grateful for the ability and gift we have to decide to follow the spirit. Because it makes spiritual experiences so much sweeter when it's our choice to follow the Master. 

I love this work. I love being a missionary. I love my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the opportunities presented to me because of righteous decisions. Choosing the right is actually choosing freedom. I love this gospel and the good people in this church. I love seeing people change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That is what I love the most about being a missionary.

Love and Prayers,

Sister Felix