by K Fletcher

God has a work for us to do

I'm not sure if I should apologize or not for not speaking as much about my personal missionary work or not. Sometimes it is hard to speak about people you aren't sure are going to be progressing the next week or not, and then all of a sudden I'm mentioning a baptism on my blog about someone you've never really heard of. But the longer I've been on my mission the more I'm realizing that the mission does more than allow me to be an instrument in sharing the gospel so that the spirit can convert them; it helps to convert me. So even when the work isn't all there, or when I feel like I'm not making much of a difference, I can remember that God has a work for me to do, and it isn't limited to 18 months.

Now, I want to echo the words of Gordon B Hinckley:
"President Monson has spoken on retaining the convert. I endorse what he has said and wish to speak somewhat further on this same subject. I feel very strongly about it. With the ever-increasing number of converts, we must make an increasingly substantial effort to assist them as they find their way. Every one of them needs three things: a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with “the good word of God”. It is our duty and opportunity to provide these things."

After this he gives a heart wrenching story of a convert of his on the mission who, through an unfortunate series of mis-happenings and casual neglect, left the church. Please read the whole story at https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1997/04/converts-and-young-men?lang=eng

I don't know if you personally have ever known someone who has changed their whole life for this gospel. I know there are people in your ward that need someone to reach out to them. You might think the Bishop has it in hand, or the missionaries are taking care of it, but the responsibility is yours! The way I have come to see it is like a parent. Now, I've never been a parent, and I probably won't be one for a long while yet, but I imagine having a recent convert is a lot like that. You help them find God, you help them recognize their potential, then after a time you have to let them go. You have to trust that someone will watch over them and someone will help them and that they will use their agency to choose the right. You have to trust that they will stay close to the gospel without you there. And you pray. You pray that good people will enter their lives and that God will watch over them.

In the words of Jeffrey R Holland:
"If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.” I can hardly read those words without weeping. The plural pronoun us is obviously used intentionally. He is saying, in effect, “Our whole family is pleading. Our struggle never ceases. We are exhausted. Our son falls into the water. He falls into the fire. He is continually in danger, and we are continually afraid. We don’t know where else to turn. Can you help us? We will be grateful for anything—a partial blessing, a glimmer of hope, some small lifting of the burden carried by this boy’s mother every day of her life.”
“If thou canst do any thing,” spoken by the father, comes back to him “If thou canst believe,” spoken by the Master." 
 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng

You know what? I believe in this church. The gospel is true. Of course the gospel is true, but this church is true. I have seen people reach out, sacrifice, give, mourn, and offer their lives for those in need. This church changes people. It calls them to a higher standard of living, a higher standard of being a neighbor. Of being a friend. 

Find someone that needs you. Pray for the opportunities to lift the weary hands that hang down. And then do it

And I know it is hard to balance. To quote my friend Sister Taylor Harman (serving in Manchester NH),
"Missionary work is like trying to lick a melty ice cream cone. You lick one side, and then you have to hurry and lick the back side because it's dripping again. You figure out how to teach, then you have to figure out how to work with the ward or the ward mission leader better. Then you need to make some personal improvements. Then if you figure that out it's probably time to find new people to teach again. But I like ice cream and I love being a missionary, so it's all good even though I still don't have everything figured out yet."


We are the miracle workers.
We are children of God, brothers and sisters in the kingdom.
Let's act like it.

Con Amor,
Hermana Fletcher

Sister Bradley and I showing off our height difference
Brother Kelly fully clothed in his pool. The lengths he will go to in order to get on my blog
That one time we taught a lesson to a Spanish speaking gentleman and he fed us each half a cantaloupe and then gave us Salvadorian cookies and a cake:
What happens when we try and draw a map of Utah from memory
The great comparison of the mission tan (I'm at the bottom)
Happy Birthday Krystal and Nanny
More pictures

by K Fletcher

Finding Faith

Well, once again the poor library is refusing to read my camera and so I have no pictures for this week (however there are a few old ones), but I just wanted to give a short report on some miracles and some things that I have learned about faith.
Some of the beautiful things I see
First Miracle: We've been going through former investigators and a woman named Racquel stood out to us. She lived quite a ways away but had an impressive record. We stopped by without notice and when she opened the doors her eyes lit up and she invited us in. she had us sit down, teach her and her son and then requested a Book of Mormon, in Spanish for her and English for her son. She is so ready for the gospel and is absolutely adorable. She works on Sundays, but I know that with faith she can move forward.

Second miracle: This is just a testimony to planning. We had a few spare minutes and we wanted to try and see a less-active. It was spur of the moment so we didn't know what to teach. I was throwing ideas around, whatever came to mind and then Hermana Limb said, "Why don't we pray about it?" Presently humbled, I prayed for us and thought, "We should talk about teaching and learning in the church." She agreed, and while we weren't able to get in contact in that moment, later that night I was perusing my weekly planning and we had planned to talk about (you guessed it) teaching and learning in the church. Revelation is revelation, and don't deny it just because you feel like second guessing yourself.

And those both kind of tie in to my topic today. I had been speaking to my Mission President about faith and he said something profound. "Faith is when you see no evidence of God presently in your life, but you move forward like He is there. It is not expecting to walk on water, it is walking into the water and trusting that it will all work out." 

Long story short, Faith is hard. It's scary. And sometimes it feels impossible. But faith gives you the strength to go on. It gives you the power to go past your normal boundaries and to trust that God will get you there. "You just pray your little heart out and trust that miracles will happen."

Because miracles do happen! and don't forget it!

I love you all and I hope that you are remembering every day to see the hand of God in your life. Find that evidence. Have faith. And move forward with the hope and the knowledge that God will provide.

Con Amor,
Hermana Fletcher
Which billy goat gruff might this be?
 Hermana Limb and me

by K Fletcher

Missionaries and the Fourth

Let me tell you a little something about the Fourth of July. No one wants to come out with you. No one wants to meet with you. And then when you are in Nag Head, North Carolina, you get a hurricane.
I'm just kidding about the hurricane. Kind of.
It was actually a great day. We had some crazy last minute plans that got approved by the mayor via our Assistant Ward Mission Leader to set up a family history booth at the downtown fair! It was a lot of fun to make and it was a fantastic idea, because even ancestry.com was free for the weekend to help people find out if they are descendants of the 13 original colonies! So here is our set up:
We had a map for people to stick where their family was from and signs in English and Spanish. We had pedigree charts and family history cards, and even candy! There were supposed to be around 1,000 people at the activity.
And then the hurricane came. I was only kind of kidding.
This is us trying to contain our tent:
We only talked to about a dozen people until it was raining so hard that everyone just packed up and went home. Goodness, was it an adventure! At the end of it we didn't have a square inch dry.
But that night we had the opportunity to go with a family or two in our ward and watch fireworks over the beach.
It was a rough day, a wet day, and (with permission from our Mission President) a late day. But do you want to know what I learned?
You just keep walking. That's the point of this time. It's a time to prove yourself to God, that no matter what happens, no matter what God puts in your path, no matter the closed doors, the broken shoes, the hurricanes, or just the fact that you are tired, you keep on walking. And with Pioneer day coming up, what a lovely message.

"When I think of pioneers, tragic scenes come to mind: handcarts in blizzards, sickness, frozen feet, empty stomachs, and shallow graves.
However, as I learn more about that monumental trek I am convinced that along with those very real and dramatic scenes, most of the journey for most of the people was pretty routine. Mostly they walked and walked and walked.

When the pioneers broke camp each morning, the cattle had to be fed and watered, fires built, breakfasts cooked, a cold meal for noon prepared and packed, repairs made, teams hitched, and wagons reloaded. Every single morning. Then they walked about six miles before halting to feed and water cattle, eat lunch, regroup, and walk again until about 6:00 P.M. Then the routine of unhitching and watering teams, making repairs, gathering tinder, building fires, cooking supper, a line or two in a journal before dark, sometimes a little music, prayers, and bed at 9:00 P.M.

This week-after-week walking forward is no small accomplishment. The pioneer steadiness, the plain, old, hard work of it all, their willingness to move inch by inch, step by step toward the promised land inspire me as much as their more obvious acts of courage. It is so difficult to keep believing that we are making progress when we are moving at such a pace—to keep believing in the future when the mileage of the day is so minuscule.

Do you see yourself as a heroic pioneer because you get out of bed every morning, comb your hair, and get to school on time? Do you see the significance of doing your homework every day and recognize the courage displayed in asking for help when you don’t understand an assignment? Do you see the heroism in going to church every single Sunday, participating in class, and being friendly to others? Do you see the greatness in doing the dishes over and over and over? Or practicing the piano? Or tending children? Do you recognize the fortitude and belief in the journey’s end that are required in order to keep saying your prayers every day and keep reading the scriptures? Do you see the magnificence in giving time a chance to whittle your problems down to a manageable size?
President Howard W. Hunter said, “True greatness … always requires regular, consistent, small, and sometimes ordinary and mundane steps over a long period of time.”

You are a pioneer. Just keep on walking.

Con Amor,
Hermana Fletcher