Jiggy June

Hello everyone!!!

So first off I have to say that I miss you and love you all SO much.

So this week was pretty crazy. Lots of contacting and finding but we also have been teaching some sweet people! One thing that I didn't expect was the freezing COLD! It has been so terribly cold here that I feel like i'm in Utah. Seriously its like cold and foggy and rainy. Its like the worst combination. Ever. But its nicer than the heat!! :)

So this week was pretty great. I guess the life of a missionary becomes more routine as the days go on but when we take the time to find those true miracles then I think we see the way that Heavenly Father blesses us. So one lucky miracle we had was finding a new investigator named Aziz. He is an 18 year guy we contacted and he seemed very interested and so we visited him and taught him the Restoration. Man this was the first time I got to teach the whole Restoration at once since I have been in Malawi. Usually we just teach a little part at a time and so this was quite an experience. It was so amazing! I can say that I have never felt the spirit guide me more in a lesson. We taught him and at the end of it we just sat and let them take it in. He said that he felt kind of confused. He told us that he wanted to believe it and part of him does, but he feels torn. So we both bore our testimonies about how we came to know its true and he said that he would pray and he would read the Book of Mormon. So that was my highlight of the week! It was so great! I feel like he has true potential and these are the people we are trying to find!

Other than that me and my companion are doing good! Transfers have come and gone and we are still together! I love her alot so its all good!

So life here has had its ups and downs but im grateful for everything i'm learning and everything i've done! I dont have much time this week but i want to testify that I know that the Savior lives and that he loves us. I'm so grateful for his sacrifice and for his love and mercy even with my imperfections. I pray that we all  recognize daily how the atonement helps us in our lives!

So i love you!

And I would love emails from everyone :) Have a great week!

Love Sister Scott

IF IT WAS EASY. IT WOULDN'T BE WORTH IT.

Hello my dear family and friends!

How are you? I hope that all is well. Things are pretty crazy here but I can officially say that the Malawi elections are over and so the work can go on as usual! Today was the inauguration and the new president is a man that has been in America for 25 years and he taught at Yale so bright things in the future of Malawi!

So things are good as far as the work goes. Things have been pretty slow, but me and Sister Mbele are still doing great and still working hard. This past week I can say was one of the better weeks that we have had. Honestly missionary work is HARD.I  can say that hands down and I can also see that Satan is real. This week we did alot of contacting and finding. So we have been focusing alot on following up. As missionaries we have the tendency to go out and meet 30 people a day and write all of their numbers down and then we forget to actually call and make appointments. So that was our goal this week, we went back and contacted many people that we met in the past. To our surprise we actually found families! Yay for families! We even got to teach two of them this past week which was pretty amazing! So that was my highlight of the week!

Among other things, since we got to stay in these past weeks more than usual I have had alot more time to study. So I have been studying the talk by Elder Holland "Missioanry Work and the Atonement." For all of you out there it is pretty amazing! I feel like mission has taught me a greater appreciation for the atonement and what it means to me. Something that I loved and really related to is how he talked about how the atonement not only carries investigators but also the missionaries. Yes the atonement cleanses us from our sins but it is also something that is there to give us comfort and to help us through our trials. He said that Missionary work isn't easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. How true is that? Sometimes he said, missionaries have to experience a little bit of Gethsemane.

Powerful right? That Atonement is an enabling power. It gives comfort, strength and hope. It gives life. I really feel like I have been having trail after trial after trial. I realize that the atonement is and  should be our source of strength when we are down, discouraged and defeated. How can it be easy for us when it wasn't easy for Jesus Christ. That is what I realized. It can't be easy. Then it wouldn't be worth it. I now that Jesus Christ lives and he is my Savior. He is there for all of us no matter what we are going through, he can perfectly understand. As we use the atonement and pray to our Heavenly Father he will be able to help us.

Well sorry that this is short but those are my thoughts for the week. I love you all and I pray that you all use the Atonement and I pray that you all know who you can rely on. Alma 17:5,10,11. Know who we can look to for strength! I love you all!

Love
Sister Scott

Sister Scott and some of the Sister Missionaries

Agents of God

Mulibwanji!

Im sorry guys my Chichewa skills are not progressing as fast as Setswana but just know that I am putting forth the effort :) I know greetings and how to say I love you, but thats about it.

So this week was one great week! We had the opportunity to have our Zone Conference. Can I say that I just love Zone Conference? Its the opportunity for all of the missionaries to gather together and learn the skills and tools that will help us to become better servants of the Father and its was so amazing!

So we had the opportunity to have the Lilongwe Zone come and join us so it was a combined Zone Conference. So of course that was great because I got to see Sister Rawlins my love again! It was so great. So the sisters came down and stayed the night so of course we got together and caught up on everything which was sweet. So Thursday we all went to the chapel and got to hear from Elder Hamilton who is the 2nd Counselor in the Africa Southeast presidency and also in the Quorum of the Seventy. It was so powerful. We had a four hour conference. The first hour was a meeting for the leaders and since im a trainer I was able to attend it as well. It was so great. He taught about leadership and how we should be as leaders. He said that the world and the church are different in their views of leadership. In the world when someone is in charge they look at others as if they are below them. In the church however he said leadership should be the mentality of chief vs servant. Those that are leaders should lead by being servants to everyone around them. The best leaders tell how and show how. Our greatest example of this is the Savior Jesus Christ who served everyone around him, even his own apostles. The best leaders are servants. It was really powerful and definitely influenced me. I want to strive myself to be an example of Christ and be the leader that he himself would be.

The last few hours were also accompanied by teaching and instruction from both President and Sister Erickson and also Elder and Sister Hamilton. They discussed more about out spiritual preparation and tools and things that will help us in the work. It was so great and I learned alot. He said that we are Agents of God and that we are like the Fathers hands. People need to recognize that we are his servants and we are here to serve him and his children. All I can say is that it was really powerful and I definitely learned alot. I can definitely say that I know that the church is true. I know that the Savior lives and that he loves us. No matter what we do our Savior is always there to hold us up. I know that I am here to serve him and that he is here with us. I pray for you. I pray that you will hold on to the pearl, the gospel, as tight as you can. No matter what happens remember why we are here and what the Lord expects us to do. 

I love you all. Thanks for the letters and emails they are inspiring and uplifting. :)

Ndimakukonda (I love you)

Best wishes!

Sister Scott

Half Way There

Mulibwanji!

Hey family and friends of the far far away land! I hope that all is well with you on the other side! Man, sorry I couldn’t email yesterday. The internet was out all over so it just came on today so we have a few minutes to send something short and sweet! First off I have to say thanks to all my lovely family that talked to me on Mother’ Day. It is always great to hear from you guys! I love you lots and can’t wait to see you again! These past few weeks have been pretty hectic and hard between being sick and hitting 9 months and training it all has been alot, but it has at the same time been a wonderful blessing! I honestly can’t even begin to describe the things that I have learned and realized about myself these past few weeks. My area is honestly one of the hardest and even though I have been here about 4 months we still have not found the success that others have. I often times wonder why and I have really been hard on myself. We spend alot of time contacting and tracting and we just find that many people have been born in their church and it’s their family church and It’s hard for them to leave or they have only heard bad things about the church. Either way it makes it somewhat difficult and trying at times.

But last week was officially my 9 month mark! Yes half way there. I think that since then I have been really doing some self evaluating. The branch that I am in has been slowly going down hill to the point where we are lucky if we have 20 people at church. Most of our members have stopped coming and we struggle to get people to come to church and stay because there aren’t any people there with them. So honestly I had the question of why these things were happening. Why the area is struggling, why the branch is struggling, and why even when we try our best we seem to not be doing as well as the other missionaries. I however had the opportunity to read the talk that President Monson gave at his last conference in November 2013 "I Will Not Fail Thee, or Forsake Thee." In this talk he really talked about trials and how Heavenly Father never leaves us alone. He talked about trials and even said something that hit me to the core. He said that, "if the gospel is the center of our lives it will pull us through and we will become refined and grow." He even went on that God blesses us with so many things and he allows those trials so that we can learn and grown.

Often times I think that I forget that trials are a part of the plan. Trials help us to grow and they make us stronger. Life is about become better and stronger. More like the Savior and our Heavenly Father. It brings to my mind the poem "Good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees." It is true for us too. The winds of life are often times hard. Sometimes we may think they are too strong and that we might break. When I read the account of Joseph Smith in the grove it talks about Joseph being overcome by this dark power. He said they he used all of his strength to fight and just when he was about to give up he saw a pillar of light exactly above his head. He didn't just go to the grove and God appeared right then and there. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ waited until Joseph was about to give up. When he was at his breaking point. I realized that sometimes this is what God does. Not because he doesn't love us, but to help us. He never leaves us. He loves us. We just have to find the lesson that we have to learn.

Honestly my mission has been the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I have been pushed to the edge, even when I thought I couldn't make it, God's hand was always there and I have grown so much. I just hope that as I continue on my journey that I continue to grown and stretch.

I want to become the person that Heavenly Father knows that I can be. I hope that we all remember this and remember that he will never leave us and that he is always there. He knows us perfectly. He knew us before we were born and he knows what we are capable of, but we have to have FAITH. I love being a missionary. I love the good and the bad. I know that this is something that I will never forget. I have gained so much more than I have lost.

I love you all and I hope that you continue to be strong. I pray for you all and I hope that you have a wonderful week!!!

Love

Sister Scott

We Are HIS Hands

Hello my family and friends!!!


Well all is well on this side of the globe in good ol' Malawi! This week was like the rest except a little more stressful but also good. Sad news: Im officially sick for the first time on mission. Yes that is probably the saddest part about this week. I haven't felt very well so we didnt get as much done as usual. On brighter notes this week was another week full of contacting and finding people.

I think that this is a majority of what we do everyday. We go out and we talk to people or we knock on doors and gates until we find someone to teach. Honestly sometimes its exhausting but this past week I have just been contemplating alot on turning 9 months. I'm getting ready to hit my halfway mark and I was just thinking about where I am so far and how I want to improve. Mission at first seems so long! You get your mission call and you're like "18 months???? That's so long!" Now that I am here I just feel like 18 months is not long enough. Missionary work is something that is so rewarding in so many ways. It not only is for the people that you meet, and teach but it is also for you personally. Mission has taught me so many things that I will keep for the rest of my life. I have realized that we are not just becoming missionaries we are becoming disciples of Christ.

Disciples are not only there to follow but also to emulate the Savior. We as missionaries are becoming disciples but also as members of the true church of Jesus Christ need to emulate Christ in all that we do. Our thoughts, words, and actions should be those that Christ himself would think. say or do. One way that we ourselves have found this out is by serving those around us. Since we often times cant find people to teach we just go and try to find service to do. This time f year is harvest time in Malawi so everyone is shucking their corn and making it into "nsima" kind of a thick porridge that everyone in Africa eats. It is a mixture of ground maize and flour and other things. So this week we went around and offered to help people shuck their corn. Man it was great. Sometimes people are very skeptical of us and they don't want to let us in or they just want us to help so they can sit and watch and giggle at us but no matter what, we do it. So this week we had the opporunity to shuck corn for a very nice lady and her family. When we walked in their yard they just stared at us, not very friendly. So once we started to help them they slowly one by one started to smile and talk to us. We were able to talk with them and eventually share what we do and make another appointment for us to go back and teach them. That truly was a testimony builder for me because I know that service really does soften peoples hearts and that sometimes it is the way that we can share the gospel with others. So i encourage and invite everyone to look for those opportunities to serve others. No matter what it is just helping and I know that Heavenly  Father will soften the hearts of the people.

I know that this is Gods work and im so grateful for the time that I have to be here. I know that this is the Lords work and that he and his angels are preparing the hearts of the world. Preparing us for the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love you all and I hoe that you have a great and wonderful week!

Thanks for the emails too! :)) They are great!

Love

Sister Scott

Happy Easter Monday !!!!!!

Well hello my dear family and friends!!!! How are you all? I hope that things are well!!! I just want you all to know that I love you and miss you all very much!!!!!!

So this week was not very exciting but overall an okay week.

It was soooooo hard. We pretty much had to start over with finding people and so everyday we hit the pavement. We knock on doors, gates, and talk to people we meet. Everyday that is what we spend our days doing. I feel as though things just continually get more challenging and difficult. We are just really struggling to find people who are really interested in learning the gospel and don't have other motives. That is the biggest challenge with the work in Africa. True conversion. That is something that I have been thinking a lot about. What is conversion and how can we know when we ourselves are truly converted. As I have taken to think over it I really just feel like conversion is when you know AND do. Many people in the church today they have a testimony and they KNOW that things are true. They know that the Book of Mormon is true. They know that we should pay tithing, live the word of wisdom or even keep the other commandments. I think as members of the church or even Christians that we know these things, but how can you know if you are converted? You can know that when you actually DO those things. Someone who is converted not only knows but ACTS. I can know that the Book of Mormon is true but do I read it every day as the prophets and apostles have asked? I can know that the law of tithing is a true commandment, but am I willing to freely sacrifice and give and act on my faith? This is something that I think all of us should even ask ourselves and determine whether we are truly converted to the gospel.

Before mission I really did think I was converted. I had a testimony, and I knew that the things were true but I wasnt doing anything about it. I really wasn't converted to the gospel. When we really act on the things we believe, then we will be able to feel the converting power of the gospel and truly change. This is something that even I myself as a missionary want to do. Be a doer of the word. 

We got the opportunity to watch General Conference so that is probably the highlight of the week! Let me just start off by saying I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. Why do I love it? Well its all from the dear Uchtdorf who talked about having an attitude of GRATITUDE :) That is something that is so easy to forget. Honestly I am the worst. Some days its just so easy to list all of the bad things in a row but how easy is it for us to name the good things when we are in bad situations. Something that I have a testimony of is that trials make us stretch and they make us grow. Im not saying I enjoy them or that I always want to have hard times, but I do know that at the end of them I always can find something that I learned from that experience. I just want you all to know that I love you all very much and I truly know that this gospel has the power to change us, purify us and make us become those true sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. I know that God lives and his son Jesus Christ. I know that we have a living prophet who is leading us and guiding us today and speaking on behalf of our father. I know that as we stand strong and immovable even through the hard times that we will be able to truly see the rainbow on the other side. I'm so grateful to be a missionary and to be here in Africa. It is a blessing!

Anyway thanks everyone for the emails and all of the encouraging words. You are all so great and Iove you alot! Stay blessed!

Love,
Sister Scott