So.... Saturday night we received a call as we were getting
ready for bed that President had called a last minute Mission Conference in
Franklin TN on Monday. Tons of rumors had been started and everyone had their
theories and guesses as to what it was regarding. Some thought they were
changing our mission boundaries and I thought that we were all going to be
translated as a whole mission! It was so exciting to be with all of the
missionaries Monday morning- there are over 200 of us now! We chatted and caught
up with one another until we were invited to sit down and read our scriptures
to invite the Spirit. After about 20 minutes President and Sister McKee walked
in and my heart began to hurt because I had a sense of what they would be
announcing. President McKee got up and told us that many times in their lives,
he and Sister McKee had been able to do hard things and that the Lord has
placed a lot of trials in their lives that they have been able to overcome. He
said that what they were about to do was going to be the hardest thing they've
ever had to do. Tears and sobs filled the room as President McKee announced that
he had received a letter from the First Presidency and they had been released
from their calling as President of the Tennessee Nashville Mission. They have
been invited to return home back to Idaho as of July 1st.
Brothers and Sisters,
I cannot describe how much this man and woman have meant to us missionaries and
the people here in this mission. They have changed this mission forever through
their vision and their complete love for the Savior and for us as missionaries.
I have only been serving with them for 3 months and I have already felt that
love so strongly and I have developed so much trust and confidence and love for
the McKee family. It's really really hard to imagine them leaving and it's hard
to understand why when Sister McKee is doing so much better but that is where
faith needs to come in. A lot of things will happen in our lives that we don't
understand and that won't seem fair- but we need to have faith in the Lord and
in His will. The first thing President said before he announced anything was
that we need to remember that this not about us, this is just about the Lord.
We need to remember that in our lives everyday- whether we are a missionary, a
dad, a mother, a single sister or anyone- we need to have eternal perspective
in our lives and have faith that the Lord knows what will help us receive
eternal life and eternal happiness and sometimes what's going to help us most
is being molded and humbled and taught through really really hard things. This
is a hard thing for me, but I know that the Lord has a plan for me, He has a
plan for this mission and I have faith in Him and faith in his plan for us.
Always have faith in your own personal Plan of Happiness.
We are children of our Heavenly Father who knows all of us
individually and we can feel that love through our Savior Jesus Christ and
through the Holy Spirit. Christ suffered the things he did for us so that he
would be able to know exactly how we feel and exactly what we need to endure
and have peace and happiness in this life. If you do not have a testimony of
these simple truths then I encourage that you start praying and searching the
scriptures to feel of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's love for you through
the power of the Holy Spirit. These simple truths are absolutely life changing.
They have changed my life forever and I will never be the same person after
knowing of my Savior and his pure love for me and knowing that I am a daughter
of God and that I have divine worth.
The Pastor family came to church again Sunday and we visited
with them last night and they are amazing! Sister Ihler and I were struggling
to translate for them during sacrament on Sunday and then by an amazing miracle
the third speaker was a guest and he gave half of his talk in Spanish JUST for
the Pastor family. It was so incredible and I'm so grateful they were able to
feel so loved and so welcomed by the members of the church- even by the ones
who can't speak Spanish! Santa and Domingo are not married and so we're finding
a way to get them married soon so they can all get baptized next month!
I LOVE MY MISSION- it really is the best mission in the
whole wide world! I don't know how I got so lucky- I can't wait to work so hard
and see so many more miracles. After yesterday, my heart is finally more in the
work. We have been asked to work towards having 100 baptisms as a mission in
June- the McKee's last month here- and I want so badly to work as hard as I can
to help our mission meet that goal and to show President McKee one last time
how willing we are to do the Lord's work. Something kind of clicked today and
I'm so over being homesick or enduring the days- I'm going to enjoy every
second because I'm going to spend every second giving my all to the Lord and
sharing his love through his Gospel with others! There is a fire that has been
re-ignited within our mission to show the Lord how grateful we are for the
McKee's and our willingness to follow his council and do the work. We will see
so many miracles this next month. Pray that we will find those who have been
prepared and pray for our mission as a whole. Pray that we will have the
courage and faith to see the miracles that the Lord has prepared for the Tennessee
Nashville Mission in June!
I love y'all so so much! I miss you all the time and I LOVE
hearing from you! Send me all the letters you have time to write- your words of
support and love mean so much to me.
Hermana Knight
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