This week was really special to me for many reasons. First.. with it being Easter I was able to dedicate me week to teaching about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I felt his love very strongly and I thought a lot about the blessings he has given me in my life and the fact that I will be able to be Resurrected after this life to live with my family and friends who mean the world to me.
This week we got our transfer calls. I will be leaving Prishtina Kosovo and going to Elbasan Albania and serving as a Sister Training leader to the sisters in the South Zone of our mission. I am so excited for my new adventure my last transfer and I know that Heavenly Father will be with me every step of the way, like he has been my whole life and especially my whole mission. Saying goodbye to Pristina and the amazing people here was hard and the longer you stay in an area the more you love them. The people here are something else and I love them and have created many eternal friendships that I will cherish the rest of my life. I have learned a lot while being here and my testimony has been strengthened for my Savior Jesus Christ. We've had to stand alone a lot of times with our beliefs here but I know that I never really was alone. The further along in the mission, the more people you meet and love and I didn't even think it was possible to love so many people. Prishtina is always going to hold a special place in my heart and I cant wait to some day meet again.
We had our annual Sisters Conference this week in Tirana and it was amazing. President. Sister Weidmann, and the Sister Training Leaders gave us amazing trainings and the Spirit was stronger than usual. I love the sisters of our mission and the amazing example they are and have been to me. Sister Weidmann teaches us so well and in a way that's easier to understand. She talked especially about the Atonement and quoted from a talk that explains it so perfectly so I want to share it with you in hopes that you can maybe but the Atonement into a more understandable way:
After I had come home one day, I was sitting in a chair reading the newspaper. My daughter Sarah, who was seven years old, came in and said, “Dad, can I have a bike? I’m the only kid on the block who doesn’t have a bike.”
Well, I didn’t think I could afford to buy her a bike, so I tried to stall her by saying, “Sure, Sarah.”
She asked, “How? When?”
I said, “You save all your pennies, and pretty soon you’ll have enough for a bike.” And she went away.
A couple of weeks later as I was sitting in the same chair, I was aware that Sarah was doing something for her mother and getting paid. She went into the other room, and I heard “Clink, clink.” I asked, “Sarah, what are you doing?”
She came out and showed me a little jar all cleaned up with a slit cut in the lid and a bunch of pennies in the bottom. She looked at me and said, “You promised me that if I saved all my pennies, pretty soon I’d have enough for a bike. And, Daddy, I’ve saved every single one of them.”
My heart was filled with love for her. She was doing everything in her power to follow my instructions. I hadn’t actually lied to her. If she saved all of her pennies, she eventually would have enough for a bike, but by then she would want a car! Her needs weren’t being met. So I said, “Let’s go downtown and look at bikes.”
We went to every store in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Finally we found it—the perfect bicycle. She got up on that bike, and she was thrilled. But when she saw how much the bicycle cost, her face fell, and she started to cry. She said, “Oh, Dad, I’ll never have enough for a bicycle.”
So I said, “Sarah, how much do you have?”
She answered, “Sixty-one cents.”
“I’ll tell you what,” I said. “You give me everything you’ve got and a hug and a kiss, and the bike is yours.” She gave me a hug, a kiss—and the sixty-one cents. I paid for the bicycle. Then I had to drive home very slowly because she wouldn’t get off the bike; she rode home on the sidewalk. And as I drove along slowly beside her, it occurred to me that this was a parable for the Atonement of Christ."
I know that Jesus Christ will pay for our sins is and only if we give all that we have to him. We can work hard and "save up our pennies" and it will never be enough to pay for our sins, but Christ paid the difference.
I know that this is Gods plan for all of us. It won't be easy but it will be worth it and he WILL help us.
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| "I love this family with my whole heart..♥ so yes..my heart broke a little when I had to say goodbye yesterday." |
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| "Visiting the new Temple in Tirana!!! hahaha" |
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| "Final District photos and Thai food ♥" |
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| "On the way back from Women's Conference" |
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| "Sister Peters...My girl.." |
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| "Sister Fuller...my best friend." |
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| "Sister White...Welcome to Kosovo♥" |
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| "Sister Riley..my shoqen" |
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| "My people" |
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| "Sister Peters and I reminiscing on the old days as cheerleaders♥" |
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| "You are the best" |
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| "My sistaaas!" |
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| "My daughter" |
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| "Stayed the night at the Hydricks beautiful apartment in Gjakova...we are spoiled:)" |
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| "Got our driving gear on!" |
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| "For some reason people love giving me books. So I have developed quite a collection on my mission." |
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| "So cool story...we met this man on the road that said he had 10 copies of the Book of Mormon for us. We were confused and thought we misunderstood and thought he wanted 10 copies. He said "no no no...I have some for YOU. Come to my work tomorrow" So we did and there they were! He had been collecting them over a period of time from people who didn't want them or ones he saw on the ground or trash. He kept them because he recognized it as the Word of god and said "This NEEDS to be read" He told us he had kept one for him and his family and they read it together. God's hands are in everything." |
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| "My awesome friend Bes. I am going to miss teaching her so much but she is fantastic and will do great with the other sisters.♥" |
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| "♥♥♥♥♥" |
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