Sister Layne Garretson: "To bear your up..."

"And whoso receiveth you, there will I be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." D&C 84:88

I love this scripture above! I have finally memorized it....thanks to Elder Clarke of the Seventy who visited our mission. He invited us all to do it and promised that it would provide us great strength in times of trial. Trials of which we often face as missionaries. Helping bring Heavenly Father's children unto Him and His Son is not an easy task, I mean look at the greatest missionary of all, The Savior, and all He had to suffer and endure on our behalf JUST to bring His fellow brother's and sister's into the gospel. He literally sacrificed everything, what am I willing to sacrifice to help the people in the area in which we serve? Sister Wall and I are pondering what we can sacrifice and I know that this will bless and strengthen our area so much! We will see the fruits of our labors begin to show time after time.

A productive week it has been to say the least, meaning we are as busy as ever! Veronica was baptized this past weekend, it was a beautiful experience for Sister Wall and me. So many of her family members, active or not in the church, still came to support! Even her father who isn't active in the church anymore still showed up. I had a surprise part in the program, just the closing prayer! It was really funny though to see Veronica's mom's face when she looked over at me once I realized I was saying it... haha, any way! SO funny thing happened, after Veronica was baptized by her grandpa, she reaches over to the stairs and grabs something. It was her goggles! She put them on and went down under the water to get the plug. All you hear is a "clunk" and then she came up and said, "Got it!" It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. But hey, what else do you expect from a nine year old? i'll attach a pic of us and her and her momma at the baptism.

Solo is still doing so great! He always is reading his scriptures and praying...he loves that he has his own BOM is Malagasy. He comes to our lessons with it and a pen and notebook paper. I have never seen someone so eager to learn in my life! There are personal struggles he still is facing that is keeping him from being baptized...but like our Father in Heaven says, if our desires are of goodness to God in His eyes, He will grant them unto us. We are planning to fast and pray on his behalf! Keep Solo in your prayers too, he would greatly appreciate it. :)

Something powerful I learned this week is the sacred gift and privilege I have as a missionary and a representative of Jesus Christ. I am only set apart for a short amount of time, 18 months!! And I want to give all that I have to help this dear children receive the fullness of blessings that Father has in store for them. A quote I read from Elder Holland, you know how straight forward he is, he said, "Forgive us if we ask so much about obedience. We are called to preach the gospel by the Spirit...and any other way is not of God. If you would just be that comfortable, actually it takes a lot of pressure off. It takes an incredible amount of pressure off us individually. To just say it really is His work and He'll do it and He can do it and He's always done it and He will do it! These are His children to save. This is His work. He will do it, but He's got to have an obedient and spiritually hungry missionary!" I have no comments about that other than he is right! As His servants we must be humble, patient, and full of Love.

Thank you, each of you, for all that you have done to strengthen me! You have each blessed my life! And for that, I know I have to give all my heart to the mission. Heavenly Father continues to bless me and has never forsaken me. He will do the same for you!

Love always and a firm handshake to the men,

Sister Garretson