before my mission i always thought UGH february.
why?
february = valentines day
in college and well, before college i was a waitress.
you are basically required to work valentines day.
its no fun.
BUT you make bank.
you are non stop busy from 3p for the early love birds till past 12am for the ones who wait 3+ hours for a seat.
that is what i associated valentines day with so it made me not a fan.
BUT ..
going on a mission changes a lot of things.
not only for the people you teach but A LOT ABOUT YOU!
what i learned about LOVE ..
charity is the pure love of Christ
the pure love of Christ is true love
"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—"
"But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."
my first valentines day on my mission was in Green Bay.
[side note: they WILL WIN the super bowl.]
02.14.2009
BEST DAY.
this is where i learned A LOT.
lesson #1
true love = humility
my sweetest sister black and i got in our one and ONLY argument this day. it took A LOT of humility on my part to apologize and talk it out. to this day we just laugh about our little tiff.
lesson #2
true love = pure
i had the wonderful opportunity of teaching little vanessa alcorta [little one in the middle] along with sister black and these 2 stalwart 10 year olds.
hearing 10 year olds teach each other about our Savior Jesus Christ is pure love.
lesson #3
true love = thinking outside yourself
these 3 girls made our day!
instead of thinking about themselves and boys or what not they thought of us sisters.
they brought us each a rose and chocolates.
such a sweet surprise to help us know we were loved.
02.14.2010
new companion. new area.
sister b. johnson and madison!
lesson #4
true love = the little things
each day that transfer, which was basically the month of february we wrote down a miracle a day.
most of the days its was 3 - 5 miracles.
they were sometimes the littlest things too.
like getting cute love socks in the mail to keep our toes warm.
lesson #5
true love = enjoying every moment
the last 6 weeks of my mission were tiring and hard.
my sweet comp made every second so enjoyable.
we laughed all day. smiled all day. enjoyed all day.
for the whole month of february we heart attacked A LOT of people.
most every dinner appt.
investigators cars. namely JP.
our nolte family.
even cutting all those hearts were enjoyable!
lesson #6
true love = hope & faith
sometimes not seeing the results of your efforts in missionary work or life for that matter make you wonder if you are making a difference.
that is where hope and faith step in.
you do things out of love and have hope and faith that a good change will take place.
the month of february 2010 had a huge impact on my life.
sister b.johnson and i focused purely on love.
so many good results came to life because pure love was the driving force.
[side note about this photo: there was ice on the walk way covered with snow and i ate it hard and we could NOT stop laughing while i was taking the photo!]
true, pure love is amazing.
it comes in many forms.
now i LOVE the month of february.
its a time to focus on this prue love and the happiness that comes from it.
it doesnt mean you have to have a boy or girl or call the 14th single awareness day.
it is a MONTH of LOVE!
today i just i LOVE love.
