December 19, 2011

My dear family-

Well, I am in Iowa! It is so exciting to be here. I have a new companion, her name is Hermana Rials. We are serving in Des Moines in the 5th Branch- which is ALL SPANISH! (and this area is one of two that is all Spanish and i am very blessed) The weather is gorgeous here right now! There is no snow, and yesterday it was 50 degrees! SOOO NICE! I do feel that the weather will be changing soon... :-/ Anyways, thank you all so much for all the cards and letters that you have sent me, they have meant a lot!

I am absolutely loving our little branch here. They are all so very nice to be and most of them speak English (but that does not mean that i speak to them in English all the time- I ask them: Como se dice_____en espanol? and they help me then i repeat it back) There are a lot of members in our little branch that are inactive so a lot of our time is spent helping activate our members again and getting them strong. A lot of the effort is helping activate, which I am very excited to do. I am so very happy that I am out here in Iowa serving the Lord! :) Hermana Rials and I have been sharing a scripture in Alma 7:11-12 that talks about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and about all the many things He did for us. I would like to invite all of you to read that scripture and ponder in your hearts what the Savior has done for you and then, in return, to think about something you can give back to Him. It really can be anything- it can be as simple as smiling and saying Hi to everyone you see or it could be one day a month going and volunteering your time to serve others or it could be not just doing but being a great home or visiting teacher... it doesn't really matter what it is, just do it and give it to Him.

I would like to share something that I have been thinking about a lot lately... and that is listening to the Holy Ghost. H. Rials and I went to have dinner with one of our active members and I realized something that I haven't really given a lot of thought to. The world is very loud and it is very hard to hear ourselves think sometimes because of the pressures that come from every other way, but the Holy Ghost is a still small voice. I feel such an added amount of power when i listen to that Still Small Voice. I hope we all strive to listen to the still small voice. :)

I am so very thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we get to celebrate His birth and His life. He really is a Light in this World and I love Him! He is my Friend! :) And hope that this year that you will strengthen your relationship with Him as well. I love you all!

Merry Christmas!

XOXOXO

Love you, always, forever,

Hermana Deborah Faye Wadsworth

December 13, 2011

HOLA!

So, we are in the ultimate countdown. As of right now i only have 17 hours left in the MTC! WOOT! I am so excited/happy/nervous/ehroayrkdhakfjhadgh! I just cannot wait. I have been continually being keeping a prayer in my heart. I am so very thankful for this Gospel. I love the Book of Mormon so much! I hope you all read it daily cause it brings such a strength. I have had a scripture in my head all day today. It is in D&C 84 or 88... i cannot remember, but it says: "I will go before thy face. I will be on your right hand and on your left and my Angels will be round about you to bear you up" (Mom, that is the scripture i would like on my missionary plaque) Heavenly Father has been there for us and always will. Last night Hermana Farris was talking to Hermana Hanson and i don't remember how the conversation went this ways, but it went something like this; When we are putting our trust in the Lord we are putting our hand in His. H. Farris took H. Hanson by the hand and said, "Ok, now, pretend that someone is standing behind you and they are putting doubt into your head or just being very distracting. When we let that happen, we are turning away from the Lord and our hands are slipping out of His. I can testify that that is true. On Saturday night I felt that "distraction" behind me, i didn't feel like i was good enough. i didn't know if i have what it takes to be a missionary. On Sunday I had my last interview with our Branch President, President Claybaugh. I told him about my doubts and my burden that i felt on me. I couldn't tell you everything he said, but i can tell you this; I felt the love of the Lord. He is there for me and President Claybaugh re-assured me on that. I am so very thankful for all the angels that have been round about me, those i can see and those i cannot. There is a quote by our beloved Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson that says: "Take life one inch at a time, trust in the Lord, He sees the whole picture" I hope that we can all more fully trust in the Lord and "Keep moving forward", He will direct you!

Speaking of Thomas S. Monson, his daughter, Sister Ann M. Dibb came and spoke to us in Relief Society. She told us some pretty cute things about him. His favorite color is yellow. Also, he loves red heads. (i just thought that was pretty darn cute) She also said of her dad that he is a great example for recognizing what others do and thanking them and being their friend. I just love that! I loved hearing her testimony about how she knows that her father is a Prophet of the Lord.

Oh man, i cannot wait to tell all of my many adventures to all of you. Hermana Baird and I cannot wait to get to the field. We are hoping that we will be companions again. She has been such a great example to me and I am so very thankful that i have had this time with her. We are both very anxious to get out and serve others and invite them to come unto Christ.

I sure do love you all. Today is really crazy, so i will not be able to write everyone back, but i do really appreciate your letters and love and prayers. Thank you all so much! I wish you all the best week.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Love you, always, forever,

Hermana Deborah Faye Wadsworth

Dec 6, 2011

Hola familia!

Well, here i am counting down the days left in the MTC. We got our travel plans last Thursday, and we fly out on the 14th at 7am which means we leave the MTC at 4am. BAH! It has been such a blessing being at the MTC. Hermana Baird and I are excited to go out, but we dont want to get new companions... we have grown to love and appreciate eachother so much. She is such a great companion! This week is going to be a busy week. Hermana Baird and I were selected to be a part of this program that the MTC does for new missionaries the day they enter the field. It is called ¨How to begin teaching¨ workshop. I am super excited for this opportunity! We will be starting a first discussion with an investigator and we will teach for about 10 to 15 mins then the other missionaries will take over (just to let you know, there will be about 20 to 30 missionaries also in the room watching us.) It is going to be great! and not to mention on Wednesday we are also HOSTING MISSIONARIES! I AM SUPER EXCITED TO DO IT AGAIN! We did it last  week as well and it is just a blast to talk to the fresh missionaries and hear their stories and where they are from and everything. =)

Anyways, this last week has been such a blessing. I am learning alot about myself and about the spirit. I was reading in Alma 26. Can i just put this out there, AMMON ROCKS! My goal is to be a missionary like Ammon! I love how in Alma 26 it shows all the many blessings that come from being patient and diligent. I encourage all of you to read that chapter and look for all the many blessings. I really love also in Alma 36:27 to put your trust in the Lord and dont give up on Him. He has supported me so much in all my trials and afflictions. I am forever in His debt.

On Sunday night for our fireside we watched the Christmas Devotional. I hope you all did! What a great reminder we had about the importance of keeping Christ in Christmas. Dont let the commercial aspect of Christmas keep you from what truly matters. Look for opportunities to help people around you, create memories. We really need to keep Christ in our hearts throughout the year. It makes me sad that we only feel this special spirit this time a year. This year we should all try to be a little more giving and keep the spirit of Christ in our lives day to day. We should always reflect on the blessings the Lord gives us. I am trying to be very good at writing in my journal and nights that are just crazy busy and i dont have a lot of time to write everything i want to, I try to at least write down for that the blessing that the Lord gave me that day. We should always be searching for Christ! I will be forever grateful for a loving Savior that came as a gift from God to come into the world and redeem His people. I love what Henry B. Eyring said about how the prophets of the olden days looked forward to the coming of the Savior of Jesus Christ into the world. Shouldnt we be looking forward to His return and testify to the world that He lives!?

Oh man, who else LOVES the videos the Church came out with about Luke 2?! I hope you are all posting that on your facebook walls, downloading it to your smartphones. It is great isnt it?! The spirit is so strong in the videos. :)

Well, i am super excited for Iowa! "Im dreaming of a white Christmas" I dont know if i am very prepared for the cold. Lately it has been very cold here in Utah and yeah... Hermana Baird laughs at me cause i am such a pansy. haha! I am so very thankful for the jacket Grandpa lent me... it is a great blessing! :) And i feel like i am can do anything since Kath and Steph (or was it Jen?!)  wore it on their missions. :)

Well, i love you family! Till next week... :) I hope you have a great and safe week. 

I love you always, forever,

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Hermana Deborah Faye Wadsworth