Didn't we feel the spirit burn within our hearts?

Sorry for no e-mail last week. Serving a mission is wonderful but it is certainly not without its challenges. Things have been challenging as of recently but ALL IS WELL!

Sometimes I fell like in my emails home I don't even include a half of what actually happens on my mission.. I'll get home and people will not even know what I did for 18 months. ha ha ha. Well here's a little bit of what happened!

I have a few thoughts that I learned from the Easter Pageant this week. There are meetings before the pageant for all the performers where a little devotional is shared. The speaker was a member of the 1st quorum of the 70 who said "brothers and sisters, this is not a pageant, it's a plea." I loved that so much! He also said, "Didn't we feel the spirit burn within our hearts?" I thought about his question and after I watched the pageant for the first time I knew what he was talking about. I felt the spirit so strongly. It reminded me of how much I love being guided buy the spirit and all the other times when I had felt pure happiness from the gospel. It just put a smile on my face for the next few days and motivated me to reach all of my goals! We get to see the pageant as often as we can get investigators to come with us...so we try to go every night! It"s so great!

Our ward mission leader shared some thoughts with us this week as well. He talked about how he felt he had been snatched from sin and death by the Savior... he compared this to the "CLAW" game where the little stuffed animal or toy is plucked from the mess of toys at the bottom. How often are we entangled at the bottom of a pit and feel that there is no way out. Christ is the way out. He is the way! He will save us from our deepest trials.

We are teaching a girl from Brazil... in Portuguese... neither of us speak Portuguese so we enlisted the Brazilian Elders to help us out. It's so fun! I'm pretty sure that I need to learn to speak Portuguese in my life. I love it.

Heather will be baptized this week so we are definitely looking forward to that. The other Heather we are teaching will be baptized the week after that! YAY!

And...a scripture to finish it all off: D&C 123:12-17

 12 For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—

There are truly people waiting to hear the gospel but they are kept from the truth because we choose not to open our mouths.

 13 Therefore, that we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them; and they are truly manifest from heaven—

I want to do just that... waste and wear out my life in the service of God.

14 These should then be attended to with great earnestness.

15 Let no man count them as small things; for there is much which lieth in futurity, pertaining to the saints, which depends upon these things.

So much in the future depends on our faithfulness and obedience now. Don't ever count your efforts as small just because you can't see the fruits of your labors. You will see in the future that your efforts made a big difference.

16 You know, brethren, that a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm, by being kept work ways with the wind and the waves.

Out of small things proceedeth that which is great!

17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed.

After we have done our best and cheerfully worn out our lives in the service of God we will stand still and see what we have done and how much we have benefited the kingdom of God.

- Sister Zimmerman