Gunnison 13

Gunnison for Christmas

Well I am staying in Gunnison for the next 6 weeks.  It will be an adventure and we will have to see how cold it gets.  

On Monday we met with a less-active named Monique. She is super great and is 19.  Her sister went on a mission so that is exciting.  She hasn't been to church in about a year and said she wants to start coming again. At the end of our lesson she said you know I was planning on not showing up tonight but I am glad I did.  

Shay is doing great. The Seelbinders had her over for our lesson and then they also had her over for Thanksgiving.  They are great fellowshipers.  Shay and Mark have very similar pasts and both struggle with anxiety and depression. Mark's testimony has really helped Shay realize how important the gospel is and that it can help. 

Our landlord's family had us over for Thanksgiving.  They are super great. 

The new church Christmas video came out. It is amazing everyone should watch it.  It is about 2 minutes and you can find it by just going on mormon.org 

I also sprained my ankle this week so that was exciting.  

I hope you all have a great week. 

 

[Part of Ana's letter to me because I asked her some related questions and thought maybe this could be inspirational to some:]

 In church on Sunday two sibling gave talks on being grateful in times of trial.  [one] said he was going to go a little different way and talk about a life experience.  He went on to say that on his mission he was assigned to go to Brazil.  When he was in the MTC he thought he got over his homesickness and all the emotions of a mission. He then went on to talk about how it was apparent that his Visa was not coming so he got reassigned to the Las Angeles mission to wait for his Visa.  While he was there he realized that he was not happy and not enjoying himself and he realized something was wrong about 5 months into his mission.  He ended up being diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety that meant the they were going to permanently reassign him to the Las Angeles mission.  He said that in all of that and with the help of a loving mission president, patient companions, and kind members and less-actives he was able to serve a full 2 year mission and it was an amazing experience. He never thought he would be able to finish.  He said when it was happening he felt abandoned but he knows now that he was never alone and the it is only because Heavenly Father loves him that he was able to do it. It was a super powerful story. 

There are a lot of missionaries that struggle with depression and anxiety and people are willing to work with it.  If [anyone] wants to serve a mission it is possible.  

[And this little "oh yeah, by the way" because I asked how her hike last week went cracked me up and I thought other moms might appreciate it:]

I sprained my ankle while hiking.  Other then that it was pretty good though.  If you get a notification about someone using your insurance that is why. 

I love you