One Missionary's Peachy Adventures: Trust God Enough to Trust Yourself

From 7 August 2017

Biking with a package can get pretty exciting, and that was before we had to get up 2 flights of stairs!
It was all worth it though! Thank you Mom! :)

I have so much to tell y'all!

It all started on Wednesday night, when Sister Evans and I noticed a missed call from the Assistants! We quickly called them back and they informed us that I will be training this transfer! I'm not gonna lie- I was totally thrown off because I thought for sure Sister Evans was going to be training. Well, that made me pretty nervous, but all I could do was wait until the meeting for trainers on Friday morning.

Trainers' Meeting!

7 of the 11 trainers plus Sister Marsh.

Come Friday morning, I was on my way to the Mission Office (my first time there!) to find out what exactly goes into training a new missionary. There were 11 sisters there and quite a few more elders than that. It was super intimidating, because there was one sister there who, as President Marsh said, "is a legend" because she has trained a bunch of times already and 4 of her trainees are also training this transfer! Nonetheless, the meeting was awesome because we mostly just talked about what goes into a successful companionship of missionaries (service, listening, smiling, etc.). I was hoping to get more information about where and who I would be training, but, alas, somebody forgot to put that in the minutes! Just kidding. I did have to wait until transfer calls, though.

Fast forward through a few days of missionary work (biking in the hot humidity, talking to people, walking, talking to more people, going to church, teaching people, etc.) and it was finally Sunday (yesterday) night! Time for transfer calls! Well, at about 9:42, the Assistants finally called to tell us what is going on! I am going to Athens 1st Ward, to "step-train" Sister Johnson! That means she has already been in the field for 6 weeks, which takes a lot of stress off of my shoulders. Athens 1st Ward has the University of Georgia in it (where Sister Thorn is finishing and Sister Evans came from), but is a family ward, so it should be lots of fun! Also, it is clear across the mission and is the largest area with sisters in it, so that's going to be fun! Sister Evans will be staying in Allatoona and a sister who came out at the same time as I did will be coming in. We are both feeling good about transfers and I am mostly packed already (with 3 hours to spare!)!

Okay, so you may be wondering about the title of this week's email. Well, all the craziness I just told you about had me really stressed because I don't feel like I am half the missionary I need to be in order to help somebody else figure it all out. On Friday afternoon/evening, however, I realized that part of trusting in God (Proverbs 3:5-6 is my favorite!) is trusting in His trust in us. As President Monson said, "Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies." If anybody knows what we are capable of, it is our Heavenly Father, and He will not set us up to fail, only to learn and grow and, ultimately, succeed. As I have pondered this over the past few days, I have come to realize that, not only does Heavenly Father know what He is doing, but that training my companion really won't be any different than working with any other missionary, because every successful companionship is founded on the same principles. What are those principles? Well, faith, hope, charity, diligence, obedience, and service, to name a few. That's why I am not letting myself be stressed anymore. Heavenly Father will not let any good thing pass by as long as I am doing my best. That much I know. Every little thing is gonna be alright! :)

My new address is below. Missionaries love mail! :)

I hope y'all have a great week and that you are able to see just how much Heavenly Father trusts you.

Love,

Sister Houghton

4315 Lexington Rd.

Apt. 6-C

Athens, GA

30605