Week 49: Happy "Click" Day!!!

January 22, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

Using Hand Warmers---looking down from the top of our area

 

It's been a warm week, at least I think, I was joking around with President about how at around this time last year he was pushing space heaters in my direction and now I feel like a true Alaskan- it all starts to feel the same to me.  I haven't been in -75 like Barrow though. Today is my 11 month click day, or day that I entered the MTC 11 months ago. Can't believe how time flies! By the way did I ever tell you that we made cookies last week with Sis. Maisey in our ward again for her kids classes- we made 875 oatmeal cookies!  (We had Sister Bullen, who just came out a few weeks ago, with us for the day while everyone was at Zone Leader Conference.  We had a strange proselyting schedule that day because we had a referral that Sister H. met because she needed a haircut from her.  So while there she got to talk to her about the church.  While she was getting her hair cut, Sister B. taught me the purpose of life through a Rubics cube:  our purpose is to follow patterns set by Heavenly Father, become like him, and to not be confused like the sides of the Rubics cube anymore.  But we need his help to solve it.)

Sister Wuehler and Sister Hatfield

 

 

Sister Claspell and Sister Wuehler

 

 

 

This week has been so crazy- Sister Hatfield and Sister Askbrook were asked by Sis. Beesley to do an "Island" training for our Thursday training last week so we did an exchange with the Beachlake sisters and I was with Sister Claspell in Eagle River for about 24 hours-- loved it! I love seeing the way other missionaries work and put different ideas into play. We all met back up on Wednesday and Sister H. and I had a lesson with an investigator right after that.  We talked to her about the Plan of Salvation and where we have come from. One scripture about the veil of our previously living with God I love is in Ecclesiastes 1:11 (There is no ^aremembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.)  Heavenly Father wants us to make choices for ourselves and that's why we are all here, to learn and to make choices, and to improve.

 

Thursday, we did the training based around the hymn "I Have Work Enough to Do" in Anchorage; then the two sets of us sisters involved got to go to Wasilla to give the training again with Pres and Sister Beesley. It was really neat because Nome and Bethel and islands in the Southeast video conferenced in, and we could see them and hear them on the screen, whereas normally we've never done that. It would be so hard to be that far out in the Bush. SPEAKING OF WHICH we were just told that we were picking up the Bush branch, along with Rabbit Creek. The (Branch) Presidency is based in Anchorage so it will be fun- the Bush branch is for all who are way too far out and spread across Alaska- people even from north of Nome, etc and they can all polycom in for church, I will see more about it soon and let you know!

 

When we were up in Wasilla the sisters got Flu shots- there is an epidemic up here in Anchorage to Wasilla, and the mission decided to purchase it for all missionaries who wanted one.  So while we were up there we dropped into the office and got one- we all got really cool bandaids- sis hatfield, me, sis claspell, and sis ashbrook. Man I thought I was off the hook for shots when I came off for a while, but I am SO glad that’s done!!! Sister H and I drove back with Sister Beesley and went out to this grill in Wasilla- they split this burger with peanut butter on it- which doesn't even sound slightly appealing to me, called the "elvis burger", and they LOVED it.  When President Beesley heard, he shook his head and said "when would you ever see a cow with peanut butter?!?" Haha, I will never know why I really don't like peanut butter! Oh well! It was so awesome to spend time talking with sister B. It's a beautiful drive up there.

 

We did some family history training extra this week, made cookies for some less actives and potentials, but neither were where we thought they'd be so we gave the cookies to the elders, and we got to call two of the 3 sisters coming out who we hadn't talked to yet. Wow they sound so awesome! We went to dinner with a member who has this awesome car- it's a lotus, and after seeing it I wish I was into cars- it was so cool!

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning, we had ward coordination for the ward missionaries like we usually do and one man was talking about the gun show and how much he loved it for 15 minutes before we even got started. Haha, everything we talked about seemed to come back to that. Focus wasn't the strongest suit in that meeting, but hey, that’s something to work on- we love our ward missionaries! He was also the man who snored through Sunday school, he is a character!

 

We had a woman on Sunday give a talk about perspective- she began with a story (I think of someone from Valdez, where there was at least 16 feet of snow this last year). The story began with talking about how beautiful the fresh snow was and how they were shoveling the driveway and how the snowplow came and pushed MORE snow into the freshly plowed driveway.  But that was okay and it progressed in a day by day journal of how they saw kids playing on the snow at the second story of their house, and as time went on they just hated the dark and wanted to chase down that awful snow plow that kept ruining their driveway- it's all about perspective: this writer began happy and chose to become irritated when always we have the choice to become so either way.

 

We drank this clay/ mud thing that's supposed to have a ton of minerals in it from a sister in our ward- mostly I just wanted to be able to say I could :) , we have both decided that we'll never drink mud again-- haha too gritty- eeee!

 

In talking with Sister H and Sister Beesley on the hour from Wasilla to Anchorage, we talked about alot of different things, but a thought came into my head as we were all talking- Heavenly Father can see us sometimes as a rubber band- he stretches us beyond our own capacity to stretch sometimes, then lets us stop, and he keeps stretching us more and sometimes we d feel like we are about to snap. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us all so much and he knows that growing and improving is the only way we CAN be happy- it's all about our perspective sometimes.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

 

Love,

Sister Wuehler

 

Scriptures:

Jacob 5:26

26 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good ^afruit, and cast them into the fire.

Doctrine and Covenants 121:45- notice that heavenly father tells us to "let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly" NOT "don't think about things that are bad" If someone tells you not to think about a pink elephant, you're going to think about a pink elephant- replace thoughts with better thoughts!

45 Let thy ^abowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let ^bvirtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy ^cconfidence wax strong in the ^dpresence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the ^edews from heaven.

ism: eating buffalo is just like beef, by the way.

The Pen Analogy:
Hold out your fist and ask one person to close their eyes, stick out their fist, and follow your fist.  When they realize they aren't always following your fist, it shows you that they need help to follow you. So you hold a pen and they hold the top of the pen and move around.  There isn't a problem following unless they let go.  It's like how we follow Heavenly Father, but the Prophet acts as that pen--to let us know what way to go so that we can follow him.