Letters From a Missionary! :)

Jessica Hannon Colorado Springs, Colorado Mission

A week ago yesterday I drove one of my extremely good friends from the SLC airport to the MTC in Provo, Utah. I decided I would give her a letter as a send off, and she gave me a card with some money (which she didn't have to do). Today I received my very first letter from her. She is a such an example to me and has an amazing spirit that I can't even try to describe. She told me of how she came to the decision of why she should go on a mission, and when she told me I nearly became teary eyed. She will grow so much from this experience and I can see that she will help me grow too. Just from her letter today I could tell that. She told me last week that I am a big reason of why she decided to go on a mission. That makes me feel extremely good and that The Lord trusts me tons more than I often trust myself. It amazes me how much the Lord blesses each of us if we just listen and follow His example. People have asked me why I am so happy lately even though the world is crashing around me, and the true answer to that is because I can see my divine purpose. The Lord continues to bless me in ways I can even begin to comprehend and I just absolutely love it! Thanks to all the people in my life... especially my newest friend on a mission.

A day of gratefulness!

I have grown to absolutely love Sundays! Especially Fast Sundays... granted I used to dread them because I'd hear people get up and just tell long stories instead of actually bearing their testimonies... for those of you reading this and not in my religion the first of every month (unless we have General or Stake Conference) all around the world as Latter-Day Saints gather to worship we get up to bear what we call a testimony. We speak of those things in which we are grateful for or things we know to be true. Several times on here I have typed out my testimony, and I don't always get up on Fast Sunday to bear it. A friend of mine often does and I remember having a conversation with him about it a few weeks back, and I thought to myself I should get up next Fast & Testimony meeting and bear mine. Today I did just that! I got up and said that I felt like if I didn't get up I would be very ungrateful; which I believe to be extremely true. This past month has been one of the best thus far this year. I have learned so many grand and wonderful things! I have learned that I am in control of my own life and that the Lord is there with me every step of the way to guide me. A friend said to me during August that as long as we are doing what the Lord wants He is both pleased with us and He blesses us. I have found this to be extremely true. It is in those moments when we forget about Him that we become sad and desolate. He has already suffered this and all we have to do is turn to Him and He will help to comfort and guide us. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and the peace it brings to me. The lessons I learn each and every day in The Book of Mormon. I know how true that book is and all the accounts in it were written down for a purpose! I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for all the different people He has placed into my life. My friends and family are so wonderful! Especially those friends I have met within the past month. They have been a shining example to me. I have always been told that I should seek out the righteous and I am most grateful that I have... sometimes the righteous can be found in the most unexpected people. It isn't always the ones that you might think of... sometimes it comes from those that you least expect it to. For example, I know several people that have been through so much heart ache in their lives and have been beaten down more than you could possibly imagine and yet now they are some of the strongest people I could ever know. Those moments when I feel absolutely fantastic and when I know that my Father in Heaven is always there for me are the best moments in the world! I can't imagine being any happier in life or it being any better than it is, but I know that as I stay righteous and as I work extremely hard to be faithful I will continue to be blessed beyond measure! :) Everyone should smile more because when you smile it brings even more happiness to you! :D