Hi family!!! It was good to hear
your voices on Friday. I was planning on comforting you guys, and ended up
being the one that got comforted. Thanks so much for being such examples to me
of faith and courage. Thank you so much, I love you all. The President really
helped me out, too. He told me I have some stories to write down when I get
home ha-ha.
Well, this week, we have been
working hard trying to lift the area. The area is a little sleepy, so we are
going to try to wake it up. I have had a little bit of a difficult time focusing
this week, but General Conference really helped me to sort it out. Tender
mercies were abundant as well. When we passed a shop, there was a T-shirt with
the words, "Cowboy Up!" and I thought of Mom right after. I was
feeling a little down when we were walking past that shop, and those words
knocked me out of it. Even though it wasn’t Monday, I decided I wanted that
shirt right then...so I bought it. We found a great new investigator that has a
lot of potential. Her name is Karla. She is a single mother with 5 kids; her
husband left her when she was 3 months pregnant with her 5th child. When her
child was born at only 7 months, he was very sick. After many operations and
prayers, she said her son, Angel, pulled through. It was a tender and sweet
story. I feel like she is really ready to accept the gospel. Please pray for
her.
Well, I will just write it out here.
I really am going to miss Grandma Anderton dearly. I didn’t expect it to knock
me off my rocker quite like it did. I really loved her with all I am. She was
an amazing example and was always smiling and laughing. Even when she was in
pain, she never complained. I remember when I was living with her and going to
my microbiology class at Weber State before the mission, she kept getting out
of bed. At first, I was getting frustrated because I needed to help her back in
every time. She didn’t tell me she was hurting, she just kept getting up to
walk. She had already taken her meds, so she couldn’t take more. I figured she
was having pain in her legs, so I straight up asked her. "Oh yes, they
won’t settle down." she said. I decided to get some hot towels and wrap
them around her legs; she slept like a baby after that. I’m grateful for the
past 5+ years I’ve spent going down to take care of her and Grandpa, I have
many precious memories I will always keep dear to my heart. Grandma always
looked stunning, and I will always love my memories of taking her to the salon
to get her hair done, and then sneaking in a shake from the hamburger place. I
loved when we would lie in her bed and she would scratch my head and tell me
her love story with grandpa, or funny things that happened to her. I will
always cherish sitting with her and listening to her testimony and her comfort
and wisdom when I shared with her what I believed to be the trials of my life.
She was a shining star of faith in my life. I will always remember sitting out
on the porch with her and listening to some of the same stories last summer
before I left on my mission. I remember putting up her tree that wouldn’t stand
up straight for Christmas, that thing gave me a headache!!!!! I will always
remember her mission stories she shared with me and listening to her old music
on YouTube. But more than anything, I will never forget getting ready for bed
and scuttling down the hall behind her and her walker. She would always stop at
the photo of Grandpa and tell him, "I love you!!!!!" They are finally
together again. I love you Grandma Anderton!!! As Winnie the Pooh says,
"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
I found a lot of comfort in General Conference.
I hope that you guys enjoyed it too!!! "Nobody really ever dies!" was
what I loved the most. (Niell F Marriott said that.) I also enjoyed the
PONDERIZE challenge. I hope we all will take it!!!!
My thought for you guys comes from a
quote from Russell M Nelson from April 2005 that I found in my scriptures this
week. "We live to die, and we die to live....in another realm. If we are
well prepared, death brings no terror. From an eternal perspective, death is
premature only for those who are not prepared to meet God. Now is the time to
prepare. Then, when death comes, we can move forward to the celestial glory
that Heavenly Father has prepared for His faithful children Meanwhile, for
sorrowing loved ones left behind...the sting of death is soothed by a steadfast
faith in Christ, a perfect brightness of hope, a love of God and of all men,
and a deep desire to serve them.”
Well, that is all I have for the
week. Thanks so much for all of your examples of hope to me. I love you all so
much. I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful family! Have a great week!!!
XOXOXOXO until next time!!!
Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Anderton (and so proud of that
name)
 |
| Raegan and Grandma.... Learning about Skype, taking selfies and dad sleeping through it all! |
No comments:
Post a Comment