The refiners fire

 This week was pretty crazy and full of traveling and not missionary
work. We were able to go down to Salt Lake and go to the temple and
then to zone conference the next day. Lots of spiritual smacks in the
face! My favorite kind of revelation to receive is the kind that I
recognize I need and then apply.
At the training they talked about the refiners fire and when a gold
smith is refining gold he has to watch the gold which is very
uncomfortable for the refiner because of the extreme heat in which
gold must be purified. As the gold smith watches the gold he can see
the gold become soft, then the impurities melt away and then the dirt
rises to the top of the pool of liquid gold. Once the dirt rises the
gold smith knows that the gold is ready to be taken from the extreme
heat and molded.
This beautiful analogy reminded me we cannot become all we have the
potential to become without being in uncomfortable circumstances,
without erasing the impurities we have in our lives and without
getting rid of the dirt that keeps us from living with God. It isn't
easy for our gold smith to watch us go through the refiners fire.
Instead he watches us to know exactly when we must come from the fire.
I'm grateful for the gospel. I love my Savior and Redeemer.

The greatest message

Sorry that I didn't write last week! I just completely forgot.
Obviously I'm getting to the end of my mission because my bad memory
is coming back.
This past week was super good!! We got 2 new investigators and they
both agreed to be baptized on November 7th!!! Can you say delayed
birthday present?! It's going to be so good. Ka**en is 9 and he is
adorable! He just kept saying that he wants baptized because Jesus
Christ was baptized. His Dad is a member but not active in the church
and his mom is not a member. His grandma is awesome though and takes
him to church after she finishes working. The key to successful
activity of kids in the church is the support they have from their
parents or other adults they trust.
Then McK**zie is 9 and recently got a blessing from the elders and she
told them she wanted to be baptized! Her 3 older siblings are all
baptized and the mom is a member but isn't active. She isn't crazy
about the church but is supporting the kids in their decision to go to
church and in Mc**nzie's decision to be baptized.
The Lord is constantly preparing people's hearts to receive the
message of Jesus Christ. The fact that we can be saved to live with
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and our families is the greatest news
that we can give. The fact that the pain and the hardship and the
guilt that we experience in our lives can all be erased. What greater
message is there?! I love every day of being a missionary. Some days
are hard and I think it would be easier not to be a missionary but
every day is full of miracles that make me realize how amazing He is.
Sometimes I don't realize until my head hits the pillow but the
realization always comes. There is nothing greater than sharing this
message with those that I come to love here in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
I love you all! Have a great week.

I got a greenie!

This week was great! I'm training a greenie! Her name is Sister James and she
is from Glendale, Arizona and she knows THE BERTHELSONS!!!!!!!! She is
so ready to do the work which is a much needed change because I've
always had companions that have been dying down. She is obedient to
most things I tell her and she studies Preach My Gospel which is a
blessing! I think this transfer will be so good and also a lot of
work.

Conference....I feel like I can write forever about the revelation
that I received from it but obviously that wouldn't be the things that
everyone else got from conference. I really liked Elder Hales talk and
Elder Renlund's testimony. I feel like there is always something that
Heavenly Father knows that I need to hear from someone else. I am
making decisions that will help me when I get home but it's so hard. I
feel like everything in my mission has prepared me for life after my
mission....I know you're all thinking, "Sister Dodd, shut up, you
still have 2.5 months left". I KNOW! In a blessing I got it said that
I needed to figure out my post mission life and that I need to be
humble and accept help from others. Being humble is the test of my
life time. I feel like I recognize my constant need of my Savior's
help and my need for the Spirit and for Heavenly Father but
recognizing that they help me through others is hard. I don't like
feeling like an inconvenience to others and I just feel like I can do
everything by myself. Heavenly Father wants to help us but also
recognizes that as he sends others to help us they are blessed because
they are able to serve and we are blessed. In seeking service we must
also allow others to serve us.

I love you all, have a great week!!!

Yesterday in testimony meeting the Bishop shared something that I
loved. He said, "If you squeeze an orange what do you expect to come
out? Orange juice right? When life gets hard and it starts to squeeze
you what you are filled with will come out. If you are filled with
love, then love will come out; if you are filled with gratitude,
gratitude will come out; if you are filled with anger, anger will come
out; if you are filled with hatred, hatred will come out. Hard times
come and how we respond to those hard times is a direct result of how
we spend our time"
I am so grateful for the lessons that I have been learning. I got
called to train a new missionary on top of being a Sister Training
Leader. I realize that what I am filled with is about to be squeezed
out! The stress of life hits us at different times but I know the Lord
is giving me a lot of responsibility because he wants me to work hard
at the end of my mission. I am grateful for the experiences that I've
had so far and the many more to come. My district leader is staying as
well and training a new missionary. I am excited to see what is said
at General Conference this weekend! EVERYONE WATCH GENERAL 
CONFERENCE! It's going to be so good.
I love you all!

This week was good!

Lately I have been hearing a lot about the 3-fold mission of the
church: proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the saints, and redeeming
the dead. I feel like at a different part of our lives we are involved
with each part of this. The desire to be involved in perfecting the
saints, redeeming the dead and proclaiming the gospel begins with our
own conversion. Recognizing the amazing gift that we have and then
desiring to share it comes to each of us through our recognition that
this is truly the Lord's church and we are privileged to know the
steps to get back to live with God and with our families. I'm grateful
that as I am experiencing the "proclaiming the gospel" part of the
3-fold mission of the church. I'm grateful that a huge focus during my
time in YW was spent redeeming the dead. I have a feeling that I am
not done with my role in redeeming the dead but right now I'm just
focusing on my mission! 3 months left of prime proselyting. I have a
feeling that these will be both the longest and the shortest 3 months
of my mission! Hahahaa. I know that I keep mentioning the priesthood
blessing that I got a month ago but it was so insightful. It told me
that I needed to start making plans to go home but also that the Lord
was proud of the service that I had given and that I should continue
to work hard! I love being a missionary!!!

This week has been good for us. We've been teaching more than I was
with Sister Carlson. I know that the Lord is helping us a lot! We got
3 new investigators this week! We had a couple of awesome lessons with
our investigators and Sister Masih and I have been getting along
really well. I really am happy.

General Conference is coming up and I am so excited! It is amazing to
me that we have a prophet, a man who talks with God, that will be
speaking to us. To have the communication with God open again to men
on earth is one of God's many manifestations that he loves us. As we
take our questions to God He answers them through conference. Listen
and take notes. Let God know what you need and he will give it to you.

3 more months!

This week I hit my 15 months of being on a mission. I feel like every
day that passes my spirit grows stronger but my flesh grows weaker.
Hahahahaa. That was my "intelligent" way of saying that I'm tired all
the time. When I got a blessing a few weeks ago it said that "The
Lord's work is tiring and now that the work is being hastened the Lord
will expect more and you". That was Him saying, "Sister Dodd, I know
you're tired but get over yourself!" I am so grateful that I have a
calling that allows me to work hard and to have such pleasure from
seeing the fruits of my labors. Callings provide us with blessings.
There was a talk given yesterday in church from a returned missionary
and his topic was "Bloom where you are planted". He talked about
examples from his mission of bishops and ward mission leaders that
served faithfully and exemplified their callings and ones who didn't and 
how much happier the ward was when they exemplified their
callings. He shared exerpts from Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk "Life Where
You Stand". One of my favorite was,
"You may feel that there are others who are more capable or more
experienced who could fulfill your callings and assignments better
than you can, but the Lord gave you your responsibilities for a
reason. There may be people and hearts only you can reach and touch.
Perhaps no one else could do it in quite the same way.
Our Heavenly Father asks that we represent Him in the noble work of
reaching out and blessing the lives of His children. He asks us to
stand firm with the power of the priesthood in our hearts and souls
and give the calling we have at this moment our best efforts."
I thought that was beautiful. We receive callings because the Prophet
can't do everything by himself and we each have special qualities and
characteristics that others need. Being a full-time missionary is a
calling. You are set apart from the world and asked to labor in other
parts of the world to help save our brothers and sisters. If you think
about callings given in a ward they are not much different except it
isn't a 24/7 duty and you aren't asked to leave your home. Callings are 

given from God and I have come to a firm knowledge of that on my
mission.
I am grateful for my companion. I am grateful for my opportunity to be 

a missionary. 

Fear not!

This past week I had the opportunity to share with our zone of missionaries a message with the topic "Fear not". 

I started with asking the cute sisters in my zone what they're fearing and they said: Fear of not knowing what to say, fear of going home from your mission with regrets, fear of being bold, fear of losing the people you learn to love, fear of talking to people,  fear of Brussels sprouts, fear of disappointing your parents, fear of asking people to be baptized, fear of not progressing, fear of not being all that God wants you to be, fear of not strengthening your testimony as much as you could, fear of getting people on date and then losing them. 

I was able to open up with these fears and tell them that it is okay to fear. There are so many examples from the scriptures of people being afraid and angels coming to comfort them. 

I used the New Testament for examples from the scriptures of "fear not":

🔸Joseph and Mary were espoused to be married and Joseph found out that his fiancé was pregnant by someone other than him. An angel appeared to Joseph and said, "fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 1:20)

🔸When Mary Magdalene went 3 days after Jesus' death to anoint his body she couldn't find his body in the tomb. An angel came and told her, "Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified." (Matthew 28:5)

🔸Zacharias and Elisabeth were old and had never had a child. As Zacharias went to the temple to perform the labors of being a priest an angel appeared to him and said, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." (Luke 1:13)

🔸One of the greatest stories ever told was the birth of Jesus. There were shepards that were told of His birth by an angel that said, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:10-11)

🔸when the apostles were called they were fearful to leave their nets, they feared leaving what they knew and what they loved, Jesus told them, "Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men." (Luke 5:10)

🔸In Revelation John quotes Jesus saying, "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen." (Revelation 1:17-18)

I then was able to share on of my favorite stories from the New Testament which is Jesus washing His apostles feet. 

-John 13:

"5 After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

18 I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen"

We truly are not alone in this life. Especially after the past couple of weeks I have realized that Heavenly Father is so aware of each of us and the struggles, trials, and situations that we are in. He has suffered us to go through these things because he loves us. We came to earth to become like God and we surely cannot do that unless we are out through things that make us grow and develop and become perfect even as our Father who is in Heaven is perfect. I love this gospel and I love being a missionary. May we each develop faith greater than our fears. 

Dam**n got baptized!!