Monday 10 November 2014

Week 57 in the Field: Week 2 in Zurich: So blessed are the young women, and women of the church!!

This week we ate cactus fruit a lot, got A LOT of slivers, and caught our house of fire.

How's your week been? ;)

Haha, nah, I'll explain. 

It was just the toaster and we were eating soup and I just really wanted toast, and so I put the bread in, and went to the bathroom, not thinking it would be a problem cause toast pops up when it's done.

Or... it should.

It didn't ;)

Sister Robben came running outside the bathroom door, screaming, "Es brennt, es brennt!" (it's burning, it's burning!). I thought.. okay, then take it out. 

It actually means like... there's a fire. 

So I ran out to see a good flame coming from the top of our microwave (our toaster is one the microwave). 

Thanks to Girls Camp skills, I took a damp rag and threw it over the flames.

There was no harm done :) Just a few fast beating hearts, and horrible smell, a melted/burned rag, and no toast for lunch. Man... 

This week. Hmm.... good stuff.

The success we see with the Potential Lists is actually crazy good. Everyone calls us back to set up appointments. Is this a dream? Maybe.. .we haven't had a lesson yet. But still cool to see :) 

We are doing a lot of work with the less actives. We have SO MANY. So we are currently trying to go by on all of them to see 1) if they live there, 2) if they want to meet, 3) if we should just have no more contact. It's been successful. We've had some really cool experiences of just being guided by Spirit and being in the right place at the right time. 

There was snow this week. Crazy. But then it was really warm the next day. I don't really know what to expect with this place. It can stay warm as long as it wants, though :) Zürich is a BEAUTIFUL place in the Fall. I wish you could all experience it with me. 
We visited a wedding. That was thoroughly bizarre. But also good. Anita, from Zollikofen, was there and she was such a blessing. She's someone I know I could count on for anything. I love her :) I got to have some pretty cool chats with an Indian guy who is good friends with the Groom and a guy in our ward. It was really neat. He's met a lot with the missionaries and comes to activities weekly. He'll be at the Music Evening on Sunday (oh yeah.. did I tell you we're doing one here, as well? Well.. we are :)). It's so interesting for me to talk about God with those of other faiths.... and not Christian faiths.

We get the chance to visit a Mosque on the 18. Don't freak out, (BG: Why would we?:)) we are going with the YSA's and a big group. It will be a really good experience since we work so much with Muslims here. I don't think it's like that at all in Utah, is it? Huh.... different places, for sure. I really look forward to it. President is also excited for us, but told us to really be respectful and really pay attention to how we feel. I'm excited to go :) 

It was really wonderful to see Adolfo yesterday :) Also such a tender mercy. I loved seeing a familiar face. And to hear that he thinks my German is good... since he can't understand a word of it ;) Sounds like you all enjoyed hearing me jabber away. Hope it was good :) 
Today I had a total epitome. Do you know how blessed you are, Young Women of the Church, to have the YW theme and to recite that so often? I would like this to be shared with the YW of the ward, if that's possible. Thank you  :)

Here it is:

As I was reading the talk "Keeping Covenants Protects Us, Prepares Us, and Empowers Us" by Rosemary M. Wixon, i was filled with such emotion.

I can remember the reactions I had to this Sisters meeting the the Spring Conference of this year. From the moment the opening prayer was said, I had started to cry because of the overwhelming love I felt as a RS sister and a recent YW.

They sang the song "Teach Me to Walk in the Light". even just reading the experience brought me to tears (my comp probably thinks I'm insane).

And then a story of YW in Mexico reciting our YW theme was told.

Girls? Do you know how blessed you are to say that theme so often? The YW values we are taught from 12.18 are priceless life gifts. Priceless.

In my last area, by the Bern, Switzerland Temple, we were teaching a LA lady. She's been a member of the Church for a while, but didn't still yet understand the simple teachings such as  "God is our loving Heavenly Father". 

She didn't have a very good view of herself:(. She only saw her mistakes and can't for the life of her, point out her strengths. She is the most talented lady.

Every time, after a lesson of trying to help her see her self worth and never succeeding, I always thought, "she needs the YW program". 

She needed to recite the YW theme:
"We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.
We will stand as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places, as we strive to live the Young Women values, which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity 
and Virtue
..."

You learn and strive to continuously learn what these mean and how these values apply to you personally.

You may not believe that you are Princesses of our loving King, and you may not always feel your precious Divine Nature and Individual Worth, but I can promise you that one day you will understand the significance of these values; that you will one day believe in you Good Works and your Virtue. It makes a difference reciting this theme. You know and understand things adults try to do and accomplish their whole lives before you reach the age of adulthood. Maybe you don't know that you know, but you will one day. It took me coming on a mission at age 20 to realize that what I was taught in YW is true and that I believe in these values and that I i have them within me. 

Keep it up girls. remember who you REALLY are. 

All my love, 

Sister Chloe Gilmour
xx 

There are a lot of mistakes in there... but, you know what I'm trying to say. I hope.

I love you all :) I love this time to serve the Lord, to be tested, and to have opportunities to grow and be stretched. I look forward to another missionary-work filled week :)

Until next week!

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