ONE MONTH

Guys. 

I have been in the field for ONE MONTH tomorrow!! Soooo crazy! It has gone by so so fast. It's been a great month! I've loved being a missionary. 

 Satan is crafty. He does everything he can to keep the people we're teaching from feeling the spirit and God's love. Its the worst and makes us so sad when people have an amazing lesson and feel so happy, but then reject the Gospel. 

Satan does it to all of us! He does everything he can to keep us from feeling the spirit and he often does it through discouragement. Maybe sometimes we will feel like we're not good enough. Or we get in a cycle and start comparing ourselves to others. Or he causes us to forget to be grateful. (Rude, right?!) 

Something I've learned is that when feelings of discouragement come, its important to recognize the source of those feelings. Recognize that God doesn't want us to be discouraged. He wants us to feel godly sorrow and repent, yes, but to not stay stuck in those feelings. He wants us to move on and be happy and grateful for the things He's blessed us with! In oct. 2019 general conference, Elder Peter Johnson gave us steps to overcome the "3 D's" of the adversary. (Distraction, deception, discouragement) he says, to pray and read the book of Mormon every day, every day, every day.  And to take the sacrament every week, every week, every week. He also says, "My dear friends, please do not let anyone steal your happiness. Do not compare yourself to others. Please remember the loving words of the Savior: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

The Savior wants us to feel peace! I know as we trust in Him and in His mission for each of us and our divine value, we can overcome the power of the adversary! Satan wants us to forget who we are. Don't forget. There is light ahead and I know that light comes from the Savior! 

Anywayssss, we saw some awesome miracles this week!! One of our friends has been taught all of the missionary lessons, but she wasn't progressing at all. BUT. THEN. we felt prompted (the Spirit KNOWS, people) to invite her to read the Book of Mormon. Wellll, she's been reading it and she told us yesterday that she believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God! We were so so happy. She had a light in her as she said that. I felt so honored to be a part of it! We're looking forward to seeing her progress on her spiritual journey. 

Our friend Susan is getting baptized on Saturday!! Can't wait for her. She knows the Gospel is true and her faith is inspiring. 

CHEBOYGAN IS THRIVING PEOPLE. And i feel so blessed to be a part of it! I know the Lord is progressing His work! Every time we had something discouraging happen (if someone canceled a lesson, or if someone said they don't want to meet with us anymore), a miracle came because of that. Sounds weird, I know. We had a lesson get canceled on Thursday bc the members had a sore throat. But then because the lesson was canceled we got asked to do a live for the Come unto Christ in Northern Michigan Facebook page (go give it a follow yall) and we had someone reach out wanting to meet with us because of it! Such a blessing.  A little parallel for you all......Sometimes when things seem like they're not working out, they actually are! Heavenly Father is micromanaging our lives and will bring miracles and lessons out of things that at first seem really hard or we don't understand. 

Well. I love you all!! The Gospel is true. 

Keep calm and carry on!  

See ya next week, 

Sister Ross