Monday, August 31, 2015

GOD EXISTS- Aug 31, 2015

Hello my friends!!!

First of all I would just like to say thank you for all the birthday wishes, I've got some great people in my life!! :) Being 20 doesn't feel any different than 19 to be completely honest, haha :)

So this week our district has been putting a big focus on finding, finding, FINDING. Finding those people who are prepared and who are ready to make a change in their lives to come closer to Jesus Christ. This week has definitely been a trial of my faith... we worked VERY hard, probably the hardest I have worked on specifically focused finding my entire mission, and I can honestly say that my whole mission I have only met about 4 people who don't believe in God, but this week there have been SO MANY. SO MANY people don't even believe in God!!! WHAT?!! Let me just tell you all, I KNOW that God exists, and that He created not only the Heavens and the earth, but everything living therein as well--and that includes US!! We are a living, breathing soul created in the same image as our own Heavenly Father. I know this for a fact. I also know that God exists because I have seen SO many miracles and cannot deny that I have seen His power and His hand in every little aspect of my life. JUST when I think that something has been going COMPLETELY wrong and I feel I might give up hope, that extra push of patience and waiting for the Lord's blessing to be fulfilled is fulfilled, and in a way that I would LEAST expect it. For those of you who may wonder where your testimony is on whether or not there is a Supreme Being, a Higher Existence, or where you relationship is with God, I encourage you to find Him. The reason I know that God IS real and that He answers my prayers and blesses me in ways I would never think of is because I look. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7)  I am SO grateful for the opportunity that I have to teach this concept with every single person that I come in contact with, and to be able to testify of the truthfulness of this restored gospel and the reality of my Heavenly Father whom loves us all so much. I am grateful for the blessing we have been given to be able to communicate with Him ANYTIME, ANYDAY, ANYWHERE and He will listen! He will answer and He will give us the best guidance out of anyone we will ever speak with in our entire existence on earth and in the eternities. What a blessing, right? 

I can testify that I KNOW I have a God that loves me and watches over me in everything I do, and that He wants the best for me. I know He KNOWS what is best for me and that I can go to Him for anything--questions, concerns, comfort, knowledge, guidance, you name it. Because He is all-powerful, and I know He will lead me down the right path. This world has become SO crazy, and the more I separate myself from the things of the world and focus on the things my Heavenly Father would have me doing, the more strength I am given to be able to stand as a light and a beacon in a world that is getting darker and darker faster and more deceiving than we can comprehend. I know that the more I pull myself and my thoughts out of the things of the world I am able to see the bigger picture. I know I say that a lot but REALLY. It is so true. God has a plan and it is CRAZY how everything is so meticulously intertwined, I can't even begin to describe the magnitude of it, let alone only the small fraction of His plan that I have been able to witness firsthand!!


I know I am rambling, but I just LOVE this gospel, and I LOVE being a missionary. I love sharing what I believe because I know it is true.  It is my prayer that we all approach this next week with a greater attitude of appreciation for the restored knowledge that we have been given in this day and age, and the opportunity that we have to learn about it and that as we 'ask, seek, and knock' we can fully access the blessings that God has in store for each and every one of us.

I love you all so much and desire the best for each and every one of you!! :) Take care!!

And until next week,

Hermana Riddle <3

So we went on a Zone Blitz this past Friday and I was able to be companions for a few hours with Sister Alcantara, from Peru. She is brand new in the mission and is in the English program and is learning so well, I hope she gets switched to spanish soon and that we can be companions!!

The next one is a famous tres leches made by a member in the ward I am serving in for my birthday, looks good right? It was. :) Haha



As you probably know it was Riah's birthday this past week.  I think she was spoiled:)  She sent a bunch of video clips and pictures from her celebrations.  I posted a few of them below....











I asked Riah a little bit more about what she does as a facebook missionary because she doesn't really post anything.  This is what she said..."Yeah so our mission pres (Riggs) before strongly discouraged posting, he said we were too much of a "post happy" mission before, so we need to not post things unless it is with a certain investigator in mind.. The problem is most of our investigators don't have Facebook, or if they do it is IMPOSSIBLE to find them cuz you can't EVER find Hispanics!! Soooo.. That's why I really don't use it.. But I do use the messaging sometimes to communicate with members or investigators.."

So..I guess that Facebook is not something that she uses all that much on her mission. We tried to post some stuff to her mission FB wall on her birthday and her settings were weird and it wouldn't allow us to post anything on it:( She said that a member in her area told her that they tried to post something and it wouldn't allow it. By the time she fixed it it was too late. Oh well..she still had a happy day!










Aug 24, 2015-Quickie

A short and sweet email this week. 

Hey all!! So I don't have much time left today, like really just a few mins but I just wanted to let you all know that I am alive and well and fine, and we have been able to see so many miracles this week!! It really is crazy how small of and act or decision can change the course of yours or someone else's ENTIRE destiny!! This world is all just one big inter-mingled super great plan that has a divine purpose and plan behind it established by God. It truly is amazing :)

Wow this is probably the first time I have ever sent an email this short... sorry guys!!

More updates next week!!

I love you all so much!!
Hermana Mariah Riddle

P.S. we went to DC today and yes, that is the capitol building and yes, it is ugly right now. But the blondie in the front is my "great-gma" in the mission (my trainer's trainer's trainer) and then the curly haired one just went home this past april, she is so awesome!! They came to visit and we met up with them in DC!! Fun times :)



Riah sent us a list of people to pray for this week and with a very specific list of things that they need. We have tried to offer that prayer of help here from home as much as possible. We would love for any of you who read this blog post to pray for Riah, her companion and her investigators.  Of course we can't give all the details for privacy reasons but Heavenly Father knows who her investigators are:) We know that prayer works. Thank you all for your support:)

Below are a few more pics that we received this week.  Riah got an early B-day present from Hermana Peabody's mom:) Thanks Katie!!



Saturday, August 22, 2015

In His Hands-August 17, 2015

Hello all!

This week has been a week of much growth and learning on my mission. This week I have REALLY been able to see how the Lord puts us in people's paths/vice versa. Not that I haven't seen that throughout my whole mission, but this week I have a couple amazing stories to share.

So, while we were planning for the week last Friday, we planned to see one of our investigators that we haven't checked up on in FOREVER because she has just not been too interested, we planned to see her the following wednesday.. she has kind of an interesting work schedule so we didn't know if she would be home or if it would even be worth it to drive out and try since she lives a ways away but we felt prompted to do so so we stuck with it. We didn't tell her though because it would just be better if we stopped by. SO. We stop by on Wednesday and first of all SHE IS HOME. Second, she invites us in and we had SUCH a great discussion with her and towards the end she just starts getting super emotional and tells us, "you know what? I just find it no coincidence that you are here because earlier today I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone and she asked me 'are you still talking with those mormon missionaries?'" She had told her 'Oh no that's done and over with, they haven't come in awhile and pretty sure no one from the church is going to be visiting me again.' She then told us "And then you show up to my house a few hours later. NO ONE has talked to me about the church since the last time I saw you, and now here you are again the DAY someone says something. I now know that God sent you here, and it's time that I listen and do what you ask me to do, because God is trying to communicate with me. I KNOW it, and I am just not listening!!" We talked a bit more and let her know how happy we were that we could be instruments in God's hands in being led there by the spirit to bring the true gospel unto her once again and the blessings that come with it into her life. She was super grateful and by the end after we prayed she was crying and filled with emotion and is making time in her schedule to meet with us more often. What a miracle!!

THEN. Yesterday (the day of church) as I was saying my prayers in the morning, I asked God boldly and with faith if He could just "please send somebody to the church today that is looking for the gospel that is prepared and needs it in their life." A few hours later we get a text from the elders in our district (who had been at the church building earlier in the day for some meeting) that said "MIRACLE. Found random family standing in front of the church doors who found the church on google and wanted to come and just showed up." They talked with them and the family stayed for church and is planning on going from here on out!! WHAT A BLESSING. 

I KNOW that prayer works, and I KNOW that our Father in Heaven is aware of us. Although I may be an amateur at prayer, and an amateur at life, I know that the more I strive to do what God would have me do that He will send miracles. I know that God has a GREAT PLAN. And that He did NOT send us here to fail. He sent us here to progress and to give us experiences that are testing and challenging but that help us grow. God will help us along the way! He does NOT expect us to be perfect, but to progress toward perfection. He does not expect us to be perfect BEFORE He will help us, because if we were we wouldn't need help!! God is aware of us. He is aware of me, He is aware of EVERY SINGLE ONE of His children, individually. And that means you. So reach out to Him. Love Him. And confide in Him. He will help you and guide you along. Of this I TESTIFY. I have experienced and seen WAY to many miracles firsthand in my life to deny the power behind this perfect gospel. At first I may not have recognized it, but as I have come closer and closer to my Savior Jesus Christ as I serve Him, I have been able to see things and people through His eye--and have learned to see the blessings, and appreciate everything I have been given the privilege to be a part of-- more than ever before.

I love all of you! And I mean it!! Every single one of you is a child of God and has such great potential! Keep being strong, and keep being awesome!!

Until next week :)

Hermana Riddle <3

We made bolivian ice-cream this week ;)







I sent Riah an article for her to read in her free time which I thought was sooo good.  It was an article on Mormon Buzz entitled "Why I stay a Mormon when many friends have left"  I'll attach the link if you are interested in reading it. It's kinda long but WELL worth the read. I add my testimony to the writers testimony.

http://mormonbuzzz.com/why-i-stay-a-mormon-when-many-friends-have-left/

Anyway, here is what Riah's response to the article was. 

"I LOVE the quote where it says "sometimes we are so concerned with the roots of the church that we tragically forget the look up and see the fruits of the church.." We need to focus on the fruits, because those fruits are what are going to bring us happiness--the happiness and joy that we promise to those we teach! The history and background of the church is good stuff, but it can only do so much as to give you information and that's it. WE MUST be willing to take that step and take it into our own hands and will to APPLY it and act in faith. We will NEVER know unless we test it out ourselves--God will tell us if it is wrong. God manifests truth unto us through the Holy Ghost, and if we start on a wrong path, but have a close relationship with God and a desire to do HIS will--He will guide us out and show us the right way, and when we are in the right way--as long as we seek His counsel, He will lead us along and help keep us there. We will know it!"

Riah just has a way of sharing her thoughts and feelings that really puts me in awe!  Love that girl:)

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Take me out to the ball game! Aug 10, 2015

This week was a busy, fun, meeting filled week.  Here is what Riah had to say about it..

Hey all!!

Ok, so really not much time today, but this past week was SUPER nuts!! We had so many meetings, but also SO much good stuff happen!! So we had transfers but my WHOLE district is all staying together for one more transfer so that will be a lot of fun :) There is obviously a reason we are all still supposed to stay in this area!!

On Saturday we were able to go to the Washington Nationals baseball game. I don't have much to talk about it but lets just say that we were pooped afterwards!! It was our whole mission and we took the metro there and had some interesting things happen (you know how the metro is) haha and the game was super fun!! We took lots of pictures.. but here's just a few :) ha. One of them is of all the Spanish missionaries in our mission.

Well, I just want to let you know that I love you all, and sorry this is a short one, and for those of you I didn't quite get to respond to just know I love you and I love getting updates from each of you, even if I can't respond!! 

Before I go I just want to leave a quick thought with you all.. Go read 2 Nephi 32:3-5. If you have a question that NEEDS to be answered, do what it counsels in this scripture!! We must feast upon the words of Christ! (read the scriptures) They will tell us ALL the things we need to do!! And if we will pray sincerely we will be able to find solutions to all of our questions and concerns. 

I have really gained a stronger testimony of the three main things that keep us on the straight and narrow path that leads us to eternal life. Prayer, Scriptures, and going to Church. I know that as we do these things with full purpose of heart that we will be better able to face adversity with hope for the future as well as with a calm assurance that everything will work out in its own due time. God's plan is perfect!! We need to work hard to just let our pride go and trust it!! We cannot do ANYTHING of an eternal significance without God's help.. it is just not possible, because the human mind cannot comprehend eternity. Therefore we must trust God to help us understand what we need to do in this life order to make it a good one in the life after!! :) I love this gospel and am thankful for the glimpse of an eternal perspective that I have been able to gain through it as I do these three simple things.. CPR--Church, Pray, Read. That's it!!

It is my hope and prayer that you will all come to find out, if you haven't already, the true significance and importance of these things in life. I know that as you do, the blessings of the Lord will begin to pour out upon you and CPR will truly save your life!! ;) Haha

Until next time!!

Hermana Riddle :)

  



About the baseball game. Riah said that the Washington Nationals won..so that's good!  I guess they had a bunch of trouble with the metro on the way there and on the way home so they got home super late!  The whole entire DC South and DC North missions were there.  And..a friend told me that the Baltimore Maryland missionaries were there too!  How awesome is that to see all of those missionaries there?  

As Mariah mentioned her whole district stayed together for this transfer.  Here is what she told us about it..."They messed around with the WHOLE spanish program for transfers but they did not even TOUCH the Sudley district!! We for sure thought that Hna Mug was SO out and maybe me and Elder R.. But NOPE!! WE ALL STAYED. We were all freaking out that is UNHEARD OF. No missionary here has seen that their ENTIRE mission where a whole district stays!! We all obviously have a purpose here in Sudley as a district and it's time to figure it out!! We have some awesome plans and goals as a district this transfer so it will be cool to see what all pans out and what we all learn from it. We are all pretty close already as a district.

Mariah also mentioned that they won't be getting any new hermanas in her mission until January.  She said that by then 5 more hermanas will have gone home and 2 more will be going home in January!  She said that because the peak of missionaries has died down they won't be having as many missionaries in her mission as they have in the past.

If you know Riah well you know that she loves Miranda sings.  (If you don't know who that is go look her up on youtube). Well, when Mariah and Hermana Mensinger were together they would dress up like Miranda on P-day and do some funny Miranda videos. (They are both sooo good at talking like Miranda). She has sent some of them home but told us that she has a bunch that we will just have to wait and see when she gets home. 

Well, Riah told Kayla in her last email to her that one of the videos leaked out through airdrop and a bunch of the people in her mission have seen it now...including her MISSION PRESIDENT!!! She said it was a little embarrassing but she's all good with it.  I have a feeling that someone pulled the video out last P-day when they went to the mission home to have lunch with the Mission Pres and his wife.  They spent a lot of time talking and getting to know each other that day so I have a feeling that is how it came up...hahaha.  I'm not sure what to think about that but it is what it is.  The mission pres now knows all about Mariah and her sense of humor. He would have found out sooner or later anyway...haha.  She is such a goof sometimes but she makes us all so happy:) With that said, it was P-day!  I know I have mentioned this before but some missionaries like to play sports on P-day, and some like to go shopping, hiking, or touring.  Well Mariah and Hermana Mensinger love to make funny videos singing and dancing to church music on their P-days.  It brings a smile to my face every time I see those videos.  LOVE THAT GIRL!! 

Below are some more pictures from the baseball game and some others that we got during the week.  Love, love, love getting pics!  We got a bunch more that were taken at this baseball game but there are just too many to post:)




              






Tuesday, August 4, 2015

August 3, 2015- Time Flies!

Loved everything about the emails that we received this week. Riah has transfers this week on Thursday so we will have to wait to see what happens:)

Time. FLIES. I cannot even wrap my head around it. 

"This week has been a week of much growth. With transfers coming up this week I have been able to take a step back and look at all of the things I have learned in these past 10 months.. I have been able to point out my strengths and the things I have improved on/changed for the better in my life, as well as been able to point out my mistakes and what I have learned from them, and what I can to better in order to keep being a more effective missionary and instrument in the hands of the Lord. 

I have learned the importance of making goals. I have learned the importance of prayer. I have learned the importance of fasting. Loving everyone. The scriptures. Family. Sharing beliefs. Standing UP for what you believe, even when it is hard. And SO much more!!

I would just like to talk a bit about the importance of talking to everyone, not much time left, but I would just like to tell a quick story. SO- talking with everyone. There is this thing we kind of have going on around our district/mission called #talktoeveryone. It really works!! Talking to everyone means sharing our beliefs with EVERYONE. Doesn't matter who they are! And it is really not that hard!! So what if they reject you? It's our responsibility as children of God with the knowledge we have to share the gospel with those around us. I don't want to be held accountable in the end for not talking to someone that NEEDED the gospel and NEEDED to hear it from me, but didn't because of my pride and fear of man. #FEARNOMAN. 

So, to the story. Remember a few weeks back when I sent an email about Cesar? That conversation was so powerful that we had with him.. WELL. He lives in Arlington and we were never able to get his info to the missionaries over there cuz we didn't have his number and didn't know what missionaries quite covered his area. SO we get a random call yesterday, and he starts talking and saying "do you remember me? I am the one you were talking with in the parking lot a while back about the family?" I didn't quite remember at first, because we as missionaries really do talk to a lot of people, so I just kindof told him yes in hopes that it would come to my mind as we continued on the phone. Well, he told us that he had a friend next to him at the moment, whose name was Cesar, like him, and it clicked! He said that his friend had JUST moved from El Salvador and that he went to church for 3 weeks over there and was trying to find one here!! He left his Book of Mormon back in his country as well so we told him we could get him one, and he was just THRILLED. He told us he wants to meet with us and go to church and everything, what a miracle!! #talkingtoeveryoneworks #smallworld. Unfortunately he doesn't live in our area, so we had to pass him to other missionaries but how amazing. I know that as we put forth our effort the Lord will LITERALLY use us as instruments in His hands to bring about this wonderful message of the gospel, until every creature has had the opportunity to accept or reject it!

This work is truly amazing. I love what I am doing despite the rocky roads that have to be travelled through in order to learn and grow. But the point is that we learn and grow! Without obstacles that wouldn't be possible!!

I love each and every one of you. Please know that. As a representative of Jesus Christ, I see you as he sees you, and I know that each and every one of you have great potential in His eyes. Search for it. Find it. :)

Welp, til the next one!!

Hermana Mariah Riddle <3

Here is a picture of us last week at the Museum of Natural History in DC!! Fun fun :)"



This is Heidi speaking now:) In regards to what has been happening in the world lately I have gained a greater testimony of following the Prophet. And it was so sad to hear about those 100 or so people who marched to the church office building on the 24th of July to "resign" their memberships in the Church. It all stemmed from the LGBT and priesthood rights for women movements. The people say that they don't have trust in the leaders anymore. Well..I do and I know that just because the laws and desires of man change it doesn't mean that God's laws will change. I've thought a lot about what keeps a person strong in the faith and came to the conclusion that if we just do the simple things that we learn about in church each week we will be able stay strong in this wicked world. 

So..in an email that I sent to Riah I mentioned to her that a few of the most important habits I want to instill into the hearts of my children are the things that we hear about in church all the time... PRAY, READ SCRIPTURES and ATTEND THE TEMPLE REGULARLY. My hope is that they will all develop a pattern of those things in their lives as I know that those are the habits that will keep their testimonies strong. Mariah's response to my email this week was the following...

"I LOVE THE SCRIPTURES, no need to worry about me. I can honestly promise you guys that I will NEVER fall away. I have learned the importance and the magnitude of impact that scripture, prayer and church and temples have on one's testimony, and I would NEVER give that up!!" 

And in regards to this changing world she said, "I know that this is the time when we are starting to have to apply the things that we learn and speak of to everyone else. To just put faith in the Lord and ACT and He will lead our direction. The Lord isn't going to do anything with us if we don't just get up and move and do SOMETHING. Give Him something to work with you know??" 

And then these sweet, loving, and inspiring words from her just melted my heart...

"I pray for you all every night.. You want to know something funny?? SO. We were supposed to teach the lesson (Hna Moleli and I) for YW last week, but then a teacher showed up so we were like ok that's fine plus Hna Moleli and I had to go home halfway through sacrament meeting cuz she was still puking from the chicken hearts. Well.. that was the end of July. SO we just told the YW leader that we could do it the next week, which was yesterday!! 

This months topic happens to be "Families" for YW. So we talked about why family is important, and it was a REALLY good, fun, spirit-filled lesson! ((I showed them the "you make me smile" video we made as a family HA)) Families bring SO MUCH JOY!! I love what you were saying about how it's gotten to the point where you've realized that it doesn't matter what we have materialistically.. and that is SO TRUE. WE JUST talked about that yesterday to all the girls, and my personal study in the morning I REALLY came to realize and think of all the fun family memories I have had, and it has just been when we have been together, obviously the things we were doing were fun, but if you didn't have anyone with you it wouldn't be fun at ALL. PEOPLE make things fun, and that is all that matters. 

I told the girls that family is the ONLY thing you can actually bring/have with you physically after this life. That is IT. The rest just DOESN'T matter!! We need to be focusing more on the family, for after all, the first paragraph of the Proclamation to the World talks about how the family is central in the Creator's divine plan for us to be able to achieve our eternal destiny. It doesn't say that "technology", "cars",  "a pool" or "a lot of yard" will help us achieve our divine destiny! In fact, it has NOTHING to do with that. So why do we focus on those things? It is time to slowly start pulling ourselves out of the world and taking a perspective by looking at the things that are really important in life. 

I LOVE the fact that I am serving a mission, it has really put my priorities straight, and has made me realize that things will be OK if we don't have this or that!! REALLY. TRULY all I care about are people. That is all I am saying. JUST PEOPLE. EVERYTHING ELSE does not matter to me!! ((Now, I am not saying I could live without my iPad because MAN I LOVE taking pictures and being able to airdrop/iCloud them, but guess what?? That all stems back from where the true happiness has been brought to me from, through the iPad--ready for it? PEOPLE. If I didn't have people then the pictures and videos wouldn't even be fun.))

 I don't think it was a coincidence that my comp got sick, we couldn't teach the lesson, and that we had to teach this week instead where it became a different month and the subject changed. Because family is really a dear subject for me and it was really awesome to be able to think of how blessed I am to have the family I have and how bad I want that for my future life and the lives of others. It has helped give me the desire and drive to do what it takes to get there as well!! That is all I am saying!! Even if I have to make a few decisions that me, the natural man in me, does NOT want to make but I do it because I have discipline. I do it because I know how to obey God and that He wants me to do it. Simple as that!! 

I know the Lord is blessing you...--Man, one of the reasons I was supposed to serve a mission (out of the MANY) was for my family to be blessed for my service. Not only my temporal family, but my ancestors and future family as well! It makes me wish that I ALWAYS had a missionary in the family! I am DEFINITELY going to encourage missions with all my kids, and my hope is that every single one of them will serve missions. Things have gotten a LOT more crazy these days with the world, and it is time to step up OUR crazy game as members and followers of Jesus Christ to spread the word and strengthen ourselves, and a mission has been a PERFECT way for me to do that. I have learned SO many things on a mission that I know NO ONE could learn ANYWHERE else save they serve a mission and experience it firsthand, it just is not possible." 

I cannot even express how wonderful it is to have a missionary out.  Such a blessing!  I too feel like Mariah in that I wish that we ALWAYS had a missionary out in the family.  It's crazy though, with all of the blessings that we receive..Satan works just as hard to destroy as God does to bless. With that being said, I hope that everyone of us will always stay STRONG IN THE FAITH!

Here are some more pictures from when Mariah went visit to the Museum of Natural History on her last P-day.  Ipads don't take the best pictures but hey..THEY ARE PICTURES!!!




    


July 29, 2015-Short on time!

Riah's group email was a little short this week as she and the other Hermanas in her district went to the Museum of Natural History in DC. 

"Hey everyone, so this is going to be a quickie this week, we are going to DC today so bear with me!!

Wow a lot happened this week!! We were able to have interviews with our new mission president, he is a great guy!! I was also able to attend the temple this past week!! I LOVE THE TEMPLE. The DC temple is SO beautiful. We can only go every 6 months here in this mission so that was a really special time!! There is such an inner peace found in the temple that you just can't describe or get anywhere else!!

Well, real quick another interesting event we had this past week.. 

Long story short a member we ate with fed us rice with a bunch of little chicken hearts inside it... And... It wasn't well prepared... SO. I knew it was chicken heart so I did NOT eat it but my companion and the other hermanas that were with me did. My companion ate the most though the other hermanas stopped after one. Nuff said my companion got some sort of food poisoning or I dunno what, but it was HORRIBLE for like 2-3 days!! I felt so bad :( She is all good now though, ha :)
We have been able to see so many little miracles this week, and for this next month I have chosen a Christlike attribute to work on, and that is patience. I will get more into that next week but I would just like to share a quick scripture about patience with you guys before I end this!! 

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." -Hebrews 12:1

Let us all remember that this life is supposed to be a learning experience, and that everything happens for a reason. As I have come to start to work on patience I have realized that patience is accepting the things that happen in our lives calmly and with a surety that everything we go through has a glorious purpose set up behind it. :)

I love you all and hope you enjoy your last week of July!!:)"

Mariah is loving the area she is in and said that they feed them a ton there.  She said that she heard that they feed them even more in an area called Little River so she hopes she doesn't get transferred there.  Which speaking of transfers, she has them next week.  She says that all the hermanas in her district think that Riah will be transferred from the area but she is hoping to be able to stay another 6 weeks with her companion Hermana Moleli so that she can "kill her off" as they call it when one missionary is going home after the transfer. Hermana Moleli goes home in September.  Even though Riah wants to stay she said she is willing to go wherever the Lord wants her to go. In her own words she hashtags #lordswayorthehighway