March 23, 2016 - Wednesday in Nauvoo

Challenges are always plentiful when you are trying to do the right things.  Here in the mission field some days are just more challenging than others.  I can now compare that to life before and after a mission.  It is how you deal with the challenges that will make the biggest impact in our lives.  I am finding that the Lord is really trying to put me through the refiners fire, and I keep pulling back away from the flames!  I am trying to be more open and obedient in my consecrated time and service here.  It is important to be tuned into what the Lord needs me to do even as it comes at inconvenient times.  Schedule changes and denied requests seem to be the top challenges for me, but I am getting better at trying to be more flexible.

Like today.  I had the challenge to train two new missionaries in the Seventies Hall.  Both Elder Rober and Elder Winegar were assigned to be with me.  I had the all day shift assignment and they had an opening shift and a closing shift.  It actually worked out very well.  I got to review the basics of the Seventies Hall and then gave tours so that they could get a feel as to how I did them.  And we had some great visitors today with lot's of teenage young men and young women.  It was a perfect combination to help these new Elders learn the key messages associated with the Seventies.  (See Luke 10:1)

Mom and I were asked to be the greeters this morning for the weekly training meeting.  The mission president did not want to impact the training time, when he wanted to introduce the new missionaries, so we were all asked to come 30 minutes earlier, at 7:00am.  Mom and I arrived at 6:30am to fulfill our assignment there.  We learned about each new couple, 8 this week, and then we sang a special mission song.  Then we had the training portion.  

After the meeting, mom was scheduled to be a wagon narrator and I had the assignment at the Seventies Hall.  Well, there was sickness in Carthage so the schedulers asked a sister to go out to fill in.  This sister did not want to go so she suggested mom go out.  So mom did not get to be the wagon narrator, something she has really enjoyed doing.  Instead she drove to Carthage by herself to fill the assignment.

We closed the day with a temple session at 6:00pm.  It proved to be a long day, but the temple session took a little of the challenge out of the events of the day.  Never a dull moment!  It really is important to sacrifice who we are for who we can become, even with the associated challenges!