Aug. 18, 2014

Sorry folks.  I really have been getting letters every week, and I really can't  believe I haven't updated her blog since MAY!!!!  BAD MOMMY.  I'll try to include them in a catch up post since this will be a memory book to print up when she returns.  We moved out from Sonora to Hollister, and that's been consuming a lot of my time.  Love this girl!

Oh, and the coolest thing!  Ariel and her new companion moved into this wonderful lady's house who just happens to be one of my BFF's aunts, who also lives two doors down from them.  I actually had a dream about this before she even went out on her mission.

Somebody texted me this picture this morning.  Fresh hair cuts.  THANK YOU!!!!

Hello Everyone!

I hope that everything is going well and that you are having a fabulous day! We have had a great week. A lot happened this week and i cant remember what. Good times. 

We are working hard and trying stay busy. We found 1 new investigator this week and she seems like a golden. So we are excited. We have our first appointment tonight with her. I was also able to go on one last exchange with Sister Christensen before she goes home at the end of this transfer. Im sad that she is leaving. She is such a incredible missionary and i have learned so much from her. This last week we were also able to teach a lot. We are teaching this one family that is just amazing. They are like the Smoley's a lot in a way that i feel that they are family. The father is also not a member. Its fun to go over there and teach and just really feel the love.

This week we also learned how to can. It was so much fun we canned and pickled beats!!!!!! YYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYY!  

So something that i have been thinking a lot about is how short this life actually is. I have been thinking about how a mission is a lot like a life and how we need to live or serve to our fullest potential. We have only a short time to serve as a missionary and how that short time goes by faster than we think and it can slip right out from beneath us. I read this story this week and i just love it so much. 

For you to feel that urgency, I first share the story of Noelle Pikus-Pace, oneof those Latter-day Saint athletes. In Noelle’s event, the skeleton, athletesbuild momentum as they sprint and then plunge headfirst on a small sled.With their faces inches above the ground, they race down a winding, icytrack at speeds that top 90 miles (145 km) an hour.

Remarkably, years of preparation would be considered either a success or adisappointment based on what happened in the space of four intense 60-second runs.

Noelle’s previous 2006 Olympic dreams were dashed when a terribleaccident left her with a broken leg. In the 2010 Olympics her dreams fellshort again when just over one-tenth of a second kept her from the medalstand.² 

Can you imagine the anxiety she felt as she waited to begin her first run inthe 2014 Olympics? Years of preparation would culminate in only a sliver oftime. Four minutes total. She spent years preparing for those four minutesand would spend a lifetime afterward reflecting on them.

Noelle’s final runs were virtually flawless! We will never forget her leap intothe stands to embrace her family after crossing the finish line, exclaiming,“We did it!” Years of preparation had paid off. We saw her Young Womenmedallion around her neck as the silver medal was placed there beside it.³ 

It may seem unfair that Noelle’s entire Olympic dreams hinged on what shedid during just four brief minutes. But she knew it, and that is why sheprepared so diligently. She sensed the magnitude, the urgency of her fourminutes, and what they would mean for the rest of her life.

We also remember Christopher Fogt, a member of the team that won thebronze medal in the four-man bobsled race. While he could have given upafter a devastating crash in the 2010 Olympics, he chose to persevere. Aftera fantastic, redemptive run, he won the prize he so diligently sought.⁴ 

Now, consider how your pathway to eternal life is similar to these athletes’“four-minute performance.” You are an eternal being. Before you wereborn, you existed as a spirit. In the presence of a loving Heavenly Father,you trained and prepared to come to earth for a brief moment and, well,perform. This life is your four minutes. While you are here, your actions willdetermine whether you win the prize of eternal life. The prophet Amulekdescribed, “This life is the time … to prepare to meet God; yea, behold theday of this life is the day … to perform [your] labors.”⁵ 

We, like these athletes have been blessed with talents and we have medals to win. We have a purpose in this life and we have prepared for so long to perform our four minutes. One thing that stood out to me in this talk was that Christopher and Noelle CHOSE  to persevere through their trials. I think that a lot of the time we lose that eternal perspective in our lives and we just think about right now  rather then where are we going and what do we need to do to get there. It is hard to have that eternal perspective sometimes but as long as we keep reminding ourselves and remembering the important things we will be alright. life is so short and mission life is so much shorter in the eternal perspective. We just need to stay motivated and how we do that is the primary answers. In the long run everything revolves around the primary answers. They are what keeps us going and what helps us stay on the right track. 

I know that if we read our scriptures every day then we can consistently have the holy ghost in our lives and receive revelation. I know that we need to have constant prayer in our life or else we are going to be lost. Heavenly father wants us to talk to him. He NEEDS us to talk to him. I know that Joseph smith restored the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth today. Aren't we blessed to have it in our lives and to be able to feel that spirit. 

Well i love you and i miss you. i wish i had more to report on this week but we dont. Next week though is going to be awesome. Today we have a sisters day and then Wednesday we have exchanges again. And we just have a lot of fun stuff planned.

Love you and miss you!!!!

Sister Ariel Dearden