This is an account of Sister Higgins and Sister N. and their journeyings in the land of Slovenia. Their sufferings in the land, their sorrows, and their afflictions, and their INCOMPREHENSIBLE JOY!!!
HI HI family!!!! Anyone want to guess what chapter I am in in the Book of mormon haha sorry that was so cheesey but this scripture defines my week! Incomprehensible joy after all my effort has been spent. I love it here. It is hard work but it is a motivational hard! My heart is full!
So this week has been... wet. hahahaha! We had thuderstorms all week here in my beautiful Celje. Something I LOVE about the European culture is that rain does not stop life! Everyone just grabs an umbrella haha. there are cute umbrella holders at every single door. These people have the cuteset umbrellas too! I want all of them haha. Something about the rain here... it doesn't stop haha. In Idaho it would rain off and on for a few hours and that was that. Here it literally rains non-stop haha....for 4 days! I loved it! You go to sleep with it pouring rain and wake up and it's the exact same thing hahaha.
This week we had exchanges with the Ljubliana sisters! Sister N. went to Ljub and I stayed here with Sister E. in Celje.It was a great exchange and I learned a lot! I learned how much I love Sister N. too haha.... I may or may not have cried as she walked out the door. I am SOO awkward......I have countless stories to share and I am sure Sister E. thinks I am so weird but it's fine. I honestly didn't know what I was doing; I felt so uncoordinated the whole exchange hahaha. It was awful haha. When I told my district about it after we were all back together we laughed so hard. I can't even describe what happened... but it was a really good experience! I went to Ljub to pick up Sister N. after and that was so much fun! Sister E. made me do all the talking to get the tickets and everything and it turns out I can do it! I grew a lot from the exchange!
Good news! I GOT A LETTER FROM MY MOMMA!!!!!!!!!! Oh it was so good! Thanks mom! It made me tear up! I love you!
Last P-day we went on a long hike to the tallest peak in Celje. It felt so good!!!!!! I loved being in these beautiful mountains here! It was physically trying haha but we all survived. It was definetely a HIKE not a walk haha but being sore was worth the view. After the beautiful, hot, HUMID (oh my word it is SO humid here, people), and sweaty hike, we rented bikes for 4 hours. we mountain biked to a village with about 7 families. It was SOOOOO cute! Exactly what I expected Slovenia to be! We saw some beautiful views and it was SO much fun to be on bikes! It was a physically exhausting P-day but probably my favorite one yet! SO MUCH FUN!!!!
Last week while making goals, Sister N. and I made the goal to find 2 Referrals. For those of you who don't know how hard it is to get a referral... that is like asking for Mount Everest to move. Literally. Sister N. has been on her mission for 8 months and has received 2 referrals total. Anyway, we decided it would be a cool goal to try for. We prayed sincerely every prayer to find someone and we asked EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON that we talked to. So Sunday comes around (AKA the day we report how our goals went) and we went tracting. We got not 2... but 3 referrals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MIRACLE!!!!!!! I loved seeing the Lord bless us for our efforts! And we showed Him our gratitude and faith by continuing to ask after receiving 2 and reaching our unreachable goal, and He blessed us with another one! Such a cool experience! I love missions!
A member in the Celje branch came home from his mission this week! SO EXCITING!!! Within two days of being home, he was on a lesson with Sister N. and I, and he was a wonderful fellowshipper! What an AMAZING example! He has been so great to be around! He knows English very well but speaks to us in Slovene. That is his way of showing us how much he respects our calls and how he feels about the language. I wish I could describe better....but his being home has been a wonderful example to me and the other missionaries!
This week I really tried to remember my Savior in all that I did and said. I read this quote "as we take Christ's name upon us, it is expected that we strive to emulate His attributes and change our character to become more like him every day" This really motivated me this week to be the missionary I need to be. The atonement provides the way not only for our behaviors to change but for our character and nature to change as well. In his talk, Brad Wilcox compared Christ's arrangement with us to a mom providing music lessons for her child. mom pays for the lessons so she can ask the child to practice. The child's practice does not repay the mom but is how the child shows appreciation for mom's incredible gift. It is how she takes advantage of the amazing opportunity mom has provided to live life at a higher level. mom's joy is not found in getting repaid, but in seeing her gift used and seeing her child improve. The purpose of practice has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change. I feel that on my mission. The miracle of the atonement is that by using it every day and striving to be better, one day we can dwell with God and know Him because we have exercised our agency to develop His attributes. the scriptures make it clear that no unclean thing can dwell with God, but no unchanged thing would even want to. Alma 34:32 says for behold this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God. This is our purpose. how comfortable do you want to be at the feet of your Savior one day? I know that if we do all in our power to develop His nature, we will in turn become more comfortable in His presence. It is our duty to be perfect! To improve each day and look upon our course last week and do things better today than we did them yesterday! It is a commandment to be perfect... that is a HIGH expectation! but "Grace is not the absence of God's high expectations. Grace is the presence of God's power." By relying on Him this week, I have grown. I invite all of you to strive to be reflections of the God we claim to love. Every ounce of effort we give to our savior is an investment in joy.
Well.. to je to (that is that)! It was a great week with lots effort given on my part. I felt the Lord's hand in my life and worked hard to show people how much I love my call. I really do have uncomprehensable joy! I love this humid green country! I love preaching this gospel! I love inviting people to come unto Christ every single day. I love my mission! and I love all of you! Have a great week!
Sestra Higgins
HI HI family!!!! Anyone want to guess what chapter I am in in the Book of mormon haha sorry that was so cheesey but this scripture defines my week! Incomprehensible joy after all my effort has been spent. I love it here. It is hard work but it is a motivational hard! My heart is full!
So this week has been... wet. hahahaha! We had thuderstorms all week here in my beautiful Celje. Something I LOVE about the European culture is that rain does not stop life! Everyone just grabs an umbrella haha. there are cute umbrella holders at every single door. These people have the cuteset umbrellas too! I want all of them haha. Something about the rain here... it doesn't stop haha. In Idaho it would rain off and on for a few hours and that was that. Here it literally rains non-stop haha....for 4 days! I loved it! You go to sleep with it pouring rain and wake up and it's the exact same thing hahaha.
This week we had exchanges with the Ljubliana sisters! Sister N. went to Ljub and I stayed here with Sister E. in Celje.It was a great exchange and I learned a lot! I learned how much I love Sister N. too haha.... I may or may not have cried as she walked out the door. I am SOO awkward......I have countless stories to share and I am sure Sister E. thinks I am so weird but it's fine. I honestly didn't know what I was doing; I felt so uncoordinated the whole exchange hahaha. It was awful haha. When I told my district about it after we were all back together we laughed so hard. I can't even describe what happened... but it was a really good experience! I went to Ljub to pick up Sister N. after and that was so much fun! Sister E. made me do all the talking to get the tickets and everything and it turns out I can do it! I grew a lot from the exchange!
Good news! I GOT A LETTER FROM MY MOMMA!!!!!!!!!! Oh it was so good! Thanks mom! It made me tear up! I love you!
Last P-day we went on a long hike to the tallest peak in Celje. It felt so good!!!!!! I loved being in these beautiful mountains here! It was physically trying haha but we all survived. It was definetely a HIKE not a walk haha but being sore was worth the view. After the beautiful, hot, HUMID (oh my word it is SO humid here, people), and sweaty hike, we rented bikes for 4 hours. we mountain biked to a village with about 7 families. It was SOOOOO cute! Exactly what I expected Slovenia to be! We saw some beautiful views and it was SO much fun to be on bikes! It was a physically exhausting P-day but probably my favorite one yet! SO MUCH FUN!!!!
Last week while making goals, Sister N. and I made the goal to find 2 Referrals. For those of you who don't know how hard it is to get a referral... that is like asking for Mount Everest to move. Literally. Sister N. has been on her mission for 8 months and has received 2 referrals total. Anyway, we decided it would be a cool goal to try for. We prayed sincerely every prayer to find someone and we asked EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON that we talked to. So Sunday comes around (AKA the day we report how our goals went) and we went tracting. We got not 2... but 3 referrals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MIRACLE!!!!!!! I loved seeing the Lord bless us for our efforts! And we showed Him our gratitude and faith by continuing to ask after receiving 2 and reaching our unreachable goal, and He blessed us with another one! Such a cool experience! I love missions!
A member in the Celje branch came home from his mission this week! SO EXCITING!!! Within two days of being home, he was on a lesson with Sister N. and I, and he was a wonderful fellowshipper! What an AMAZING example! He has been so great to be around! He knows English very well but speaks to us in Slovene. That is his way of showing us how much he respects our calls and how he feels about the language. I wish I could describe better....but his being home has been a wonderful example to me and the other missionaries!
This week I really tried to remember my Savior in all that I did and said. I read this quote "as we take Christ's name upon us, it is expected that we strive to emulate His attributes and change our character to become more like him every day" This really motivated me this week to be the missionary I need to be. The atonement provides the way not only for our behaviors to change but for our character and nature to change as well. In his talk, Brad Wilcox compared Christ's arrangement with us to a mom providing music lessons for her child. mom pays for the lessons so she can ask the child to practice. The child's practice does not repay the mom but is how the child shows appreciation for mom's incredible gift. It is how she takes advantage of the amazing opportunity mom has provided to live life at a higher level. mom's joy is not found in getting repaid, but in seeing her gift used and seeing her child improve. The purpose of practice has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change. I feel that on my mission. The miracle of the atonement is that by using it every day and striving to be better, one day we can dwell with God and know Him because we have exercised our agency to develop His attributes. the scriptures make it clear that no unclean thing can dwell with God, but no unchanged thing would even want to. Alma 34:32 says for behold this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God. This is our purpose. how comfortable do you want to be at the feet of your Savior one day? I know that if we do all in our power to develop His nature, we will in turn become more comfortable in His presence. It is our duty to be perfect! To improve each day and look upon our course last week and do things better today than we did them yesterday! It is a commandment to be perfect... that is a HIGH expectation! but "Grace is not the absence of God's high expectations. Grace is the presence of God's power." By relying on Him this week, I have grown. I invite all of you to strive to be reflections of the God we claim to love. Every ounce of effort we give to our savior is an investment in joy.
Well.. to je to (that is that)! It was a great week with lots effort given on my part. I felt the Lord's hand in my life and worked hard to show people how much I love my call. I really do have uncomprehensable joy! I love this humid green country! I love preaching this gospel! I love inviting people to come unto Christ every single day. I love my mission! and I love all of you! Have a great week!
Sestra Higgins