Hi people I love!
What an amazing week! I feel blessed every morning as I wake up and know I am exactly where the Lord wants me to be and I know thanks to the white hand book, exactly what He expects of me that day. It has been one of my most favorite things on my mission to experience that each day. This week was no different.
When I wrote you last week, I was in Sarajevo, Bosnia on exchanges. For P-day, we went to where they had the Olympics years ago. It was actually kind of a sacred feeling there. I felt the Spirit. We went to the old bobsled run and the old ice skating rink. They are both in ruins. We hiked up the bobsled run and admired the graffiti and trees growing through it. It's like a grave yard of dreams in a weird way. I thought about how many people trained their whole lives to compete against the best in a place which is now in ruins. It reminded me of the talk "Your 4 Minutes" given a few conferences ago. I feel like I gained some eternal perspective as we hiked the run in the quiet peace of the Bosnian mountains. I really needed that! People keep asking me questions like "What are you doing your first day home?" or "When will you get a phone again?" or "What food do you want to eat first?" or "What are you going to wear home?" ...and I mean, I get asked those questions all the time, so I was even thinking it was an important thing to think about... until I was there in Sarajevo. Until I remembered that my "4 minutes" in the Adriatic North Mission are almost up. The talk talks about how you train your whole life to perform in the Olympics for about 4 minutes and then the rest of your life is spent reflecting on that short time. I realized that when I look back on my final month I don't want to remember thinking hmm... I wonder when I will see so and so again or how should I do my hair for my talk at church? I want to remember that I was fully focused! I want to remember thinking "Wow... I love my morning studies. I want to keep that up forever." or "My relationship with my Savior has grown so much here... what goals can I set to keep it growing back home." I really feel like that P-day brought such an eternal perspective to my final weeks here.
The exchange was great! I love Sister Deschler! She is coming home with me and it was nice to see how two experienced sisters work in a wonderful city. I love love love Bosnians.
We met lots of great people this week including a mom who has 6 children! I am so excited to show them the gospel! We were able to handle some persecution like champions and gave away many precious copies of that sacred Book of Mormon. The thunder storms in Bosnia might beat the coastal storms in Rijeka. I absolutely love the sound of the thunder rolling through the valley. Yesterday, while contacting in a storm the wind got pretty crazy, so we sought shelter at a park on the river bed... while sitting there waiting out the worst part we watched a canoe boat race on the river. People here are ripped! Reminds me of my dad! :D
I loved hearing about your week. I saw many tender mercies this week because I felt the prayers coming from the same location in the world. I had peace knowing you were all together in Idaho enjoying each other and celebrating Grandma's life. One of those I did not realize until I read my letter from mom today. On Friday night before bed, a song jumped into my head... a hymn. I don't know how many of you know, but that means a lot to me. I have received many answers to prayers by music and felt the Spirit that way throughout my mission, so when it happens, I pay attention. So Friday night, I pulled out my hymn book and read the lyrics to the beautiful hymn "Lord, I Would Follow Thee." I sang it to myself and pondered the meaning... turns out that you all sang that at Grandma's funeral! Wow. I bet we were singing it right about the same time.
I feel it a pleasure to be here in Bosnia. I love God's children. I really really love them. I love teaching them of His love and His Son's life. I love watching the gospel become alive in people, including myself. I really have been touched by the Spirit this week in unspeakable ways. I love you all!
С 'љубављу, сестра Хиггинс