Letter 1/25/15

Dear Blog,

This week was wonderful. We set some great goals and worked hard to achieve them. God really blessed us in this.

Today I really wanted to share some thoughts on prayer. You see, I took a little "check your progress" test this morning to see how well I'm doing on some fundamentals of missionary service (revelation through prayer, revelation through the Book of Mormon, revelation through church attendance, etc.) and I saw what I'm struggling with helping those around me understand. It turns out, I am not doing so good on revelation through prayer. So, I've been thinking about prayer. Did you, for example, know that prayer is a commandment? Did you know that prayer is a 2 way communication between you and God? Simply put, prayer is us talking to our Father in Heaven. We can spill out our heart in prayer; we can ask, thank, and just talk. As we pay attention to how we feel when we pray we can recognize answers to the questions we ask. If we ask a specific question we will receive a specific answer. Sometimes it isn't easy to recognize those answers because they can come in many forms--yes, no, wait, you choose, etc. But the most telling way to recognize our answer is through the way we feel. We should pay close attention to the thoughts that come to our mind and the feelings that come to our heart as we pray. We can pray in any time and in any place. Satan may try to stop us from praying, but we can ALWAYS pray to our Heavenly Father no matter what--and we should. These are some simple thoughts about prayer--what do you talk to God about? :)

Love,
Sister Short

1/18/15

Blog:

My thought for the day is this--because God loves us we will receive answers to our prayers. Don't give up. Keep asking and SEEKING and you will find. Because God's love for us is the reason for it all. 

Love,

Sister Short

 Thought for the day comes from the January Relief Society Visiting Teaching Message.  This is a quote from Elder D. Todd Christofferson, "As we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us.  Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life...... Obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create."  I love this thought!

1/11/15

Dear Blog,

I just have a simple thought today. It's the theme (if not exact quote) from a talk I've been reading. It's simple:

God has given you everything and has everything, The only thing he can't have without you giving is your heart and your will. That's all he wants. He doesn't really want your time--he gives you every breath; he doesn't really want your money--he gave you the whole world. What he really wants is you. Once you give yourself, then your sacrifice of everything else he asks is right. That's the point of it all. It's simple. 

Love,

Sister Short

Letter 1/4/15

(Hand written letter from Desiree sent Jan. 5, 2015)

Dear Blog,
     Today I'm just going to do what's on my mind for the blog.
     I think what I've been thinking about is how love is such a powerful thing.  Literally it binds people to each other.  I literally feel an ounce of love could fix a gallon of problems.
     Now don't misunderstand me - I'm not by any means perfectly loving.  No way. But I try again every day.
     We have a perfect example of love in our Savior.  He loved us enough to give everything.
     Everything in the Gospel makes sense because of the love of God.  It's the framework to the Plan of Salvation, it's the reason for the Restoration, and it's the point of the Gospel of Christ.
     The atonement itself - the center of all doctrine - is a supreme act of love.
     God is love - not the superficial, human, flaky mirage of love, but true, pure, perfect, eternal love.
     It isn't love to leave us to be whatever we want.  It isn't love to let us run wild.  It isn't love to be confusing.
     It is love to help us embrace our divine potential.  It is love to teach us wisdom.  It is love to reveal pure doctrine.
     God loves us so much.  He loves us so much that he sent his perfect son to be reviled, demeaned, rejected, and murdered.  Why?  Because he knew.  He knew what that sacrifice would mean to us.  He knew it would save us.
     Love has given us a way.  One way.  The only way.  Love has given us everything we need to know.
     Perhaps it would be best of us to reflect on the question Christ posed to His servant Peter on the shores of Galilee, "Lovest thou me?"
     Then, perhaps, it might be wise of us to reflect on the reply our Savior gave so directly, "Feed my sheep."
     As our heart fill with the selfless love of our Savior, our hearts are changed like unto his.  This is joy.  This is what we are meant to be.  May we each be so.

With love,
Sister Short

Letter 12/27/14

(Hand written letter from Desiree sent Dec. 30, 2014)

Dear Blog,
     So, news of the week!  We had transfer calls and I'm staying here with Sister Booms.  Backtracking though; this last week was Christmas and it was a lot of fun.  We woke up at 6:30 and opened presents.  Lots of wonderful people sent Sister Booms and I gifts.  It's so kind of people to think of missionaries - especially at the holidays.  We were very blessed.
     The most wonderful part of Christmas though is getting to Skype our families.  My little brothers especially have managed to not be so little anymore - they're young men!  Just seeing everyone made me so happy!
     It's moments like these that make me so aware of the love I have for my family.  I just can't imagine that much love to go away.  These feelings are part of how I know of the eternal nature of the family.  This much love can't just end - and it really doesn't have to.  I can't imagine eternity without them.
     If you don't really understand what this means yet, I would invite - and highly suggest - finding out for yourself.  It's of utmost importance.

                                                                                Love,
                                                                         Sister Short