Letter 7/28/14

This week has been a very interesting week! So, anyone that knows me knows I can't exactly sing....but guess what?! The Spirit totally makes that okay! Haha! Okay, let me explain: we were looking to get some referrals yes? So we went and asked members who they knew who could use an uplifting song/hymn. Then we went and sang to the people! It was so fun! The Spirit was so strong that it sounded actually good! And funny thing--it really worked! 

I have a really wonderful thing to say! So here in Bentonville there is this amazing art museum called Crystal Bridges! We went there today and looked at some of the BEAUTIFUL art. This is such a tender mercy to me--I get this sense of serenity looking at beautiful art that I hardly can describe. It's peaceful and gives me a calm and a constant little smile. I felt so happy! I am so grateful to God for that tender mercy.

Lastly, I wanted to tell everyone something really important to me. I wanted to talk about loving someone for who they can be. This requires us to look at someone through the eyes of God. This requires not limiting someone based on their current religious background or their appearance. This requires the heavenly attribute of UNDERSTANDING. I bring this up because here in my area my companion and I are meeting with a woman who is Wiccan. Literally she is a witch. Now some people would dismiss her for that. She's felt that before. She's experienced that in some of the worst possible ways. But still, she is kind. She has a wonderful heart. SHE IS A DAUGHTER OF GOD. I pray that each of us will take the time to pray to understand this a little more, to love a little easier, and to see people through the eyes of eternity. We need to do this if we are to bring souls to Christ. Truly God loves each and every one of us. We give because our love compels us to try to give everyone all that we enjoy.

Love,

Sister Short

Letter 7/20/14

Ok, so fun story! I just go transferred to Sugar Creek ward. It is in Arkansas still, but just barely. The Lord has been really very kind to me. Want to know why? Because I am a part of a Bentonville ward. Bentonville is nicknamed "mini Provo" because of the high (relatively) population of LDS people here. So basically, what happens is Walmart recruits students from BYU (accountants for example) and lots of them come to work here because Walmart headquarters is here. Literally when you go to church you feel like you're back in Utah. But the nice thing is that there are a lot of non-members around too so the ward is REALLY missionary-minded and awesome! I have felt very welcomed and loved

. 

My new companion is named Sister Lavea. She is a really cool mix of Tongan, Samoan, and Caucasian. She actually speaks Tongan!!! She grew up in Utah too so she's like a sweet bilingual. So hopefully I'm going to see if I can pick some of that up too. I'm a sucker for a bit of language learning....

Since coming here I have gotten to have some really cool experiences. First, we are teaching a really nice Korean man and so I got to pick up some basic words in Korean. We are going to teach him more English and I'm so excited! 

I truly feel like God has given me a tender mercy to come here. I'm excited to see how hard I can work and how much we can get everything to move. 

Well, I think that's all for now!

Love,

Sister Short

  Thought for the day comes from a talk by Elder W. Craig Zwick titled, "What are you thinking?'  In Ephesians 4:29 it says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but (only) that which is good (and) edifying, that I may minister grace unto the hearers".  Solomon counsels in Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger".  A "soft answer" consists of a reasoned response - disciplined words from a humble heart.  It does not mean we never speak directly or that we compromise doctrinal truth.  Words that may be firm in information can be soft in spirit.  The willingness to see through each other's eyes will transform "corrupt communication" into "ministering grace."  The Apostle Paul understood this, and on some level each of us can experience it too.  It may not change or solve the problem, but the more important possibility may be whether ministering grace could change us.

Letter 7/13/14

So sorry everyone for being so spotty the last few weeks! It's been hectic. I got a little sick (the kind that makes you  REALLY tired even though you're not really that sick) so I didn't do the best job being put together speed wise to write everyone.

You know, I've learned something the last few weeks here that I thought I knew but didn't. The Lord really speaks to us in really special ways-- if we are paying attention. Heavenly Father has blessed me greatly and tenderly so much in this area. He has led me to people who truly have an open love of God. Most of these people are open and ready to accept the Gospel. I have seen the joy of hearing the restored gospel so starkly here.

We have met some who, for whatever reason, are not ready to accept the Gospel yet, and yet I keep hoping that the right missionaries will come along to give it to them. I pray for it.

I have seen so much. This last week, one of the Karen people who has fantastic English, came to the ward for the first time since moving in. He has agreed to come and translate every week. This makes me so happy! I want them to have the restored Gospel so much!

The Lord has provided ways . The Lord is preparing the world for his words . I can"t wait for the day when Clarksville, AR has a Karen ward! I can't wait for every humble heart to have the words of God sink deep into their souls.

I love this living Gospel led by a living God through living prophet on the earth. I love how it makes so much sense and feels so good--and all this knowledge comes from exercising enough faith to search and know. "Ask and ye shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened unto you." We pray and then we act.  Over and over we do this until one day the answer comes. I hope and pray that everyone will seek out the truth--will study the Book of Mormon. That each person will ask some missionaries how that book came to be and then they will read and see the goodness of that book. I pray everyone will just ask God and see. Truth like that can only be obtained through the Spirit. So ask.

I hope everyone who knows me knows how much this Gospel means to me. Imperfect as I am, I never gave up asking until I knew one way or another. God told me. If you really want it, God will tell you too. 

Love, 

Sister Short  

 Thought for the day - 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind".  God hath not given you the spirit of fear.  That comes from the adversary.  The Lord has given you the power of love, and a sound mind; the power of the priesthood, the power of your call, love for the gospel which you teach, for the people you teach, and for the Lord.

Letter 6/29/14

This week has been mostly uneventful, except one thing stands out. We are teaching a lady named Desirae. We taught her about the temple (just a little) and she got SO excited! She said it looked like a Frozen castle! She asked, "Can I just take a peek inside? It sounds like heaven on earth!" Her reaction was so pure and beautiful. It really helped remind me what it's all about. We do everything so that we can be together in happiness with our families for eternity. That is the point.

Love,

Sister Short

Letter 6/8/14

So this week I've learned of God's tender mercies a lot.

First, there was that mix-up with transfer calls, I can only imagine what a nightmare it would have been had they not caught that before transfers.

Next, after feeling like I wasn't making near the difference I wanted to, God let me know that I was. A member in our ward here told Sister Powell and I that they had never felt like any missionaries that they had met had ever remembered (they didn't even remember the names of the missionaries that baptized them), but this member told Sister PoweIl and I that they would remember us. They said that we did missionary work the way that they thought missionary work was meant to be done (I give credit to Sister Powell’s unconquerable spirit and work ethic). But, really that meant so much to me.

Those are just two instances from this week. God is so kind.

Love, Sister Short

Letter 5/25/14

An awesome thing just happened! I was here emailing at our community center, and I hear this man getting really mad in the background. He is really upset and swore and then like hung up. It was one of those you-could-feel-the-steam moments. Awkward. Then the Spirit says "Sister Short, you should go see if he is okay." Uhhh....well I'm wimpy so I squirmed a little. Then, I took a deep breath and prayed for bravery and walked over.

"Hi," I shook his hand, "I'm Sister Short. Are you okay?" From there we talked to him for a long time. We shared a scripture and prayed with him. But overall, we just listened. We gave him a chapter of the Book of Mormon to read and we will be meeting with him later this week. I am so glad I listened to the Spirit!

That brings up another subject. This week we had what's called Zone Training (a big long day of instruction). The huge thing President taught us during our interviews was about asking inspired questions and listening. Basically, the person we are teaching leads the discussion. We guide, but we allow that person to lead the lesson where THEY need it to go. It requires us giving up our own control quite a bit, and we have to listen really hard, but I LOVE IT! It's really a beautiful thing to let a lesson go exactly where the person needs it to be--to work hard not to hinder it. I love it!

Well, I keep learning and keep working on being better.

Sister Powell and I laugh all the time. We keep the joy in the work.

Love,

Sister Short

Letter 05-18-14

Some weeks are just different. This last week was one I think. I feel my heart very apparently. We are working with some members who are Karen--they are refugees. They don't know a lot of English so we are trying to teach English to as many as we can. They work so much! It hurts to not to be able to communicate the simplicity of the Gospel the way I want to. It hurts to not be able to give them the beauty of the Book of Mormon as freely as I want. You see, there is no church material to order in Karen. No Book of Mormon, no Gospel Principles books. So, in order to share it, a Karen person must be bilingual. I am realizing more and more how much I love and rely on that book when I can't have it--I can't give that to everyone. Where would I be without the Book of Mormon?

Not here. My conversion is so bound to the Book of Mormon that I can't imagine going without. How would I have truly felt faith without Alma the Younger and his conversion of the Lamanites? How would I known of true conversion without the people of Ammon? How could I have known fearlessness without Moroni and his strength in the Lord? Alma, Abinadi, Nephi, Alma the Younger, Helaman....too many to name. How would I have understood the Spirit without that steady flow of spiritual input? How would I have known Joseph Smith was a Prophet without realizing that this couldn't come from a man--it was too good. And with all the claims (the First Vision, the angels,...) it would have to be true because "no good man would write this book, save it were true..." (Elder Holland said something along those lines, quoting his Grandfather I believe, in a talk a while back). How would I have known without "experimenting upon the word"? (Alma 32:27-29) Honestly, I don't know how I would have. I don't know if I would have. No, I wouldn't have. What a terribly sad thought.

But this I know--with God all things are possible. Early missionaries went to foreign lands with only the clothes on their backs and a Book of Mormon. We have Karen people with beautiful English here; people wanting and willing to learn; a reading program designed by very intelligent people to help speak, read, and comprehend scripture in English; we have a wonderfully willing and helpful ward; we have visuals and videos and other aids. We have all these things. Those men with only clothes and a Book were able to spread the Gospel into longing souls. With God there is a way--God's way. All we need to do is not hinder it.

So, we work slow and steady to teach them English and teach all we can (explaining scriptures, principles, prayer, etc.) and just praying so hard that we can help. We search for all who are ready; we seek to share this beautiful message. We pray we can help. We just want to help so much.

My last thought is this--we have so much going for us. We are educated. We have the Book of Mormon in our Native tongue--in it's pure first translation through a Prophet of God even! We have churches nearby, loving neighbors, and the technology to help (using such things as lds.org). We have everything going for us. How can we justify not truly diving into the Book of Mormon? How can we justify not asking the Lord--not reading to see the goodness of it? Not knowing the story of Joseph Smith and understanding the repercussions of it? We can't. Please take this chance to look for yourself--it's more important than I can even express. I know it's true and I am so happy because of it. Please, I want you all to know too.

With love,

Sister Short