Sister Bolliger - Visalia Week 27: "Chilly in good ol' Visalia", "Babylon in My Pocket", Many Miracles, Practicing Patience, Simplify & Understand!

"There is not effort without error and shortcoming."
- Theodore Roosevelt -

Times are getting chilly here in good ol' Visalia. Which means, of course, that Sister Baysal is finally feeling comfortable outside! Many things have changed and many have remained the same this week. Really insightful I know. Haha.

While insignificant, but wholly enjoyable, there are new phones that the missionaries are toting around! The Sprint LG Remarq is now the slidey phone for our use that is like having Babylon in my pocket. Haha. Quite a step up from our previous phone, we have a whole gamut of fun new ringtones that we are personalizing for investigators, members, and other missionaries. It's really weird having a full keyboard at my disposal when we don't text message. I was even a bit astonished at how I had forgotten to use intense technology!

We have stake conference coming up this weekend. Funny, as my first Sunday here in Visalia was stake conference! It's amazing how time flies when you are having fun!

We have been able to witness many miracles as we are diligent despite difficulty. This quote was shared by a missionary from this ward that just returned home and shared it in his homecoming talk. I frequently think of it now as I consider the daunting task of continually improving and following what the Lord would have us do. There are many many things I need to improve on and I am frequently able to reflect on what my purpose is not only on a mission but here in life. Many many things to do! I have loved reading 2 Nephi 31 and 3 Nephi 27 as they talk about the doctrine of Christ, really the things that Christ taught, the gospel that we are to follow here on earth.

We had our trainer and trainee meeting last Friday. There were 52 missionaries there! Almost a fourth of the mission! It was inspiring to hear these new missionaries bear their testimonies and talk about the miracles that they have seen thus far. It was odd as Sister Bayasal and I were the only sisters there. Apparently we don't have any sisters coming into the mission until late February? Ridiculousness!

I have been studying patience this transfer and have had many opportunities to practice it. :) What has helped so much is President Uchtdorf's talk from the May conference. It's inspired and I read over it often to help remind me of why I am here and what I can do to be a better missionary.

I think the biggest lesson of the week has been to simplify. I am realizing that the gospel is really quite simple. Our tasks are simple. Sometimes we take our eye off the mark and complicate matters. We have the tools to succeed. We have the means to apply the tools that we have been given. We know what we need to do. I have also been simplifying in my communication with other. The language barrier has helped me even more to be simple in vocabulary and thought which has really helped our investigators to more fully understand our message. I am just so grateful for all of these lessons that I have been learning!