We attended the AMAZING missionary farewell fireside at the mission office on October 16th. As we waited to see Sister Bolliger, several other people gathered too. I think we overwhelmed her a bit as she seemed pulled between realizing that it was nearing the end, crying in the car listening to a song her mission president played for the sisters departing, and seeing her parents and others waiting there. We got some fun hugs and then off we were to listen to a very spiritually rich fireside. Sister Bolliger recited the mission motto for all the missionaries to rise and repeat. Each missionary invited 1 person they worked with to share their testimony. Siser Bolliger invited Chuck but he was out of town on a family matter so he was not able to speak.
The others that shared their testimonies were amazing. The spirit was awesome!
Later in the program she bore her testimony. She mentioned how much she's loved the people and how she's developed a love for the gospel beyond an intellectual knowledge. She shared how seeing the atonement work in her life, the life of her companions, and those that she served was wonderful. The mission president spoke for the last 30 min. giving a stirring talk about doing God's - His work and being on God's - His team! Photos and hugs followed. It was such a special night.
The next morning we arrived to pick up Sister Bolliger. We put her things in the car and were invited in to a final prayer with the mission president, his wife, and all the missionaries departing. I cried through the prayer. It reminded me of being in the temple. We all kneeled in their family room. There was so much love, faith, devotion, and willingness to serve in that room. I LOVED it! It is a precious memory for me!
The Assistants to the President took the others to the airport and we drove over to the temple to visit. It was great. Later we went back to the mission office to get see Sister Jackson from our home stake arrive from the airport and take a photo. Sister Bolliger also got to see Sister Biasayl from Mongolia, Sister Croft, and others. It was a sweet treat though a bit misty eyed for Sister Bolliger. It was hard to leave and talk about completing her mission.
Saturday morning the family went to our Stake President's home so that Sister Bolliger could give her report, talk to him, and be released. She didn't like taking off her name tag right away. It was hard. She loved being a missionary and could feel the mantle of love it brought to allow her to see others and love them the way that God does!
Sister Bolliger spoke about the atonement the next day in church - her "homecoming!"
Favorite thoughts I jotted down from her talk:
Read Scriptures - it's a handbook of life - Book of Mormon
Faith is not just believing - but acting
Gospel challenges us to be converted to do and become who He wants us to become.
Atonement - God takes us wherever we are at and makes us better.
God knows us personally.
The atonement is for all of us!
The Holy Ghost is like a GPS - if we are not understanding the directions....
maybe the volume is down.
maybe we are in a place where we cannot get reception.
When we choose to NOT follow the instructed course, we hear "recalculating."
Pres. Gelwix taught "Keep on Keeping on!"
"If you knew the final score of the game, would you switch jersey's mid game?"
"We do know the final score!"
"Which team are we going to play for?"
Pres Gelwix also taught "Repentance is like weeding the garden. If you go to the root - everything is gone"
She shared about people she'd taught like Andres that prays wherever and whenever he can.
She shared about Chuck that studied and learned and hungered for the gospel.
Finally she shared about helping a companion that struggled to love herself and learning it is not our pace but the direction that we are going that matters! We are all imperfect people trying to follow Christ! 2 Nephi 31:20 "Press forward in steadfastness in Christ..."
Favorite thoughts I jotted down from her talk:
Read Scriptures - it's a handbook of life - Book of Mormon
Faith is not just believing - but acting
Gospel challenges us to be converted to do and become who He wants us to become.
Atonement - God takes us wherever we are at and makes us better.
God knows us personally.
The atonement is for all of us!
The Holy Ghost is like a GPS - if we are not understanding the directions....
maybe the volume is down.
maybe we are in a place where we cannot get reception.
When we choose to NOT follow the instructed course, we hear "recalculating."
Pres. Gelwix taught "Keep on Keeping on!"
"If you knew the final score of the game, would you switch jersey's mid game?"
"We do know the final score!"
"Which team are we going to play for?"
Pres Gelwix also taught "Repentance is like weeding the garden. If you go to the root - everything is gone"
She shared about people she'd taught like Andres that prays wherever and whenever he can.
She shared about Chuck that studied and learned and hungered for the gospel.
Finally she shared about helping a companion that struggled to love herself and learning it is not our pace but the direction that we are going that matters! We are all imperfect people trying to follow Christ! 2 Nephi 31:20 "Press forward in steadfastness in Christ..."
Christ revealed himself in his perfect form so we could have a perfect hope in him.
Again, she shared how she intellectually bought into the atonement before leaving to serve a mission. But now she feels it too!
She concluded with her testimony in Spanish.
It was a beautiful day.
This concludes the weekly updates on the mission of Sister Katalin Bolliger
Gratefully,
Sister Bolliger - the Elder :)
ps.
She's now a nursery leader working with the 18mo old - 3 years olds in our ward. Awesome!
No comments:
Post a Comment