June Roses in the December of our Day

Privyet! Feel privileged; you were just greeted in Russian :) Sister “Hart” from Armenia taught me!

Reports have been difficult to write for the past few weeks. We’re encouraged to keep our weekly reports brief, positive & uplifting. This report…might be what we like to call, short.

Tuesday morning we visited the Hope Gallery to see their collection of Carl Bloch paintings. After taking some time to browse the paintings, we had a testimony meeting. Earlier that morning I had been struggling quite a bit & was not feeling particularly Christ-like. This little field-trip helped me feel much better. One comment in particular stood out to me: Sis Gunter in regards to the story of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead, “Everything they could do, He let them do. Everything they could not do – He did.” I think she made a wonderful point. Christ lived with the bigger picture in mind. He knew how important it was & still is to have us do ALL we can. I found this extremely relevant to my being with Sis D. I’ve really come to realize how great an impact I can have as her companion.

I spoke with President Holmes yesterday. He said, “If she (Sis. D) were my daughter, I would rather have her pushed too hard – than too little”. I felt ever more comforted as he validated my concerns and “backed me up” in all my desires as a companion. I’ve been concerned lately that my expectations are too high, especially after some Sisters have called me mean – for having S.D. struggle to do some things on her own. He encouraged me to push her in every way possible & to maintain my high expectations. Thus allowing her to get out of her shell & see how much more she can achieve as an individual.

Tough love, baby.

We finally have made a baby-step of progress with investigators! Doug from Texas is planning on going to church on Sunday! He is amazing; he was headed down the wrong path & realized it in time to change his life around. He said, “It’s been getting’ up in the 100s lately & I think the place I was headed – is much hotter than that!” Hahahaha I am excited to see him progress in his walk towards a better life.

In case you were wondering where all the Texans have gone -- they’re here at TMSQ! Crazy!

I know Christ lives. I know Heavenly Father is mindful of each of our situations. I know that He does not give us more than we can handle, as we include Him in our efforts. The strongest testimonies are grown in times of strongest opposition. Who wants to stay the same forever? Let’s grow!

I don’t believe in “bad” days – just different days!

Sis A. Despain