Monday, February 28, 2011

Love through trials

Another week here in Aberdeen has come and gone. Aberdeen has proven to be quite the adventure. There is a different feeling here. There are a lot of what my companion and I have classified as "feelers" living here... as opposed to "thinkers." There's nothing wrong with being a feeler, but its definitely an extreme here. We have hard time getting appointments to stick, often our investigators forget. But alas, there is a good side to feelers. All you have to do is really love them. If you love them, they'll come. More importantly, if you show them the love they can feel from the Savior at church, they'll not only come, but they'll stay.

I'm learning a lot about love here. The Lord and President Bowen knew that there were a lot of things the people of Aberdeen could teach me. People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Someone said that to me early on in my mission, but it hasn't really sunk in til Aberdeen. It's been easy for me to love the people on my mission, but as I've reflected back, the people I've loved on my mission have loved me back, and often have loved me first. It's harder to love the people, when collectively they don't really seem to love you at all. The Savior, however is the master teacher, and He is showing me how to love unconditionally. I have an extraordinary companion, who exemplifies what the pure love of Christ really is. I'm grateful the Lord has me here right now.

Although it's been a challenging place for me, and will continue to be I know when it's hard that I'm growing and learning the most. That's when I really feel the most loved, not through the successes, rather through the trials. That's when I know that He loves me enough to let me struggle through and learn on my own. Which I'm realizing is a lot harder than just letting me be blissfully happy with success. I have so much to learn. I love you all and hope you have a wondeful week!

Love Sister Bradley

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