Pioneer Day 2013 "Happy day ... All is well!"

"Not Alone" by Minerva Teichert

Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear;

But with joy wend your way.


Though hard to you this journey may appear,


Grace shall be as your day.


'Tis better far for us to strive
 Our useless cares from us to drive;


Do this, and joy your hearts will swell—
All is well! All is well!

Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard?


'Tis not so; all is right.


Why should we think to earn a great reward


If we now shun the fight?


Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
 Our God will never us forsake;


And soon we'll have this tale to tell—
All is well! All is well!

We'll find the place which God for us prepared,


Far away in the West,


Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;


There the Saints will be blessed.


We'll make the air with music ring,
 Shout praises to our God and King;


Above the rest these words we'll tell—
All is well! All is well!

And should we die before our journey's through,


Happy day! All is well!


We then are free from toil and sorrow, too;


With the just we shall dwell!


But if our lives are spared again
 To see the Saints their rest obtain,


Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell—
All is well! All is well!

go HERE to read the story of the beautiful painting above 

"The Lord is aware of all the details" (Hilary)

"Rescue of the Lost Lamb" by Minerva Teichert

Hi everyone! I love you all very much! I absolutely love hearing from you all every Monday. It is so exciting and it makes me so happy! Monday morning I sit on my bed (after having printed the emails) reading everyones emails smiling and laughing and my companion does the same.

Okay, I think a lot of my emails from last week arrived much later then I sent them. Like, I finished emailing Monday around 5:30 and they didn't show up for some people until like Tuesday... I don't know what that is all about, but just clearing things up so there aren't any questions about obedience. 

This week went really well. It was exciting and difficult starting over in a new sector. My companion was much less familiar with the area that we thought she was. But we have learned a lot about the sector geographically and are working hard to pick up the pace. A couple things we have been doing to work more effectively are 1. Planning Noches de Hogar (Family Home Evenings) with members and having them invite others, whether they are members, converts, less-actives, or investigators. It is helping us to get to know more people and helping them to build closer and stronger relationships here in the ward. It is a great tool. 2. We are also going through the carpeta and planning visits with all the recent converts. I have a strong testimony that when we feel the blessings of the Atonement and the Gospel in our lives, we want to share them with others. Converts are always a great source for references. This ward has been doing a great job of involving them, as well. The majority have callings and assignments, which is something I have always suggested in other wards. I remember studying a message by President Packer when he spoke about helping less-actives return to the church. We need to put more confidence in converts and less-actives than we do. There are a few families of less-actives we are also trying to help out. Thursday in the District Meeting we talked about how we have been called with the objective of "Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo..." (invite people to come to Christ) and that does not exclude those who already are members.

The investigators are doing well. The Hermanas' investigators were slowly progressing so we are doing what we can to help them and find new people as well. D is a young girl whose mother and sisters are less-actives. The whole family attended church yesterday and really enjoyed it. Another investigator that attended church yesterday is a reference we received this week. His girlfriend is a member and they are planning to get married. She has been a good support and helped by bearing her testimony. We have talked about the temple and they have that as a future goal.

This week we did divisions with Sister Marca and Sister Galdame. It went well, although we weren't able to spend the whole day with them. We accomplished goals and helped to encourage them and today when we saw them in the offices they looked like they are doing great. I absolutely love that part of this assignment and I have really felt grateful for all I get to do here.

One thing I have loved to do as a missionary is help others recognize their divine potential.

I have really felt Heavenly Father's love for me 

and I think one of the primary ways I can fulfill my assignment and objective 

is start out by helping others understand their divine potential.

Okay, a couple little things.

I am feeling a little better. I have gotten to the point where I can work, it is just uncomfortably. So, I will just do all I can and keep praying. I thank you all for your help! I loved reading about cute Adam. He is incredible. I really miss him a lot.  Fun to hear about Amanda! I love her! Hope they are all doing well!

OK, there was something else, but I can't think of it. Love you all! Thanks for everything!

Hermana Norton