Hola!
We spent 4 days this week in Fort Wayne. Let me tell you about it. We had a zone meeting and zone conference (with the Porters). I would try to tell you about it but there was so much information my mind can't really sort through all of it right now so maybe we'll come back to that later. I will tell you that I got to see my Foxy!!!! :) And we watched a motivational video about our past year. Every stake in our mission exceeded the number of baptisms they had in 2012 in 2013! Did that make sense? Anyway, our stake had the most improvement, going from 21 baptisms in 2012 to over 55 baptisms in 2013!! Holy cow! This is, without a doubt, the hastening of the work. It's amazing to be a part of all of it. We have so many investigators we hardly have time to teach them all-- a problem I am definitely not complaining about!!
Saturday night we headed back to Fort Wayne for the baptism of an entire family. They have 8 children! 6 members of their family were able to be baptized and it was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had yet on my mission. They are such a strong family and you could see the light in their eyes after they were baptized. There were so many people at the baptism that it had to be moved into the chapel! And then the chapel was full! There was seriously more people there than we have in our branch at sacrament. It was wonderful. That's what this work is all about, you know? Love! People, families, coming together and supporting each other. I love seeing the member missionary work move forward. Two members of our branch and one of our investigators were able to join us at the baptism.. it was such a special night. I actually was able to teach the restoration with another sister after the baptism and the Spirit was so strong! Wow. just wow.
Saturday was also the #socialmediasplit! I hope you all got a chance to check it out and to share some of the posts! Our members were so supportive and I think had a little too much fun with it :) There were basically paparazzi at Ian's baptism! Which was also very special. There were so many people there we had to open the dividers! Elder Chambers and I sang When I am Baptized.. you may have seen that on Facebook I hear? And two of our investigators were there! Hooray! One of them has committed and is preparing to be baptized on the 7th of February!! She is so strong and is facing a lot of opposition, but she knows that this is the next step for her. Pray for her!
This morning as I was studying I decided to read one of my favorite talks I've been thinking about for a while, The Challenge to Become by Elder Oaks. As I read, I was filled with the Spirit of revelation and could hardly write my thoughts fast enough. After, I felt strongly that I needed to share this in my email today but I don't know if I'll be able to organize my thoughts so bare with me... Basically, we're not just here to be convinced of the Gospel. It's not even enough to go through the motions of the things we know we should be doing. Better yet, we are here to Become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not only to know and declare it, but to Do and Become. Elder Oaks says, "The final judgement is not just an evaluation of a sum total of our good and evil acts--what we have done. It is an acknowledgement of the final effect of our acts and thoughts-- what we have become." When all is said and done, what kind of person are you? Where is your heart? What are your desires? I know this definitely caused me to do a lot of thinking and soul searching. The tricky thing about all of it is that we have to lose ourselves to find ourselves. If we're focused on becoming this wonderful person, we'll only get caught in the trap of pride. We have to really learn to look outside of ourselves to become Christlike. And let's be honest, that's hard to do! But it's possible when we understand the Atonement.
Becoming the person my Father in Heaven knows I am has been the focus I've had for my mission and studying the Atonement has helped me toward becoming that person more than anything else. The better we understand the atonement, the better we can access it and let it change our lives.
In this month's Ensign there was a talk by Elder J. Christopher Lansing, "Enduring Well." He talks about struggling to run his family business after his father passed away. One night his father appeared to him in a dream and told him "Chris, we really don't care about the business up here. What we care about very much is what you become because of your business." Wow. That puts things into perspective, doesn't it? We are here to prepare to return and live with our father in Heaven (and our families!) and to become more like Him. That's it. Nothing else matters.This life was never meant to be our end goal-- it's simply a means to an end. So don't live like you're never going to leave!
Our family relationships-- even more than our church callings-- are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. Being a successful church leader is not enough-- we must be good mothers and wives, fathers and husbands. Exaltation is an eternal family experience and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it.
Mom and Dad, I can't thank you enough for exemplifying this for me. I have never met a better parent or spouse and my poor husband has some pretty high expectations.
I have a testimony that I am on this Earth to learn Heaven, not to earn Heaven. I am here to prepare to return and live with my Heavenly Father and my Eternal family by becoming more like my Savior Jesus Christ. I also testify that you all are here to do the same. I promise you that nothing else matters.
I love you all so much,
xoxoxo
Sister Kayla Rolfe
Sorry for rambling and not making sense!
D&C 123:17 has come up multiple times in my life the past few weeks.. read it!
"What we get during our life is inconsequential, but what we become in life makes all the difference."
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