Panthers to the Super Bowl! (and I'm being transferred)

Well folks, I'm getting transferred! I knew it was coming, but it doesn't make it any less hard! I was blessed with one more transfer here that I didn't think I was getting though! Everyone says leaving your first area is the hardest and it is the truth. It's like going on a mission all over again! I feel like all of my friends and family are here in Wilmington, and I have to leave them, again.  Ugh.  But I can feel that it is my time.  This area has seen a lot of ups and downs, but it is definitely growing!  Members are becoming more involved and excited about missionary work, people are being found, the work is still moving forward.  I can see the potential of this place just on the horizon!  I'm excited to see what will happen.  So, no I don't find out where I'm going until tomorrow at transfers.  All the information I have is "the North,” so there is a possibility of Raleigh, Apex, or Durham or even into South Boston, Virginia.  Sis. Michael says Durham.  Who knows! 

I would also like to devote this next paragraph to Sister Michael.  I love her so so much.  Our relationship is more like people who've known each other forever, not just 3 short months.  We sure packed it all in these past 3 months! We have just had so much stinkin' FUN.  Missions are fun people who knew?!  We can laugh and joke and still preach the gospel with the spirit.  I have loved learning from her and with her.  She has taken the best care of me possible.  I will miss her tremendously.  She will be going home after this next transfer. So I won't get to see her like I do other missionaries occasionally.  But I know we will be seeing each other again!  Any person who gets to know Sister Ellen Michael is a lucky one indeed. 

I have learned so much from my time here in Wilmington and I was reflecting on it this morning during my studies and tried to sum it up a little:

1. What missionary work really is: Calling and planning and some more calling and planning. That is the truth! Nothing happens in missionary work without a goal and a plan. I had no idea the time we spend planning, but it is definitely worth it. 

2. What it's like to be patient: Of course I'm still learning and relearning this one for a lifetime.  I'm noticing in my self that I have started to just let go of the things that just don't matter.  That person does things that way, so what?  Your companion loads the dishwasher with the spoons facing UP??  Yep that doesn't matter.  You companion decided to read an entire Restoration pamphlet in Spanish one night?  You know, she just needed to do that. 

3. Recognizing weaknesses & Repenting of Sins:

I don't know if ya'll remember me talking about this, but I read an article in the Ensign about how weakness is not a sin.  It totally changed my perspective about everything.  I beat myself up over a LOT of things, until I learned that a lot of it was just weaknesses, that I was not required to feel guilty for, but required GRACE.  I have terrible anxiety just going up and talking with people.  That is not a sin, but a weakness, and with the help of the Savior, I am working on that weakness and becoming much more comfortable with it!  Jesus Christ's Atonement is incredible. 

4. There is a difference between wanting things and having faith: 

I am still working on this one.  I WANT to find people to teach.  I WANT to baptize.  I WANT to be a good missionary.  But just wanting isn't really enough or what it's all about.  It's about Faith.  Having faith that if you are worthy, Your Heavenly Father will guide you through His spirit to those who are prepared to hear your message.  Faith that all things are in His hands.  Faith that you are doing His will.  Faith that your investigators will progress.  I'm telling ya this is so difficult, you can say it and you can hear it a thousand times, but it is so much different to put it into practice. 

5. I am learning what love is:  I have come to truly love people I never thought I would ever come to even know. Loving people is definitely not easy, there are times I just want to give up on em’. That's where that patience comes in. Patience and love go hand in hand don't they?  It is always, always, always worth it to love someone. 

Wilmington, I love you and I will miss you!  I am excited and a little bit terrified to see what is in store for me next. Love ya'll!

 
P.S. Hayley is in Wake Forest, North Carolina (not to be confused with Wake Forest University, which is in Winston-Salem, NC.)