Hey y'all! How are ya doing? I hope that your week has been good and that you have seen miracles in your life. This week has been quite a week. My new area is quite large in size, but in population?....not so much. So it has been an interesting week to say the least. But in reference to the title of this email, yes, we are being eaten ALIVE!!! The mosquitos here are RELENTLESS. I have about four bites on my face, and around forty+ around my body. Do I wish I was joking or exaggerating? Yes. I'm not. I think I might have gained 5 pounds in mosquito bites. But better those than bed bug bites. PRAY FOR A BEDBUG FREE SUMMER Y'ALL!!! PLEASE. ANYWHOOO.
So the Lonoke branch is amazing. All of the people are so so sweet and they are just so amazing. Every meal appointment that we have had this week they have not only fed us, but sent us home with leftovers as well. So sweet!!! Someone even sent us home with a pie.
This area is a little harder than my other areas, but all of my areas have had their own difficulties. I think here it is finding people to teach. But SWEET IS THE WORK!!!! We were told very last minute yesterday that we would be teaching the gospel principles class and we talked a bit about the war in heaven and about the pre earth life, one of my very favorite topics. But what I absolutely love about being a missionary is sometime you are teaching and the spirit totally works through you!!! As I was teaching I totally taught myself and I kind of had an epiphany. EVERYONE on earth CHOSE to be here. Nobody just thought, hey that seems like the easier path I'll go with them. NO, everyone on this earth made a decision to be here and to have Jesus Christ as their savior. I just thought, How can i not talk to all of my brothers and sisters about the gospel then? They all chose to be here, and they know this, they just cant remember. It is my DUTY and my great opportunity to share the gospel with my brothers and sisters. How can I, having this great knowledge, NOT tell them. It kind of blew my mind and at that point I knew that it wasn't me teaching, it was the spirit.
Everyone here in Lonoke is so excited to have sisters in the branch again. YAY!!! I love feeling needed. They all have welcomed us with open arms and open doors. The crazy thing here is that there have been some super crazy storms here, like MONSOONS! Maybe not quite like that, but it has rained so much, which means that the rice fields- (The primary export for Lonoke and Carlisle is rice. In fact, they grow the most rice in the United States)- flood which means more mosquitos, which means there are trucks that drive around town and spray bug spray. So crazy. That also means that the weather cools down the next day, so we have been having some great sunny-non humid days. YAY! Yesterday we went walked around Carlisle-which went pretty quickly with a lot of people saying they were baptist or busy, or both! Fortunately, we met a sweet old lady and we were able to talk to her and to say a prayer with her and she just looked at us afterwards and said, “Thank you so much”. I so appreciated that. AWWW. I love saying prayers for people. Also, someone tried to convert us to Catholicism. That was fun. I am so excited for this week though. We are going to work even harder and share with everyone the gospel that has blessed our lives!!!
I love this gospel so so much! I love the opportunity that I have to be on a mission and share it. I wish that everyone could have these experiences and feel the love you feel as a missionary, even for the people who slam doors in your face and say mean things to you. When those moments come, you just think, they are my brother or sister. I am so grateful for my family and the sacrifices that they make so that I can be on a mission. I am so grateful for my mom and dad making it possible for me to be here. They are amazing examples to me of Christlike service and love. They work so hard and they have always shown me how to love those around me and how to serve others. I am grateful for their examples of serving their missions as well.
I know that this church is true and I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer and that he died on the cross and suffered in Gethsemane for ME. I know that it is only through and because of him that we can return to live in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I know that we can always repent and come closer to God. I love the opportunity to repent, even though it hurts and it is hard, I feel that I am closer to God and I better understand His will for me. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it truly brings us closer to Christ and we can learn so much from it.
I wanted to share a scripture from my studies this week. In Helaman 10 I read about how Nephi went his way and pondered upon the things that the Lord had shown unto him.
Richard G. Scott said, Find a retreat of peace and quiet where periodically you can ponder and let the lord establish the direction of your life. I love that. I know before my mission I never let there be a quiet moment and I didn’t let room for the spirit to speak and guide me. I also love verses 4 and 5 in Helaman 10:
“Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.
5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.”
I want to be able to say at the end of my mission that I have declared the word with unwearyingness and have not feared men but feared God. I want to be able to say that I am so in line with what Heavenly Father wants for me that I won’t ask what is contrary to His will, or rather that I will follow the prompting that He gives me with courage and faith. I know it will take time, but I just loved those verses.
Well I love y'all and I hope that you have a WONDERFUL week filled with little miracle or great big miracles and that you will be safe and happy and healthy!!!
Love,
Sister Esplin
Ashley
Mosquito food
Declarer of the word
Someone who got food poisoning this week. Wah wah wah.
Working with the ASL with Sister Vitai
Mosquito food
Walking, knocking, and talking!
The sweet members in our branch sure do take care of us!
When you get sick
