on the road again

"And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" -Matthew 8:20

Saying goodbye to Nyla.. our favorite 93 year old Mormon in Morgantown

For some reason this scripture keeps popping into my head as I think about the adventures Sister Turner and I have been having.  For the past 6 weeks we have been traveling throughout the mission, and we have just been transferred to Fulton.. the very Southwestern corner of our mission.  There are a lot of corn and soybean fields here.  We are currently looking for an apartment and for a phone.  Our area is very large, and we are probably getting terrible gas mileage because our car is still full of suitcases!  Life is just a bit chaotic these days, but the work of the Lord moves forward!  And along the way, are learning a lot about patience and flexibility.  We have so many wonderful people from the church who are taking care of us as well.

A few weeks ago we were teaching a woman who had joined us for one of our church services for the very first time.  As we asked her about her experience, she told us that as soon as she walked through the chapel doors "it felt just like coming home".  She has been in and out of different churches her entire life, and has been searching for a place that felt right; a place that felt like God's house.  She was overjoyed to finally have found the place. 

I know that no matter where we are living or how chaotic our lives get, there is always a home for us nearby.  I love being a part of a church that is worldwide.  I love knowing that I can trust members of the church who I've never even met before.  I love knowing that this is Christ's church, that His spirit dwells there, and that I always have a home (even if I don't have an apartment or a  phone).

how to find happiness

I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings true happiness. I also know that God wants that for each and every one of His children.

(Moses 1:39 and 2 Nephi 2:27)

promised land

Yes, I know I am a little late for Independence day.  But I never get time to blog anymore and I have been thinking about this all week, soo... I will write it anyhow :).

                                               This is a picture of my niece that I stole from my sister

I hope you all had a marvelous 4th of July.  I have been thinking about how truly thankful I am to live in a country that is founded upon the principles of freedom.  At this time in my life, I am particularly thankful for the freedom of religion.  Were it not for freedom of religion in this country, Christ could never have re-established his church through the prophet Joseph Smith.

You might say we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a fairly patriotic people.  Even though the majority of our members live outside of the United States, we are all indebted to the early leaders of this nation because they allowed for an environment that enabled the restoration to take place.  We also study from a volume of holy scripture that was written primarily in the ancient American continent.  We study from the Holy Bible as well, but The Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets in the Americas. 

These people, though far from Jerusalem, knew and prophesied for centuries about the coming of Jesus Christ.  And come He did.  After he visited the people in Jerusalem, he visited the Americas as a resurrected being.  The prophesy, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" in John 10:16 was fulfilled when he told the Nephites and Lamanites, "Ye are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are not of this fold" (3 Nephi 15:21).

Christ is the Savior of the whole world, and God loves all of His children everywhere.  Of this I testify! 

God bless America