Monday, September 23, 2013

Email 9/23/13





I sent off a big letter on Saturday so you should get that soon! :)

Erin, I got your letter! I was so excited to get it and I loved it! ^^ Im working on one for to send out to you soon! Could you give me your address or is it better for Mom to send it to you?

Jessie, here's the quote that you wrote in my book before I left that:

Teachability is Perfection

"Perfection seems to indicate a sort of end.
A final mastery of something.
But how boring would eternity be if there wasn't room for growth?
So, Perfection is about becoming one in purpose with God.
Therefore, we should focus on that, which is attainable by everyone no matter their level of education or mastery of skills.
Perfection is not an end.
It is not beyond us.
When Christ takes over and makes up for our weaknesses, we become Perfect.
So That relationship with Christ & our Heavenly Father is the most important step towards Perfection.
Perfection is allowing Christ to fill in the gaps.
We don't have to do it all by ourselves."


I love this quote and I have used it so many times in lessons and the reactions I have gotten from people have been so positive :)

It has helped me every-time I read it and it gives me strength when I'm feeling down. :)

I got sick the end of Friday. I am feeling so much better today because of much sweet care from my companion :) also the Elders were so kind to give me a blessing on Saturday. :) I really do appreciate the power of the priesthood and to know that the Elders were worthy to administer it. I felt like a proud mother. ;)



                             The pic's are of me and Sister Giblette one of the Sister Trainers that I spent the day with. :)

I drew Sister B. in a letter that she was sending to her friend and she bragged about my art skills. ^^

 I also drew her a pro drawing for her 4 month mark which was on Sunday. :) 



She Loved her "Mini Me" as she liked to call it .^^ haha! so fun!



We got a ton of paper work done while I was sick so that was a good thing that came out of me being sick. ;P haha! ^^

I love you all and am excited to hear whats happening!

I love and miss you a million tissues ;P


Love,

Sarah <3

Sister Patterson





Monday, September 16, 2013

Email 9/16/2013

We have been doing good! I am really getting good at where everything is in the area and who lives where! :D

We visited a less active member the other day when her family was over and they were all smoking and started asking us a ton of nit picky questions (they were raised in the church but all fell away). They started saying that Jesus was a Demi God and that there are more just like him on the earth today and some other questions about the priesthood.....My mind went blank!....

Sister Bingham to the rescue!!! She pulled out the Bible Dictionary on priesthood! My mind finally started working and at the end I just laid it down! "Hey you need to not be so nit picky and just pray about it! (they were the kind of people you could be blunt with). I know this is true because I prayed to know the gospel was true and I got this feeling like YES! How could it not be! So you should pray to know the answers to your question too!"

Oh, and we asked them, "Well have you read the Book of Mormon?"…them, "Not in a long time".. us, "Well...?" ;)

As we were saying goodbye, I shook one of the their hands and he said, "Keep the spirit with you!" Then I looked him straight in the eyes and said, "You too." He said, "I'm trying" :)

I ended up crying after we left... again... poor Sister Bingham, she deals with me so well. I think it was like a shock that came over me when thinking about the look in their eye's like a little child trapped inside crying for help but the "things" of the world make them doubt and it made me so mad at Satan. "He is one awful guy!"

I love the Gospel! It truly sets people free!

Love,
Sister Patterson



 Our seats in the car so funny how different we are! ^^ 

 A pic of me in the car and some trees changing color!










I had a cute outfit today! ;) 





Monday, September 9, 2013

Email 9/9/13


Thank you for you're letters they are just what I needed :)

Our area is doing well and we are starting to go to ARP (Addiction Recovery Program) with one of our investigators and she said that she really like's it! I really like it as well! I was so excited to hear from our District leader (Elder Bradford) that there are 98!!! baptismal dates for this month! :D WOW! His work is hastening!

I feel like I am here in this area for a purpose and I feel like there are some people that needed to hear my testimony and me their's. I love these people so much and I wish that they could see the potential I see in them. :)

Oh! we met with the the T family again (the couple that I said before that I was worried that I had offended) and she was super sweet and she had even taken the time to dig out her Patriarchal blessing and share a part of it with us about Missionary work. It made me so happy to see her reading it. :)

Love you a million raindrops,
Sister Patterson

It's raining right now! :)




Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Email 9/4/13





Here is that last picture's we took with the Elders before Transfers.

All of us with our Purses ;) Model pose! ^^


We got to meet our new Elders! Elder Morgan and Elder Flory :) They are really nice and we were able to go bowling with them and had a lot of fun getting to know them better :)

We saw a less active that we are working with at church this past Sunday!!!  He said that he came so that we wouldn't have to ask him if he came to church. He has social anxiety and and we suggested that he could come and just sit in the hallway and be able to get the sacrament at least but he was there and in the chapel. So he is doing so good! :D

I had an experience this last Friday at the (T) (less active couple) house.  We had had a really nice time visiting them and sharing our message when suddenly I got a prompting to tell them that they could also come on Sunday and sit in the hall to at least get the sacrament.  Sister (T) has social anxiety as well. We had planned to share our idea for a while but it never really felt right. Well, I guess the Lord was going to make it the right time because the my heart was about to burst out of my chest if I didn't say anything. It was a little awkward coming out at first but I quickly looked at Sister Bingham with "Help me!" written all over my face. She eloquently explained what I meant. She saved me! On the drive home, I cried tears of relief and fear. I was scared that Sister Bingham would scold me for bringing it up so boldly, that maybe it was not the best time, but most of all that I might have hurt Sister (T).

I told Sister Bingham about how strongly I was prompted and that if I hadn't said something, I would have regretted it. She told me that she was a little surprised but if I was prompted that's not for her to judge.  She was glad that we finally got to tell them.

Moses 6:31-34
This scripture is what I felt like and what has given me strength.
The Lord will justify my words if I am acting on His will.





I'm so happy that you read the book! (The Power of Everyday Missionaries) I knew that if I could read it, you could. ;) And thank you for your thoughts! You got to finish it before me! I'm only on chapter 3! There's not enough time in the day to do all the things that I want XP but yet I got a lot out of what I've read. :) It is amazing! 

We just got 2 new investigators and one of them is a 87 year old lady that we got referred to by Bob Shea and when we went to see her she had pictures of the Pope and the Presidents wife all over her door... Yeah we were a little nervous...haha! but she really surprised me! She was really nice and open to us! She is really lonely and loved that we would just come and talk about Christ. :) She also came to church and even though she couldn't hear part of the sacrament meeting, she really liked the Sunday school classes and got pretty involved in the discussion. :) We think that church is not going to be a hard thing for her. :)

Erin B. (a less active) left 2 bead necklaces in a bag on our door knob that she made. We were so surprised and honored. She is so sweet and creative!









THE DIGITAL MISSION


The Digital Mission is starting and they had all the Missionaries write a paper of something. I bet you can't guess what I chose...Yep that's right everyone, it's on DIVINE POTENTIAL! haha! ^^

Oh and by the way Jessie, I have used that perfection quote you wrote in my note book so many time's and someone even told me, "Wow! this should be on all the Mormon sights!...no seriously!" Thank you Jessie!

Mom I also have been using your conversion story and people really get touched by it. Thank you too!  And now I have my own story that I can use too! :)

Potential

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond belief.”

This is a part of a quote that I heard once. I have had times where I have definitely felt inadequate. For instance, I consider myself very creative, but when it comes to things more left brain…well I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed (or at least as sharp as I would like to be).

After hearing this quote, it really gave me chills and made me start to think of times when I would see someone who was struggling with something and my heart would reach out to them. I get a glimpse of maybe what God is thinking when he sees me struggling. It comforts me to know that I have a Father in Heaven who knows me, that knows my thoughts and the desires of my heart. He knows me better than I know myself.

I’m the youngest of 4 kids. Casey my brother is 33 years old and a professional sand volleyball player, getting ready to go to the next Olympics. Jessie my sister is 29 years old, a professional portrait artist, cartoonist, and designer. Erin, my other sister, who is 25 years old, is a professional mandolin player. Then there’s me, 19 years old. As you can tell, I compared myself with them. One day I thought, “I’m comparing myself to them after all their hard work!” They were at the same spot as me at one point in time. So instead of feeling like I was a failure and jealous, I started looking and admiring the hard work they put into their skills and applied it to me. For instance this made me think of Jesus Christ. He was born in a humble place but he realized his potential through seeing the big picture. He was a perfect person and example. Then I thought, would I be jealous of Jesus? No. Or would I see what he did and follow his example of hard work and kindness.

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints my Bishop called me to be a leader of the 12-13 year old girls. At the time I was 18. I was a kid myself, and I was supposed to teach their Sunday school lessons…talk about feeling inadequate! But like I said before I know that God knows what I can do, so I did it and trusted in the Lord. I feel like I learned so much in that time. My love for the girls and the Lord grew immensely. Those girls became my best friends, and I felt like they thought the same for me. So through this I learned to push myself to become a leader, a teacher, and a true friend. 

I have a quote I’d like to share that my sister Jessie wrote called, “Perfection.”

Quote: “Perfection seems to indicate a sort of end. A final mastery of something. But how boring would eternity be if there wasn’t room for growth? So perfection is about becoming one in purpose with God. Therefore, we should focus on that, which is attainable by everyone no matter their level of education or mastery of skills. Perfection is not an end. It is not beyond us. When Christ takes over and makes up for our weaknesses we become perfect. So that relationship with Christ and our Heavenly Father is the most important step towards perfection. Perfection is allowing Christ to fill in the gaps. We don’t have to do it all by ourselves.”

I have realized that when I work hard and try to keep perspective of God’s will I know what I can become. My deepest fear was that I was inadequate. But now through Christ I know that my deepest fear is that I am powerful beyond belief.



P-DAY FUN

We wen't bowling as a district! I'll send more pic's next time!
Oh, and bowling here is the Candle pin kind. so fun! ^^


Elder Morgan doing the peace sign :)

Elder Flory laughing at us Sisters :)


Love you a million investigators! ;)

Sarah (Sister Patterson)


P.S. We celebrated with DOUBLE STUFFED OREO'S for my 2 Month mark on Sep. 3rd!!! XD
It's gone by so fast!!! XD