This years Festival of Lights theme: D&C 31:3 lift up your hearts and rejoice. Our goal is to get 800 people to say yes to meeting with missionaries. Yeah, we're already preparing for Christmas over here.
I had a really special opportunity this week to reflect on what the VC has meant to me throughout my mission. The trainers had asked those of us who were here for Festival of Lights last year to look through our journals and find a miracle to share at training meeting. The miracle I found wasn't some foreign guy, some cute family, or anyone else the Lord put into my path, but rather it was the realization that I was a good missionary and Heavenly Father was proud of me. When I first got here I really struggled, specifically struggled with understanding my purpose in the visitors center. This was the experience I had one night during Festival of Lights: "Tonight has been amazing. I think that for the first time this season I've seen a glimpse of my purpose as a VC missionary. We talked with Kat who gave us her phone number. Dan Cox, who although he doesn't believe in God much, he continues to come back to the VC and kept taking with us even though he wasn't interested. And then we met Chet, a Methodist who has been researching the church a little. We got his email address and also had a great discussion about the atonement and how Christ helps us overcome our challenges. We read Ether 12:27 and it was just great! Heavenly Father just really blessed Sister Mendenhall and I with lots of opportunities tonight. I AM A GOOD MISSIONARY and it's all because of Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost." That was a really neat festival experience that not only touched me then, but also strengthened me as I shared it a few days ago. I felt so much love for missionary work (especially in the VC) as I shared that experience, and also felt so strongly that Heavenly Father is indeed proud of me. Proud of who I was, and proud of who I've become. I'm also grateful that sister Mendenhall was part of that experience and turning point in my mission. I'm definitely going to miss her when she heads home next transfer. As in 2.5 weeks.
~Sister Rowley
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