Winslow Week Four

Hello, friends!! I CANNOT believe that The transfer is two thirds over. What's going on??

I got to go on exchanges in Joseph City on Tuesday with Sister Johansen and it was so much fun!! Sister Johansen is a firecracker. She's also so so sweet. Joseph City is a really neat little place! There are 3 wards in this tiny town because there are just TONS of members of the Church there and they a such good, strong members! That morning, we did service for a woman there. She's a young mom and she's been fighting breast cancer for about 8 months and oh my word she was an inspiration. She doesn't have a lot of energy at this point in her treatment, so we just came over to help her out with some cleaning. As we talked to her, she showed so much optimism and peace. She's seriously the most incredible example. Something she told us was that with a gospel perspective, you can't really be upset about anything that comes your way because you know that it's all just a part of God's Plan and will be okay in the end. She is amazing.

On Wednesday, I spent the day in Winslow with Sister Turpin and that was also so much fun. We were each other's sister training leaders so we just got to talk for a really long time about both of our areas and what challenges/successes we have had and it was so good. As a sister training leader, I get to spend time with so many sisters and it is truly humbling to learn from them. I'm really starting to understand how when God gives you a calling in the Church, it's really more because you probably need to learn something than anyone else you might get the chance to serve. I have noticed that a lot this week, just spending a day with Sister Turpin and SIster Johansen each. I learned a lot about ministering from them.

I can't remember if I mentioned Jackie (husband) and Jackie (wife), a part-member couple who we met a few weeks ago, in my last email, but we met with them again this week! We shared Light the World with them. I absolutely love Light the World, so if you haven't gone to lighttheworld.org to learn more yet, DO IT NOW!! Week One starts today! Light the World is such a great way to remember Jesus Christ, THE light of the world, all throughout the Christmas season. There is such a sweet spirit that comes into our lives as we look to Him and give as He gave!

Speaking of Light the World! Saturday, December 1st was the Worldwide Day of Service! We had the chance to go with our Bishop's family and rake an elderly woman's yard and then we visited another sister, Fran Bard, and helped her with some of the chores in her house that are difficult for her to do. I love doing service!! It just makes me so happy.

After we finished helping Fran we just sat and talked with her for a while and she told us about some of her crazy life experiences and things that have gone "wrong" in her life. She had the most amazing perspective! Like the woman I had done service for in Jo City, she told us that we really can't get too down about anything that happens because we know it'll all be okay in the end, no matter what! And she said something like this, "Many years ago, I was crying over a difficult circumstance that I had to go through and I thought to myself: 'You know, you're gonna laugh about this someday!' and then I realized, well, why not laugh now? It may not be a laughing matter, but it's no matter if you laugh. Life is going to be crazy and it's going to be hard, but God made us to have JOY and He doesn't want us to stay sad for long. Laughter is KEY." I loved that. I realized that I've wasted so much time in my life and on my mission being sad instead of just laughing it off. There are too many reasons to be happy to stay sad for long! The question, "Why not laugh now?" is going to stick with me for a long time. I love Fran Bard.

That night we went to Holbrook to hand out free hot chocolate during their big Christmas parade. With the hot chocolate, we gave people Light the World calendars and invited them to celebrate Jesus Christ's birth by serving like Him. It was so much fun because we were with a lot of the missionaries in the zone and everyone was so happy and we were all wearing these bright yellow hats that President and Sister Ackerman gave us that say "New Mexico Farmington Mission #LighttheWorld" on them and we probably looked really silly, but people loved it because we were giving them free hot chocolate while it was freezing outside. #LighttheWorld

This weekend we had a special devotional that was broadcasted to all the surrounding stakes from Tuba City. Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder Pieper of the Seventy, and Elder Larkin of the Area Seventy were meeting all the stake and ward leaders there for a leadership training meeting and they did a broadcast for everyone else as well. It was INCREDIBLE. The testimonies that wore born were so powerful. And it was really special because it was directed towards the people of this area, especially the Native Americans. Elder Pieper testified that the Book of Mormon is their book. He invited them to share it with their family members and friends and invite them to learn more about the history of their people. And he testified that they are a branch of the House of Israel and God is working amongst them to restore them, just as He promises He will in the Book of Mormon. In my personal study this morning, I was reading Helaman 15. Verse 13 says, talking about the Lamanites, the ancestors of the Native Americans, "They shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep." And I know that's happening! It's incredible. I love serving in the Four Corners.

Life is good and God is good!

Love,
Sister Bohman