The power of gratitude

It was another incredible week in Washington! The rain has passed and the waves of heat are rolling in! Summer is here for sure! This week we had a focus of gratitude in our mission. We were asked to have prayers of gratitude and write things we were thankful for everyday. It was one of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. To finish off the week, I fasted just to show Heavenly Father that I was so grateful for all the blessings I had been given. In Alma 45:1 it talks about fasting because we are just happy and thankful! As I was praying during the sacrament and telling Heavenly Father how thankful I really am to be in His service, my soul filled with complete joy. I have only felt this a few times in my life and it is indescribable. I knew that my Father in Heaven was proud of me and that I am doing a divine work. I know that if we show gratitude for all we have been given (the blessings really are innumerable) that we will have more happiness and peace in our lives, no matter the circumstances we are in.

We got to go with Omar to the Discovery Center and to walk around the temple grounds! It was a wonderful experience! He is hooked on family history and is so excited to be able to go inside the temple in a few weeks. I have never taught someone so prepared. We don't have to do really anything because he is just doing everything he needs too. He texts us every few days and says "I am still not drinking coffee. I am in chapter 14 of the Book of Mormon. I have work off tuesday and thursday. Come those days." Hahahaha! That is really the way missionary work should be. We are meant to be just assistants in the process of conversion, but the investigator should be the driving force.:) we are so blessed to have such a great investigator! We also taught Teresa this week and she commited to be baptized! She is another golden investigator that just soaks up the gospel! She has so many good questions. It is so fun to go teach her because we have tea parties (herbal of course) everytime we go over. She has lots of snacks and we basically eat food, drink tea, and discuss the gospel! Can't get better than that! So fun fact for the week. We are teaching a girl named Tatiana and she is a full blown hippie. Well she was telling us that to clean your body you should spend time everyday staring at the sun... hahaha... I asked her if that was bad for her eyes. Her response was that it was a myth that looking directly into the sun is bad for your eyes. hahahahaha! Funny moments everyday! Have a great week! Love you all! Don't forget to stare at the sun! Your Sister in Christ, Sister Northrup