April 23rd, 2018 Ye Are Only in the Service of Your God

Well hello there my favorite people!

The highlights of this week are as follows:

1) We got to help out with the food pantry drive at Urbana 1st Presbyterian Church! Usually we do behind the scenes stuff organizing and doing inventory, but this week was when the people came through and it was so fun to welcome them in and have a luncheon afterwards. One guy had a Captain America shield pop socket and we really bonded over that, haha. Aaaaand now I bought one today, because he told me where to get it cheap! 

2) Wednesday we taught Brian Bidner again! He is more and more talkative every time we meet, and is really sincere. He said the biggest thing the Book of Mormon has taught him so far (having finished 1 Nephi just now) is "the reality of God." I loved that. The Book of Mormon truly is the most tangible evidence the world has that God exists, among many other things :)

3) We got a good start on making Sister Gillies's very own Restoration cups! Those are really helpful with teaching younger kids or ADD adults. And anyone really, it helps me follow along better too!

4) We taught new investigators, Belva Shipley and her son Phillip Shipley, who are both the friendliest people you'll ever meet. They both have a firm belief in God and Jesus Christ, and are very open to our message. And they live right below members of the ward! It's funny how it usually turns out that way...

5) The elders accidentally crossed into our area and found a family that wants to learn more! Yay for random miracles!

6) We were blessed with two mangos, some kind of pork steak or someat, and a closet of new clothes from a very wonderful sister of one our wards. So many food miracles I've had on my mission! No complaint from this girl!

oKAY, spiritual time. So there's this famous scripture in Mosiah 2:17 you may or may not have heard: "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." 

In Relief Society class yesterday we started thinking deeper about *why* that is. Why is it service to God to serve my next-door neighbor? A few mothers talked about how grateful they are for the people that watch after and protect their children. I thought of how happy my parents are when me and my siblings got along, and how unhappy they were when we didn't!

Heavenly Father loves each of us with the love of a perfect father. We are all his children, therefore we are all brothers and sisters. His love is so immense, so complete, that all he cares about is our happiness. So when we watch out for each other, lift each other and bring each other happiness, we are fulfilling our Father in Heaven's greatest desire. I can only begin to comprehend that kind of love, but I know it's there, and I've felt it for myself when I was lost (and still do every day) and for those around me when I try to do His will--which is to help them feel His love!!

As Jesus once put it, far better than I could:

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Another simple way to put it: Love is not spelled L-O-V-E. It's spelled T-I-M-E.

I'm thankful for the time the Lord has given me, and for the time I can give back to Him!

YES my thought was about love again. Deal with it ;)

Speaking of, love you all!!

Sister Fluegel

Pictures:

We got Frozen yogurt for comp inventory! 

A pretty blue sunset :)

I love my Slytherin mug...and hot chocolate.

April 16th, 2018 Are we worth the tragedy?

Hello all! It was warm this week, in the balmy upper 70's, and now there's snow on the ground again! Gotta love the midwest!

Great things going on here. Fun stuff, like car troubles and freezing walks in the park, then more spiritual stuff too. I had a really good interview with President Bateman, and learned even MORE about love this week. So sorry if my kumbaya emails are getting old, heehee, but that's something I want to talk about again :D

This week we met with Brian, an investigator we've been teaching for a few weeks. He's almost finished with 1 Nephi, and prayed about it, and told us on Wednesday he believes the book of Mormon to be true! We've also seen a slow but steady change in him--he now wants to quit his job (that requires him to work most of Sunday) and find a better one. We've been meeting at member's homes with him, and hopefully will help him get to church soon. 

The zone leaders tracted in our area and found a woman named Belva who is interested in learning more. She's looking for a church that she feels at home in! We found her a ride with a member who turned out having a lot in common with her. I love little miracles like that. Unfortunately, she didn't feel good enough to attend yesterday, but we're grateful the elders found her and hopeful about helping her learn more.

On the other hand, a young adult named Ted we were teaching stopped talking to us the past few weeks. Sister Gillies and I really felt like he was going to get baptized, and I still feel like that. But we reached out the last time to him this week, and decided to drop him. It was a hard thing, because I feel he was one of the people I needed to teach on my mission. But, like the Wolf family in my first area I guess, I was just meant to teach for a time. I truly believe Ted will receive the gospel one day.

So this whole month the theme for me has been the pure love of Christ. I have been focusing my prayers more on expressing my gratitude and love for God, my Savior, and those around me. In return, I'm filled with more love and better able to serve. Then yesterday in church a speaker talked about how tragedy is an inevitable consequence of being, and then posed the question, 'Is being worth the tragedy?' 

His talk was about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He said that "love is the acceptance of 'being.'" So, in atoning for our sins and breaking the bonds of death--the ultimate act of love--he forever settled the question, 'Is our existence worth the tragedy?' 

Our existence is worth so much to Him! Worth all the heartache, mistakes, weakness, and tragedy. And when we love, we place another's existence as 'worth it' too! As I took the time to really ponder that in Sacrament Meeting, I received a gift. The Lord opened my eyes, and for a few precious moments I looked at all the people sitting around me and had a glimpse of their true individual worth in the eyes of God. 

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be *one soul* unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" 

The worth of one soul is great in the sight of God! And though I've not labored all my days, and I've been blessed to bring more than one soul unto Him, there is at least one more soul I have yet to reach. One by one, the Lord moves his work forward. I'm grateful to be helping in the small ways I can.

I love you all <3

Sister Fluegel 

April 9th, 2018 Another Week??

They seem to speed by faster and faster! I don't have too much to update you all on. Sister Gillies and I spent Wednesday in Springfield on exchanges (and ate at the 2000th Chick-Fil-A), and Thursday in O'Fallon at an amazing Zone Conference. Besides that, we've been on the finding trek and at the moment, still a'trekkin!

I think one of the many, many, many reasons I was called to serve in the St. Louis, MO Mission was to learn from President Bateman, the mission president. I've grown so close to him and learned so much from him. He always seems to say exactly what I need to hear! Recently he taught us some simple but profound truths I'd like to share now with you:

"Obedience is the price." If we want all that Heavenly Father has, all that he is willing to give us, we need to receive it. Receive is an action word! If you could buy it, what would you pay for it? And yet, happiness can't be bought with dollars or gold. The price is obedience.

"Faith is the power." I don't know about you, but doing the right thing isn't exactly easy for me. Sometimes it's the hardest thing I could do! But as we grow our testimony in Jesus Christ, he gives us "grace," a power that changes us and helps us accomplish all he's asked of us. That power comes because of our faith.

"Love is the motive." Nothing happens, not for long, without love. It's the fountain of living waters that springs up inside us, the fuel that never runs out. I talked about this last week; every motive fades, except love.

"The Spirit is the key." On this, I'll quote from President Nelson: "Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses – yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.” Does God really want to speak to you? Yes!"

Last night I decided to follow the prophet and listed my concerns, fears, weaknesses, and longings of my heart in my journal and prayed over them last night. To put it shortly, I had an amazing experience.

And finally: "Christ is the Reason." He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. He lives! He is the reason our lives mean anything, that we can stand up each time we fall, that we can one day stand blameless before God. He is the reason I do this every day.

Obedience is the Price

Faith is the Power

Love is the Motive

The Spirit is the Key

Christ is the Reason

I love you all! 

Sister Fluegel ​

April 2nd, 2018 April Showers...or Blizzards?

What a time to be alive!

If you watched General Conference this weekend, I'm sure you'd be inclined to agree! Or if you were in Illinois and experienced the same amount of snowfall we did on Easter...April Fools from mother nature!

Here's some of my favorite quotes/principles from whay was taught this weekend (from my notes, so excuse the paraphrasing):

"Life can be full of happiness and joy if we exercise even the smallest particle of true faith in Jesus Christ!" 

"God sanctifies your most difficult days. He will not desert us--it is not in his character."

"Success is growing from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm."

"Christlike attributes cannot be refined without the furnace of affliction."

"When we're through changing, we're through!"

"Follow the prophet. He is not standing between us and the Savior--he is standing by our side, pointing the way to the Savior!"

"We all have today to live. You are, that you might have joy."

"We need each other to make it back to our home in heaven. All of our paths are different, and yet we walk together."

"Love is the true sign of a disciple of Jesus Christ."

"The world's values and morals are quickly heading downstream and we will be carried down with them unless we are consistently paddling upstream."

"Stretch beyond your current ability to receive revelation! There is so much more your Heavenly Father wants to tell you!"

"Jesus Christ's greatest miracles are yet to happen!"

"With love as the motivation, miracles will happen."

"Jesus Christ gave all, that we might receive all."

Alright, I'll stop there. I don't know about you, but I've been spiritually fed, and I truly cannot wait to study and prayerfully apply what the Savior has revealed to these inspired men and women to tell the world. 

In other news, I'm still kicking, Sister Gillies and I are having a ball, and I love you all!! 

Sister Fluegel 

Pictures:

#1 Ellie at the Easter party we went to already walking in her mother's footsteps

#2 We decorated more eggs with a family! This one is a baby egg...I named him Charlie ;)

#3 The largest hill in the county...no joke.

March 26th 2018 And Winter Came...

That's actually a title from an Enya album, but I thought it fitting for the current weather. There's a bunch of snow outside!

I was looking for a few old photos from a year ago and saw a title from last March: "I'm Dreaming of a White...Birthday?" Well, this year the weather spared me a week or so before the March blizzards hit, lol! Good ol' Midwest.

Funny enough, I wanted to share the same message with you today that I shared last year in that very email. I said it better then I think than I can now. Easter time is full of bunnies and candy, but I hope you make it a time to draw closer to Christ. 

From me, a year ago: "He definitely went on a mission, and it was much harder than mine. He was spit on, mocked, driven out, and viewed as a blasphemer. Even his disciples, who followed him, didn't really become converted during his ministry. I struggle, and then I see how he struggled, and how even the moment before he went into the garden to suffer, he prayed to the Father in his disciples' behalf. Jesus Christ is the example of a perfect missionary: bearing all things with patience and love, thinking of himself very little, having the welfare of others always on the forefront of his mind. I have put aside my self-filled life and dedicated myself to his work, and yet I still struggle to stop thinking about myself! 

That's the point of being here, though, on this earth. The best way to find yourself is to first lose yourself in the service of others. Any of you who struggle with a weakness, a trial, a doubt or three--let's be honest, that's every single one of us--and find yourself unable to overcome it, I would recommend the same cure Christ does: love. The more we help others, and love one another, the better we're able to overcome. That is why love is the first great commandment--through it, all good things are made possible. 

The more I serve others and forget myself, the more of myself there is to find."

My testimony of these things has only grown this past year since. I learned this week that the word "God" derives from "good," so when I say "God is good" I'm actually making no sense, because his very name means that! Haha. The scriptures also tell us that "God is Love," and I think not enough people remember that, myself included. Luckily, the Lord is pretty good at reminding us if we'll just listen!

Speaking of listening, there's this great thing called General Conference you might have heard of. It's happening this weekend, I invite every single one of you reading this (yes that means YOU) to check it out Saturday/Sunday and just see if you don't love it ;) link: https://www.lds.org/church/events/april-2018-general-conference?lang=eng&_r=1&cid=HP_TU-13-3-2018_dPFD_fCNWS_xLIDyL1-B_

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Fluegel 

Pictures:

#1 Comp Inventory is always a blast

#2-3 What we walked out to Saturday morning

#4 The Champaign district!

#5 Winter Wonderland!

#6 Shoveling 8 o'clock at night