July 31st 2017

Hello friends and family! 

I feel like way too many things have happened in the short span of seven days! Times like these my brain works best in list form, so:

1. We had a mini missionary with us! This is my second time, and I enjoyed the experience just as much and I hope Sister Nebecker did too. She already knows she wants to serve a mission, its so awesome how she's already preparing for it. Sister Mayne and I learned a lot from her and we saw so many miracles happen together! Small ones like getting a whole lasagna when our fridge was empty, and big ones like our investigator Joell!

2. So Joelle, who is the mother of a recent convert in Sikeston, has had quite a few lessons with missionaries. But this time she called us out of the blue and said she really feels like this is what she wants to do and what is true. Yesterday she came to church and loved it :) She committed to praying about a date to be baptized, and we're so excited for her!

3. We had a lot of extra miles (thanks to having a ride to Zone Conference!) and got to reach out to the farther parts of our area...and ended up lost on some dirt roads, haha. It was gorgeous though. There are so many places around here so few people in the world have ever seen! I feel privileged.

4. An awesome Pioneer Day activity that the ward put on! Video blew ;)

5. Last but not least, we had a wonderful Zone Conference up in St. Louis! What I learned? My mission president puts it very succinctly: 

"The act of "gaining eternal life" is an act finding. We gain eternal life as we earnestly seek after, find and discover Jesus Christ and His gospel (John 17:3; Romans 2:7; 2 Nephi 33:4; D&C 132:24). In our quest for eternal life the Lord also asks us to not focus on ourselves, but go and diligently find his lost sheep (Matthew 16:25; Luke 4:18; James 5:20; Mosiah 4:26; D&C 18:14-16; D&C 31:5) - when we do this, we are found as well.

As we "lose ourselves" in the process of finding Christ and serving others we will "find ourselves". We will discover who we really are in relation to God. We will uncover the talents that the Lord has given us. We will "find" peace to our souls (Alma 38:8). 

In the act of serving God and losing ourselves--we find ourselves! I am a living witness to the truth of that. Never have I understood who I am more than now. 

Love you!! 

Sister Fluegel 

Too many pictures...make up your own captions ;)

 

 

July 24th 2017

Hello friends and family! 

Last week this library computer got funky and froze up on me, and now this week I forgot my camera! Just can't get the best of both worlds these days...

This week taught me a lot about the purpose of life. Yes, we're here, to learn and to grow, but why did it have to be this way? Why did we need to come to earth, to not remember our heavenly home, to experience trials and have weaknesses?

I don't have all the answers, haha, but I really feel God's love for me and for everyone more than I ever have before. He wants us to have everything he has--because he's our father!--and feel the joy he feels. And that means experiencing two very important things:

1. A body! We experience so much joy from having a body--yummy food, heartfelt hugs, smelling roses, you name it! 

2. A family! Heavenly Father's greatest joy is to have and help his children. That is his work and his glory. To feel a portion of that, we have the opportunity to grow up in and be a part of families here on the earth :)

Of course, these two things also involve a lot of trials, weaknesses, and tribulation. Everything good, I've learned, is also very hard. Being on a mission for instance can be rough--especially when I think of my wonderful family and how important they are to me.

But my family and I are sacrificing a year and a half of being together--so that other families can be together forever. That's worth it all.

Love you!!

Sister Fluegel 

July 17th 2017

I am happy to report both Sister Mayne and I are staying together another transfer!

It was awesome to go to the temple together and also personally, to feel the serene and quiet joy inside of it. It was my first time in the St. Louis temple, but immediately upon stepping inside I felt like I was home. 

My computer this week was pretty dodgy, so I couldn't write more :( Enjoy some pictures!!

Love you all,

Sister Fluegel 

 

 

 

 

The Highest Motivation July 11th 2017

Hello everyone!

4th of July was AWESOME except that everyone was a little tipsy by 11 in the morning, which made proselyting hard, and then the whole town left to the firework display of a different town, and our cars had to be parked! Which made proselyting harder!!

We made some chalk ads in the downtown area though, which was a good time :)

Sister Mayne and I are headed to the St. Louis Temple in a few, and we're so excited! It's been almost six months since I went, which feels like way too long.The Spirit, this feeling of peace and joy that can be found there, is worth the long three-hour drive, this short emailing session, and so much more! 

I recently read a story about a family who saved up for twenty years to pay for the trip it would take to get to the nearest temple--back when there were maybe ten in the world to go to. So much of their lives and livelihood were given up to reach that highest of goals! And yesterday Sister Mayne and I also had the chance to sit down with one of our neighbors, who grew up visiting the Oakland, California Temple and has always wanted to go inside. We were actually just about to get in our car and leave when I felt the Spirit very strongly prompt me to suggest we visit her instead, and I'm so glad we did. She has so many questions and has been waiting her whole life to find some answers. 

At times our days aren't so exciting, of course, and once Sister Mayne and I turned to the scriptures for comfort and guidance. We read in Alma chapter 43 of the Book of Mormon, in which two armies fight a mighty battle! One side has more numbers and a lot of anger, but the other side was made up of men fighting not for their lives, not out of duty or anger or revenge, but out of love.

Love is the highest motivation! Fear can motivate us, social pressure can compel us, but in the end being motivated by love is what helps us succeed and reach our truest potential! The first great commandment is to love God with your heart, soul, and mind. 

The first great truth? That God loves us. That has motivated me to do a lot of things I never would have done for myself--and I'm a lot happier for it. 

Love you all <3

Sister Fluegel 

Tons of pictures to make up for last week!!! Don't have time to put a description, make your own up if you'd like ;)

 

 

Look Towards the Temple! July 3rd 2017

This will be a short one, I'm too busy emailing you all individually! Haha.

Sister Mayne and I had a hard week mostly due to things out of our control, which can get a bit frustrating. Funny story, though: we had a VERY hard day and decided to get some icecream--but Sikeston doesn't leave us many options. Sister Mayne's GPS was at a loss as well, taking us to the middle of a neighborhood where a Wendy's was supposed to be! HAH! But it figured itself out and we finally got our Frosties...and a jr. baconator, while I was at it... 

As my father would say, "it tastes great going down but lands like a BRICK in your stomach!"

At the same time we experienced so many miracles, mostly ones I didn't feel very deserving of! The biggest one was one of our ward members Sister Rowe bringing her niece to church and asking us to teach them the Restoration during our gospel principles class! What an awesome opportunity it was, and her niece Beverly was interested to learn more.

What really got her interested was about how the Priesthood of God has been restored, bringing back as Matthew 16:19 puts it "the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." Things such as baptism and marriage aren't just acts we make on earth--we're bound to them in heaven when done with priesthood authority. Beverly wants to be with her family forever. I want to help her get to the temple--I want everyone I have and ever will meet to enjoy the joy and blessings that are found there.

I'm excited to be going there myself next week, so emailing will happen on Tuesday!

Love you all!

Sister Fluegel

Pictures: My camera won't connect :((

Rely on the Lord! June 26th 2017

Wow, what a week! Get ready for a long email! 

I don't think I've ever worked harder as a missionary than the past seven days, or seen so many blessings. One of the coolest experiences was starting and ending a fast with Robbie, who so badly wants to turn his life around. When we ended it together he said he felt different the whole day--not just physically, but spiritually--but couldn't really describe it. On our end, we were hungrier probably than I've ever been fasting, but also got more done than I ever have weekly planning! Usually our brains turn to much about an hour in, but we somehow powered through! Not somehow--it was definitely a blessing.

Looking back on the week--and on the many, many weeks of my mission thus far--I see that the more I put my heart and mind into this work, not just my might and strength as it puts in D&C 4, the more I can *see* the blessings of the Lord. Living the gospel of Jesus Christ means every second building and exercising faith in Him, repenting, and promising Him to live better. 

A man we're currently teaching over the phone (we're finally meeting him this week I think!) asked about repentance when I bore my testimony about it--he asked, "Isn't repentance kind of...scary?" 

To be honest? Sometimes it still does feel a little scary. If you think about just you, of your own effort and will, admitting everything you do or have done wrong and then never doing ANY of it EVER again...well, that's impossible. Seriously, it is.

Heavenly Father knew that. He knew we couldn't do this on our own, so he sent his only perfect child to do what the rest of us never could. When we rely on Jesus Christ, he changes us. I love the story of Nephi, a young man with amazing faith in the Lord, bound in cords: 

16 And it came to pass that when I, Nephi, had spoken these words unto my brethren, they were angry with me. And it came to pass that they did lay their hands upon me, for behold, they were exceedingly wroth, and they did bind me with cords, for they sought to take away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.

17 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound.

18 And it came to pass that when I had said these words,behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet,and I stood before my brethren, and I spake unto them again.

He asked for strength to break his bonds--but instead the Lord loosed them! 

We are living in a world where we are taught every man for himself. I've seen that a lot in my own life. I try all on my own to be stronger, more obedient and more worthy of a servant to my God, but always fall short, and wonder if my aspirations are even possible! 

Truth is, they aren't, unless I turn to the one who can take my sins and weaknesses from me and make them strengths. Jesus Christ makes everything possible--he makes repentance not only possible, but a joy and a privilege. 

Don't wait till tomorrow to repent and miss out on the blessings of today.

Love you all!

Sister Fluegel

Pictures:

#1 Set up shop finally in Sikeston

#2 A media referral took us to a storage unit...anybody inside?

#3 I HAT U. Gotta love Missoura'

#4 Our stake center's got a pretty cool door

#5-6 Midwest skies!!

#7-9 End of the month means getting creative with our food...