"I'm In The Same Building As Jason Aldean!" - Sister Robison

Hey Ya'll

I'm going to be honest. This week was a bit of a bummer. But, that's okay! Not every week can be sunshine, daisies, peaches and cream. 

At the start of the week we helped a member with an Avon Convention event she was putting together. We spent two days setting this thing up and helping out at the event. We served food and drinks, gathered plates, and gave out awards. I was put in charge of giving drinks to people: water, coffee, or sweet tea. I felt like such a hypocrite. Here I am a representative of Christ, going out everyday teaching people the Word of Wisdom, and giving out coffee and tea. It was a learning experience. But! In the same building they had this Avon event in, Jason Aldean was going to perform that night in the auditorium next door. We got to see them setting up the stage, all the seats and Sister Robison was jumping up and down for joy. She's a big time Aldean fan :)

For the rest of the week we did our best to work and teach as many people as we could. It rained a lot, but we decided to go out tracting anyways! A lot of people weren't home or they weren't interested, but like Henry B. Eyring once said "It's always going to be the door after the door that you decide to give up." The very last door we knocked on a man named Jimmy answered. He was so sweet and interested in hearing a message, but told us his wife wasn't feeling well and to come back another time. He told us before we left that he'd gone to Taiwan a few years ago and had seen Elders there and wondered who they were and what they were doing! The Lord works in mysterious ways. We also were able to teach a man named Jackie. Several weeks ago we'd gone tracting before we needed to call it quits that night and knocked on his door. He told us he was a Christian and not interested. A week later we're tracting in another neighborhood, knock on one door, and a truck starts to pull out of the driveway. It was Jackie! He told us that no one was home and then said "Wait! Aren't ya'll Later day Saints?" We told him yes and he said "Ya'll come back over to my house, I'm interested in what ya'll have to say." We weren't sure what made him change his mind, we were actually thinking he wanted to bash with us. We stop over and meet his sweet wife and we teach them the Restoration! He said the first time we met him he thought we were Jehovah's witnesses, but then he remembered we'd said "Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". It was a really neat experience. 

Well, this is the last week of the transfer. This Saturday we find out if Sister Robison is staying or leaving. I am not excited for her to go, if she does, but I trust the Lord and know He will send us where we need to be. 

I hope ya'll have a fabulous week and know that I love you

Love, Sister Mason 

Teacups, New York City and Belated Valentines Wishes

Hey Ya'll 

We had such a very good and busy week! I hope that ya'll had a wonderful Valentines day and spread the love of Christ to all.

 Thursday was our Zone Conference, so we got to hear from our beloved President Hanks. Sister Allred and I sang a rendition of 'Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)' and I think it went fairly well. 

Sister Robison and I were able to meet up with a lady we met back before Christmas named Dana. She drove us out to Wren so we could go to a Youth Group meeting at her church with her. They fed us hamburgers and she introduced us to all of her church members. They were all so friendly and sweet. After that they had a worship service. It was different. I'm so glad that I am a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cuz we hold all of the truth. But, it was really good to see her again and an experience that only strengthened my testimony of the truthfulness of this church. 

Yesterday we stayed in Tupelo all day at church and meetings and then tracting until it was dark. It was incredibly cold, but Sister Robison and I stuck it out. We met the sweetest lady ever! Her name's Miss Ivy. She let us in because it was so cold and we got to talking and ended up staying for quite a while getting to know her. She's visited with Elders before but wasn't interested. After talking to her and getting her to open up to us she said we could visit her any time! She keeps a collection of teacups and had recently visited New York. So she let us look at all of her pictures while  traveling there and has converted me to the idea of visiting there someday! It's going to happen! Before we left she gave Sister Robison one of her teacups and gave me a travel guide to NYC! Sweetest thing ever!! 

And, here's a God thing. It was starting to get darker and it was really cold, and we didn't have anywhere to go to eat dinner. We talked about praying that Heavenly Father would send us a miracle and someone would let us in to eat dinner with them. Not even 10 minutes after just talking about praying for this miracle, Tupelo Sisters call us and say "Hey, we just felt like we needed to call and see how ya'll were doing" When we told them that we were still out tracting they said "What! Are ya'll hungry? Hey, we'll bring ya'll some food and ya'll can eat at the church." MIRACLE!! Not even that! I had been craving for some toast and guess what they brought along with our meal! TOAST! God is so good. He is so mindful of His children and I am so incredibly grateful for it. 

I love ya'll so much and hope that you know that your Heavenly Father is mindful of you and your needs. Just keep pressing on! The future is as bright as your faith! 

Much love, Sister Michaela Mason 

Sick, but Steadfast

Hey ya'll! 

Boy, this week Sister Robison has not been feeling good at all. I haven't been feeling too hot either, but not as bad as she has. So, this past week was tough and not as productive as we would have liked. But! It ended really well this past Saturday and Sunday. 

Aside from not feeling good I have had some personal battles of my own. After deciding that I want to be a more consecrated and steadfast missionary, giving my all to the Lord, the adversary sure got onto me quick. Which is a no brainer cuz every time I've ever decided that I needed to make some changes in my life that would bring me closer to Christ, Lucifer has never wanted that for anybody! So, in all honesty, I was pretty down in the dumps. No matter how hard I tried I just could not be happy. One day I just cried and cried and cried over stupid things that didn't matter at all. My focus was not on missionary work, I was comparing myself to other missionaries and their successes and I did not have an attitude of gratitude or any positivity. After my cry fest I went to bed that night and said to myself "Tomorrow is going to be different! I am going to be different! Things are going to be better than ever before, and I am going to smile and be happy about it!" And guess what? They were! I woke up and forced a smile on my face and said a prayer to Heavenly Father to thank Him for helping me get over myself and move on. Saturday and Sunday were the best days I've ever had on my mission so far! The Tupelo elders came out to Amory to give a few of our progressing investigators priesthood blessings which was such a spiritually uplifting experience. On Sunday I gave a talk about following the Savior and ways to "Come Unto Christ" which gave me the opportunity to open up more to the members. And now matter what happened while we were out tracting or contacting I was so happy. 

I owe it all to the Savior. In Ether 12:27 it reads  "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble;"  the Lord showed me my weaknesses and the things that I needed to work on through the 4th Missionary talk that I read. Having a change of heart and  a new out look on my mission, Satan really did not want me to change. But, I didn't let him get me down, and now I am so happy. I know that there are going to be days ahead that are long and tiring and I might have a few more cry fests. But I know my purpose here and I am going to give everything I have to the Lord and lose myself in the work. There a great poem by Henry B. Eyring called "The Fellowship of the Unashamed" The one line that I have decided to focus on and keep in mind is: My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear! 

I have an unshakable testimony of this church. I know that Christ lives. His Atonement is the greatest and most sacred of all gifts given to all of us. Joseph Smith truly was a prophet called of God to restore this gospel, and I am so grateful that he was willing to sacrifice himself for it. 

I will do my best to fulfill my quest as I bring the souls of the south back into the fold. 

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed, and I have never been happier. 

I love ya'll more than I could ever say. May God be with you. 

-Sister Michaela Mason 

I Give Up. I Surrender. I Won't Fight Anymore.

Hey Ya'll!

Man, this past week has been quite the week. 

Before any of ya'll freak out about my title may I just say that I love being out here as a missionary of the Lord serving His children. The reason I chose the title for this week is because of the new, personal commitment I've made with my Heavenly Father. 

In my personal studies I have been reading from a talk called 'The 4th Missionary' by Lawrence E. Corbridge. The basis of the talk is "Be the fourth missionary!" The fourth missionary loses himself. He gives total and unconditional surrender to his (or her) Heavenly Father. "He boxes up all of his previous plans, wishes, wants, and desires and puts them on a shelf in his closet at home with all of his clothes and other things. When he returns he will unpack all of those boxes." It continues on to say that the prime example to become the fourth missionary is he Savior. And He is who we are all trying to become like on this life here on earth. 

So, I've been praying all week to my Heavenly Father that He will give me the strength to lose myself. It's time to grow up! The only way to be successful and happy is through service. It's time to forget about myself and my wants and my desires and think about someone else for a change.   When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. (1 Corinthians 13: 11) 

All week went really well, and then we got to fast Sunday. Some of our investigators have been going through some really hard trials. Sister Robison and I have seen some really broken hearts. So this Sunday I made sure to fast for all of them. I was really just trying to do what I know is right, I was really hungry and the adversary had been on my back all morning. I was just a grudge. Only thinking of myself and exercising my natural man. Sister Robison, in all of her goodness, could tell that something was wrong and decided that we should go tracting, That was in all honesty the last thing I wanted to do. But I can testify to you that service is the way to happiness. Charity is the pure love of Christ. The second we started knocking on doors and talking to people I felt so much better, cuz I wasn't focused on myself anymore. It was the first step to letting go of what I want and letting God into my heart. So, after all of the praying to become more like what He wants me to be, I finally got it. I've known that service was always good, but it didn't click until I went through this experience. So, this is my commitment to God: I am going to give up. I surrender. I won't fight anymore. Here it is. Here are my desires. Here is my will. I want only what He wants me to do. That's enough for me. That's all I want. 

I know I sort of went on a tangent today, and in all honesty I am still working on trying to become the consecrated missionary that God would have me be. I'm still so very far from perfect, but that is why I shared this experience. We all can become like the fourth missionary. Whether we're serving a mission or not, submitting our will to the Lords is the step to becoming more like Jesus Christ. That is my goal. 

I love you all so very much. Thank you for the prayers, letters and love that you send me. I could not tell you in words how much you mean to me. I encourage ya'll to read this talk and know that I love ya'll very much. 

God bless you. 

Sister Mason 

https://www.freelists.org/archives/ourlunchgroup/11-2013/pdfdQPoSP5qZl.pdf