Fofinho!

Email received October 1, 2013

Hi family and friends!!

Guess who I saw this morning?? None other than the fantastic pair of Danica and Austin! It was so great!! Since the meeting wasn't planned, I finally decided to run over to them and give Danica a hug! And we got to walk to the temple together! How awesome!!!

We have lots of fun going outside for gym time! It's chilly and enlivening! Quite a contrast from our 10 hours inside studying! hahaha! We love going out to play soccer and sometimes sand volleyball!  But the sand feels like snow when it's wet in the morning! I'm such a wimp! I lasted 20 seconds before running off to put my socks on.

SINGING IN THE RELIEF SOCIETY BROADCAST WAS AWESOME! [Erica sang 2nd Alto in the Missionary Choir at the General Relief Society Broadcast at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on 9/28/13)

My favorite things:

 

1. When President Monson walked in. Everyone stood, the room instantly became silent, and the Spirit filled the room so strong. I KNOW he is a prophet of God. He was called of God to lead God's children on the Earth today!

2. As we sang "More Holiness Give Me" and I felt like I was singing my own personal prayer as a missionary. My favorite part is the a cappella part that starts with "More purity give me." As missionaries, our prayer is that we might be purified, sanctified, and refined so that we can be instruments in His hands to spread His glorious truths! The message of happiness and eternal joy!!

3. When I looked out over the giant audience of tens of thousands of women and felt overwhelmed with gratitude. My life replayed through my mind and I remembered once again how much Heavenly Father has guided me to this point. I could hardly believe I was there. I could hardly believe I was a missionary of the Lord! I could hardly believe how much He has guided my life and cared for me, even when I was being difficult to work with. I could hardly believe that HE sent His Son to die for ME. And yet I knew, and know, as I looked over all those women and sang this message "more holiness give me" to all the women around the world, that my God DID send His Son for ME and for every one of them. I know that my Savior lives!!!  My eyes filled with tears and my heart filled with gratitude at that moment.

4. After the conference ended, people in the audience started to wave to all of us missionaries. We all waved back and there were so many smiles and so much love in that room! Looking around me, I saw sister missionaries who had spotted their mothers and families and were waving so excitedly with tears streaming down their faces. I was imagining my mom and maybe dad (turns out he was watching too!:D) waving at me in their hearts while watching, and I was sending all my love to them! What a glorious truth: To know that families can be eternal! That my mom will always be MY mom and my dad will always be MY dad! And that that love and relationship will never end!!  And I left my family for a short time, to share THIS message with those in Brazil and wherever else Heavenly Father might send me: that families can be forever!!!

5. When walking out of the tabernacle room, every one of us got to hug each of the sisters from the Relief Society General Presidency. How incredible! They are so sweet and inspired! I know they were called of God to guide the women of the church and world!

6. The Bus ride home! President Nally was in our bus (MTC President) and he invited anyone who wanted to come to the front of the bus, to sit down, and to share their testimony and feelings over the speaker. We had 7 or 8 buses full of sister missionaries who sang and I think every bus did the same thing. That was incredible! We got to go up and bear our testimonies!! I bore mine of the prophet Thomas S. Monson and that Christ purifies and refines us, so that we can serve others and lift them! And all return to our Father in Heaven!

I remember growing up and knowing that Gordon B. Hinckley was the prophet of God at that time. When he passed away, I had a hard time believing that there could be a different prophet!  President Monson was called to be the prophet and I thought "how do we know he's the right guy??" The night before the first general conference with him as prophet, I got on my knees and prayed. I asked Heavenly Father if Thomas S. Monson was really called by Him!

The next day, conference started. I remember that as soon as Thomas S. Monson got up and started speaking, it was like he was looking right at me! And I felt his love for me (the LORD's love for me, since President Monson is His representative on the earth!) fill my whole body!!  It was so powerful! Everything he said was perfect for me! He was speaking right to me! And I knew that God heard my prayer, and this was his answer. President Monson was indeed called by God to be His prophet today!!

Another cool thing:

Abinadi!  What an amazing missionary!!! You can't be a better missionary than that. And yet!!! …he only had one convert that we know of!  And Abinadi probably didn't even know about that one at the time! And yet look at what came from Alma's conversion...and then Alma the younger's! WOW! Success in Heavenly Father's eyes is so different than the way we see success. As long as we are being obedient, diligent, and doing our very best to serve, we are having success in God's eyes. He sees what we do not.

Also, this week Brother Miller testified to us of our authority to preach the gospel! He assured us that we can use "I KNOW..." when bearing our testimonies, because WE DO! And if there is any missionary who does not know that what they are teaching is true, then they'd better find out! I've learned that as a missionary I cannot expect to teach a single thing unless I first know it is true.

Hahaha! Funny fact about the relief society broadcast! Notice how red my cheeks were? Was it obvious??? hahaha! We had to go through what I like to call "blush row" before going to Salt Lake for the conference. We went through a row of ladies who would look at us and say "ok, I'm going to add a little more blush.." and then the next lady would say "oh, pretty good! ..but I'm going to just add a little more..."  I was thoroughly blushed! hahaha! And then we all still had like 4 or 6 hours before we actually sang! Fun times. :D

Have you heard this? It's awesome:

"MY MISSION COMMISSION by: Bruce R. McConkie"

"I am called of God. My authority is above that of the Kings of the Earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my Master and he has chosen me to represent him. To stand in his place. To say and do as if he personally were ministering to the very people to whom he has sent me. My voice is his voice, and my acts are his acts, and my words are his words, and my doctrine is his doctrine. My commission is to do what he wants done. To say what he wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous latter day work. How great is my calling."

Wow.

Something that hit me very strongly last night is:

Doctrine & Covenants 8:2-3

(2) Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. (3) Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.

The Spirit that guides us today is the SAME Spirit that guided Moses and prompted him to lead the children of Israel through the Red Sea. As missionaries we will feel like Moses all the time: pinned against an ocean with nowhere to go. We'll be teaching people who are older or more experienced than us, who have gone through trials we have never faced. We will meet our limits in trying to help, serve, and teach them. But the Spirit is not limited like we are. He sees so far beyond what we see. When Moses saw an ocean in the way, the Spirit saw the ocean parting. The Spirit is experienced. WAY more experienced than I could ever be!!!  And when I come to situations where I meet my boundaries and limits, it will guide and prompt me! There is no limit to what the Spirit can guide us to do when it comes to fulfilling the purposes of the Lord. When we see a sea, the Spirit sees miracles! Sees possibilities! Sees conversion and changing of hearts! I'm so grateful for that! If this work was up to us, the missionaries, we would be doomed! We're a bunch of 18+ year old young people!! We don't know anything! But as long as we have the Spirit with us, we can teach with power!! The Lord promised us that when he called us to this work! I'm so grateful!

I love you all! I hope you are doing well and are happy! God be with you!

   -Sister Greenall

PS: fofinho means cute! Isn't that the best???  You can also say "fofo"