Natalie's Mission Blog: "I Am a Child of God"

This past weekend the "moisture," also known as rain, continued to fall from the sky. It was cold and miserable, but really not as bad as it could have been. Except the members kept warning us to be careful, as if we were in the middle of a blizzard or something. Um, ok. I think it was just Californian paranoia. They don't seem to understand cold weather.

Thanksgiving was good. We had two dinner appointments, but thankfully the second family we went to knew that we had already had dinner, so they didn't try to offer us more food. Just more dessert. It was a good day, though not the same as being home. I realized that between two years on my mission and three years in school, this was the fifth year in a row that I have been away for the holiday. It was a weird realization. I have a lot to be grateful for though, so I can't complain.

We had exchanges this past week. Exchanges are when we switch companions for 24 hours with another set of sisters. The sister I was with used to be in the area I'm in now, so it was pretty cool because we went to go see a bunch of people she had been working with when she was here. She will be going home soon, and is such an absolutely fantastic missionary it just blew my mind. I hope to be half as amazing as she is by the time I'm going home. Don't worry, I'm not comparing myself to other people, just learning from others and trying to find ways to better serve the Lord!

While we were on exchanges a lady in the ward called and asked us to sing at a funeral. Random. But I guess a lot of people were out of town for the holiday so she was panicking because she couldn't find anyone to participate in the program. Good thing the sister I was with on exchanges is a music major and can harmonize like a boss. We sang "I Am a Child of God." Usually I am not a fan of this song, because we sing it all the time and it is so cliched. But it really was a special moment being able to sing it for the family that was grieving. I am so grateful for the knowledge that we really are children of God. We say that so often that I think we take for granted what it means. So many people in the world are lost and confused because they do not know where they come from, or who they really are. Even people who believe in God do not always understand what it means to be His child, and do not know how to feel the love that he has for them. I think that is the most important thing that I could ever hope to share with people, to help them to understand who they really are and to feel the love of our Father in Heaven.

Random service of the week was helping a lady put up a trampoline in her backyard. I thought it was super fun! Sister Gallacher thought it was super cold. It took us a while but we got it all set up and got to jump on it after we were finished!

Pictures!