Sister Jadyn Larsen: August 20, 2919 - BEAR HUNT (Week 23)

Hey y'all happy Tuesday!

This week was pretty slow at the site, so not many too things happened. But, first things first, I SAW A BEAR!!!!! Sister Hensley really wanted to see a bear and so her wishes finally came true and we got to see a bear yesterday! It was a very cute cuddly, but also big and aggressive black bear. But now I can check that off my site bucket list.

Well Saturday God for sure provided a tender mercy for me. Back in Woodstown 2 people that I was teaching were getting baptized and I got permission to go if I could find a ride. I said a little prayer and told Heavenly Father that I was going to put my trust into His hands and that whatever happened I would accept. That if I was able to go to the baptism, then that's where I needed to be. But if I was to stay at the site, then I needed to stay here for a specific purpose. Well, I really wanted to go to this baptism so I started to work on finding a ride. Someone messaged me and asked when and where the baptism was and I got so excited so I told them. I thought that I for sure had a ride, but then the bad news came. Two of our sisters were sick and so we would be short at the site and so they weren't able to take me.

Honestly at first I was pretty bitter, but then I remembered the promise I made with God that I would accept whatever His will was and that I was supposed to stay at the PRS for some reason. Well a while had passed by and nothing really had happened so I was like, "Okay God why am I here?". But then later a family walked in that Sister Hensley and I were able to take on tour. It was a family that had a 10 year old son named Cooper and a 15 year old daughter named Courtney. Well, Sister Hensley connected with Cooper right off the bat and I soon became best friends with Courtney. It was honestly the greatest tour I had ever been on during my short time here.

After our tour all of us Site Sisters sang "I am a Child of God" and it was so cute to see Cooper singing along and the big smiles on that family's faces. A family from our branch here in Susquehannah had also brought some dinner and so these two kids came and had spaghetti with us. Before they left their mom told us how that was a tiny miracle for them because they had been traveling all day and had only been surviving off of snacks. Although it was a very small things for us, it was a very big thing for them.

They left and Sister Hensley and I helped clean up when another sister told us that somebody was on the phone for us. We were a little confused but as soon as we answered the phone it was that sweet family that we had just taken on tour. Courtney asked me for my email and so I gave it to her and then two days later she emailed me and said this:

"Hey oh, can I just say how amazing you are and how fun you are. When I walked in the door and saw you there was a light about you that I liked. but what’s made things better is that moments before I walked in I was crying because I felt like Heavenly Father forgot about me and that I was just a waste of time to everyone and I also found out at the same time that my good friend isn’t going to make it and that I was going to lose her. I didn’t tell my mom and won’t because I can’t have her worry. Life hasn’t been the easiest for me but it’s like when I met you it went away and that it would be okay and I that I wasn’t a waste of time to anyone. You made a difference you really showed that Heavenly Father is always there and that he loves you. You are such amazing missionary and you can tell that you love the lord. I really do love you and appreciate you."

It's so amazing to see how God really does make everything work out and place people in our paths for a certain purpose. Things that may seem so random, are exactly what God has planned out. It's a true testimony to me to see how when putting trust in God, He truly does make life better and make things work out. I am so grateful to have a loving Heavenly Father who has His hand in every single detail. It literally may not seem like it, but even the smallest things He truly does.

I hope you all have a great week and that my story made sense. Love you!!

Sister Larsen

the bear invading our trash