Rocky Mount, North Carolina, LDS Sister Missionaries - Monday, January 20, 2014

So.  I don't really know what to write this week.

I just know that the Holy Ghost is a better teacher than I am.  And I'm really grateful that I don't have to try to figure it out on my own.

This week I'm sending home some pictures. 

We bought matching mustache pens with a gift card that someone gave us for Christmas.  

They are really funny.:)

Also,

I tried to make some bread.  We were going to give it to a member of our ward with the talk from Pres. Monson's address at the Relief Society Broadcast Oct. 2013.

But we didn't have an exact yeast measurement, and we used self-rising flour.  So, it didn't rise at all, and it was really salty. We had to use our sharpest kitchen knife to saw through the crust....

So I was embarrassed and refused to give it to them, and we made cookies instead.  The cookies were better anyway.

So lesson: We have to follow the exact directions and put in the exact ingredients for the end product to turn out the way it was intended.  So it is also with exact obedience.

Ummmm...

I had some blue pajama pants that turned my white bedspread blue.  So I'm going to probably spend all day trying to remedy that situation.... Good thing I have some trusty stain removers!

We had interviews with President Baker this week and he asked us to role-play teaching him some part of the Restoration.  It went really well!  It was good to be able to spend some time with him and Sister Baker, they are really delightful to be around.

Something really great that I read this week was the second half of 1 Peter 3 there is some good stuff there!  Very uplifting.  It talks about how we must always be ready to stand and bear testimony, and how Christ suffered all, and it is better to suffer for good than to suffer for evil.  So I really liked that.  If you have a few minutes to read and ponder it I would encourage you do to so.  Maybe you'll get something out of it that I didn't and that is personally important and relevant to you. :)

All my love!  

-Sister Garvin

November 4, 2013 - Amber in North Carolina

I didn't monitor my time wisely this week: Thus the really short update.

It's November.  In case anyone missed that Memo.

I AM SOOOOO GRATEFUL for Daylight savings.

It seriously changed my life on Sunday.  I had an extra hour of sleep.  It was great.

Beautiful Scene - North Carolina 

This week we drove to Portsmouth for a Sisters Conference.  It was fun.  President Baker taught the difference between being light-hearted and light-minded.  And he had me laughing so hard that I cried.  It was great.

I'm grateful for laughter.

I'm also focusing on 2 things this month that I know will make a difference not only in my mission, but in my life.  Patience, and Prayer. 

I just barely realized how interconnected those two words are. 

I thought I was patient, but then I came on a mission and it was all tried, then it ran out.  So I'm restoring my reserves of patience.

I thought I'd let you know. ;)

The leaves are finally starting to change color, and it is beautiful!  I like it!

I'm grateful for seasons. (And that cold here only lasts from Nov-Mar.) 

I'm grateful that I have a companion.  Literally, and spiritually with the Holy Ghost.

NC has lots of Cotton Fields that glow in the Sunset Sunshine.

Missionary work would be devastatingly hard if I had to do it all my myself.

Also, I'm grateful that right now I feel like I have enough stamina to do this for 11 more months. 

Can you believe that? 

I know I say it every week, but it really blows my mind!

These 18 months are a speck in eternity, and it determines so much. 

Wow.

I wish I had time for more, but most of all I'm grateful for you. 

You are my most treasured everybody!

Love Forever,

Sister Amber Garvin

Ward 'Trunk or Treat"- we shared treats and 'pass along' cards

Amber in Virginia - Monday, Sept. 23, 2013

So apparently when I try to type really fast my brain spells the wrong version of words that I am thinking of like four instead of for.  Well, that's embarassing..... Oops!

Guess what I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for?!

You probably will take to long to guess so I will just tell you.

General Conference is (not this weekend) NEXT WEEKEND!

Guess why this is momentous?! 

Because it will mark 1 year since the age change for missionaries (which changed many peoples worlds--including mine.)

Also, I get to spend 10 hours sitting-- which is way more than I have done in 2 days in the last 5 months. :)  So that will be great.

This week I have been thinking a lot about being successful, and becoming, and other deep thoughts like that.

I have reached a really wonderful conclusions (thanks again to my lovely mother, and also my great mission president) 

Wise words "all we have to show for this is what we have become."

So then the question is: What would have to happen for me to feel like I had served a successful mission?

Would it be 'X' number of baptisms, or 'Y' number of miracles?

You are right if your brain just thought "NO!"

Go you!

While my realizations may not be accurate for all other missionaries around the world, they are for me, and on the slight chance they may benefit somebody I am willing to share.

If (super metaphorically) I came home tomorrow, or next week, or next month, would I be satisfied with who I had become?  The answer: yes. Why you ask?  What is the point, or what do you have to show for it?

Well, my answer is simply that I have become more.

I know that it sounds weird. But it's true.  I haven't become a completely different person (I still think I'm SO funny!)  but I have become more, and maybe even more important than that is that I LOVE the people here.

I could come home tomorrow and feel like I had been successful simply because I opened my heart up again, and I learned to love the people.

I can show for all this that I loved. And that I served out of love.

That's good enough for me, and I feel that it is good enough for the Lord.

I know that He called me on a mission so that he could teach me about this really miraculous, and minor-ly comprehendable thing called love.

And that's that.

Also,

Well, not also, 

But! 

(as always)

You are in my prayers, and 

I love you forever.

Love,

Sister Amber

From:  Mission Conference in July - (Photo posted by my Mom)  

(Amber is on third row back, kneeling 5th from left, red top.  :)

Missionaries in Virginia, Chesapeake Mission, 2013

MTC - First Entry - April 11, 2013

These are excerpts from Amber's first letter.  I was SO thrilled to get it.  :) I'll be the one updating her site.  Thanks for following.  Heidi G. (Amber's Mom)

Dear Mom,

We were challenged by our MTC Presidency to write letters home last night.  I am a little late, but I am fulfilling the commitment I made.

I finally feel reassured that I .....have been prepared to be here.  I asked that there would be angels round about me to bear me up, and I felt there were throughout my arrival day and still.  Thank you for teaching me to ask.

It is an amazing thing to be here and to be part of this work.  I have already gained a new appreciation of being surrounded by the feeling of the Holy Ghost all the time.  I have also begun to learn to love differently despite mortal differences.

I know that Heavenly Father has prepared me to be a missionary for many reasons, one of them being that I really haven't gotten a huge culture shock -- maybe that will come later.  Right now I feel like studying and having a companion are what life should have always been like.

My companion is Sister ____.  She is from California and has amazing curly hair.  So far we get along really well, and she is teaching me, through her example,  how to talk to, relate to, and love others' no matter what.

Our district consists of 6 Elders and us.  We have already become close and have had some great discussions.  I am amazed at how quickly Elders step up their game and behave like men of God.

I know that one day ______(brother) can be one of them and learn some of the same lessons and behaviors he has already begun.

I want you to know that I am doing good.

I am glad to know of the birthplace of peanuts :)   Our district was wondering if peanuts grow on trees, shrubs, or underground?

Talk to you soon!
Sister Garvin

p.s.  I was called/chosen to be a sister training leader and Senior Companions for this week.  I will be in training with the other sisters until Sunday because they leave Monday from the MTC to their missions. I didn't know I could grown so much in such a short time.   :)