Hey y'all!
Happy thanksgiving week to all of you. I hope your week was full of family and fun and food :) I love thanksgiving so much because it is an amazing way to recenter and refocus on what is truly important. We had quite the humbling week this week but it was amazing timing because it gave me a chance to really express gratitude for all that I do have and the amazing miracles that the Lord is working in my life and the lives of those around me.
As you may have already gathered from the subject this week, we found some very unwelcomed guests in our apartment on Thanksgiving eve. The way you know you have them is bites in clusters of three. I found a few bites on my legs a few days prior and just assumed it was a mosquito bites but then during Planning we found some more. We called the mission mom and housing coordinator and they told us to stay up all night and clean since we had thanksgiving the next day to sleep. We both were beside ourselves in tears within 30 mins from exhaustion and fear so we called our Ward mission leader and slept at his house with his family that night. In the morning, I was coming up with all kinds of plans for how we were going to contain the situation since it was going to take several days (you have to wash/dry all of the linens in your apartment and spray EVERYTHING with permethrin). Then, the assistants called us. They had heard of our situation and decided to spend their thanksgiving morning helping us clean everything and take all of our clothes to the office to get washed and dried. The downtown elders came too!! When I got off the phone with them, I was in tears. 3 of the 4 elders had either gone through this exact thing or helped other missionaries so they knew exactly what to do. 6-7 hours of labor turned into 3 and we still had time to go eat yummy turkey dinner with the Ward mission leader.
I learned a major lesson about humility and gratitude from this experience. When I heard about bed bugs prior to this, I would always say, "that is so sad! Good thing that is NEVER gonna happen to me". I quickly learned that this could happen to anyone and everyone, including sister Dorian haha. I also have never been more grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers every single prayer, no matter what it may be about. I was so grateful not only for an amazing Ward mission family, but also for selfless elders who chose to serve us instead of relax like they were planning on doing. Heavenly Father watches out for each and every one of His children. I am so grateful for the opportunity to see His hand working in my life and the lives of His children that I work with each and every day. I am happy to say that our house is clean and bug free. However, when another trial like this comes along, I hope to welcome it with gratitude and thanks.
Thanksgiving was complete with turkey, Mac and cheese, and even derby pie. We also played card games and I actually got to take a nap!! Naps as a missionary are truly treasured time so that was a thing to be grateful for as well :)
Aside from the thanksgiving adventures, we had a solid week of missionary work. We taught a guy in our favorite apartment complex (we teach so many people there!!) while we helped him crush soda cans. We also had new missionary training this week for the trainees and trainers. I absolutely love this training! It is all about how to increase faith by accessing the Atonement in our own lives each day. I always leave feeling such a desire to share the gospel and do all that Heavenly Father wants me to do. So good!!
On Friday, we had district meeting and then we got to teach Alexia. She is the girl from Australia that I wrote about a few weeks ago. She is YSA age so the assistants are technically supposed to be teaching her but she was really uncomfortable being taught by anyone other than us. Miraculously, right as we were walking up to the church with her, the assistants drove up!! She got to meet them and get to know them a little bit and when we told her that they were technically her missionaries, she gladly agreed to be taught by them. We are so excited to see how she continues to progress. We taught her the plan of salvation that lesson and after everything we taught she said, "Wow, this just makes sense!". I love when we get to see the Spirit working in these people's lives and changing their hearts for the better. She is such an amazing example to me of a strong, faithful child of God and I can't wait to see where this gospel will lead her and her family. We also got to teach Sarah Jane that night through Skype! It was so much fun. She is doing really well and Miranda and Lucas are finally on date again!!! They have committed to be baptized on the 7th of January and I am so excited to see them continue to progress :)
Yesterday, the bishopric asked Sister Henderson and I to give talks. Each of us chose the topic of faith and gratitude and how they are related. My talk focused on faith and how expressing gratitude can increase our faith. Faith is such an amazing principle and it is something I definitely need to improve on. When we have faith in Christ, it leads us to repent and change in order to align more perfectly with His will. After we experience the redeeming and enabling powers of the Atonement, we immediately desire for our fellow men to experience this as well. This is when we should share the gospel. As we increase our faith, we apply the Atonement more fully and that in turn leads us to act. When we act on prompting we receive, then Heavenly Father can work through us to accomplish His work and better the lives of His children. Faith is something I have been working on a lot this transfer and Heavenly Father has given me many opportunities to increase my faith because of it. As a result, I have grown in my love and dependence on the Savior and His power.
We also were able to teach Jonet yesterday. She lives at the city of Enoch (that apartment complex that I was talking about earlier) :) she loves God and feels a strong bond with Him but doesn't understand why there are so many churches. We taught her the Restoration and are in correspondence with her on Facebook to continue answering her questions as she reads the Book of Mormon. Technology is truly hastening this work and I have seen it do wonders in our missionary work. We have such a good feeling about Jonet but it is pretty early on to give any real news on her yet so stay tuned!
I love you all so much. Thank you for all the love, support, and prayers. I am so grateful for each and every one of you. I am so happy to be a missionary as the holidays continue and Christmas gets closer. Speaking of which, everyone go like and share the Light The World video on Mormon.org. It is an amazing campaign to increase the Christmas spirit this holiday season and it is going to be an amazing missionary opportunity for everyone. Share it with anyone you can! :)
I just wanted to leave you all with my testimony that I know that this church is true. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to access the Saviors atoning power and become like Him. As we embark on the straight and narrow, He will walk with us and carry us when things seem to hard to bear. He knows our pain and sorrow perfectly and is ready and willing to come to our aid. I am so beyond grateful for this opportunity that I have been given to share these glad tidings with my brothers and sisters here in Kentucky. It brings such joy!! In the words of Russel M. Nelson from his talk this last conference, "How, then, can we claim that joy? We can start by “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” “in every thought.” We can give thanks for Him in our prayers and by keeping covenants we’ve made with Him and our Heavenly Father. As our Savior becomes more and more real to us and as we plead for His joy to be given to us, our joy will increase.". Let us focus on the Savior in every instance so that we may have joy this holiday season.
I love you all. Have an amazing week and MERRY CHRISTMAS 
Love always,
Sister Dorian
“Men are, that they might have joy.” 2 Nephi 2:25
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