I KISSED A COD!!

Has it really been 2 months already? I think somebody messed up my calendar!!

HEY, Some fun things from this week:

1. Last P-day we were able to go to Gros Morne National Park. IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

It should be a place on every persons bucket list to see:)

2. For 5 out of 7 days this week I was companions with Sister Buchanan, and she taught me many things, but one of the most important things that I learned was… COOKIE BUTTER!!!!! It is like peanut butter but it tastes like Teddy Grahams. It is amazing:) Probably the best invention since like.. Electricity.

3. And now the moment that I have NOT been waiting for.. I have officially endured the process of becoming an “Honorary Newfie” I GOT SCREECHED!!!! In Newfoundland they have a ritual that to live here you much perform. You start by eating “newfie steak” which is bologna on a cracker. Then you have to kiss a cod, YES, a actual Cod fish.. GROSS!! and then you have to drink Cod liver oil, then drink Purity Syrup which is like almost a icee syrup mixture. Then you eat a mint and you do a “JIG”– which is an actual dance that you do to the music of an ugly stick!! It was so awesome. So I have been screeched in, and I even have a certificate to prove it!!!!!

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So much fun this week, but also a very spiritually uplifting and growing week. Our zone was doing a Book of Mormon reading challenge, to read it in 5 weeks. We finished it on Saturday, but while reading the whole book, I had one story that really stuck with me the most. Continually, We get asked if there really was a God why would so many bad things happen to good people. Well, In Alma 14, He and Amulek are forced to watch the women and children that have followed Christ faithfully be burned, and the Lord tells them that they should not use their power to save them. At the time, They were confused to why Heavenly Father would do such a thing to the people who followed him, but the Lord reveals that it was testing their faith to not save them even when they knew they had the strength and he was receiving those people from the wicked in the world to stand as an innocent witness against the martyrs. Later, because of their faith in him, they were able to be delivered out of the hands their enemies!

Continually, we are told not to let the small picture distract us from the big picture, but do we actually do it?

In a talk during our Newfoundland Conference a story was shared that went a little bit like this:

A man was praying to Heavenly Father for strength and he was instructed by the Lord to go out to this giant rock and push the rock every day. Day after day he would go out to the rock, and push as hard as he could, but he never could get it to move. One day he went inside discouraged that he would NEVER move the rock and that he was wasting his time. He went to the Lord saying,” Lord I have done what you asked, and pushed the rock, but you still haven’t given me the strength to move it.” The Lord replied, ” I asked you to simply push the rock, but never once did I tell you that you had to move it, but look at you. Your arms are strong and yours legs have muscle. You have been given your strength, and now because of your faith and obedience, I will move the rock for you.”

Remember, When things do go exactly how you plan and life gets hard and your faith begins weaken, The Lord ONLY asks us to push the rock, he doesn’t expect you to move it. And as you continue to push again and again, the Lord will then move the rock for you. We should be joyful as we continue to work hard, follow him, and endure to the end. We must keep our vision, and most importantly:

” Do not let the small picture distract you from the big picture”

God Bless – Love, Sister Kilmer