Finding Faith

Blog July 13-19

I cannot believe my first transfer here in Arizona is already done! I absolutely loved the Gilbert and Cooper Wards! I made so many new friendships that I will treasure forever. The elders and sisters in my zone were so fun to be around and I miss them.

Mesa Zone

Mesa Zone: District 3

I am now in Chandler with my new companion Sister Freeman! Welcome Sister Freeman to Arizona! Sister Freeman is a sweetheart and so much fun to be around! She has a happy spirit about her that brightens your day. We are both whitewashing the area (meaning we are both new to the area) and we have had a lot of success so far. As a missionary faith is something you need to develop and constantly strengthen because your agenda is the Lord's, not your own. He has an individual plan for us all. 

Sometimes understanding the Lord's plan for us is not easy, but when we pray and have faith in Him, miracles and wonderful opportunities will come our way. Friday we spent a lot of our day trying to contact people at a couple of apartment complexes. We were not having much luck finding people at home.  I prayed in my heart that we would have opportunities along the way to share the gospel. Heavenly Father placed three people in our path that were not in our plans. Friday evening we were at one of the apartment complexes on our way to visit a specific family and a man was walking towards us from the opposite direction. We said hello and asked how he was. He asked what us "two young ladies were doing out here so late". We introduced who we were and he told us we were doing good things. He knew of some Mormons himself. He then asked if we had a book for him. I think we were both somewhat surprised that he had asked that question, but we quickly took out the copy of the Book of Mormon that we had and and handed it to him. He asked for another copy for his wife. We had another copy in the car and told him we would quickly grab it. We speed walked and then ran! We were both so excited!  As we were running, we talked about what we wanted to share with him. We ended up sharing a short and simple message with him, leaving him with two copies of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets and a "He Lives" card. We did get his contract information and hope to teach him and and his wife! I was happy that Sister Freeman got to experience this in her first week!

From this experience I know that Heavenly Father is always mindful of our faith as we put forth our trust in His agenda. Sometimes life is challenging, frustrating and confusing. We might come to a point in our lives that we don't know which direction to go. I promise you that if you sincerely pray to Lord and have faith in the Him, He will answer your prayers. He will show you the way. 

I do not have a perfect understanding of Heavenly Father's plan for me, but having faith that He will guide me through this plan has brought me great joy and peace into my life. I also know that the Savior's atoning sacrifice was for all of us here on the earth. It is because of this sacrifice we can all have agency, the ability to choose. The principle of prayer has strengthened daily. I say these things  in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Love,

Sister Mikeila Aquino 

The Burwell kids

Allie Snow!Such a wonderful friend and missionary!

Welcome Sister Freeman!