False Limitations

My peeps,

I have a announcement to make...MY ONE YEAR MARK IS THIS WEEK. Don't worry I'm still focused on the work. Where does the time go?

FUN FACT: I'm the only American elder in my zone. Out of 24 missionaries here in Baguio City only 2 of us are American (the other is sister P, she's from Idaho). So that means English is rarely used hahaha but it's helping improve in the language. 

Well we had a another good week. Elder B and I got 40 lessons again. I'm not saying that to brag or talk about stats but it's really interesting how I thought this area was struggling and until we challenged ourselves and went for the 40 lessons, we broke that false limitation that was in our way. Now ever since we hit the 40, it seems easier to get lessons and we're a lot more positive with our area. Maybe we have false limitations in our life. Things that people say or what we think, that we can't accomplish. The world might say, "you can't do that, it's never been done before." So what? Sometimes, we put excuses in our way and we get acted upon. We're afraid to push ourselves. But the moment we decided that good is not good enough. The moment we decided that no matter what others say, that we're going to make our goals or dreams happen. That's when we learn how strong we really are. I had a wise coach once say, "what doesn't challenge you, won't change you." ( shout out to Coach Shipmen) Wise words. 

Earlier this week we had a great first lesson with Myra. She's 20 years old and has no family, she's been homeless until a member family brought her in their home. Needless to say she's had a hard life. We did a simple first lesson, mainly focused on Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and at the end we asked if Myra could say the closing prayer. She was a little hesitant and nervous, which is normal, but with some encouragement we taught her how to pray and she prayed. It was a simple, sweet prayer. A prayer that you can tell that it came from the heart. When she ended her short, but intimate prayer, we looked up to see Myra shaking and crying. We were a little confused and knowing that I'm really not good in situations when girls cry, we asked her if she was okay (smooth right?). Myra looked up at us and said that was the first time she has ever prayed in her whole life. We then asked her what she was feeling. All she could say in between the tears was, "happy."

I can relate with Myra that when I pray I feel "happy" too. I know that our Heavenly Father feels happy too when we take the time and really pray to Him. I hope you all are doing good. I want you ya'll to know that I love being a missionary. I work hard and I'm obedient everyday. I have fun and there never goes a day that I don't eat rice or laugh. I love my family. I know this church is true. I'll see ya'll soon!

Your Valiant Missionary,

Elder Strader

P.S. Here's a picture of my district!