Joy Cometh in the Morning

Sister Bennett and I were super sick and stayed in allllll day on Friday. Flu/cold stuff going on around here. This one member knew we were sick and came and dropped off donuts! Nicest thing ever. They were Amish donuts too so even better. 

Do you want to hear the worst news ever??

I lost my scriptures....on the subway!

I must have left them on the seat as I got off at my stop. 

They're 100% gone.

Ugh it's horrible. Those were like my one and only prized possession out here! 

It's okay..its a good reminder when I die I can't take anything with me anyways, just my brain filled with the things I learned from the scriptures haha. 

This is sister Bennetts last week as a missionary. Ah it's so weird..then after this week it's my last transfer. I don't know where time is going.

Also sister Chang is going through the temple in February instead, not sure on the exact date but I think I'll still be able to go:) 

But this will probably be my last area which I am totally 100% fine with. I love this city so much. It feels like a dream that I get to be where I am every morning.

I know I say this like every time..but I am just not who I was before my mission! Like so much not even close. It'll be interesting to come back and see how everything works out. I read one of my new favorite talks called "joy cometh in the morning"  by elder Nelson.

It's so good and I love the scripture it's based on:

Psalms 30:5

"Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning"

JOY ALWAYS COMES. And sometimes we need to go through trials and bad days because those are what stretches us to be ready to feel happiness or joy more deeper. I am a firm believer of that. 

"The gospel of Jesus Christ...declares joy to be part of our divine destiny. And to experience joy in the morning becomes our special challenge. The true test" —Elder Nelson

I'm working on finalizing my last goals for my last transfer starting next week. Crazy how fast everything goes. I've had some very cool and spiritual experiences come from "praying like I've never prayed before" there's a big difference than praying/going through the motions and actually communicating and petitioning our Heavenly Father for help guidance and gratitude. 

I've been really praying to Heavenly Father asking him why I'm here in this specific area. And we had a very tender experience with a member as she was talking to us about a lot of her concerns about the gospel and sister Bennett and I were able to share very simple but very powerful testimonies of the Book of Mormon and the church. A moment on my mission I will never forget.

I hope everything is going well for you all :)

Stay warm and share the gospel.

Love sister Manson 

Octopus Jerky

The experiences this week was made just for me. Particularly to humble my little spirit.

I went on an exchange with a sister this week and had such a sacred experience with her. The thought came to ask her randomly if she felt Heavenly Father was proud of her. She started to cry and it was clear she wasn't sure and was trying to know Him better. We were able to feel the spirit so strong as I bore my testimony and help her feel That He is. I am very grateful to be serving where my sphere of influence is not only to strengthen our investigators or members of the ward, but also my some specific fellow sister missionaries that sister Bennett and I are with.  

One of my favorite things about being a missionary is personally feeling the intense a,punt of love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for each one of us.

ZONE CONFERENCE!

Thoughts:100 best zone conference of my whole mission. Good thing because it was my last one! Learned a lot more about the atonement and the doctrine of Christ. Shared our new mission 2015 theme with us: D&C 128:22 "shall we not go on is so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage and on to the victory. Let your hearts rejoice and be exceedingly glad" 

Can't even describe how perfect this scripture is. Just for me:) 

We had some "octopus jerky" with sister Chang. It was good!

She is still set for january 31 to go get her temple endowment! So excited for her. 

Sunday in relief society we had a lesson all about prayer. I know that too was all just for me. 

I've been really studying and working on my prayers. Ultimately I've realized and gained a testimony of how prayer changes us. I've started to say personal vocal prayers. Which are 100x powerful. I feel the spirit the whole time while praying in my head it's so easy to get distracted.

If you have never prayed out loud privately before, I encourage and invite you to do so. It's alittle awkward and different at first, but I promise you'll be able to see and feel a huge difference. 

Heavenly Father's love for me cracks me up. He knows me really well..and it has just felt like for at least a week and half I've been running into a brick wall and just feeling really crappy for 100 different small silly reasons. I am a bit prideful when it comes to asking other people for help... But Heavenly Father gave me some very specific experiences and feelings and thoughts with the spirit to help me be humble enough to ask for a priesthood blessing. But so much peace came during and right after I got a blessing. I wrote down all my thoughts and made very specific promises to Heavenly Father and for the first time in a while i felt an INSANE amount of peace. That experience helped me gain an even stronger testimony of the priesthood power and its ability to heal and comfort and bless and uplift. I am just so grateful for the priesthood and that experience I had last night. 

One of our appointments canceled so we decided to stop by a referral. Sister Bennett  Originally thought it was the house # was 908 and I said it wasn't. Haha so we knocked on a door we thought she lived and got no answer. Then we were going to go back to the car but sis Bennett wanted to knock on 908 so we did! 

Something my mission has taught me is to be persistent. I have a very strong testimony and belief in being persistent. A women opened the door and didn't want to talk to us..at all!

At first we could barely see her eyes as she cracked the door open. Then we talked and could see her daughter and started talking to her and we were there bearing testimony for like 2-3 minutes in the rain! At this point she was about ready to either let us come in or kick us out. 

She finally said "okay come in" after we practically begged her to let us share truth with her. 

Super cool experience! Bore testimony of restoration and Book of Mormon. She opened up a lot about some deep personal things and I just felt so much love for her and did not want to leave until she knew what I knew about the gospel. I felt strongly inspired and prompted to promise her if she kept her commitments we left, she would get the job she was worrying about getting. She felt the spirit and it was way powerful. We are going back tomorrow:) 

Good things happen as we push ourselves and go beyond that which is normally done. 

Inconvenience verses convenience.

One of my favorite principles of the gospel. 

Missions are hard and taxing...but everything about the gospel is also.

Salvation is not a cheap experience. I am grateful for the times on my mission, but at the beginning and more recent times, where my heart and soul have seemed to be stretched so thin, only to realize that it was so I can feel joy deeper. 

Alma 36:20

"my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!"

I love you!

Sister Manson 

"either 12"

Hahahah oh this week...I don't even know what happened.

Let's just say I am really happy today is PDay.
Remember when we were little and we went to the body world place??
Where this science place had a bunch of dead bodies to look at and see
as art? Well they have something similar here in philly that were
doing to today! EXCEPT ITS WITH ANIMALS! Stay tuned for pics next
week:)
I pray there's a giraffe there.


The week started out great though! Haha and then we just crashed and
burned hecka bad.

We have been teaching sister change temple prep and helping her be
ready for January 31!

Out investigators joel and tatyana accepted a baptism date! In
February and April! So that's amazing.

Sister menlove sent me the best talk in the whole wide world that
changed my life.
Everyone go read "the atonement:all for all" by elder Bruce c. hafen

Taught me so much about the atonement and what it means. That's
probably the best thing about my mission...I've learned so much about
the atonement and what it means and how to access it. And really feel
it's REAL power that comes into our lives as we live the gospel of
Jesus Christ, by having faith, repenting and changing, remembering and
renewing our covenants by the sacrament and going to the temple and
continuing to do all of these things to the end!

Had a great district meeting. Really powerful and felt the spirit.
During our Roleplay, I did with sister Bailey, and some other
missionaries. We were to not think about what to say but say what
christ would say to them if he were here. Totally changed my
perspective. I remember looking into each of their eyes and really
feeling and knowing that Jesus Christ knew and loved them personally
and things just came to my mind that I would say, trusting it was what
they needed to hear. Lifechanging. I just freaking love being a
missionary.

Sister Bennett cracks me up everyday but she gets a particular
shoutout right now.
We wanted our investigators to read a Ether 12 in the Book of Mormon,
and she spelt it as EITHER 12!!! Hahahah. We had another lesson with
them to follow up and they were confused and couldn't find either 12
in the Book of Mormon...I laughed so hard. Next time I'll be sure to
check what she writes down for them haha. Good times.

Had a crazy lesson with a wanna-be pologomist who wanted to marry BOTH
me and sister Bennett hahaha.
So many people yelled and flipped me off this week while I was in the
car..it was very rude of them haha these Philadelphians are one of a
kind:)
Saw a cool sign that said: "DRIVE CAREPHILLY"
I died!
Sister Bennett accidentally drove down twice the wrong way in a one
way street...haha we got even more yells and honks. Almost all of our
appointment canceled from like Friday to Sunday. That's always a
bummer when that happens..

And scariest moment of my life!! Are you ready?
We rode the subway home from church and
I get off at our stop and sister Bennett DOES NOT!
So I'm now left alone in the creepy dark subway while she rides off to
the next stop.
First missionary rule they teach you in the MTC: never be alone!
All I can do is just laugh at the situation and I just sit there
trying to decide how the heck we're going to get back together. I said
100 prayers and read some comforting scriptures to keep myself calm
and then the next train pulled up so I got on it and thought to get
off at the next stop thinking sister Bennett would have gotten off and
just waited for me. I get off at the next stop and she's not there!
Ahh by this time I've majorly freaking out, but knew Heavenly Father
would help me. I crossed over and got to the other side of the subway
to go back up to our original stop to see if she went back to get me
instead. I got there and didn't see her. I had the thought to just get
up and out of the subway on the street and look at the phone (our
phone doesn't get signal in the subway) so I did that and I had a
missed call from an unknown number. I immediately called and it was
sister Bennett on the other side! Told each other where we were and we
were reunited.
I HAVE BEVER BEEN MORE HAPPY IN MY LIFE TO SEE HER.

Good news we were both safe and reunited.
Lesson learned. So grateful for companions.
I don't think I'll be able to handle being alone for a while when I go home!
So sorry not sorry if I cling to some of y'all :)
I of course immediately thought of 100 gospel parables that can be
related to this story. I'll leave it to you to think of them:) and
learn from my experience.


I have good goals set up before the end of my mission.
To read the Book of Mormon over again and read the New Testament. I
just want to learn and study everything I can about Jesus Christ.
Studying more deep charity also.

I honestly have never been happier in my whole life. Being out here as
a literal representative of Christ. Bad days or even whole weeks
come..but I still have such a deep amount of joy it doesn't even phase
me.

Twentyfifteen

HAPPY 2015!!

I loved 2014 so much...first of all because I was a missionary for
that entire year!
Whenever I look back on my little life at 2014, it'll be mission memories.

Me and sister Bennett are waiting right now to get my haircut(: we're
in a really ghetto part of the city...but our investigator is cutting
my hair, so it's worth it.

So many miracles happened this week. I honestly am so in love with
being a missionary.

New Year's Eve is crazy here in the city, but we were in and safe in
our apartments sleeping at 1030(: we volunteer at this place called
"The Watermark" right by the temple. It's a retirement place and
everyone there loves us. We helped them run their party for the
residents. It was adorable. Try and imagine this: old people dressed
to their best, a guy play music on an accordion, 100 walkers, a
handful few who are able to dance, dancing carefully in the middle.
People shouting across the tables because they can't hear that well
and then me and sister Bennett with our tacky missionary skirt attire
in the middle of it all. Haha definitely a new year I will never
forget. They all soften my heart.

We miraculously ran into a member of the church! We were walking late
one cold night on a street we neeeeever go on and as we were walking
we heard this guy walking the other way say "hello sisters" and kept
walking. And we were WHOA! Hoooold on wait a minute sir. So we quickly
turned around and chased him down and we were like do we know you? And
he said he knows us, but we don't know him. He is from Albania & a
return missionary, BYU graduate living here in Philly. I know we were
meant to find him! Because he's totally inactive and doesn't even
believe in God anymore which broke our hearts hearing. He actually
stopped and spoke to us for almost a whole hour. There were many times
in the conversation where he felt the spirit as we talked to him about
"holding fast to the iron rod" (see 1 Nephi 8) in Lehi's tree of life
vision. We asked him when we "let go of the rod" (meaning like when
did he stop reading the scriptures)
He said YEARS ago, and we were like duh of course that's why you
strayed, your lost in the mist of darkness confused when you should
have been holding to the rod. We bore our testimony 100 times and
still he had no desire. But I know we did everything we could and he
will be telling this story 10 years from now at sacrament when he's
called to be a bishop.
I love how the gospel can truly change us as we apply it.

I had such a powerful experience at zone training. And I think I
realized why I absolutely love being a missionary.
Our purpose is to: Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them
receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His
Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost,
and enduring to the end.
Something that clicked about halfway through my mission was that our
purpose IS the doctrine/gospel of Jesus Christ "faith, repentance,
baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the
end" (see forth article of faith and 2 Nephi 31)
So my mission has really taught me the gospel of Jesus Christ and the
gospel of Jesus Christ is HOW we access the Atonement. That's what
clicked on Thursday for me. And that's why I love my mission because
it's literally helping me apply and use the atonement every single
day.
People always talk about the atonement and it's always been a hard
concept for me to wrap my brain around, never really been sure of how
to use it or apply it, but the gospel especially faith, repentance,
renewing our promises we made at baptism from the sacrament for
already members of the church and especially baptism and Holy Ghost
for nonmembers = atonement.

Remember Tatyana? I have been talking about her In a couple of my
emails..but I had the random thought to stop by her one day, it was
alittle out of the way but we did it anyways. Best choice ever.
(Always follow those promptings from the Spirit)
Her friend Terrance was there!! Let me try to describe to you the best
way I can who Terrance is.
Well first off he is gay. Like super super gay. He is black and loves
fashion (he tells me all the time how my outfit never matches my bag
hahah) he's a senior in high school, he's pretty skinny and tall. But
he's super in love with himself and he makes that very clear how good
he looks. Andddddd I want to be his best friend!
He has such a special place in my heart because of how much he LOVES
the gospel, we've seen him 3x this week, we taught him the restoration
and gave him a Book of Mormon, taught half of the plan of salvation
and he is getting baptized February 1!!!! He has been very open about
him being gay and we have been very open about how the churches and
heavenly fathers view on homosexuality. He knows the Book of Mormon is
true! And has thought a lot about it being gay, and knows that
Heavenly Father can change our desires and soften our heart. Every
time we go over there he is just so full of the spirit and soaks it
all up. Good things are happening!!

The church is true:)
Also..I went on exchange with my favorite sister ever--->SISTER COST.
She joined the church only 2 years ago. And ohh if you could hear her
story and see who she was before and after joining the church. She is
incredible. We had some really spiritual moments together just talking
about our missions and how much the gospel and the church means to us.
We get a weekly letter from our mission president every week and this
week was good, it kept saying the phrase "your highest self"
So that's my main goal, to become my highest self! By doing small and
simples things because I know that's how great things come. Alma 6:36

What are your goals for this year?
Email or write them to me!

christy.manson@myldsmail.net

1715 spring garden st. Apt F2
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Love Sister Manson😇