The Universal Language is Actually....Soap on a Stick??

Here's some pictures! Our old house during the move, an American flag flying in the distance which was awesome, and the public area where we usually email! They move people out of homes through the window and down this ramp instead of multiple trips down the stairs. Super cool! And this is the soap generally found in public restrooms. Did anyone order the bar of soap on a stick?

April Already??

Well this week has been really good and full of amazing people. We met with Lee Hyun twice this week. She loves reading from the Book of Mormon, and said she is starting to feel more when learning about God. She isn't certain if she knows he is real, but she said there is something in her that seems to believe he is. It is so exciting to see the light start coming into her life, and she is progressing so well! Oh man we love her so much. Han Mi Hyang is wonderful. Since her husband got baptized only a few weeks ago, he has been meeting with the elders and she's been meeting with sisters for several months. Meeting them separately is a little strange, so they will start meeting together with the elders, but we will still meet with her once a week. She is always very concerned about us and takes very good care of us. Ein Bo Nah is AWESOME! She understands things so well, and is feeling more of a desire to act. This week we talked about the Book of Mormon, and showed 'The Testimony of the Book of Mormon' mormon message by Elder Holland. I'm not sure if it is on lds.org or not, but I HIGHLY recommend it. It is one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard of the Book of Mormon. It really touched her and she asked if we would assign her somewhere to read this week. It was awesome! We also met with a new man this week. His name is Kim Hyung Sok and has more energy than anyone person ever. We went with a member (we can't meet with men unless another woman is present). He has a lot of interest in learning more, but we aren't sure about action yet. We will probably introduce him to Elders instead but it was the most..energetic...lesson I have ever had.

 

This week we had dinner with the Jones family. The father is a convert to the church, and his non-member parents were in town visiting so they joined us. They have 4 adorable kids, and we met their oldest daughter a few weeks ago during our Question and Answer panel. The father told us about his conversion into the church. He said he didn't get to know the elders very well, and moved shortly after his baptism. Since then, he has remained faithful and active, served in the bishopric and as young mens president, all his children are active, they are sealed in the temple, and are in the process of bringing 2,500 family names to the temple. Those missionaries may never know the impact that they had on his life and family, so he wanted to share and thank us for our efforts. He reminded us we may never see the lives that are blessed as we serve, but we are making a difference. It was a wonderful reminder and they are such a great family. We are trying to work with the mom to get a group of women together to go on splits and teach them how to do missionary work. We were very grateful to meet them, and see how the gospel can truly change thousands of lives forever. With so much focus on member missionary work lately, I just want to remind all of you that you can and will make a difference. It may seem like efforts are rejected and opportunities to share are few. But I promise as you pray for those missionary moments, they will come. We succeed when we invite, that's all we are asked to do, and the Lord will help us in our efforts.

 

I love all of you so much. Thank you for your wonderful examples to me. I am so proud to come from a family full of faithful members who are touching so many lives for good. You strengthen me more than you can know, and I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week! :)

 

-Sister Shanelle Seegmiller :)

 

"The most important work you will ever do will be between the walls of your own homes." -Harold B. Lee

8 MONTHS!

This week has been really good. We were able to go to a Museum of Korean History on P-day which was fascinating. The history of this country is already crazy, how quickly they were able to rebuild and thrive after the Korean War. But what was the coolest, is that so much of the history still exists here. As a missionary, you go pretty much everyone in the city and talk to pretty much every kind of person you can imagine. There are people here who remember when Japan occupied the nation, and others who haven't had to work for anything. It's incredible walking through a museum of history that is still being lived today. This is the coolest place in the world. While looking for a house, we also accidentally found the "Blue House" which is where the Korean president lives. There were security guards everywhere, but after they saw we were missionaries they asked us lots of questions and we had quite a fun conversation.

 

The process of finding homes is somewhat more complex when you don't have technology to assist you. We have a giant map, some addresses, and then we go out into one of the most populated cities in the world and look for it. This becomes even more fun when the address system in Korea changes overnight in order to make things 'easier' and now none of the addresses you have match what is now on the buildings. And somehow, remarkably, we have always been able to find the home that we are looking for. It's one of those simple and yet remarkably huge miracles that we see everyday. This week we met with Lee Hyun and her boys. We played exercise Simon Says, and then talked to her about receiving answers to prayer. She said everything we say makes sense, but she just hasn't felt it yet. She also told us her original hope was that we would come teach English to her boys, but now she feels like we can really help her to know God and wants to continue meeting after the English program ends, so we are very excited. She has such a pure heart, and so much desire to know. She just needs the spiritual confirmation that it is true. We met with another girl named Han Surl Gee, who also really wants to know if there is a God, She asked us to say how we came to know God. Afterwards, she said, "I want to feel that same way so bad. Please help me know if God is real." We were very happy to set up a return appointment. Han Mi Hyang is still doing great. This week we talked about ask, seek, and knock. She told us that a lot of times, answers to our prayers can be answered by science. So we showed her Alma 30:44 and D&C 88: 40-45. She started laughing, and agreed that it makes sense since he created science as well. Ein Bo Nah is awesome! We were able to talk more about prayer with her as well, and how it can be more meaningful. We made the comment that we should pray WITH God and not TO him. We read Enos, and she said she was so excited to learn about it, and asked if she could stay at the church and study more after we left. We said that would be great! She came to church yesterday and stayed for all of it which was very exciting.

 

Yesterday was ward conference. In this ward, they give out towels every ward conference that has the date and a cute quote printed on it to the entire ward. I will have to send a picture next time. They are so cute. Also, Yushi, the recent convert from China, said her parents are coming to visit this week. We will have FHE next Monday, and she is going to try to bring them which will be so fun, since they aren't members and haven't had a lot of exposure to the church since they live in China. This work is so amazing. It is spreading all over the world more quickly and in more ways than we can imagine. I am so very grateful to be a part of it. It's so crazy to think that I was entered the MTC 8 months ago exactly. Time is so short, and there is so much to do. And if we ask, the Lord will guide us every step of the way. I love this gospel, I love my Savior and I know that the power of his Atonement can wash away anything and everything as we come unto Him. I love you all! Please let me know of any missionary moments, in or out of the home. Have a wonderful week,

 

-Sister Shanelle Seegmiller :)

 

"We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day."
       --Elder Richard G. Scott

I love Korea

This week has been really good. Funny moment, the bishop and his wife held a special FHE for the missionaries on Monday night. We had a delicious meal, had some missionary training, and then they wanted to play a game with everyone. They chose kick the can which seems pretty harmless. However, about 15 seconds after we started, one elder ran up and kicked the can (which was an empty bottle of orange juice) and it hit his companion right in the eye. It split his eyelid open pretty bad, and we had to stop and go buy some first aid supplies and get his face cleaned up. After that, they decided more games would be fun, so we played freeze tag for awhile with no casualties! We all felt bad, but it was super funny and kind of typical, and it was a really fun night.

 

We are continuing to meet with Han Mi Hyang, who is doing so good. Last time she told us about how her prayers have changed from constantly asking for blessings, to now seeing the good in every moment and thanking Heavenly Father. She said it helps her to remember to be happy now, instead of saying "I will be happy when..." She has a lot of wisdom, and we always learn so much when we meet her. Hopefully she is learning a lot too! Hyun Lee is wonderful! Her kids are so cute. Their mom wants them to keep up their English, and also learn something. So this week we played charades, acting out explorers from history like Neil Armstrong (explored the moon) and Christopher Columbus. Then we taught the restoration. She had a lot of questions, and told us about things she would like our help with in her life. She told us she would like to meet more often "so I can keep learning more about this wonderful message", so we will meet twice a week. It's really exciting, and we love her! She is such a sincere, honest seeker of truth and we love her. We also met with Kim Joo Sook this week, which was fun because she hasn't been able to meet lately. We talked about the restoration, and she understands it perfectly. She knows she will gain faith by acting, but doesn't really want to act yet. So we are working on that  with her. Ein Bo Nah is wonderful. There is such a good feeling everytime we meet, and she is really making changes which is so exciting to see.

 

The other day we had a lady run over to us really excited. She saw missionaries near her school when she was in elementary school, and had been curious ever since. She will be busy for a while, but gave us her number and told us to call so we can meet. Another woman had very little interest when we started talking at a stoplight. But  as we talked about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, she started opening up a lot. By the end, she asked for a Book of Mormon and told us that she wants to read it. It was really cool to see the spirit start  softening her heart. We have met some other awesome people on the street as well, and it's just amazing how prepared people are everywhere when we are willing to open our mouths and talk to them!

 

This transfer we have decided to have a temple focus in all that we do. We want to help recent converts, less actives, and investigators realize that is our goal and baptism opens the door for other wonderful blessings. It's been really cool so far and we are excited to see how it goes. We are also going to do a lot of less active work this transfer in an area called 삼청 Samcheong. The wards combined a few years ago, and lots of people have been lost. So we have decided to SAVE SAMCHEONG! It is a very big task, but we are so excited! Whenever we do our best to help those who were already found but have been lost, Heavenly Father always blesses us by helping us find others who have not yet been found but want to be. It's an exciting time to be here and everything is just amazing. Sister Thomas and I have a very similar vision of what we want to see happen here and in our missions in general. Working with her has been such a blessing, and we are so excited!

 

That pretty much sums up our week. It has been awesome and busy and tiring and wonderful. This is truly the Lord's work, and he is at the head of it. Sometimes things get a little overwhelming and no one wants to listen, but like it says in D&C 10: 43, He knows what's going on and the work will progress. It's such an exciting time to be a missionary and a member. This week we shared a message with an English branch family, and we talked about what it meant to be on the earth right now. #1 we chose to follow Christ, from the very beginning we wanted to follow him and his example. We were faithful followers, and had the faith to come to earth. #2 The Lord has a lot of trust in us, and has also given us a great responsibility. If he didn't want us to share His gospel, he could have put us on earth when the church didn't exist. For thousands of years, the truth wasn't on earth and while they had great people, they weren't expected to be missionaries in the same way we are. We are here in the fulness of times, the last dispensation. He has blessed us with the knowledge of His gospel, and he expects us to share it. "Where much is given, much is required." It's so exciting I can hardly stand it. Every member a missionary, and everyone is a child of God. As we work together, everyone will have the opportunity to come to that knowledge. I love this gospel with all my heart. There is nothing in this world quite like serving a mission. It is the best decision I have ever made. I love all of you so much, have a wonderful week!

 

-Sister Shanelle Seegmiller^^

 

Here are a few quotes from prophets through the years about member missionary work!

President Joseph Smith (1830–1844)

“After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 113).

President Howard W. Hunter (1994–1995)

“Surely taking the gospel to every kindred, tongue, and people is the single greatest responsibility we have in mortality. … We have been privileged to be born in these last days, as opposed to some earlier dispensation, to help take the gospel to all the earth”(“Walls of the Mind,” Ensign, Sept. 1990, 10).

President George Albert Smith (1945–1951)

“That is your mission, my brethren and sisters of the Church, that is your responsibility. Freely you have received and our Heavenly Father will expect you freely to share with His other sons and daughters these glorious truths” (Sharing the Gospel with Others, sel. Preston Nibley [1948], 213).
“We will attain our exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom only on the condition that we share with our Father’s other children the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter” (Sharing the Gospel with Others, 190).

President Brigham Young (1847–1877)

“There is neither man or woman in this Church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth, and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live those principles that they may obtain eternal life” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 322).

Beautiful Spring!

This week has been really busy but for a different reason. We were informed on Sunday that we would be moving to a new apartment. Then on Monday they told us we would be moving on Tuesday morning, and needed to be packed by 9 am. Then on Tuesday morning at 6:30, they called and told us they would be over at 8 so we needed to pack quickly. Needless to say, it was a little crazy but we got it all figured out. Our new home is beautiful and much bigger. However, it was very dirty. So after several bottles of cleaner, LOTS of rags, scrub brushes, rubber gloves, brooms, vacuums, and 4 days of cleaning, it is finished and we love it! I will send pictures next week hopefully because I forgot to take some before coming. We had transfer calls this week, and all 4 of the sisters in our home will be staying another transfer so we are really happy. This is the best area and no one ever wants to leave it! Also in irrelevant news, I bought a new hoodie which makes me ridiculously happy. I forgot how comfortable those are, even if its just for exercise in the morning. 

This week we had dinner at the Barnes home. They are from Texas, and their son went to school with Sister Thomas, so we had a lot of fun spending time with them. (OOH! We were walking by some housing the other day, and saw a Texas Tech banner hanging from the window. We laughed really hard, and saw that Texas pride has reached even to Korea.) We were also able to have dinner with a family in our ward, who insisted that all 12 missionaries come. It was a little crazy, but so fun. We have the best district, and on Thursday we will be getting another set of elders, so 14 missionaries will be serving in this ward. (Note- ward boundaries are far bigger here than in Utah, so there's a lot of area for us to cover. But 14 is still a lot, especially on Sundays when we all stand by the doors to greet members! :) 

We were able to go to the temple on Tuesday and the first new video has made it to Korea! So that was really fun. It was very special, and a very needed time to just sit and have time to think and pray. Kim Soon Eh is still doing good. We may have to push back her baptism a few weeks because she hasn't been able to come to church yet, but she told us she has thought a lot about it and is excited for that day! We also met with the family again, but this time it was with the mom and her three kids. Her name is Hyun Lee, and she has two sons, Damien (8), Michael (6), and Beatrice (5). They are adorable. They are all Korean, but have lived in America for most of their lives. The sons love playing our English games, and the mom is wonderful. She wants to know if God exists, and asked if we can help her to know he loves her. She is so sweet, and we are very excited to go back and meet with them this week.  Han Mi Hyang, our adorable recent convert, is doing really great. Her husband was just baptized yesterday, and we are SO excited for them. They are the cutest couple and are very excited for this new step in their lives. 

Lately I have been thinking a lot about specific prayers, and also miracles. We listened to a talk by Elder Oaks called "Miracles". It was really cool. He said the greatest miracle on earth is the change of someone's heart. Everything else can be restored in the resurrection, but that must be done by the individual. It was really powerful. I also loved Romans 8: 31, 35-39. When we look at things through an eternal perspective, the word 'impossible' loses all meaning. If we are doing the Lord's will, be will 'open the windows of heaven', and that can be taken literally. Those are some of the thoughts I have had lately. Also, I started trying to find all the scriptures to "ask, seek and knock". I am up to about 45 and there are still plenty to go. A fun scripture chase for you!

Well that sums up my week. Everything here is so amazing. I love Korea so much, and I LOVE this area, ward, and district that I am blessed to serve in. There is really no one way to explain the feelings that go on here. I am just so incredibly grateful for this experience that the Lord has given me to serve him for this very short time. I love the Lord with all my heart. There is no work more important than spreading the gospel, in homes, classes, at work, or in Korea! I hope you all have a wonderful week, and please let me know any mission moments that you see in your life. I would love to hear them. Until next week!

-Sister Seegmiller

A simple quote with a lot of power:

"Daily decisions determine destiny!"

OOH! I forgot three things. One- in the March Ensign there is an article about a ward in Korea who takes care of a man's aunt. Well fun fact, that ward is the ward I am currently serving in. And we know everyone that it is talking about. Small world! I highly recommend reading it. It shows the importance of member missionary work in retaining members, and also helps show why the work progresses so quickly in this area. It's all about the member involvement! That's really how we will Hasten the Work! Two- Sister Thomas and I were asked to submit our testimonies and they will appear on the homepage of lds.org/kor sometime in the next few weeks! We are very excited, and it's really fun to see the work progressing here! Three- there was also another baptism in our ward yesterday. It was a teenager, and he was baptized by his friend who got baptized a few months ago. It was a very special experience! I love you all!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!

Well this week has been amazing. We have had so many miracles and fun things happen I can't believe it's only been one week. On Monday, we held our first "Feeling New Night" which was FHE for all the investigators, recent converts, and less actives that wanted to come. A nice small activity for about 12 people.. At least that was the plan, until they announced it in sacrament and invited all 150 members to attend. The missionaries  panicked just a little, but things worked out and it was great! We had them prepare mini spiritual messages and share them with everyone, and the members were great at helping those who hadn't done it before. The night turned out to be a success! We have been working a lot with an awesome sister named Ein Bo Nah. She's come to a lot of our activities lately, and is really progressing. She was baptized about 3 years ago, and is started to be active again so we are very excited.

 

Our area is insanely big so we have tried to go out and find people all over, instead of just near our home. whenever we do this, the Lord blesses us so much. We met an adorable girl named Yoon Ju (her American name is Ann). She has heard some bad things about our church, but was willing to meet again. We were able to teach her how to pray, and she prayed for the first time in her life. It was a very sweet experience, and we will meet with her more this week. We met with a family this week, two older women, a 5 year old, and her dad. Next week, his wife and two sons will join so we may be able to teach the entire family. This has been a huge blessing and we are very excited and very grateful. We went to lunch at President Christensen's home with a recent convert and her husband who will be baptized next week. It was a very nice lunch, and they loved President and Sister Christensen. Also, President and Sister Christensen are the best. We love them so much. And in VERY exciting news, Kim Soon Eh from Gangnam is getting baptized on April 5!!! We are so excited, and are ready to help her take the steps to get there.

 

This week in English class we talked about being healthy. So for the spiritual message, we took the opportunity to teach the Word of Wisdom, and also how Christ is our great physician. I asked a man to read from D&C about the Word of Wisdom. When he finished I went to take my scriptures back, but he wanted to keep it longer. So we let him read for awhile. Afterwards, he asked if he could have a copy of that section, and wants to start meeting with the elders. We weren't sure how the class would like the Word of Wisdom message, but it was exactly what he needed. The Lord loves everyone of his children.!

 

Yesterday was awesome! A student just moved here from Albuquerque, and will be here for about 5 months. She wants to learn Korean so will probably attend our ward. We met another recent convert from China. She met the missionaries in Canada and was baptized in November. She has a very strong testimony and looked up our church to make sure she keeps attending. She is very good at English and Chinese, but doesn't speak any Korean. So I was her translator during our three church meetings. Oh boy. It was cool because I realized I understood a little, and terrible because I really understood very little. So she got my "I think this is what they are saying, but if not, this seems like a good spiritual message to share" translation. One ward member who speaks English quite well overheard my translations. Throughout the meetings you could hear her giggling at my version of what was going on, since it was probably close to 40% accurate. But she had a good time and said she felt the spirit, so it was successful. Elder Nash and his wife did a fireside that night, and we were able to have two recent converts and a less active come with us. He shared a really cool message about Ether 2:17. The Brother of Jared engraved his message into plates, so why did he repeat 'tight like unto a dish' over and over again? Elder Nash pointed out that every single detail of the boat had been done exactly as the Lord commanded. He didn't cut any corners or mostly do what was right. Every single detail was followed and he was able to pray to the Lord saying "I have been obedient" and know it was true. He then promized great blessings on the members of Korea, but it would start with doing the simple things in their homes. Specifically, he said Family Home Evening, family prayer, and family scripture study. These are promised as safeguards if we do them diligently, and don't cut corners. He challenged us to fill in all the holes, and make our lives and testimonies 'tight like unto a dish'. It was an awesome message, and we were very grateful to meet him. 

 

That pretty much sums things up for this week. I hope you all have a great Spring Break. Have lots of fun, play hard, and enjoy the sun! I love you all. I am so grateful for this wonderful gospel that allows us to be together for eternity. It's so wonderful having the opportunity to share that message with the people her in Korea. Like mom said, when we teach with the spirit, all the holes created by our language can be filled because they feel what we are saying is true. I love this gospel with all my heart. Keep up the great work at home, and I promise to do my best here as well!

 

-Sister Seegmiller

 

I'm sure you have all heard this story but I love it. Just remember, no act of kindness is ever wasted. You can always make a difference to that one.

 

Starfish Story
A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.
She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”

5 months!

Well I cannot believe that I have been in Korea for 5 months now! Where in the world has all the time gone? Life is so good here and the work is pushing forward! Last transfer, my companion and I met a student on the street and gave her a Book of Mormon. This transfer she started meeting with her and her new companion and will be baptized at the end of the month! We are so excited! Two other investigators in our district have baptismal dates as well. This area is awesome! Yesterday we had a fireside from SUU's president, Brother Wyatt. He talked about doing hard things, and how they are the things that help us build character. He shared a quote from President Holland, and this will be paraphrased but is still awesome. "Hard times will always pass if we want them to. Remember, darkness always yields to light." It was exactly what I needed to hear, and it seemed to be the same for all the other missionaries trying to learn Korean! Our character is built when times are hard, and our character is what helps us overcome hard things. What a fun little connection.

This week we really focused on having very specific prayers. You know how the Lord promises over and over and over and over again in the scriptures "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you"? Well, the Lord always keeps his promises. And I wish we had applied this sooner, but the more specific our prayers, the more specific our answers, and that applies to everyone! On Wednesday, we made a goal to talk to 16 people and also have a lesson on the street with someone who needed the gospel in their life. We hadn't had much success, and it was getting close to time to head home. We were standing at a crosswalk and felt like we should talk to the lady next to us. We asked if we could talk more. She said yes, we sat down, and for the next 30 minutes she poured out her heart to us about how her grandmother and mother had passed away. School was hard, she desperately missed her family, and she was working sundays so she couldn't attend her church. We were able to tell her how much God loves her and her family, and that all hard things can be made right through Jesus Christ. She cried and just kept saying 'thank you'. When we got up to leave, we gave her a big hug and will hopefully meet again this week. We went home, almost in a daze, because of how specifically God had answered our prayers. But it wasn't without effort. We had set a goal, we worked hard to reach it, and it wasn't until the very last person that we found who he sent us there to find. The Lord always keeps his word and is more than willing to help any and every time we ask.

The next day we decided to set a goal of meeting someone with sincere gospel interest on the street. Once again, the very last girl we talked to was a sweet lady from China. She told us about her religious background, which didn't include Christ, but she thought he was a good God to worship. We showed her the Book of Mormon. She asked if she could have one, and after looking through it was really excited and told us she would start reading it with her boyfriend. She was going to go back to China the next day, and didn't have a Korean phone number. When she realized that, she looked disappointed and asked "Well, how are we going to stay in touch? I want to learn about this book." There are few words that sound better than that to a missionary. We exchanged email addresses, which is wonderful because we can keep in tough forever this way! Unfortunately, there aren't missionaries in her home yet, but one day that door will be opened. Until then we will continue to contact her, for which we are so grateful!

We have started meeting with a new investigator from Gangnam (yes, she lives Gangnam style!) She is super sweet, and has a lot of gospel interest. She really wants to learn English as well, so we are doing the Family English program with her. This past meeting, we talked about the restoration. We ended with the great apostasy, and told her we would continue next time. She said, "Yeah, because we still need to talk about Joseph Smith." We were slightly shocked, and learned that she has done a lot of research about our church. She would like to serve a mission later in life, and hopes to bring her family into the church if she feels that it is right. We opened the lesson with a prayer, and she was crying. She told us she felt something as we prayed and wants to keep that feeling. So you could say we are pretty excited to continue with her.

I had a fun thought today during personal study. I was reading in Jacob 2, which before I saw as the Lord calling out those who needed to repent. But today I realized another piece of it. It was interesting how often he talked about the wives and daughters. Thinking about fathers in this world, they all have a special place in their heart for their daughters. And that is no exception with our Heavenly Father. He loves his 'little girls' and is always looking out for us. It was a very comforting reminder that he is always there and that he loves me. After studying that, we sang "Oh My Father", which was enough to put me in tears. We are never, ever alone. And our purpose in this life is far greater than we recognize. But when we are on the Lord's errand we have the Lord's help, and he takes care of his "little flock". I love this gospel with all my heart. There is no greater knowledge than knowing where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. Let's share it with the world! I love all of you, have a great week.

-Sister Seegmiller :)

And here is an awesome quote from a talk "Notwithstanding My Weakness," by Neal A. Maxwell (1976) sent by my MTC teacher. It was awesome and I want to share it with all of you.

Now may I speak, not to the slackers in the Kingdom, but to those who carry their own load and more; not to those lulled into false security, but to those buffeted by false insecurity, who, though laboring devotedly in the Kingdom, have recurring feelings of falling forever short.

Earlier disciples who heard Jesus preach some exacting doctrines were also anxious and said, “Who then can be saved?” (Mark 10:26.)

The first thing to be said of this feeling of inadequacy is that it is normal. There is no way the Church can honestly describe where we must yet go and what we must yet do without creating a sense of immense distance. Following celestial road signs while in telestial traffic jams is not easy, especially when we are not just moving next door—or even across town.

[...]

Some of us who would not chastise a neighbor for his frailties have a field day with our own. Some of us stand before no more harsh a judge than ourselves, a judge who stubbornly refuses to admit much happy evidence and who cares nothing for due process. Fortunately, the Lord loves us more than we love ourselves. A constructive critic truly cares for that which he criticizes, including himself, whereas self-pity is the most condescending form of pity; it soon cannibalizes all other concerns.

Brothers and sisters, the scriptures are like a developmental display window through which we can see gradual growth—along with this vital lesson: it is direction first, then velocity! Enoch’s unique people were improved “in process of time.” (Moses 7:21.) Jesus “received not of the fulness at first, but received grace for grace” (D&C 93:12) and even He grew and “increased in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52).