It Isn't A Sin To Be Weak

Hey guys! Hope you are all doing well. This week we found a lot of new people to teach! the Lord knows that we are ready to work hard and make the most of our missions while we are still here! We finally contacted some people that we have had on our radar for quite a while, and many of them are interested in learning more about the gospel. One young girl has come faithfully to the weekly young women's activity, but she is not a member! She has a lot of member friends and is the sweetest girl. We finally talked with her and asked her if she had ever thought about joining the church. She said "Well i'm not against it, but I just don't think I know enough to make a decision." Good thing we showed up! We told her that that's exactly what missionaries are for. We help people to know if they would be interested in joining the church. We teach and invite them to learn and to test it out. It was so exciting to see her accept the invitation. We really think she is prepared! 

We had the Logan musical fireside this weekend and it was great! Everyone did a wonderful job, and I even got to spend some time with my baby, Sister Matheson! 

good times with my baby girl!

Something that I have been blessed to learn and understand more is the difference between sin and weakness. There is an article in the church magazine the Ensign called It Isn't a Sin to be Weak. Something that I have struggled with a lot is punishing myself and feeling unworthy because of my weaknesses, but in reality, there is a big difference between sin and weakness. Sin is willingly disobeying God's commandments, but weakness is a result of our own humanity. The Atonement gives us the opportunity to repent of our sins, but our Savior's grace makes up for our weaknesses. This knowledge has helped me so much, and I was able to share my new understanding with one of the less active sisters that we are teaching. It was so awesome to see the light come to her face. She is SO hard on herself, and I was able to help her realize that all things are possible through Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer. 

I am so grateful for the time I have here in Utah as a missionary. My testimony has been strengthened more than I knew it could or would. 

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman 

Words of a Prophet

CONFERENCE!!!

This was one of the best weeks of my mission!!! Conference was so incredible, I was so blessed with revelation and with light. I was able to go to two of the four sessions! On Saturday morning, we went with the young girl who we have been teaching since I came into the area, her fellowshipping family (the mom and daughters), and then we had our recent convert, the 9 year old boy, and his 17 year old step brother who is not a member! It was so neat to see their faces in their first experience at the conference center, and especially at Temple Square! We showed them the Salt Lake temple, and after conference we went and showed them the Christus. I sat next to our recent convert during conference, and he took notes in his notepad while I took notes in mine :) How special to see such a young man, filled with the spirit, and able to receive revelation. Of course, two hours is a long time, so we all got a little antsy toward the end.

Because it is my last conference while I am on my mission, I was able to choose another session to go to. I chose Sunday morning, so that I could see Music and the Spoken word, a broadcast by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and I knew that the Prophet always speaks on Sunday morning! I went with Sister Lewis, her and her husband were my senior couple in Plain City and they have become adopted grandparents. We went down together and had a wonderful time. Our tickets were so good! The choir sang like angels, and the Prophet spoke all about the power of the temple, and then my favorite apostle (I know I shouldn't have favorites but I do), Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke! His talk was so powerful. He spoke of the fall of Adam and Eve, and how without that fall, without our humanity, we would have no need for a Savior. But because of that fall, Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice is essential in our lives. Throughout the conference I learned a lot about trusting the Lord, strengthening faith, and being obedient out of love. President Uchtdorf made an analogy, saying that if we think that we buy our salvation with obedience, it is like buying an airplane ticket and thinking we own the airline. Our Savior's sacrifice and grace makes it possible for us, after all we have done, to gain eternal life.

Did you watch conference? If not, it will be available soon online at lds.org! I want to hear what you guys thought!

Last night we had a great lesson with the young girl who we brought to conference. We had asked her last week to pray about a day to be baptized, and when we asked her, she immediately said "I already decided, I want to get baptized!" We were so surprised! Her answer showed us that she is truly ready. We asked her how she decided and she said "I don't know, I just felt good about it!" That is exactly what the spirit does! It doesn't overpower us, we still have our ability to choose, but he gently whispers the right thing to do, and helps us to feel good about it. We are so excited for her!

I got a new companion last week, her name is Sister Pitt and she is from Oahu, Hawaii! She is full of life and energy and I am excited for this BUSY transfer ahead of us.

I love you all and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman

Sister Pitt! My new companion!

Endure

We met a lot of new people this week. We finally contacted some referrals that we have been trying to meet for a while, and had some really good lessons. One lady, she is not a member of the church, but her husband is. He hasn't gone for a long time. She grew up with her mom telling her bad things about the LDS church, and so she really did not have a good opinion of it. After a lot of soul searching and pondering, she finally found peace in Christ, and decided that she is not going to judge people because of what they believe. She has since married her husband, who's family is active in the church, so she has come a long way. She was really sweet, and it was so neat to hear about her journey in discovering the love of our Savior Jesus Christ. She said that her husband has been struggling with his faith, and we offered to come and help with some of the questions he might have. We set a return appointment, but we're guessing the husband is not quite ready to come back, because she texted us, cancelled the appointment, and said no further visits were necessary. Bummer!

Then we met a young girl who is not a member but her mom is. We had a lesson and talked to her about the church and baptism, and she seemed on board. The mom, although she didn't participate much, seemed ok with everything, until the weekend when she texted, cancelled the appointment, and said they did not want to reschedule. Double bummer.

It would be easy to look at these events and say what is the point of even meeting them?! But I have learned in my time in the mission field, that success is measured by our commitment. Because we are committed to the work, we gave these people an opportunity to learn. They might not be ready at this time, but we have planted a seed. When Heavenly Father leads us to these people, He wants to see if we will keep working, even when it is tough. He wants us to learn to turn to Him, to trust Him. I have seen that with many things in my life. If I am going through something hard, I try to turn around and say ok, what am I supposed to be learning? It doesn't all make sense at once, but the more I counsel with the Lord, the easier it is to have hope.

This weekend we have the incredible opportunity to hear the Prophet of the Lord, President Thomas S. Monson and other apostles speak to us at General Conference! I invite you all to watch or listen to it, it is on the BYU channel, but you can also stream it live online at lds.org. There will be two sessions on Saturday, and two on Sunday. I can't wait to hear what guidance and counsel they have for us!

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman

p.s. sorry I have had no pictures! not much to document, next week will be different :)

Real Love

I have found renewed faith and love for my Savior Jesus Christ this week. We are still searching for those who are prepared to hear the gospel, and with each day that we are fruitless, I know that the Lord is working us to see if we will keep going, even when the going gets tough. 

I was able to go on exchanges with Hermana Orchard, and we tracted most of the day, going door to door looking for people who are willing to listen, specifically hispanics (she is in a spanish branch). We met a man who has been working in the United States for 14 years, and hasn't seen his family since he left mexico. It is incredible to meet people who are going through real struggles, to see the sacrifices they are willing to make for their families. It makes me incredibly grateful for all that I have been blessed with. We went to a Relief Society activity that evening, and it was so fun to listen to the sisters speak to each other in spanish. I can understand a good amount, maybe i'll go to a spanish ward when I go home :) 

We had a lesson with a young girl that we have been teaching for the past two months. It has been difficult trying to help her learn, she is suuuuper shy and easily distracted by her friends that come to the lessons. We had the lesson last night at her home with her step-mom who grew up catholic. It was all about Jesus Christ, His life and death. It was neat to help her step-mom realize that a lot of our beliefs are similar. We invited the girl to be baptized on a specific date, to which she was unsure (typical answer, she does not like being put on the spot!). We told her to pray and ask Heavenly Father if she should be baptized. We promised that the Holy Ghost would testify to her and help her to know that it is right. The spirit prompted me to ask her step-mom as well. I said "If you came to know that these things were true, would you be baptized?" She said "Yeah, possibly..." WOW! I wasn't expecting that! She said that there is a lot that she doesn't know, and that she has been feeling conflicted. We told her that we would love to help her learn and find some peace. I am so excited! If I hadn't acted on that prompting, we would have never known how she was feeling, and that her heart was open and ready to learn about the gospel. 

In preparation for Easter, I have been focusing my studies more on Jesus Christ. The more I learn about Him, the more I love Him. He truly is my brother. He suffered every pain I would ever go through, and knows exactly how to strengthen me. I am so incredibly grateful for His love. As a little girl recently put it, "That is real real love!". 

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman

Words of Wisdom

hiking on pday!

We met some pretty cool people this week. We met two women, one is 100 and the other is 103 years old! Needless to say, they are incredible women. Both are members of the church, and one had met every prophet since Heber J. Grant! We asked her what wisdom she had for us, after her years of experience, and she said this: "Be obedient to the principles of the gospel". I don't know why, but I was surprised at her answer. It showed her testimony and the perspective that she had gained throughout her years on this earth. I thought of what my response would have been if I was her age. Would I have learned the same lesson?

I gave a talk this Sunday on how we can find joy in keeping the commandments. Our perspective can change when we realize the purpose of the commandments. Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be happy, so He gives us commandments so that we can. If we truly understood that our Heavenly Father loves and cares for us and knows what is best for us, then we would not only be willing, but anxious to keep His commandments. We would know and understand that obedience brings blessings. President Uchtdorf said:
 

"Part of our challenge is, I think, that we imagine that God has all of His blessings locked in a huge cloud up in heaven, refusing to give them to us unless we comply with some strict, paternalistic requirements He has set up. But the commandments aren’t like that at all. In reality, Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings upon us. It is our fear, doubt, and sin that, like an umbrella, block these blessings from reaching us."

By keeping the commandments, I have found peace and happiness, and also protection from the adversary. It is when I have strayed off the path that I have been more susceptible to his snares. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father cares about us so much to give us so many ways to be happy and safe in this life.

I know that it can be difficult, but we will never feel of the peace and true joy that comes from obedience until we try it! And the 104 year old sister said it's the most important thing that she learned, so I think i'm going to take her advice :)

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman

Mountains To Climb

This week... I'm going to stop classifying weeks as good or difficult because they all have a little bit of everything! I'll just say that sometimes when life gives you trials, you wonder if you are going to make it. Can I do this? The answer: probably not. But the wonderful truth that we try to teach people (and ourselves) is that we are not alone.

In the Book of Mormon in Moroni, chapter 7, verses 19-37 and 40-42, it talks about how we are not alone in our journey. The Lord will send angels to minister to us. With His help, we will be able to see miracles. In verse 25 it says:

"Wherefore, by the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceeded forth out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ; and thus by faith, they did lay hold upon every good thing; and thus it was until the coming of Christ."

We need not suffer alone. Through our faith, we will be lifted up and have the strength to endure. The hardest struggles I have had were times when I tried to get by on my own, with my own knowledge and strength. When I finally put it in the hands of my Savior, I was able to see miracles. That is one way that I know this gospel is true. It has helped me to climb mountains that seemed insurmountable. And that is why I am a missionary, to help others to find that faith and hope, to be able to climb those mountains with the help of their Savior Jesus Christ.

Last week I celebrated my 1 year anniversary of coming on my mission, and it was bittersweet. I was so grateful to look back at all of the good times I had, but even more grateful for the trials that I endured and the hard lessons that I have learned. I can look forward with faith, and say, "give me mountains to climb, give me rivers to cross, give me something that's going to make me better than I was".

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman

12 Months Down

I seriously can't believe I've been on my mission for a whole year! Time has flown by and I have really been so blessed to spend this time in the service of the Lord.

So last week was really hard, but when you hit rock bottom, you can only go up! We met with the 9 year old we were teaching every day last week. Satan tried to get him down a few times, but he stayed strong and was baptized on Saturday! It was one of the most spiritual baptisms I have been at. He had so much support from family and friends there. Everyone knew that he is a spiritual giant and they were so proud of the step that he was taking. The next day during church he was confirmed a member of the church and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was testimony meeting and he went a bore his testimony about how Heavenly Father has helped him in his life. He said that "knock knees" are genetic in his family and his brother had them so bad that he needed surgery. He prayed that his brother would be ok and everything went well. It has been so incredible to see his faith grow and his desire to share it with everyone he comes in contact with.

The hugest miracle out of all of this is the progress that his dad has made. He started out very hesitant and very questioning. He said he wants this for his kids, but not for himself. By the end of last week, he was teaching and testifying along with us, helping his son to realize that baptism is a good thing. He enjoyed the baptism, and we just found out on Sunday that he wants to learn more and have the lessons himself! He doesn't want to get baptized, but he wants to be able to lead and teach his son. We are SO excited! This is a huge step, and it has been such a blessing to see the power of the spirit work on him. We never thought we would get to this point, especially so soon!

I am so grateful for the miracles I am able to witness here in the mission field. I know that I have been gone for a while because I can feel how much I have changed. I have learned so much of my Heavenly Father's plan for me, and have felt my Savior's love and His redeeming power. I just love this gospel!

I love you all and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister Boman