You can do it!

ME AND SISTER TEO!!! 

I love her (: (: Seriously, seeing her I felt like Ammon when he saw Alma and his fellow missionaries after a long time and was overcome with joy. Ah, I was so lucky to be her companion! 

Dear Family, 

This week we had zone conference! It was sooo good to be with President and Sister Ostler, and to see all my missionary friends! Now I know that I am old because I know so many people at zone conference. Of course, I was so pumped to see Sister Teo! She updated me on the Segovia's and the Lopez's and Joy and said that they are all doing great (: Ah- seriously the joy was SO REAL! I am so grateful for all that I learned in Santa Monica with Sister Teo. We went through so much together, and learned and grew so much.  I learned from her what it really means to be obedient, and how to give EVERYTHING to this work. I haven't met a missionary who gives more heart to this work than she does. I am so thankful for her and was so happy to see her doing well!!

In our mission right now, we are starting a new vision! We are really focusing on conversion, and helping investigators and less active members become fully active in the gospel, and making it to the temple. In order to help us do that, we are going to be focusing more on helping investigators really focus on baptism, helping recent converts get callings and involved in visiting/home teaching, family history work. Then, we are going to really help the families who have been baptized make it to the temple. It is really exciting!! 

It is also going to be a challenge! Missionary work is not easy, and conversion is certainly not easy. In order for us to accomplish our goals, its going to take exact obedience and being fully dedicated to this. Sister Narag and I are really pumped about it!!

As far as our area goes.. This week was good and bad. It was rough because Shane moved to Baguio! We are not sure if she will be coming back... but we are praying that she will or that she will find member support there in Baguio. Keep her in your prayers!

One really really exciting thing was Brother Reyes got the Melchezidek Priesthood!! He was baptized with his family last summer, and this weekend was stake conference, and we were so thrilled to hear his name!! The joy of seeing their family so active in church is such a blessing. Rose is her name, and she is the one who spoke at Shane's baptism about how the day the Sister missionaries first talked to her on the street (: So awesome!

Well... this week was another great week! I learned a lot about hope. Even though it was great and exciting, there were some nights that I really felt filled with doubt. Satan knows when you embark on an important journey, or when you decide on a new goal, and it doesn't make him happy. I really felt the importance of what we are starting as a mission, and some things that I am working on personally, because I felt the adversary opposing it so strongly.  I am so thankful, though, for the scriptures. I love having a whole hour every morning just to see what messages Heavenly Father has for me. A couple of nights felt hopeless this week, but the next morning always brought new light as I opened my scriptures and the words of the prophets. One message that really touched me was in the talk "You Can Do it Now" by President Uchtdorf. In it he said, "Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and move forward." In proverbs we read "hope deferred maketh the heart sick." But in Ether we are reminded that as we have hope, it maketh an anchor to our soul. 

We all have things in our life that we want to accomplish! We have things that we know we need to change. We all can picture in our minds the kind of person that we want to be. We can do it! I am so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Through Him and His strength, I know that we really can do ALL THINGS. NOTHING is impossible with His help. As we are believing, we can DO IT!

 9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

 10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them. (Mosiah 4:9, 10 in the Book of Mormon)

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for your support and love and prayers! I am the luckiest missionary in the world! (: 

XOXOXOXO 

Sister Lockwood