We Want Women Wednesdays: HERMANA RUPP

I have beem on my mission for almost 4 months and I have learned so much and made many changes. It's hard to even know where to begin. It is true when they say that your first convert is yourself. When I went into the MTC, it was nothing like I expected it to be. I went in there thinking I was going to learn about the Gospel and Spanish, and I did, but more then anything I learned more about myself. I realized I wasn't patient and that I really lacked Christt like love. That was somethingI had to work on and It is something that I am continually working on. I realized I took a lot of the small things for granted. I learned quickly how to put more trust in my Father in Heaven. When you have no family or friends around, prayer become my life support. I felt God's love and comfort in times when I felt like I couldn't do it anymore. The atonement became so real to me. I know that Christ knows exactly what I am going through. I felt a greater desire to change and be more like my Savior. I have felt the healing power of forgiveness and how inportant it is to forgive others.( Matterw 18:21-22 http://lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/18?lang=eng) The Lord answers prayers through the scriptures. The Book of Mormon has great power in it. I know that the Lord speaks to us through the scriptures. I find so much peace and comfort when I read the scriptures. The Book of Mormon is true. I have really been trying to learn how the Spirit speaks to me and having enough faith to trust in the Lord and act on those promptings.

    All in all, the mission is changing me. It is continuallly molding me into the person I want to become. I am greatful for the blessing to change. I am so glad I don't have to be the person I was before. The gospel changes lifes. I am always amazed by the faith of the people in the California Santa Rosa Mossion that we teach. They so willingly accept the gospel and have such a great desire to do the things that our Heavenly father wants them to do. The Atonement is the " the good news" of this gospel We can always change! These are the things I have learned in the past few months. I have a long way to go and a lot more to learn... I am so excited. I love being a missionary!

Love,

Hermana Rupp

"We Want Women" Wednesdays :)

Every Wednesday, we're going to post a blog from Sister Missionaries in this mission. If you're a former sister missionary and would like to share your story, feel free to email me your stories, and we can post them.

We believe that as sisters, we can help and strengthen this work. President Monson has issued the call saying, “I admonish you to prepare for service as a missionary. Keep yourselves clean nd pure and worthy to represent the Lord. Maintain your health and strength. Study the scriptures. Where such is available, participate in seminary or institute. Familiarize yourself with the missionary handbook Preach My Gospel.” He has said of “sisters … you also make a valuable contribution as missionaries, and we welcome your service”. Elder James E. Talmage (1862–1933) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated that “the world’s greatest champion of woman and womanhood is Jesus the Christ” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], 475). 

Apostle, Elder M. Russell Ballard has stated: "Of this you may be certain: The Lord especially loves righteous women—women who are not only faithful but filled with faith, women who are optimistic and cheerful because they know who they are and where they are going, women who are striving to live and serve as women of God. 

"My dear sisters, we believe in you. We believe in and are counting on your goodness and your strength, your propensity for virtue and valor, your kindness and courage, your strength and resilience. We believe in your mission as women of God...We believe that the Church simply will not accomplish what it must without your faith and faithfulness, your innate tendency to put the well-being of others ahead of your own, and your spiritual strength and tenacity...

"Our dispensation is not without its heroines. Countless women from every continent and walk of life have made dramatic contributions to the cause of Christ...

"Every sister in this Church who has made covenants with the Lord has a divine mandate to help save souls, to lead the women of the world, to strengthen the homes of Zion, and to build the kingdom of God...

"Every sister who stands for truth and righteousness diminishes the influence of evil. Every sister who strengthens and protects her family is doing the work of God. Every sister who lives as a woman of God becomes a beacon for others to follow and plants seeds of righteous influence that will be harvested for decades to come. Every sister who makes and keeps sacred covenants becomes an instrument in the hands of God...

"Between now and the day the Lord comes again, He needs women in every family, in every ward, in every community, in every nation who will step forward in righteousness and say by their words and their actions, 'Here am I, send me.'

"...You who have such a profound, innate spiritual ability to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. You need never wonder again if you have worth in the sight of the Lord...Because of these unusual gifts and talents, you are vital to taking the gospel to all the world, to demonstrating that there is joy in living the way the prophets have counseled us to live...More than ever before we need women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity, as the Relief Society declaration proclaims. We need women who can hear and who will respond to the voice of the Lord...We do need women who rejoice in their womanhood and have a spiritual confirmation of their identity, their value, and their eternal destiny. Above all, we need women who will stand up for truth and righteousness and decry evil at every turn and simply say, 'Lord, here am I, send me.'

"I simply say to you, God bless the women of the Church."

M. Russell Ballard, "Women of Righteousness", Ensign, Apr. 2002, 66–73
(http://lds.org/ensign/2002/04/women-of-righteousness?lang=eng)

<3 Sister Martinez