Many Reasons To Be Grateful

Macy's Grandparents, Bob and Marsha Wellman and her cousins, Christie and Trevor Shelton were able to spend time with Macy and Sister Steenhoek this morning at Temple Square.  Here are some of the pictures they took:



Christie, Grandma Wellman, Sister Park, Sister Steenhoek, Grandpa Wellman

Hello Hello! How was Thanksgiving? Mine was wonderful but it definitely was not like Thanksgiving at home. Our mission went to a big event center called Noah's. We were able to make crafts for the Children’s Hospital, ice skate, watch Monsters University and Princess Bride, sing karaoke, and dance. It was really cool!  Thanksgiving dinner was provided by a place called Apple Spice. They are a catering company and they made us an awesome turkey dinner. It was my first Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie but it's ok…I made it through the night.

 

All of the brand new sisters came in on Wednesday so I'm curious to hear what they think about this mission so far since Thursday was their first real day with us. Welcome to America! We had all foreign girls and no Americans this transfer. They probably think we’re crazy!

I have a new companion! She is so cute and fun! Her name is Sister Steenhoek and she is from Houston, Texas. She is really tall with long blonde hair. She is the closest thing I have to Taylor Swift on my mission. She is also a really good singer. We have a lot of fun together. She is doing so wonderful in Fleet. I barely even have to train her so that's been nice.

 

Wednesday being transfer day was CRAZY. All the flights were delayed so all our girls arrived at the airport much later than we expected. One of the cars died on the way to the airport so we had to go jump it. Pretty much anything that could go wrong was going wrong. It was so stressful! Everything worked out in the end though.

Today, things are still crazy. Right now one of the cars is missing so I need to find whoever took it without asking and have a discussion with them…. that should be awkward. I haven't been to the square this whole week because it has been so busy. I basically live in the garage!

With fleet being so busy I haven’t been able to do much teaching. My whole life right now is women and cars. Most men would love it but I promise you guys it is not that great! Haha, just kidding, it’s not all that bad. I am looking forward to getting back to the Square so I can teach though!
 

After crazy transfers on Wednesday, Sister Steenhoek and I really needed a break so we went to this awesome little hamburger joint in downtown Salt Lake City called Hire's Big H. Dad and Jeremy would love it! Our meal was great and so was the atmosphere. There were lots of families in there and some of the kids were taking pictures of us and whispering, pointing at us- we felt famous! During our meal we had two different families approach us and ask if they could pay for us. At first we said no but they were so persistent so we said yes to the family with the little boys who were taking pictures of us. But then at the end of the night the waiter came over to us and said that someone paid for our food so we went to thank the family with the little boys and they said someone had beat them to it. So then we went to thank the other family and they said they didn't do it either! So someone we didn't even see or talk to paid for our meal. There are just such wonderful people in this world. That was our little miracle of the night and I know it was Heavenly Father helping us out because we were broke.  

There are so many things to be thankful for! Good people are definitely some of them! Last night I was writing in my journal and began looking back at all of my journal entries from the past year and I was just amazed! I have been through so much! There were so many life-changing events in 2013 that really helped me grow as a person and as a missionary. I was thinking about all of the blessings, happy moments, and sad moments. I am thankful for every single one of them! Every little moment whether happy or sad has led me to where I am at right now. Every person that I have met has played a big part in my life for one reason or another. So last night when I knelt down to pray I decided just to say a prayer of gratitude to Heavenly Father. As I was praying I realized that I had so much more to be thankful for than I even realized and I felt so good afterwards! Sometimes in life we feel like we are alone or that we are just running in place but Heavenly Father is there every step of the way! It's such a comforting feeling to know that he has such a great plan for every single one of us. All we need to do is act and have faith and everything will work out. It is so important to reflect and recognize what he has done for us in our lives. Rather than praying like we are ordering fast food or blessings, we should really take a look at what Heavenly Father has blessed us with. He is so involved and sometimes we don't even realize it!  I think that we are the most happy in our lives when we realize what he has done and when we are truly grateful for our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is when we see the most blessings in our lives and when we have the most joy.

 

I love you family and friends!

Sister Macy Park