Grateful for Vision

Hello lovely people!

Some exciting things happened this week, and some not so happy things:

So Elder Zwick (of the first quorum of the 70) and his wife came for a mission tour, and we were able to have a special Mission Leadership Council with them as well as a Zone Conference with half of the mission. The night before the MLC, Sister Woodard and I drove to Statesboro to sleepover at the sisters' place there so that we wouldn't have to get up as early/drive as far the next morning. I was so happy to able to talk to Sister de St. Jeor. She is just so wonderful and I have missed her so. You get pretty attached to your "only child". :) So here comes the not so fun part: getting zero sleep on the pull out couch made of stone. And Sister Woodard was already not feeling super great, so the next morning she woke up feeling even worse. MLC was great until I felt a small tug on my hair. I thought that I had caught my hair on the chair, but then I felt it again. I turned around to see Sister Woodard's face which was as white as a sheet with a slightly greenish tinge. She whispered: "I'm going to pass out... or throw up." And we booked it out of that room in the middle of Elder Zwick talking. And that's the story of how my poor little companion threw up in the church bathroom in the middle of MLC. And how she spent the next few days pretty miserable.

Zone Conference was a struggle for her as well, and I was actually feeling kind of squeamish myself, but for a different reason. The AP's had asked me to come up with a musical number for the conference, and I had been downing vitamin C and praying that I wouldn't get sick so that I could sing. And singing in front of that many people plus a general authority was a little stressful. I had been feeling a tickle in my throat for a few days, and I knew that it could hit me at any time. However, the morning of the conference, my throat felt totally fine, and felt that way until the drive home, when it started hurting again. Thank you Heavenly Father!! :) The song was a bittersweet moment for me. Elder Hunsicker and I sang "Because He Lives", which was the same duet that my mom and I sang at my farewell. And it was probably my last time singing at a meeting in the mission field :(

The Conference was wonderful, and we learned a lot. One of my favorite stories that Sister Zwick shared was about perspective. She told the story of one of their friends who is pretty well off, and wanted to "give back". Evidently, there is a group of people (Native American I think), that live on the bottom of the Grand Canyon. And they relied solely on the tourist trade to survive. Well, he wanted to help these people be more self-sufficient, so he took his helicopter and transported hundreds of seeds and seedlings to plant in their fertile soil. He also taught them how to plant and harvest, and pretty soon they had flourishing fruit orchards. One day, the man was sitting on a bench, and one of the old squaws sat down next to him. She softly asked, "Are you man who bring fruit trees?" "Yes," he responded. She looked over at him and said, "We are grateful for fruit trees, but we are more grateful for vision."

I am so grateful for the vision that my mission has given me. Words cannot express how grateful I am for the vision that the gospel of Jesus Christ has given me. It has changed everything for me. It can change everything for anyone.

Until next week,
Sister Szilagyi