Sister Rachel Holbrook: My Heavenly Father Loves Me

Hi family :)

Heavenly Father loves me, and He loves you. He loves each one of us so much and you can see it in everything all around you! Pay attention to it this week as you go through your normal activities- look for the tender mercies of the Lord that will remind you just how much He loves you and knows you personally!

This week has been quite the week! I say that every week, but it's true!! Also, I apologize in advance if I'm super scatterbrained. There's so much to tell in so little time!!!! Also, everything I talk about is typically on top of our normal bandwagon runs and such. Always busy...

Sunday- after email time, we went to Carthage to do a hymn fest there. It was absolutely incredible! We got to testify of Joseph Smith through music at one of the most sacred places I can think of. Playing Praise to the Man was just amazing. I know he was a prophet who was called of God, and I am so grateful for his sacrifices so that we can have the Gospel today. What an incredible man and true hero. We also got to go to a musical fireside that night by the Sister missionaries focused on the Atonement and all the different aspects of it. Through the Atonement, not only can we be cleansed from our sins, but we can also be strengthened and enabled, we can find comfort, and we can do anything asked of us. What an incredible gift that we have been given! But if we don't take advantage of it, then there's no reason to have it. So pray that you can use the Atonement and that you can have extra strength through Christ because I know it's possible!! After the fireside, we had Trail of Hope which is always an amazing experience.

Monday- was Memorial Day! We had a normal morning on the bandwagon but the afternoon was spent playing in a little parade and ceremony at the Nauvoo Veterans Memorial. We are like rock stars in Nauvoo and it's great.

Tuesday- we got to wake up early and go to the temple as a band. Though it was early, it was so worth it! There is something unifying about serving together in the temple. What an amazing way that was to start our day! That afternoon, we performed for the Nauvoo Elementary School- like I said, we are rock stars there

Wednesday- our prep morning!! We woke up just as early as ever and went to Keokuk so we could finally have some groceries! (I also bought a trumpet stand and it was probably one of the best investments ever) We had to be back and have our house cleaned by 11:00 am when we performed at the fire station for the old people in the community (I can't think of a different way to phrase that- it was a senior citizens luncheon.) That afternoon, we worked in the sites! My companionship was at the Heber C Kimball home and gave no tours in the four hours we were there, which made for productive journal and letter writing time! Also, we taught the senior sisters how to take a selfie which resulted in a hilarious conversation about how Sister Jones wants a facelift now after taking a gross selfie haha that night at Trail of Hope, I got to lead a group down the trail. Unlike the other nights, I felt prompted at the end to bear my testimony of the Atonement. Just like the saints faced their unknown future with faith, we can each face our unknown futures with faith because we are not alone. Heavenly Father loves us and Christ has been through everything we will ever experience. We will never be alone and that brings so much comfort. When we face our own unknown futures, we can have hope like the Saints did because we know that we will be helped through them with the most powerful Being in the universe. What a blessing it is to have that knowledge.

Thursday was our only normal day of the week :) Though after lunch, some of us did the dishes (like we usually do for the Meyers) but it was way funnier today because I got soap on the ceiling and we learned how to use the sprayer to race bowls through the sink and various other things like that. Bonding time doing dishes is a highlight of the day!

Friday- we started off with an amazing district meeting at 7 am all about Christlike attributes. I am surrounded by the most amazing people and am learning so much from all of them!! Then we had a drivers ed course (no, that's not a joke). Brought back good memories and has led to some hilarious driving experiences :) After Sunset that night, we went to community band rehearsal...not my favorite thing. Plus, all of our chops were dead so we were struggling to stay focused. But Elder Keller, Elder Dialogue, and myself played pedal tones almost the whole time, and we joked about how we were starting a whale migration by playing notes that low :) We keep ourselves entertained pretty easily to say the least haha

Saturday- nothing too terribly exciting happened all day. We sweat like no other (like usual), so at Sunset, we were done with the heat. So Elder Dialogue and I decided to do a rain dance (no, I won't ever teach it to you. It's a very powerful rain dance!!) About halfway through the show, the wind started picking up and people started preparing for rain. Then all of a sudden the windows of heaven opened and poured us out a storm unlike any other. It dumped on us!!! I have to say that one of the happiest 30 seconds of my life was realizing our rain dance had worked and then staying on stage with the brass while we finished the song and laughed at the senior sisters running off the stage while they were singing. It was hilarious and so fun and so exciting! Being Illinois, it stopped like 5 minutes later but everyone was gone by then. But for real, I made it rain :) And I'm pretty proud of that haha

Last night, we got to watch the stage YPMs run through their Carthage vignette. It was so powerful and so moving! Joseph Smith truly was a prophet, and I know that to be true!

Look up Numbers 29:1- that's my new life motto :)

The tender mercies of the Lord, like I was saying earlier, really are amazing. There have been quite a few times this week when I have seen simple things that remind me that Heavenly Father is watching out for each of us. Whether it's something like gorgeous clouds, the answer to a simple prayer, finding mariachi music (not a joke, it was a needed blessing), a prompting that changed my day, or anything else, Heavenly Father is taking care of us. When I don't think I could possibly play another note and then I have to finish the Sunset show with a beautiful solo about the Saints, I know I am not playing by myself. I have angels all around me, supporting me. Both in the form of fellow missionaries and in angels that I can't see. The Spirit is real, the Church is true, Heavenly Father loves you, and I love being a missionary!!!

Love you all!!!!

Sister Holbrook :)