Elkins, West Virginia: Challenges of a Burned Face, Elder Kopischke, and Goodbyes

Dear family and friends,

This has been quite the odd week in the mission field. We had the opportunity to listen to one of the members of the Seventy. Elder Kopischke (https://www.lds.org/church/leader/erich-w-kopischke?lang=eng&role=05) was absolutely amazing. At the beginning of the conference we had with him he told us to write down a question we had. He told us that he did not have an agenda for the conference, and he did not know what he was going to talk about, but he promised that every single one of our questions would be answered. One thing that really stuck out to me was that as he was making this promise he told us, "The Spirit will only reveal what we are ready to receive." Elder Kopischke's promise held true for every missionary I talked to afterwards. It was an absolutely amazing experience.

After the conference my companion and I had the opportunity to talk to his wife while I waited to have an interview with our mission president. She was such an amazing spirit, and I had the chance to brush up on my German speaking skills since she's German. We were truly blessed to have the opportunity to listen to these amazing people.

In other news, this will likely be the last week on my mission. This may come as shocking news to some of you, but I have been struggling severely with my depression and anxiety recently. I have prayed and fasted about this decision, and the mission therapist and doctor both agree with me that I need to go home on medical release. BUT I do not want any of you to think that I regret a single second of the past 5 months. It has been a blessing to be able to help those in Elkins, West Virginia for the time that I have been here. I have grown so much individually, and my testimony in the gospel of Jesus Christ has never been stronger. I know that even though I'm going to have to take the missionary tag off that I will still be wearing a missionary tag. As Elder Neil L. Andersen said, "If you're not a full-time missionary with a missionary badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart-- painted, as Paul said, 'not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God." I know that I will continue to be a missionary for the rest of my life. Serving our Heavenly Father never ends. I also know that this decision has been guided by our Heavenly Father, and while I do not know why right now, I do know that following the Lord's will is the most important thing we can do on this earth.

On a lighter note, at the beginning of this week my wonderful companion, Sister Roberts, convinced me to buy a standard face wash because it would "make my skin softer". I decided to give it a shot, and it ended up burning my face. I ended up bringing a small container of aloe vera everywhere we went so that my peeling face didn't freak too many people out. It is all healed now though. And no... it did not burn Sister Roberts face. We both laughed for quite some time about that.

I hope that you all have an amazing week. If you were planning on sending anything to me this week I wouldn't recommend it, but I do appreciate the thought. :) Thank you all for the love and support that you have shown me on my mission.

The church is true.
The book is blue.
Heavenly Father loves you.

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash

Elkins, West Virginia: Testify of Christ, Missionary Work, and the Atonement is Real

Hello all!

This week has been a pretty standard one in the way of missionary work. My companion and I have been teaching our friends and slowly helping their faith grow. It is great to see the little moments that show how Christ is influencing their lives. The smallest feelings of peace and understanding become huge moments in a person's eternal progression.

Christ and the Atonement have been a major element of my thoughts and studies this past week. While I can not fully comprehend how Christ felt everything that we have ever felt and ever will feel, I do know that he did. We can not understand everything that God does, but we can trust in Him. Knowing that Christ knows exactly what I feel and what others feel has brought peace in my mind when I don't know how to help someone else. I know that He will help me understand and give me the words necessary to help these people.

My "ponderizing" scripture this past week was 2 Nephi 25:26 (again). After thinking about it for two weeks, I have summarized it to: "...we talk...rejoice...preach...prophesy... and write of Christ..." As Christians, this is what we need to be doing. Taking upon ourselves the name of Christ means that we are going to be as Christlike as we can be, and we're going to involve Christ in every aspect of our life.

This next week I'll be "ponderizing" is Mormon 5:23. "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power, and at his great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?"

I hope that you all have an amazing week. I love you and hope that you all continue to do well.

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash

Elkins, West Virginia: Halloween, Peeling Pears, and Transfer Week

Hello family and friends!

This past week has been quite the week here in Elkins! Last Monday was rather busy after I sent out my emails. We had a district p-day where we carved pumpkins and did tie-dye. It was extremely fun! Sister Roberts and I then had to rush to a ward family home evening we were having. We didn't have a large turn out of people, but it was still lots of fun. We helped them carve pumpkins and we related it to the light of Christ and Matthew 5:14-16.

The rest of the week consisted of running around, serving, and teaching. We had the opportunity to serve a variety of people this week. We helped someone paint their trailer which resulted in "Elegant Charcoal" paint being all over my hands. We also helped someone else peel pears... which resulted in pear juice all over my hands and smelling like pears for a few hours.

Halloween was rather odd this year. Instead of the normal Halloween festivities, we were helping out at a funeral. The services went well, but it did not connect in my mind that it was Halloween until we got home later that evening.

So, this week is transfer week... and surprise! Sister Roberts and I are staying in Elkins because we're still doing training. None of the Elkins missionaries are going anywhere for another transfer.

This past week has been hectic, so I haven't done the best job with "ponderizing". Thus, I am "ponderizing the same scripture again this week.
2 Nephi 25:26
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

I hope that you all have an amazing week! Never forget that Heavenly Father loves each of you.

Love,

Sister Thyme Nash