One VERY Drunk Grandma And The Gift Of Grace

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Welcome back to our weekly email about the adventures here in the Selenge Area, in the small town of Sükhbaatar. I'm your host, Sister Vestel, and I will be taking you through the highlights of this week.

We had an exchange planned for Wednesday night to Thursday night, but our STL dislocated and relocated her knee and had to have an emergency transfer to the city. RIP Sister Shepard, you will be missed. We rescheduled our exchange to Friday night to Saturday night!

I got to go with Sister Beghetti, and we experienced a ton of little miracles while walking around. One of those small miracles was being able to talk to a girl who was crying and give her a treat. Then we got to attend the elders' baptism. It was a 10/10 exchange.

We were able to visit members and less active members living in Shamar, and we got to visit a wonderful old grandma who was super drunk on milk vodka. Needless to say, our visit with her was unforgettable.

We also reconnected with a past investigator who had somehow been forgotten about for a couple of transfers. Her daughters called us to get a blessing for their mom, and we got to meet her and share a spiritual thought! So now we have a new investigator!

One more small miracle I've experienced recently is hot water. For the past three weeks, we haven't had hot water, and I finally got a good shower yesterday. I know it sounds strange, but I had no idea how much a good shower affects my mood. Needless to say, I am so much more motivated now.

I love the opportunity to take a few minutes of your time each week and direct it towards the work here in Mongolia and the blessings I witness each week.

For this week, I’d like to share a verse from Romans 5:

Romans 5:8

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

One of the things I’ve been reflecting on lately is the Christlike quality of grace. Before my mission, grace was something undefined for me. But through my mission, I’ve come to realize that grace, for me, is giving someone the space to grow. Through the grace of Jesus Christ, we are all able to repent, change, and become better.

Let’s put this into perspective for a moment.

Jesus:

The only perfect person to live on Earth

The literal Messiah

Died in the most painful way for all of our sins

Bore the pain and suffering of everyone so a greater plan could work

Us:

Imperfect (and that’s okay)

Sin often

Just trying our best

If Jesus Christ was able to grant us the ability to mess up, sin, repent, grow, and sin again, shouldn’t we be able to grant others the same space to grow? Shouldn’t we allow others to repent of their sins and move past who they were? Shouldn’t we cheer on these people as they strive to be better?

To end this little reflection: how can we expect the Savior to give us a chance to grow and improve if we hold others to an outdated standard?

You will be hurt in this life. You will experience pain and maybe even some resentment. It is part of being human. However, not allowing people the chance to repent, try again, and grow will only lead to more pain for you. Please, learn to forgive. The race in this life is not against others but against ourselves. Let’s cheer on the "competition" as they find a better version of themselves.

I know that if we do this, we will not only have a deeper appreciation for Jesus Christ and His Atonement, but we will also find that we love ourselves more. I know this because it took me a couple of years to learn through hard trials and a lot of bitterness. Please don’t make the same mistakes I did.

I love you all so much. Thank you for joining me this week.

Sister Vestel