Sunshine Sentiments: SISTER DeGOOYER

The following are some excerpts from my notes/ideas book:

Which way do you face?

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point." -C.S. Lewis

Courage is to do what is right when you are afraid, because it is right

This work is more certain than life itself

This is not a perfect church, it is a perfecting church.

DID I REALLY TRY?

The possibilities are endless

The Lord expects great things of us!

Write down every crazy idea

KILL THE COW

"latterday saints don't have friends, they have meetings"

If you want revelation, pray for it!

We came here to be changed!

There are things that simply cannot be clothed in words

It's not fair, it's not right, it's TRUTH

D&C 50:24- "the whole gospel in one verse" -Pres. Hinkley

What legacy do you want to leave?

The first thing Jesus taught when he came to America was obedience. 55 words, 3 lines, and he taught obedience.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY AARON!!

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We had MLC, Zone Conference, and a Stake Leadership Conference this week! It was soooo good! Especially, since Elder Cornish, was able to attend over Zoom call. That man is incredible and I learned so much from him; about leadership, about the gospel, about who I want to be! It was incredibly inspiring, uplifting, and exhausting. On Tuesday it was 10 hours of meetings. Good thing I like meetings. Not many people do... I think it is just my love of learning. If it is a meeting where we can get stuff done or I can learn, sign me up!!

I went to a funeral on Wednesday. Sister Wardel passed away about 2 weeks ago. It was rough, the talk entitled "Doors of Death" by President Russell M. Nelson got me through it. For all of you that don't know who she is. She was the member that I lived with when I was back in Kimberly. She was the sweetest, funniest, most opinionated lady. I loved her! I learned from her what it means to give and to love deeply. She had an inner strength that stemmed from her deep love for her family and God- goodness, I love her! I still have some of her applesauce, that I brought with me from Kimberly. I am holding onto it.

We found a kitten this week. It literally followed us home and entered our habitation. We named it Vanessa Santoro, after one of the best characters in a mutual favorite book of mine and Sister Brooks. I am, however, allergic to cats.... so I lived off of Benadryl for that day. We had to let it go after feeding it and giving it some love. Missionaries can't have pets, although it was fun to have one for a day!

I went on exchanges with Sister Holmquist. [shotout to Zane and Tara McCallister] We talked about you and your family all day, hahaha. We're not too far from y'all, if you come over to Poky you can take us both out for lunch! Sister Holmquist is honestly one of the best missionaries I have met and she has only been out for 2 months. It was fun to go into her area and work!

Life is good! I can't shake the feeling that I am slowly running out of time. I LOVE being a missionary and I want to do as much as I can before I leave! Oh, dang, I wish I could be a missionary forever! Which brings me to a good point. I can be! As members of this wonderful gospel, it is our job to go out and share what we have with our friends. Elder Cornish said it this way: "Members aren't afraid of sharing the gospel, they are afraid of sharing themselves." I promise you that sharing that part of yourself is joyful! Rejection is real and it is hard and sometimes heartbreaking; however, it also shows us just how important this gospel is to us. When everything is said and done what matters is our testimony and conversion to God. True conversion is knowing and realizing what you have- that realization leads to action (temple work, missionary work, and fulfilling your callings). Missionary work is the easiest of the three! It just requires being yourself! :)

Sure love ya!

Sister DeGOOyer

P.S. Elder Cornish's story....

Once there was a boy who lived with his mother on the edge of a cliff near a small town. The boy and his mother lived on a little farm, with one cow for their sucess. The cow wasn't the most dependable of creatures. When the weather was bad, it produced very little milk. When the weather was good, the boy and his mother prospered. One year the weather had been exceptionally bad, and the mother and her son were in bad shape. The boy heard tale of a wise man who had come into the town. He asked his mother if he could go and inquire of the wiseman how they could help their situation. The mother didn't seem to like the idea, but after missing a couple of suppers her heart softened and she let the boy run into the village. Not too much later, to the mother's surprise, she saw the boy come up the drive with the wiseman at his side. The boy brought the wiseman up to the cow and the wiseman nodded his head and said "I think I know your solution."

Excited the boy and his mother watched as the wiseman led the cow to the edge of the cliff. They watched eagerly and then in surprise as the wiseman shoved the cow off of the cliff. The son and his mother ran to the edge of the cliff and to their horror watched as the cow dashed in pieces against the rock. The wiseman nodded his head and said to the widow and her son "That should do it. I'll come back and check on you in a couple of years"

Well a couple years passed and the wiseman, as promised, came back to the village. As he walked through the town he saw a mansion standing tall in the middle of the town. He stopped a passerby and asked "Who lives in that big house?"

The man replied, "There was an old widow and her son who lived right outside our village at the edge of a cliff. They live there now."

The wiseman nodded his head and said, "I thought so."

Now the question is: 1) Why did the wiseman push the cow off the cliff? 2)What happened in the years between the wiseman's visit?