Week 68 - August 28, 2023

 Well, we got good ole transfer news and I'm staying here in Newport News as an STL with Sister Draut and we are receiving a TRAINEE!!!  I am so excited and can't wait to meet her.  Stayed tuned for next week to know who it is and where she's from😁

I am grateful and so excited for these last six weeks and I'm ready to work!  The Lord really provided us with amazing miracles this last week and I couldn't be more grateful.  I meant last four days🤣 but we had four lessons with the most amazing people.  David, Nelson, Ricky, Jahlia, Alexander and Errorol!  And most of them joined us at church on Sunday. 

Also, the best thing ever happened.  We got to go watch the sunrise this morning at the beach!!!  First time seeing the ocean since I've been here and simply never been happier. 

A lesson I've learned on my mission is that love is truly the center and needed in ALL THINGS!  Heavenly Father created us because he had so much love, he sent us here because he loves us and wants us to grow.  He provided us His only begotten son to save us all from sin and so that Christ could know "that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."  THAT IS LOVE!  THE PUREST LOVE!  

He felt it ALL for us, because he has perfect love for each and every one of us.  The center of the plan of salvation is love, it's Him.  The center of the Restoration is love because it's centered on him.  The center of this work is love because it's his work.  We share because we love, we invite because we love him and the message, he calls us and qualifies us because he loves us.  I love him and know that he is full of love.  I've felt it every day.  I love sharing the good news and I love helping others find their good Shepherd.  I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who know me perfectly and have a perfectly loving plan for all of us. 

Hope y'all are well.

#CTR

-SISTER HANNAH COPELAND 

Week 67 - August 23, 2023

Hello, everyone!!  Another week down here in Newport News, and I love sharing the good news to God's children here.  

This week I had a moment of reflection that was needed.  We have been working hard, finding people, teaching, on the grind, dropping people who aren't ready to make commitments, and just grinding honestly.  All of our friends that were and are progressing just had so many things come up, and I know it's the adversary that's slowing them down a bit, so if y'all could pray for 

Thomas 

Ricky, Jahlia, Alexander

Bill 

Jackie and Nicole 

Angela 

Steve

It would mean the world to me and to them.  I know the time will come so a lot of patience has been required.  But my loving Heavenly Father knows me too well and tells me every time I get discouraged to listen to the talk, "The Imperfect Harvest."  If you have not read it, READ IT!

There's been a lot of discouraging things happening that get me pretty down for a minute.  In my last area if y'all remember, Rosetta and Johnny.  They both reached out to me, please keep praying for them and that the Elders take care of them. I've never wanted to drive back up to Spotsy more.  But that's okay, I have put it all in the Lord's hands.  If I do my part and do all I can, which I have been doing, I know he will perfect my humble offering.  Here's a quote from the talk, 

"We must remember that whatever our best-but-imperfect offering is, the Savior can make it perfect.  No matter how insignificant our efforts may seem, we must never underestimate the Savior’s power.  A simple word of kindness, a brief but sincere ministering visit, or a Primary lesson lovingly taught can, with the Savior’s help, provide comfort, soften hearts, and change eternal lives.  Our clumsy efforts can lead to miracles, and in the process, we can participate in a perfect harvest." 

I am so grateful for a perfect Savior who can perfect my offerings!  I know this is His work, I know He is helping me along the way, and I know He lives. 

I would like to share something I've learned the last 20 years of my life but especially the last 18 months.  The power of prayer.  I had a moment a couple weeks ago when I felt like Enos.  I was in my closet just wrestling with God.  I couldn't even wrap my head around the words that I wanted to say, so I just talked to him and tried to say what my heart was feeling.  I felt like I was not receiving my answer and I was so frustrated because I felt like I needed an answer then or something more than ever, but I just sat there in my closet dwelling in this beautiful spirit and I realized how much I love pouring my soul to my Father above, I realized how much I love to go to my knees and talk to my father and feel that spirit.  But, I felt a still small voice say to me, "It's time to go now, I need you to keep growing," so I did and I got in bed and I missed being there but I had this realization that I felt that way when I left his presence 20 years ago.  I feel like this when I go to the temple, I feel like this being a missionary but the reason we are here on this earth is to continue growing and they want that for us.  So when times get hard, go pray and know it's okay to get up and go grow, you have an army of angels cheering for you and a loving savior whose arm is always reached out to you.  Reach for it and let him take you and help you return to our father! 

But we all need to remember to pray more and remember who we are praying to.  It brings miracles, he brings miracles!!

ALSO, SIS ROBINSON, MY TRAINER, WAS VISITING.  SO GOOD TO SEE HER. 

I love you all!!!

#CTR

-SISTER HANNAH COPELAND 

Week 66 - August 14, 2023

This week we had two exchanges and they both went so good.  I got to be with Hermana Cotton and Burrup, and I've served around both of them before, so it felt like being back with old friends and we had the time of our lives.  Then I was with Sister Mcgarvin who's in training and she's so cute.  I was able to help her a lot and just help her understand that we are truly all entitled on calling upon the Lord for help.  Here's a quote I love and shared with her, and I hope that it speaks to y'all.

"Remember that this work is not yours and mine alone.  It is the Lord's work, and when we are on the Lord's errand, we are entitled to the Lord's help.  Remember that the Lord will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it."

Also, we had an amazing thing happen.  Seven of our friends came to church and they loved it!!  Some of them we met this week and are continuing to keep meeting with us.  God is providing so many miracles and the Spirit is the true teacher! Church is the best way for people to know and understand this truly is Christ's church! 

Our friends are progressing and loving what they're learning. There are SOO many people being prepared right now to hear the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!  I invite you all to invite someone you know to church and let them feel the blessings that are in store for them. 

Something I've learned is how important daily nurturing the testimony is.  I listened to the talk, "Exercising our Spiritual Muscles," this week and it helped me understand more that we need to make scripture study, prayer, and pondering a habit not a check off the list.  "I have come to realize that spiritual gifts behave in the same way.  They also need to be exercised to grow.  The spiritual gift of faith, for example, is not just a feeling or a mood; it is a principle of action that frequently appears in the scriptures linked to the verb 'exercise.'  Just as reading and learning about muscles is not enough to build muscle, reading and learning about faith without adding action is insufficient to build faith."  This quote is so true and works with nurturing our testimonies.  I haven't gone a day without reading from the Book of Mormon the last 15 months, and I can't tell you the joy that I feel when I read.  I know that when we nurture our testimony it grows, I've seen it in my life.  I am so grateful for prayer, the scriptures, and everything that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have taught me through the Holy Ghost. 

Also!!!!  Happy birthday yesterday to my best friend aka my dad!  I am so grateful for my dad who has taught me so much.  He is someone I look up to and admire so much.  He has a heart of gold!!  Love you, Dad.  I will see you soon ❤️ 

Hope all is well!!!  I miss y'all❤️

Ps My p-day will be on Wednesday next week 

#CTR

-SISTER HANNAH COPELAND 

Week 65 - August 7, 2023

This week went by so fast.  We SAW so many miracles this week, and we prayed like it depended on God and worked like it depended on us!  Let me just say I've never met more elect people and been so grateful! 

We had interviews with our mission president this week and I always love talking to President because we could talk for hours!  We talked about what word we would use to describe our faith in Jesus Christ, and I said Reliable!  It's something I rely on daily, something I turn to, showing I couldn't live without and so much more!!!  I'm so grateful I got called to the VRM.  I know part of why I'm here was because I needed him to be my mission president. 

ALSO, LET ME JUST SAY SOMETHING SO COOL, SOMEONE IN OUR WARD LIVES ON A SAILBOAT!!   WE GOT TO HAVE DINNER WITH THEM AND IT WAS THE FUNNEST THING EVER.

I want to focus on something I've learned on my mission every week!  I truly am so grateful for every experience I've been given and I'm especially grateful for goal setting and plans! Before my mission I didn't understand this importance.  I would make goals and never reach them or know how, but the mission has taught me that we must have goals and plans to get from point A to B!  I have a faraway to go, but I know that God knows me, he knows where I'm going, and how to get there.  I love this quote in Preach My Gospel:  "The ultimate objective of planning and setting goals is to make disciples—that is, to have consecrated converts who make and keep sacred covenants, beginning with a baptismal covenant leading to temple covenants” by Elder Cook!  It's true, goals really do help us and prepare us to be lifelong disciples and I've understood that importance!!!  I am so grateful for the goals I've set and accomplished.  I couldn't have done it alone, so I'm so grateful the Savior and my Heavenly Father are ALWAYS helping me.

I love you all and can't thank you enough for the prayers.  I'm feeling them and the people here need them.  Hope y'all are well❤️

#CTR

-SISTER HANNAH COPELAND