422. Our grand-daughter Skye's missionary profile on Mormon.org. She comes home today!

Last year in blog # 210 on August 12, 2014, I included our granddaughter, Sister Skye Nicholson's profile on Mormon.org.  Today at 1:00 p.m. she will arrive home from her mission and her homecoming will be this coming Sunday. 

 We are hoping that Wayne, my husband, will feel good enough for us to drive from St. George to Bountiful to go to her homecoming.  He will have kidney dialysis on Saturday morning, and then we will drive up and come home on Monday if all goes well.  She has such a wonderful testimony.  I want to include her testimony she wrote in her e mail last week, and then her profile, as it has been updated since it was published last year.

  She and her companion had a special assignment to be "service missionaries", and they did a lot of service every week.  One of the places they did service was at an animal shelter.  This is a picture of her there:

The following e mail was written on May 18, 2015, last week, and she gives her testimony.

Hey all! This week has been one filled with helping our favorite hoarder Jennifer.

We helped her for a few days straight. That was really great! We were able to help her get rid of at least 15 boxes! (true most of it was stuff we slid in there that we knew she didn't need or stuff that was just plain trash) But out of the 30+ that she has that was pretty good. We still have a TON of boxes in our garage but it's alright. it's a process!

We had the opportunity to visit my favorite Part member family in mesa view. The Dale's. And they surprised me by having Sister Stanfil who was the very first person that I saw when I came into the mission field. You could say she was my first mission mom, if we ever needed a last minute meal she was there to take us out. The visit with them was great! The Dale's have been so friend shipped by Sister Stanfil and they both are coming to church!! I was beyond excited when I heard that wonderful news. Because they are those kind of people that would really benefit having the gospel at the center of their home. And the second I stepped into their house I FELT the difference that going to church has made on their lives.

I love this church and the chance that I have had to learn and to grow from this mission experience. I don't want to leave, but I know it's my time to move on and continue to reflect on the lessons learned here. 

I know this time as a missionary has been the perfect time for me to figure out my life in a new way. I now know who I am in my Heavenly Father's eyes. And my testimony of the Savior's atonement has supported me through all the trials that missionary life had to offer.

I know without a doubt that this is the Lord's true church once again restored to the earth and that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, only he can help me pull out of all my trials, no matter how big or small. He will always put people in my life to help or that need my help. He always provides a way for everyone to return back to him. The Book of Mormon is a pure witness of Jesus Christ and I am grateful for the sacrifice of our first prophet Joseph Smith who translated that precious book to bless our lives.

There is a great scripture that I have found and come to love it's in Mosiah 24:13-14. This is when the people of Alma were in bondage to Amulon. And these are the words that God said to them and all of us.

"Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.  --  And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

I hope and pray that all of God's children will feel of that supporting hand that comes from trusting in their Savior. And I know if we simply turn to face him he will manifest himself unto us. I will do my best when I return home to continue to share the gospel in any way that I can.

I love you all! Have a great week!

             She is on the left, in this baptism picture.

This profile can be found at:  

 www.mormon.org/me/FDSG/Skye

(But she may update it after she gets home --?)

Hi I'm Skye

I'm a Japanese cartoon fan, I love to draw, and write. I'm currently a missionary in southern Orange County, and I love Jesus Christ.

About Me

I like to read and write stories. I love to draw anime and manga and learn about Japan and it's unique culture. I play the piano and violin and love music. I am the oldest of 7 kids and love them all deeply. I am currently serving a mission for the church in the California Irvine mission and have been loving every second of it! I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to be serving the Lord and hope and pray that my friends will see and hear of the great spirit that I feel as I serve the Lord.

Why I am a Mormon

I am a Mormon because I was always searching for my purpose in life. I went through a traumatic experience and fell into a deep depression of a hole I couldn't seem to dig myself out of. The whole time I was searching for who I really was and never thought of myself as valuable to anyone. The only redeeming thing I could think about that was good was that I was skinny, I never realized there was a problem until my best friend said that I was different, that I wasn't the same happy person that I was. I turned to my parents and they got me counseling to help me with my depression, but the thing that helped the most was when I continued going to church and when I finally buckled down and read the scriptures in Mosiah 24:14 when Christ is promising the people that he will "ease the burdens".  
At that moment I KNEW that my own burden and the weight of what happened to me disappeared and I couldn't feel the world on my shoulders as much as I did before. I forgave the sin and the sinner and turned away from the sadness that I held onto and was able to look to the sky and see and know that I am special to people, but more importantly to God. Even if he's the only one who cares about me, that's enough for me to rejoice. I love the strength that being a Mormon has given me. I know that the Lord is able to help everyone return to him, we just have to let him into our hearts and minds for him to give us the things/people/events to help us.

Personal Stories

Why/How do you share the gospel with your friends?

HOW: I share the gospel with my friends by my example. They notice that I don't drink, smoke, swear or dress immodestly. They see how happy I am and wonder why so I tell them that I know I am special, they continue to ask how I know that I am special, and I simply say, "Because God loves me." And that is enough to bear a simple testimony of the love that I have come to know in this church, so why not share it if asked why? WHY: I share the gospel as a representative of Jesus Christ because what the church has to offer CAN and WILL change ANYONE'S lives. I have seen that with my friend, one day she and I were hanging out and low and behold the missionaries come by for dinner. So of course I ask my friend if she wants to join and she accepts.
 During dinner the missionaries get to know my friend more, and then after dinner they ask if they can share the basic beliefs of the church with her and she said "Why not" and then the lessons kept coming, then the missionaries invite her to be baptized. She said yes and asked her parents, since she was 14 at that time. Her parents say no, wait till you're 18. So that stopped her teaching with the missionaries. But that didn't stop us being friends, since those days we have been better friends than ever because I was able to ask her to learn about my beliefs. There have been times however that all I could do was be a support to her, knowing that the time to teach her wasn't now.
 I continue to teach her, even if I'm 1200 miles away from her. I love her dearly and miss her more than words can express, I know she'll come to know of God's love for her, and I'll be here to help her to find that love that God feels for her. I saw it when the missionaries taught her. I know that light is there in everyone. By your example there are thousands that will see the light, share your talents and others will see your good works and want to know more about their Father in heaven. Keep the faith, and all things will work out for your benefit.

How can your talents and gifts bless others?

For me I love to draw, write stories and sing. Doing all those things helps me to lesson stress levels and increases my confidence as a person. When I finally realized that I can use my talents to bless others I started by sharing my drawings with people. By doing that they felt the love that I have for them as well as the love that their Father in Heaven has for them. As I got better at doing that I went to the other talents that I had. As I shared my talents and saw how they changed the lives of my friends I was filled with excitement, and with that excitement my talents have grown and matured. 
I have gained new incites on how I can improve my talents to continue to help my friends as well as those I come in contact with. The joy and happiness is unimaginable, incomprehensible that my meager words can't even begin to describe. As we share our God-given talents God blesses us with more opportunities to share those talents as well as how we can improve them so that we can then become the children he wants us to be.
 We are all sons and daughters of God that have the ability to become the very best of ourselves, there is no need to settle for what the world wants us to be. Our purpose is to reach higher than we can and God will help us get even further than we can even imagine. That is the reason we should share our talents, to bless others as well as ourselves so we can continue to bless all those we meet.

How I live my faith

I love to serve people around me in any way that I can. I share a smile with everyone I see and cross paths with. I have always lived the way that I feel comfortable and that way has been by reading my scriptures everyday and praying with my Heavenly Father day and night. I love how the gospel can change people's lives and how it has drastically changed my own life. I always wanted to go on a mission but never thought that that dream would then turn into a reality.
 It's been a really marvelous experience for me to be here on a mission and to see the dramatic effect that the gospel can have on so many different kinds of people it's simply incredible how the Lord works. I love how having his spirit with me has changed and molded me into who I am today and I'm so grateful for that blessing in my life. I still do struggle, there are days that I am really tired and don't want to continue being my best self, but I also know that the Savior has felt everything that I have and everything that I will ever feel in my life. That alone has helped me overcome some of life's most challenging trials in my life thus far.