The Virute Scarf

In my studies for the last 2 weeks or so I have been getting the impression that I need to fast more often. I planned to fast, but on the day of the fast something happened and I did not end up fasting. Because my Heavenly Father is wonderful, I have kept getting the impression that I need to fast. This week I finally did it....it was much needed and will certainly not be my last fast before the end of the transfer. I fasted to learn to have faith and wisdom to trust in the hand of the Lord and not mine own. I want to have more faith in the Lord. It seemed like on the day that I fasted that I was extra annoyed with my companion, the contact we received from one of the brothers in our ward told us he and his wife would not read the Book of Mormon because he asked their bispa (the female version of the word bishop) and she told him not to...small, but yet frustrating things kept happening, and our week ended with 2 others sister missionaries finding a sanctuary in our home. The Lord is testing Sister Hoggan.

    So 2 sisters that work in an area that is part of our zone, but not very close to us, got a threatening phone call on Sunday night. The members here think whoever it was was joking, but if they were, it was not funny. They called the sisters, addressed them as sisters, and told the sisters that they were outside their house, they had someone captive, and if the sisters didn't pay ransom they were going to kill whoever it was that was with them...freaky. They called president and passed the night at our house. The bad guy called again with more wonderful words for our dear sisters. We returned to their home today with 3 of the brethren from our ward and our zone leaders to collect all of their belongings. The 2 of them will be living in our house until further notice. Fun, eh? Honestly, I'm fine. They were pretty shaken up when they got to our house though. 

     It was a truly special experience to open our home to the 2 sisters who needed us. They were pretty nervous when they got to our house and there was an expected amount of crying. I grabbed from my closet a red scarf. My mother sent me a red scarf because there is a picture on one of the walls of the temple where I live and the woman in the picture talking to Christ had a red scarf. Mom talked about how she loved the red scarf of the virtuous woman. While on the mission, she sent me a red scarf, to help remind me that I am a virtuous woman. I call it the scarf of virtue. Whenever something happens in our companionship and someone needs to cry--liked yesterday with the 2 sisters that joined our home--I grab the virtue scarf, wrap it around her, and explain why it is the virtue scarf. Talking about covenants makes everyone feel better. There truly is power in remembering our covenants. There is also something special about having a warm red hug to wrap around you when you are sad.

As normal, this week was pretty hard. Who would have guessed it? But, it is okay because the Lord is in it and I now have 2 more friends to share our time with. Yay! Ben, Alena, thank you for your emails, you are both wonderful. Nic and Katie...Merry late Christmas! And a Happy New Year for all.

Sister Hoggan