"Do the next right thing"

Do you ever feel like you're wandering? Just not in the right place. Completely out of sorts? Me too. That's okay! Somedays are just like that. But the crazy thing is, life still always works out. Something that hit me hard this week was a comment made at church: "Before we came to this earth, we said we would do this. We knew life would be hard, but we chose this anyway. So why complain about it?" The same goes for my mission. I chose to be here, yet I find myself complaining way too often. When we view our experiences as gifts from God, the joy we feel just explodes. And the crazy thing is, everyday comes and goes. We have a billion chances to start again, to start fresh. Well Wednesday was one of those days for me. We were on exchanges with the other sister missionaries, so I didn't have Sister Larson with me. I felt lost and had no idea what God wanted me to do or where he wanted me to be. My only thought was to go to this random apartment complex at 4 in the afternoon. Of course, the family whose door we knocked on wasn't home because, well, it's Wednesday and it's 4 in the afternoon. We left a note and moved on. We did, however, run into this random guy fixing his motorcycle. It was probably one of the worst attempts I have ever made to find someone to teach. I felt so uncomfortable and so out of place, because this guy was just working away at his bike, making loud noises and talking to his friend, while this random 20-year-old girl in dress pants desperately attempted to get his attention. So in my last-ditch effort, I go "hey so, um, have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon? This book will help you know more about what you need to do in your life. Can I leave it with you?" Literally soooo many other things I could've said, but that's all that came out. We left it with him, without even getting a phone number since his phone was lost. I walked away feeling defeated, and then went to our truck and it wouldn't start. So basically a slap in the face. The next day, me and Sister Larson decided to go back to that place later in the evening. Well, guess who we ran into? My motorcycle friend from the day before! We got to remind him of who we were and helped him feel the spirit once again, this time leaving him with our number. Then, as we were walking around, we saw this couple talking by a car. The lady looked at us and said, "oh hey, are you coming here to see me?" Of course I just went for it, knowing this was the person who we left the note at the door for the day before! I said, "oh yeah, hey Adriana, of course we are here for you," and she brought us to her door. She went inside to clean up a bit, and we over heard her telling her family, "hey these girls are here and they've been coming over like everyday. I want to hear what they have to say." She sat us down, and we taught her about the Book of Mormon and how it has changed our lives. She seemed so engaged, and then asked, "well how?" I got to testify of how the Book of Mormon has changed me and brought me closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ. We left with a time to come back and see them again. So, sometimes even when we feel like we are wandering, we are still in the right place. If I hadn't been at this complex the day before, we wouldn't have met my motorcycle friend, and we wouldn't have left a note on that door. Adriana wouldn't have thought anything of us walking by that night if we hadn't left her a simple note, letting her know we wanted to pray with her. Sometimes, all we can do is the next right thing. (so thanks to Kristen Bell and the movie Frozen II for today's song lyric title). God is in the details, and sometimes we don't discover His purposes or His plans for us until long down the road. If we could figure everything out so easily, then we wouldn't need faith. God wants us to have faith, because he knows it will change us. If I didn't have at least a little faith, I wouldn't be on a mission. I can't imagine what this past year of my life would have looked like if I wasn't here. I'm so grateful every single day that I'm having this experience, and through Jesus Christ, I'm changing for the better. Don't forget that Jesus loves you, Sister Wallace Pics: 1. Me, duh! 2. Cold girl 3. Get this girl up from her nap! 4. My mom's cute valentines package for me and Sister Larson (she caught my hint about the Andes mints and Dove chocolates from my last email) 5. Fun times