Leave Your Nets Behind!

I was talking to my companion one evening and she told me about an email her cousin sent her. It related a story about Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:18-20. Those verses read, 

18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

20 And they straightway left their nets and followed him.

The thing that struck her cousin, and in turn struck me, was that the apostles dropped what they were doing and left everything behind to follow the Savior. I absolutely love that analogy. In our lives, we all have things that we just need to leave behind for a greater opportunity ahead. That may mean having to let not so good friends go and find new ones, or take a step in the dark not knowing where to go, or letting go of the burdens we have placed open ourselves, or even leaving behind the sins, or bad things that we have done in our lives and become new. Whatever it may be it is worth the struggle. When we leave it all behind, we find greater joy than we have ever experienced before.

In the Book of Mormon, there is a story about a group of men that were members of the church in ancient times, and their names were Alma and the sons of Mosiah (to read the full story, read https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/27?lang=eng). As a group they went around the town taking many people away from the church and doing bad things. One day, Alma was doing bad things and was visited by an angel that said he needed to repent or change his ways, or he would not be able to live with God again after he died. He awoke from that vision and from that second forward he began to repair the wrongs he had done, he completely turned around. He says later on in the Book of Mormon that, "there was a mighty change wrought in his heart." He was a changed man along with the other sons of Mosiah. They chose to leave what was in the past, in the past and they moved on to greater, more important pursuits, that in turn made them happier than they had ever been before. Later on, they all go on missions to preach the word of God and they find great success.

After reading this story, I was amazed at the power of repentance. Repentance is change, and change is hard! But, through Jesus Christ, we all can receive the peace that comes through turning ourselves and our lives to Him. If these people that were doing horrible things can leave their nets behind and change to become more like their Savior so can we! The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of change and I get to preach it! How exciting is that! I am not perfect but I know that the gospel changes lives! Through Jesus Christ, all can be made right, all guilt can be swept away, and all happiness can be restored, but to be able to be changed, we have to leave all that is wrong behind us and never return. We have to change and become a new, just like Alma and the sons of Mosiah.

I am so blessed to have a Savior who made it possible for me to leave my nets behind and be changed through repentance. Only through our Savior, Jesus Christ can we receive the peace and happiness that comes when we change. I want you all to know that I know, more than anything in my life, that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the perfect and only way to true and lasting happiness in this life, and happiness in the life to come. Even through trials, He is there with open arms, waiting for us to come to Him and lay our nets at his feet. I love my Savior and it astounds me that even though we mess up, we can always come back because of His sacrifice. I end with my testimony, said in the lyrics of "I Stand All Amazed" written by Charles H. Gabriel:

1. I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,

Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,

That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

2. I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine

To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,

That he should extend his great love unto such as I,

Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

3. I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!

Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?

No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,

Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

-Hermana Zimmerman

 My companion and I outside the temple

My district at the temple (fun fact, the Mexico City temple is the biggest temple outside the U.S.)

My Casa

So one night, my companion and I were walking back to our casa and I stepped in a big mud pile I couldn't see in the dark. Sad day, but all is well, and shoes are clean 

Let the Adventures Begin!

Hermana Zimmerman & Hermana Casebolt

Welcome to the missionary adventures of Hermana Zimmerman! During the next year and a half, you'll be getting emails and pictures about the miracles and feelings I have, coupled with the exciting times I experience as I serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Feel free to email me with any questions you have pertaining to the things I've said, or just to say hello!

Let the adventures begin...

I said goodbye to my family, headed to Mexico and drove through the doors of the missionary training center (CCM). It was so beautiful, and the peace that I felt coming in was so beautiful. I was immediately greeted by a sweet missionary named Hermana Lehman who was just finishing her training (and also is in the Animation program at BYU. She is amazing at animations!). She was so nice! She took me under her wing as one of the new missionaries and made my transition into the CCM so smooth. I put my things away and waited for my companion, Hermana Casebolt. 

Hermana Casebolt is awesome! I have no complaints at all. She is authentic and is so funny. She's from Roy, Utah and has a twin sister serving in Scottsdale, Arizona. She and I get along so well and I love her so much! We laugh and we cry together. Also, a "coincidence" is that her first name is Haley. She spells it differently than my sister, but just knowing that her name was Haley, helped me to feel just the little extra comfort that I needed. It was kinda like my older sister was there in spirit. Let's just say God was so good to send me her as my first companion.

One of the most spiritual moments I had this week was the 2nd full day. Hermana Casebolt and I were super tired and my mind was so clouded. It felt like it was so packed with Spanish and Spanish concepts that I couldn't think and I was starting to feel discouraged about the CCM as well as learning Spanish. I walked home with Hermana Casebolt and I was able to sit down on my bed and think. I got off my bed after a bit and knelt down to pray for help from my Heavenly Father. After I prayed I went to go and put my towel in the washer (because sadly when I got to the CCM I opened up my suitcase and my hair product had exploded on my towel leaving me with limited space for use on my towel) and I began to sing the song "I'll go where you want me to go" from the hymn book. One of the lines is, "I'll say what you want me to say, dear Lord, I'll be what you want me to be." Those words just came right out of my mouth and I realized that that was just what the Lord wanted me to do. He called me to speak Spanish on my mission and He will help me to say what He wants me to say, and be what He needs me to be. If He needs me to be a Spanish speaking missionary, I will be a Spanish speaking missionary and I will learn to speak the language that He has called me to speak. I have realized that things for me, come little by little, or "line upon line, precept upon precept" as Alma 

In my personal studies, I was reading a talk that my mom sent to me before I left. I want to share some of the things I learned and how they changed my thought process about learning Spanish. One of the stories is about a woman who is having trouble sleeping because of her new born baby. She prayed that she would be able to sleep through the night, but as she was reading in the Bible Dictionary, she came across a part that read, 

"we pray in Christ’s name when our mind is the mind of Christ, and our wishes the wishes of Christ. … We then ask for things it is possible for God to grant. Many prayers remain unanswered because they are not in Christ’s name at all; they in no way represent His mind but spring out of the selfishness of man’s heart.”

She realized that she had been asking for things that Christ couldn't grant her because it was not His will, it was hers. So she decided to change her prayers. She would say, "please help me to sleep through the night, ... but if not, please give me the strength to be patient and kind." She said that the success rate of her prayers skyrocketed!

As I pondered this talk, I realized that my circumstances aren't going to change, but they are there to help me grow. I'm not gonna lie, learning the gospel in Spanish is one of the most challenging and frustrating learning experiences I have had in my life, but it's all to help me build my character and help me grow and increase my faith in Jesus Christ, my Heavenly Father, the Spirit, and prayer. I can pray for strength and a clear mind, and as I put in the work to learn, I know He will help me. I know that the same is true for you too. If you put your trust and faith in God, ALL things are possible. I KNOW that to be true.

-Hermana Zimmerman

August 8th, 2017 3:00 am

Mexico, here I come!

If you would like to send Hermana Zimmerman a letter or a package while she is in the Mexico Training Center please use this service.  Just Follow the instructions on the link below.  

https://www.missionarypackagemx.com/mtc-letters?pmName=PayPal&pmUrl=paypal.com%2Fselfhelp

God be with you until we meet again!

Here She Comes, Mexico MTC!

April 29th, 2017  1:02 pm

"Dear Sister Zimmerman, you are hereby called to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the Texas, San Antonio Mission.  You will serve for the term of 18 months.  You are to report to the Mexico Mission Training Center on Tuesday, August 8th to prepare to teach the gospel in the Spanish language."

Caleb Andreason

Austin Zimmerman

Family and Friends

Sister Lyod soon to be Sister Love