The Touch of the Masters Hand🎶 4/20/20

 Hi friends and family! 

I hope you're all doing well. It has been a crazy week with getting Sister Dorsey sent off and readjusting back to just Sister Miner and I. We have also had some great success and awesome lessons. Outside of that we have started making more ukulele videos and got into coloring in our backyard for outside time. New activities have helped me really stay sane. :) 

It is crazy to think that I will be in Phoenix for 4 1/2 months this transfer, and that I will hit halfway through my mission. Time is actually speeding up and it scares me to think how quickly the mission is flying! But during our Sunday sacrament service yesterday a member asked a question that I have really reflected on. "Do you think that you will be a different person after you get home from what you learned from the mission?" This question is asked a lot, but for whatever reason it hit me more this time. Will I choose to be a different person from what I experience on my mission? I certainly hope so. But couldn't that question be applied to every experience or trial we go through? Don't we have the potential to change and become better from everything we go through? Richard G. Scott refers to challenges in life as growth opportunities in quite a few of his talks. But is that my perspective? 

God knows what we need to go through in order to become the person we have the potential to bd. But He also knows we need His help. We need to rely on His hand to help us get there. Unfortunately, we don't see that potential as He does, therefore our experiences and challenges don't seem as beneficial as He knows they are and too often we forget to rely on Him. There is an AMAZING poem I read from a talk that I want to share, its long, so sorry in advance. But it is just so good. :)

Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while

To waste much time on the old violin,

But held it up with a smile:

“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried,

“Who’ll start the bidding for me?”

“A dollar, a dollar”; then, “Two!” “Only two?

Two dollars, and who’ll make it three?

Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;

Going for three—” But no,

From the room, far back, a gray-haired man

Came forward and picked up the bow;

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,

And tightening the loose strings,

He played a melody pure and sweet

As a caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer,

With a voice that was quiet and low,

Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?”

And he held it up with the bow.

“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?

Two thousand! And who’ll make it three?

Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,

And going, and gone!” said he.

The people cheered, but some of them cried,

“We do not quite understand

What changed its worth.” Swift came the reply:

“The touch of a master’s hand.”

And many a man with life out of tune,

And battered and scarred with sin,

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,

Much like the old violin.

A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine,

A game—and he travels on.

He’s “going” once, and “going” twice,

He’s “going” and almost “gone.”

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd

  Never can quite understand

  

The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought

   By the touch of the Master’s hand.

I know it's a long poem, but I am grateful for the knowledge through the Master Healer I can be strengthened and be guided to reach my full potential. 

Love you guys! Have a great week!

Sister Callister

A quarantine pic, our awesome district and my house with our "PIVOT" friends shirts😊