Chapter 6: Long-suffering...
- Amber Prior
- Apr 21
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 28
... perserverance, faith, and miracles
April 16, 2025
📅 Weeks in the mission: 8 📸 Photos: Photo Album
🗣 Quotes of the week: • "Entonces" — Elder Coffin • "I want a wife like her someday, but only after the mission." — Elder Coffin
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Hello friends and family! A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks. Not sure how much I'll be able to recall all that has happened, but I'll do the best I can.
First, I've got some big news. No sense in putting it off. I am being permanently reassigned to the Riverside, California Mission due to some health issues that the missionary department has become worried about. I will admit it's been difficult to accept that fact. I felt so strongly that I needed to serve some people in Chihuahua.
However, I know it's not about the location. It's about the people. I have faith that this is part of God's plan. I'm honestly just grateful to be a missionary. I'll serve wherever the Lord needs me to.
Another effect of the health problem is that I've been delayed at the MTC for 2 weeks. I was supposed to enter the field on the 8th of April. Now I'll be leaving on the 22nd or 23rd.
It has certainly been a test of my patience, but also a huge blessing. My original district, 15-A, have already left for the field, leaving me without a district or a companion. But of course, the MTC staff were already on it.
So, I got paired with two amazing companions: Elder Stockett and Elder Coffin. I think today, April 16, marks the one week of our official reunion. But the funny thing is, I already knew these guys. I had spoken with them briefly before.
Elder Stockett and Elder Coffin were also delayed, so their entire district left too. Elder Stockett had to wait for his transfer time, and Elder Coffin had some serious health issues. More on that later.
That means it was the 3 of us. That is, until we immediately were assigned into district 13-G. This district was amazing as well. (Shoutout to Elder Beehler! Me and him were on the same track and cross country team in high school. It was an honor to be able to be in his district for a time.)
Anyways, our companionship took off running. We got right to work, and it has been amazing. These two know how to work. We've been able to go study in a separate room from the district, because we have already been through the curriculum and doing our own practices are much more beneficial.
About Elder Coffin: His body basically wants to kill him. He has been fighting all sorts of terrible symptoms, like throwing up and light-headedness, for 3 weeks here at the MTC. When I got to know him more, I found out just how much of a trooper he is. We're quite similar. I can confidently say that I don't think I've met anybody who is quite as determined and hard-working as he is. Elder Coffin has learned to love the hard things in life. He and his family have a fishing boat, and they have taught him a lot of things about hard work and learning skills. I've been learning a lot from him.
But yeah, on top of all the studies we have been doing, we've also visited all sorts of doctor's offices at least 10 times. We know all the faces of the MTC shuttle drivers now haha.
Finally, today, he got his appendix surgically removed. He had appendicitis. When he woke up from surgery, he was only able to speak in Spanish! It was the funniest thing. If any of you missionaries want the gift of tongues, just go out into the field on anesthesia haha.
But in all seriousness, his attitude about all of it has simply been incredible. He's been so positive and a light to others. He's a fighter. The surgery went great, and now he's back here at the MTC, sleepin' it off! Things are looking very good.
Next week I should be entering the field. I do not know exactly what awaits me in Riverside, California, but I'll serve the people there with all my heart.
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📍Next time you hear from me, I'll probably be in Riverside, California! I'll finally get out of here!
Oh yeah, don't worry—I'm still Spanish speaking. 😄
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☀️ Spiritual Thought ☀️
Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Things here at the MTC have not gone as I had expected they would. I'm not going to my original mission. I've faced all sorts of challenges and discouragement.
But I've seen God's hand throughout my stay at the MTC. I don't think it was coincidence that I was put with Elder Coffin and Elder Stockett. They have strengthened me.
I am entirely in God's hands now. I will follow the path that is laid out for me, wherever that may be. From California to Timbuktu, I'd go anywhere and stay true.
And I can testify that God has a plan for each one of His spirit children. That includes YOU. I don't know how it's possible, but He is aware of you individually. He knows you, more than you could ever know yourself. He doesn't see you for who you are in the moment. He knows who you were before you came, and He sees your glorious eternal potential. And it's far better than you can ever comprehend.
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