God's Commandments Make Us Free
November 3, 2014

SO MANY GREAT THINGS TO REPORT. Well first off, sorry I meant to change all those caps last week to lowercase but I ran out of time..I stressed about it all week. Sorry everyone. Also, I'm companions with sister Patera again!

Sunday, we had so many miracles! The 15 year old girl that we've been teaching had been wanting to be baptized, but wasn't exactly sure yet. She wanted to learn more. We gave her the assignment to read 3 Nephi 11, and as of Saturday, she hadn't done it. Then on Sunday she came up and said that she had read it and WANTED TO BE BAPTIZED! as soon as possible! I could have shouted for JOY it was the greatest thing to ever happen... besides the fact that this other lady that we are teaching came up at church also and said she prayed about the Word of Wisdom and she was more willing to give up drinking! (last week she and her husband said they were drinking on Saturday no matter what!) AND, another family that doesn't come very often came and stayed for all three hours of church and the classes were PERFECT for them! I love this gospel because it literally binds families together. I just love it so much and I love seeing the progress of these people. Something that is common among them all is that they are reading the scriptures more often than before. That is SO important for our eternal progression! never stop!

I have learned SO much this week and I am really thankful for it. Something I've been thinking a lot about is God's commandments. A lot of people that we teach feel that God's commandments are hard, restrict them, and they want to do other things. This scripture keeps coming to my mind:

Therefore, O my son, whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely; and whosoever will not come the same is not compelled to come; but in the last day it shall be restored unto him according to his deeds (Alma 42:27)

We literally choose what we do in this life. We can choose captivity and death (the devil's way, making our own choices) or happiness and eternal life (the way of Christ, accepting God's will and changing, even when it's hard.)  We were teaching this couple that I mentioned earlier (the wife who prayed about not drinking anymore) and the Word of Wisdom came up, and they started getting somewhat agitated about what they "couldn't do" and how they "didn't think it was that bad." A girl that was with us explained it perfectly. She explained how growing up, she was mad at her parents and she didn't want to do this "Mormon thing." She didn't want to live the "Mormon way" or anything like it, but what her mom said to her, changed her life. She said, don't do it the Mormon way, do it God's way. If we are always asking God what we should be doing in our lives, we will always be led and guided. So many people think that the church has put so many restrictions on us, and all of these different ideas.  This is not the case.

I want to testify to you that it is God's commandments that make us free. It is what brings us happiness! seriously! So many people in the world are looking for direction, and this is exactly what they are looking for. I am so thankful for the Word of Wisdom and the opportunity to keep the Sabbath day Holy and the way we are taught to read the scriptures and how God commands us to pray every day. I am thankful for these things because it gives me confidence in my life. I feel strong. I know where I'm going and what I'm doing. I have full faith that if  I'm going down the wrong path, God will tell me. The reason I know all of this is because of my Savior Jesus Christ.  These commandments literally unlock the Atonement for us because it allows us to CHANGE.

Lastly, I am so thankful for the opportunity we all have to change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This is all possible because of the Book of Mormon and the Bible and all of the answers in it. I am so thankful for the opportunity to live here on earth! and to live and love the gospel, just like we did in the premortal life! and I LOVE MY FAMILY!  The fact that we get to live with each other for eternity is the greatest blessing.

We need to live like Christ is coming tomorrow. We all need the urgency to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Think of what we have- the fullness of the knowledge that we need at this present time! I am thankful for this gospel and the knowledge and comfort it gives me and how it shows me my weaknesses...I have a lot,  but I can change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ! Thank goodness!

Okay bye.  Have a great week!

I Don't Think I've Ever Been So Happy in My Life!
November 4, 2013

SISTER HILTON AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER. I REPEAT SISTER HILTON AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER. in this glorious area of the Orchard Ward. We could not be happier. I am so excited!

Number one thing I learned this week. I am so scared to be old. We always volunteer in retirement homes and such and everyone is so bored and... old.

I am just so amazed at the Spirit and how much it helps in missionary work. we were going to visit one of our investigators last week and on our way there this name came to my mind and I was like WE NEED TO GO THERE NOW. So I turned quickly into their neighborhood because we almost passed it and we knocked on the door and they let us in! that never happens. only sometimes. We taught the restoration and of course that was the best thing. Every day is a testimony of miracles. Another day we were on our way to see another one of our investigators and when we pulled in front of their house, we prayed and really just didn't feel good about going there. Then sister Hilton and I both got the impression that we should go see someone else. It was perfect timing. When we showed up, every single belonging of theirs was on the front lawn. They were being evicted :( there was only one guy there so we waited for everyone to get back with a truck to move it all. So we helped move all of their stuff into the truck and into a storage unit. I was so thankful that we followed that impression to go there. After we finished moving everything from the front it started raining! The funny thing was no one ever questioned why or how we knew to come. We were just there. So if they ever think about it they might be really confused.

My favorite was probably last night. This family in our ward invited their good family friends to be taught by us! We had such a fun dinner with them and then talked about the restoration. THE COOLEST THINGS HAVE BEEN HAPPENING THIS WEEK. I absolutely love teaching the restoration because if you think about it, IT IS THE BEST EVEN THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED IN HISTORY. we had Elder Baxter of the 70 come speak to us at zone conference and he talked about the scripture in D&C 1:17? I think its 17. but it says that God KNEW that there would be calamity and evil on the earth, so he called Joseph Smith as a prophet and gave him commandments. ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT. I keep using caps cause im really excited about it. so when we taught this family, after we related the part about the First Vision, the husband goes, "oh, I believe that!" sometimes people say things and either 1. they don't know what they are saying really means or 2. I don't know how to respond because I'm so caught off guard and stoked. but it was the most amazing thing to hear the members bear their testimonies to their friends. it was the most powerful experience because they really meant every word! something else Elder Baxter said about this scripture was that the Gospel of Jesus Christ IS the answer to the evil in the world. it is the solution to the calamity and the questions of the soul. another time we were teaching these two people about the restoration and after we quoted Joseph Smith in his own words and showed them a picture, he goes, "that is SO cool. I've never heard anything like it." so after that happened I just want to tell everyone about it. I think I forget sometimes how unique our message is. I always just imagine if I were a missionary in Joseph Smith's time and how excited I would be to share the book of Mormon. the message is still the same today, and that gives me so much motivation.

I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life.

God's plan for us

October 27, 2014

I have some strong feelings I want to share with you all right now! This week has been one of the craziest weeks of my mission and I feel drained, but I LOVE IT and I want to serve my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ for the rest of my life. You want to know why? BECAUSE HE LOVES US. GOD LOVES US and He has a plan for us! no matter what! and I'm sick of this settling for less than we deserve!  All of you who are reading this probably know me in some way, and no matter if you are close family, or friends, or whoever you are, GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU and he comprehends everything that is going on in your life! If something tragic happens, he already knew that would happen and He's already placed things in your life to help you out of it. If something great happens, God already knew it would! HE KNOWS EVERYTHING AND WE CANT FORGET THAT. Sometimes we just need to wait for God's promised blessings to come to pass, but the most important thing for us to remember is that we are GOD's CHILDREN and He loves us.

I wanted to start off this letter with a portion of my email that I sent to one of my best friends this week:

Before we lived here, we lived with God.  As spirits. Not bodies. God has a body of flesh and bone, but he is glorified. He is our literal father. He knows you because you spent time with Him. In this time when we lived with God as spirits, we were presented a plan. We wanted to become like our Heavenly Father because he was so great and loving, and he had so many blessings and so much knowledge and so much joy! But we couldn't do that unless we also received a body and learned for ourselves. We were presented a plan by God that we could go down to earth and receive a body. We shouted for joy. However there were two plans: Satan wanted all of God's children to go down to earth and have no ability to make choices, and then we would all return to live with God. The second plan was that we'd be able to go down to earth, and receive a body and be able to make choices, while being away from God's presence. We'd be able to learn and grow and have our own families. Part of that though is that we'd make mistakes, because we had to learn for ourselves. God knew us well enough to know that we would make mistakes. So Jesus Christ stepped up and said I will be their Savior. When they mess up, when they go through something hard,  I will be there. I will be there to redeem them from their sins and make them clean so they can come live with you again. He wanted us to be able to learn and grow and change here on earth. So those who decided to follow Jesus Christ's plan received bodies and got to come down to earth! Those who followed Satan and didn't believe that Christ could do it, didn't come down to earth and receive bodies. This means you chose Christ! You knew Him before! And you knew this life was possible! You also learned that it'd be hard, but keeping God's commandments would help you because you'd receive blessings. This is just the beginning of our purpose here on earth. We are meant to return to live with God, but only on conditions of change! We need to change and learn and grow and that's what you're doing now.

The first and most important thing to remember is that GOD LOVES US. That's not just a phrase! We lived with Him and knew Him and understood him and talked to Him! Think about someone that you live with. Like, your mom. Or dad. Or someone. And think about how well you know them because you have been around them. THAT'S HOW WELL GOD KNOWS YOU. He literally knows our personalities and what we need and who we need and what we need to do. This is so real to me I think my heart could jump out of my chest. I sincerely hope that you can all feel my love through this email because I KNOW THIS IS TRUE and I feel just a small part of that love for you! and for the people I teach! and for everyone that we come in contact with.

So this is a story about someone that I taught this week. We had only met him once, but a little background story.  This man joined the church when he was 19. He was very active in coming and learning and loving the gospel for many years, and for some reason, over 20 years ago, he stopped coming. This is all we knew about him at the beginning of our lesson. So we went into his house and started with a prayer, and then pulled out a pamphlet about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My companion started teaching, and then it came to be my turn. and I couldn't speak. I literally could not open my mouth and I was supposed to just tell him about families and how Jesus Christ blesses families! but I couldn't. I just felt this OVERWHELMING feeling that I needed to say something specific. So I sat there in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time, and then just burst out and said "YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS IS TRUE!" and he was like yeah, I do. This is really familiar territory for me. So I asked "THEN WHAT KEEPS YOU FROM COMING TO CHURCH?"  We talked and we bore our testimonies about the church and he told us a wonderful story about how the Spirit has really touched his life. The Spirit and love of God was SO strong in there, but I still knew there was more that God wanted him to know. I felt so strongly that he needed to come back to church now. That there would be something in his life that he would need the full blessings of the gospel and he could not wait. and that God loved him SO much. I sat there and just bore my SOUL to him and told him that God had a specific plan for him and he needed to recognize it. I kept feeling like I should ask him what was bothering him but I already felt kind of crazy for bursting out earlier so I didn't ask for a while...but then I finally did.  He said nothing was bothering him. So we asked him to say the closing prayer- and that's where the truth came out. He thanked God for helping us recognize that he needs help.   and that was just it- he needs help. We all do. We all need prayer. I am impressed to tell you all that PRAYER is the answer to everything. That is where truth is revealed. That is where we are able to communicate with our Father in Heaven and ask Him what He has in store for us. Ask Him what we can do in our lives to better serve Him. I want to bear you my witness that this gospel is true and real. It's so true and real that I'm going to turn to this man next to me who is wondering what I'm so passionately typing about and tell him the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He lives and so do we  and I'm so thankful for it. I sincerely love you all and  hope you make prayer a bigger part of your lives. I love God and the plan He has for us!

Charity - The Pure Love of Christ

October 16, 2014

This has been a great week! I am still in the same area and I am loving it! My new companion, Sister Pearson, is the best ever, and we came out to Colorado at the same time. It's cool to see how far we've come and even though we haven't really served around each other, we've learned a lot of the same things.

Lately our mission has been really pushing that we need to be a completely obedient mission- and we want to be exactly obedient by December 25th, so we can give it to Christ as a gift to Him! It's amazing to see what happens when you involve Jesus Christ- because so much more is possible. our whole mission is seeing a lift. As we work on this together, I feel the Spirit so much more around every missionary! Things are changing that we never thought possible. I can honestly say that I LOVE my mission! honestly! We live in such a great place and we are all helping each other see the consequences of our actions. p.s. I'm never leaving.

so every month I have a different Christlike attribute that I am working on. It's kind of scary because every time I make one of these goals I am tested literally to my limit on it. This month is Charity- the pure love of our Savior Jesus Christ.

I am going to be really real about what I've been feeling, because I feel like there is someone who can learn from my experience. I have been reflecting a lot on what I've learned on my mission, and how I really want to make sure that what I've learned is ingrained in me for the rest of my life. I have realized the importance of not using sarcasm and negativity for humor, and how much that helps me love others as Christ did. It wasn't until I started noticing how much I say these sarcastic comments, even if I say I'm kidding, that I realized how it takes away the Spirit and love of God from me.

I had really been struggling to love one particular person, and I didn't know why, but what they did had truly affected me. As much as I told myself that I had forgiven them, I knew that if I had to, I could not say that I loved this person their face. i couldn't and I didn't want to.

I started asking for my Heavenly Father's help to bless me with the pure love of Christ. The second I asked, I knew that I was going to have to change and do something about it. The next day, I was given the opportunity to speak to this person. If you had told me a month ago that I'd have to be in this position telling this person that I loved them, I would have wanted to die, but I was able to stand there and tell them that I loved them, and I truly felt it! I felt the Spirit wash over me and I knew that I had forgiven them. I knew I needed to do this so I could focus on the work going on around me and more fully feel the Spirit in my life. I didn't want to end my mission and one day look back thinking, I wish I could have been closer to the Spirit and loved people more.

So my question to you is, can you honestly say that you love everyone around you? When you make a sarcastic or negative comment, is it because there is a memory there that bothers you? This is the reason that we have Jesus Christ. He can help us overcome these feelings and emotions that we have. It is because of my experience that I know that He lives and loves me and loves everyone that I teach. I love that I'm able to tell them face to face, every single person, that God and Christ love them. I know it's true because of the feelings in my heart. I hope you all know that I love you and I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I'd do anything to become more like Him. I know this is His true Gospel restored to the earth, and I know that His prophet leads and guides our church. I  know it because it is a reality in my life. I live and love God's plan, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God

October 6, 2014

Conference was the best ever. I don't know what I would do without the prophets guidance every six months! I wanted to proclaim my testimony of prophets to everyone today.

As a missionary, I have the wonderful opportunity to be a representative of our Savior Jesus Christ for 18 short months. I am so thankful for this opportunity and as part of that calling, I believe it is so important to share my feelings on the Prophet Thomas S. Monson.

I know without a doubt that he is a prophet of God. I know this for many reasons. This weekend, I was fasting for a really specific answer and I know that the words that the prophets and apostles spoke answered my questions. One of the greatest answers to my questions was that we need to make this gospel a priority.

I know that if we make it a priority to go to church, or to learn all we can about our Savior through the scriptures, the Lord is bound to bless us. I know that Thomas S. Monson is called of God because I prayed and asked God and He said yes. It was the most resounding yes I've ever felt- and it gave me so much joy! to know that we are led by someone who knows Jesus Christ so well. I look up to him so much and his example of selfless service. He serves so much and I know that it affects me daily, especially as a missionary. Without Thomas S. Monson being close to the Lord, I would not be on a mission right now because of the age change that happened a couple of years ago. I wouldn't be where I am, and I wouldn't have met the people that I’ve met. I know that everything that has happened on my mission is inspired of God and because of that, I know that President Monson is a prophet. I was called by God to be here, through him.

I also have come to know that he is a prophet through the book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon invites us to 'test the word'. I test it every day of my life. I know that I don’t have enough strength to be here. I know that working all day like we do, and teaching as much as we do, and still loving and serving our companions and wards, is not possible without the grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. Every living soul needs His grace and He is so willing to give it to us. We just have to ask.

I say these things in our Savior Jesus Christ's name because I know that He lives and this is His living church.

On the Lord's Errand

September 17, 2014

This week was amazing! We had Elder Lawrence of the Quorum of the Seventy come and speak to us! It really helped me learn a lot about how I could be more consecrated and love the Lord even more, which I really felt like I needed. So on Sunday night, I got to drive down to Grand Junction and sleep over with Sister TURNER AND SISTER HILTON! the best companions of all time. It was a glorious day. The next day we got to go to Mission Leader Council and Elder Lawrence had us council the whole time about mission rules and what we needed to do better. We talked a lot about preparation day and how we could use that more effectively, and some of the elders kind of piped up and said "what about basketball!" and different things and Elder Lawrence asked us, well are you here to play basketball or be a missionary? and it was in that moment that it hit me. it is such a privilege to be a missionary and we cannot waste any second that we have here. and yes, it can be hard but that's how we get to know the Lord better. By being on His errand, and by being His instrument. Our mission president pleaded with us to truly be the leaders of the mission and administer the consequences of disobedience accordingly. I was truly grateful for this counsel because I was looking for new goals to have- how to be more consecrated and feel like I am progressing. I love my mission!!!!

There was something that was mentioned in our zone conference that really struck me, and that was about the pre-mortal life  and how we developed different talents there, and we all have different talents! but what really stuck out to me was that they talked about the talent of Spirituality! the definition of this talent is the "ability to recognize truth, and then act on it." that is something that i truly believe that my brother Brayden has, because he sees things as they really are. However, it is how we act on it that truly helps us develop our talent of spirituality.

This past sacrament meeting I learned about temptation. For some reason this topic was really interesting to me and I took a ton of notes. The man who gave the talk said that sometimes, we just need to go back to the basics! Sometimes we make things too complicated! and he brought us to the scripture in Abraham 3:25:

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

We are down here on earth to prove that we can do what we have been asked to do! When we were in the pre-mortal life, we heard about God's plan for us. Jesus Christ, Jehovah, offered to perform the Atonement for us so we could return to live with them. Satan had a different plan. We each then had the opportunity to choose who we were going to follow. Those who followed Jesus Christ came down to earth and got a body, and those who followed Satan, did not. Satan lost the battle he wanted to win. But, he had a back-up plan and that back-up plan was temptation and opposition in all things. As it says in Abraham, we came to earth to see if we could do ALL things, but with Satan involved, we would also be tempted in ALL things. Temptation is a part of our daily life. But what the man talked about was how we could use our temptation for good. Sometimes it's hard to overcome certain things, but that temptation can become a compassionate warning voice, that we need to walk out of whatever situation we are in. He said to imagine a huge exit sign above us and imagine walking out of it. When we do this, the Holy Ghost will be by our side to prompt us NO. Without temptation, we would not have the experiences necessary to return to our God. So what I am saying is that temptation is necessary, but Christ gave us a way to overcome it. Through him. We just need to turn to Him, literally. He compared it to a magnet- when a two magnets are stuck together, one is pulling it to the other. But when one magnet turns away from the other, it literally repels it. We need to literally turn away from sin. I am so thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ who provided us a way to be healed and nurtured as we go through this process. This process is not always easy, but it is worth it. It helps us develop our spiritual gifts- like the talent of spirituality and recognizing truth. We all yearn for spiritual things, and this is the way to get there.

I want to end with my testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. There is no question in my mind. I know it's real because I know that I recognize truth in it. I also recognize truth in Joseph Smiths teachings. If you look at the whole mosaic of his life, not just small individual experiences, you see how much he was an instrument in the hand of God. I know God loves him and is so thankful for his sacrifice. I also know that because he was a prophet, we have a prophet today - Thomas S Monson who leads and guides this church in Christ's name. Lastly, I know that Christ is my Savior and Redeemer and I'm thankful to have him by my side. 

Satan Cannot Imitate Peace

September 8, 2014

This week I decided that I love my mission even more. I really learned again about the importance of receiving and following promptings that we get. This week we got to go on exchanges, and that night I really felt like there was a companionship of sisters that needed to go on an emergency exchange. I thought maybe we could just wait a week, or wait till the next day,  but as I prayed and asked what God wanted, I felt a huge sense of urgency. We needed to do it that night. Sister smith and I had planned on talking to three people before we went home that night, and we had only talked to two. We had to run home so I could pack for our exchange, but we really wanted to talk to one more person! We were going down this street and no one was home and time was running out  so we decided to run to the last house. We ran over there and right when we got to the door, someone opened it and said, come in! We ended up being able to teach them and they wanted to learn more! it was quite a miracle.

We went out the next day, but by dinner time a sister I was on an exchange with  wasn't feeling too well so we stayed in that night.  I really felt like God was guiding me a lot because everything that I needed to say was coming to my mind. I really felt like something big was going to happen that night, but I also just felt the Spirit comforting me the whole time, letting me know that it would work out. We ended up talking a lot that night, and without going into too much detail, I helped this sister realize how much her Heavenly Father loved her. She was not happy here, and as we talked about her going home, it just felt peaceful. I told her that the only thing that Satan cannot imitate is peace and there was a huge sense of peace that had come over the room. It was amazing. I truly felt God's love for this sister and I was so glad that God trusted me to be the one to help her realize that she had completed her mission in His eyes. It was amazing to see the smile on her face as she realized this and she said, "I think I got my answer." She is so great.

So now Sister Patera, Sister Smith and I are covering both wards and we are loving it. We are really good friends which is probably bad and we have too much fun probably, but I'm so excited for the rest of this transfer! Great things are happening.   The Spirit is so real and I'm so thankful for it!!! I seriously don't know what I would do without it. I am so grateful that whenever we are not sure about a decision, we can just make it and take it to God and He will let us know if it is right. I love missionary work and I love being a missionary. It makes me happier than I've ever been before. I'm so thankful for eternal families and that I have such a great family to come home to!!! I love this gospel with all my heart and I know it's true without a doubt especially the Bible and the Book of Mormon. My faith in Christ has never been stronger. I love my Savior and Redeemer with all my heart! I LOVE MY MISSION!!!!!!!

Also, mom, I played the piano at a baptism and accompanied a musical number and I almost died but it was okay. I can magically play hymns now, it's great. At the beginning of my mission I couldn't play at all!!

Don't Run Faster Than You Have Strength

August 25, 2014

HELLO EVERYONE. I have been so busy I haven't really been able to email for the past couple of weeks! but hey now I have a lot of exciting updates and I love it and I have so much to say. I am staying here again for another transfer!

So the reason this transfer has been so crazy is because we had to go on a lot of exchanges with the sisters in this area.  I feel like I haven't had a chance to breath. It was probably the busiest I've ever been and the most tired I have ever been. Seriously, at times I thought I was going to fall over and die because my BONES were so tired.  At times when a sister was sick and I had to stay inside with her, I felt like I had lost all of my motivation. I felt lost and that I had forgotten how to be a missionary because I hadn't been able to teach in 2 weeks.  Another reason we were so busy was because we were planning a Sister's Conference. We didn't get the inspiration we needed until a week before, so Sister Jones and I were running around like insane women trying to get everything done. There were times during this transfer that I did not think that I could stand up again, or go on another exchange, or do another thing, but what I learned from this transfer was more valuable than anything else. I learned about the enabling power of our Savior Jesus Christ. As we were doing all of these things serving the sisters around us, I knew that it was God's will for us to do it and to finish this Sisters Conference. I knew without a doubt in my mind that He would prepare a way. I always thought that the Atonement was just for our sins, and that our Savior knew how we felt when we were sad, but He truly can give us strength to do things that we could not do alone in our mortal bodies. Missionary work requires all of your strength, for 16 hours a day. We literally do not stop until then  and I know that I could not do that without my Savior Jesus Christ. When he needs us to do something, we will be given the literal strength in our bodies to push through it. I have learned that I need to take time for my own conversion and own well being, and when I do that- when I fast, when I pray, when I read the scriptures- I learn what is possible for me to do because I am learning the will of God. When we know the will of our God, we know that anything He asks is possible. We just need to know what He's asking.

Something else I learned was to trust in all of God's promises. In the beginning of the transfer, we asked God what He wanted us to do this transfer- and I got the distinct answer that we needed to find a single woman to baptize. Throughout all of the busy things we had going on, our area was pretty neglected and we weren't able to do much missionary work. We knew God wanted us to find someone to come closer to their Savior through baptism in the month of August- but by week 4 out of 6 we didn't have anyone we were really teaching that was close to that point. But I knew that God had told us that is what He wanted. So, one day, we were teaching this lady who had recently come back to church and she had mentioned that she didn't think she was ever confirmed with the Holy Ghost, because after she was baptized 40 years ago, she never came back to church. WE FOUND OUT THAT SHE NEEDED TO BE RE-BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED! Could you imagine thinking you were a part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for FORTY YEARS and you weren't even receiving the blessings of baptism and the Holy Ghost!??!!? This Wednesday is going to be the best day of this lady's life. I could not even believe that this great blessing had fallen upon us. I knew that God was taking care of us every step of the way.

In the middle of the week, this lady had called us and cancelled her baptism. Her family was not supportive and she would not be able to go through with it, and would not even be able to come to church for a long time because of it. I was so preoccupied with everything else going on that truly, I didn't have time to think about it really. I knew that if God wanted it to happen, it would. The Bishop ended up calling her and explaining the scripture in Matthew 10 that says that Christ did not come to bring peace, but a sword  and everything clicked for her! Making this right decision would not necessarily fix everything in her family, but she would be strengthened enough to overcome this hardship and do what God's will was for her. Knowing God's will can change our lives.

Something I struggled with during this transfer was feeling like these problems with the sisters were never going to end, and we would not be able to do what God wanted us to do. I felt like all of my strength had been taken away from me, and I wasn't able to be myself, but I got to witness a miracle in my own life at this time of sadness. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, one of Christ's 12 apostles on the earth today, came to speak to us and he even said my name!!! haha but he came to speak and before we went in the chapel to listen to him speak, one of our leaders reminded us that sometime we need to slow down our minds to the speed of the Spirit. our minds can be so preoccupied by the world that we simply cannot be in tune with the Spirit. We had the opportunity to read the scriptures for 45 minutes before we heard him speak, and this scripture really stuck out to me... "Do not run faster than you have strength, or labor more than you are able, but be diligent until the end. pray always, so you can come off conqueror."  When we need to conquer different things in our lives, we need to slow down to the speed of the Spirit and work how our Father in Heaven would have us work. Sometimes we just need to stop and think, what would the Lord tell me to do in this moment? This is something that really helped me. Whatever we do to cultivate our faith, we need to do it consistently and that will give us the motivation to repent. It will prepare us for our covenants. and most importantly, that will help us endure to the end. "act upon this land as if for years." (scripture from the D&C I forgot where) do everything you're doing consistently, as if you would be doing it for years. It brings a lot more joy into whatever you're doing and it completely changed my life. Being grateful in all circumstances helps us battle our trials.

I truly know that Christ is our Savior and I know that because I experienced His mercy and because of that, I feel like I can do anything. I know he takes care of us because I experienced it firsthand as He led us through these past weeks. I know He wants this lady to be baptized because without Him, she would have fallen back into her old habits. After she told us she was not going to be baptized, she picked up a cigarette to smoke, but then decided she did not want to do it anymore. Angels surround us every single day. I rejoice in the times that are hard because I know that our Savior is closer to us. I know that He is teaching us what we need to know for heaven. Lastly, this is all worth it because of experiences like these:

I got an email from a recent convert in my last area and it brought me to tears knowing that this is God's work:

"My comprehension of death is so different now that I know about the plan of salvation. It's crazy!! I'm more happy than confused for people who pass. I know they finally get to see the truth.

Did I ever thank you for sharing the gospel to us???? Because it is the greatest gift EVER!!!!!! IT IS SO AMAZING AND I LOOOOVE IT!!!!

Love you!!!!!! And miss you!!!!!!

PS- I finished the Book of Mormon. My faith and trust in God is rock solid now. I now know without a single speck of doubt this gospel is true."

I could go on and on about how much I love this gospel. I loved meeting one of the 12 apostles. I know without a doubt that He is an apostle of the Lord and we got to hear His words just like the people of old got to hear Peter's words, or John's word, or James' words. I know with all of my heart that we know the plan of salvation and it changes us into who we need to be. I know without a doubt that we are in the right place at the right time, and we are chosen servants of our Lord and Savior. This is the true gospel and I love it. I've never been so happy. I've never felt so excited to meet my God and Savior one day and thank them for giving me this Gospel here on earth. I hope you all have an opportunity to learn more about this gospel and experience all of the blessings that flow from it daily. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth and I know it because I feel it.