The Closest to Christ I Have Ever Felt. August 4th, 2014

So you know those bugs that you see in the bug exhibit at the Zoo? The ones that are pinned to the wall and you always think to yourself, "I never want to see anything like that in my LIFE!" ?? And you might even wonder why there are on this earth in the first place...yeah. Those live here.  Okay, call me dramatic (I probably am (: haha) but I'm not even kidding! The biggest things you've ever seen in!...Covered in mosquito bites, sure, but this week was incredible! Just. I feel so blessed to even be here.  I don't know what I did to deserve this golden experience. But I am forever grateful (:

I think that one of the funnest things that happened this week was as we were leaving our dinner appointment.  We walked out of the house and up to the truck, my companion was behind and ready to back me out of this really long, steep driveway...and BAM, just out of nowhere, not even a hint of warning, these big raindrops instantly soak us to the bone.  It was phenomenal!  I couldn't even help but smile.  I love the rain! And I love the rain in Rio Rico, AZ.  

Hmm, I just want to share this little piece of gold with you that I learned from good ole' President Killpack in the day.  He said this, "Be a Hell Shaker!"  Be someone that when you wake up and your feet hit the ground, satan trembles at the knowledge of your arising.  What a concept!  I love that.  It really just puts it into perspective of how we should be in this life haha we are fighting this war every day but we literally are given the power to not only fight it, but to win it!  We have every advantage to do so as well because we are endowed with power on high!  We fight for the cause of Zion and so the Lord is ALWAYS on our side as we are standing with Him.  Just like it tells us in Jacob 5, we are working in this vineyard, but the Lord literally works with us.  SO, my invitation to you this week, be a Hell shaker!  Go out and shake the foundations that crumble under righteous feet.  We are built upon a rock!

I want to share with you probably the most spiritual experience I have had the entire time that I have been out here.  I haven't seen Christ here in person, but I have seen Him because I experienced this.  

There is a woman in our ward whose husband had a tumor in his brain.  He went in to surgery and came out worse than he went in.  Everyone seemed to love this man sooo much because of the person he is.  I only met this couple once.  They went in to surgery and a life of a couple months in a hospital the second week after I came into this area.  I didn't know them at all.  But the light in their eyes was something I will never forget.  They shone with so much righteousness and I knew they were wonderful people! After everything I had heard about them, I knew they were.  A couple days ago, and after a long battle of hardships, this man passed away.  The ward, and even the Spanish ward, was absolutely devastated!  We heard about it all day long throughout our church meetings.  Then we went to Hermana Noble's home after church, as we always do, to sing hymns with her.  When we got there, there was an unexpected woman in the room talking with Hermana Noble.  She had glowing eyes that I recognized, but I didn't know her name.  She spoke with the Hermana for a moment and then left to the store to go pick up some food for her.  After she left, Hermana Noble said,"That was my Hermanita Gonzales." The same lady whose husband had just passed away 2 days before.  Hermana Noble has very bad cancer and she lays in bed almost all the days long.  Sister Gonzales had come to visit her and had just left to buy her some food so that she could make it through the week.  When I realized who it was that had just left, the Spirit filled my heart.  Hermana Noble didn't feel like singing that day.  She cried and told us how sad she is that her friend passed away and what a good person he was.  We ended up still being there by the time Sister Gonzales arrived again.  She came in, hugged Hermana Noble and told her that she had to leave.  She slipped a good amount of money into her hand and told her that that was to hold her over until she returned again.  She then consoled Hermana Noble for a moment as she expressed how much she missed Sister Noble's husband.  She said goodbye and left, without a tear in her eye.  I had just witnessed a woman of Christ.  The Spirit filled the room and we all cried together.  I could not believe what I had just seen!  This woman who just lost her husband had driven all the way down from Phoenix (where her husband passed away) to serve another widowed woman whom you knew she loves with all her heart and then told her that she'd be back soon to see her again.  Wow. I am a new person. 

Service is love.  Love is Christ.  We are His hands and feet.  Don't forget that.

Love.

Shine on!