I Guess this is the Last...April 20th, 2015

SO.

I'll be honest. I just typed up a whole email and decided I didn't want to say any of that.  What I want to leave you with, for my very last thoughts and experiences, is what I've been learning lately!

As I have been reading the Book of Mormon, and studying it as the Spirit directs, my heart has been filled and my knowledge has increased.  The Book of Mormon really does contain the word of God!  And it is amazing.  

What I have been learning lately is about obedience to the commandments of God.  As humans, we are carnal---they call it 'the natural man' right?  And something I realized the other day is that the commandments go against the natural man.  That is the very reason God has set them, because as we abide by them, we become more like He is---the nature of God instead of the nature of man becomes us.  That is why they may be so unappealing to some...and why they might seem so hard some days.  The commandments of God kill the natural man inside of us and allow us to become like our Savior. They do not tie us down, they set us free! And allow us to become our best self;  Or, as President Uchtdorf said, our REAL self.  (Women's conference last Oct).

I learned something today that goes right along those same lines...being contrary to the nature of God, or thus, giving in to the carnal man, brings us to a state contrary to the nature of happiness. (Alma 41:11) That makes so much sense! No wonder this world is so miserable.  Because going against God is going against happiness.  Happiness is truly found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by abiding by His laws.  

I know joy.  It is real!  It only, ONLY comes in this Gospel.  Because this Gospel is a way of life.  It transforms, uplifts, and redeems.  It is the only source of hope in this life, the only source of light in this world and the only way to experience true joy.  

I just want to end by saying that I know this is all true because of our Savior.  He makes weak things strong.  I know He does, because I have experienced it first hand.  

Shine on.  (: 

I've Been Dreaming in Spanish...April 13, 2015

Well!  This last week was a good one if I do say so (:
My compa and I are just having wayyy to much fun! I don't know if that's
allowed haha.  We have just been doing to usual...laughing, teaching,
finding, laughing and yes, sometimes crying haha but wow. We have been so
blessed!!!
So I had another MLC this last week, even though we just barely had one 2
weeks before, because 2 men from Salt Lake came down to train us!
Actually, one is the director or something of the Provo MTC (I may be
wrong, ay..no se) But Their names are Brother Tanner and Brother Gonzales.
They basically called us all to repentance in the most bold and loving way!
It was amazing!!! They taught us ways we could be better as a mission; ways
that we never have been as a mission for years and years and years.  It was
much needed and I am so grateful to be a part of it, even for a small
moment (:  I get the pleasure of training a part of it to the zone this
week and...well...we'll just pray that the Spirit will be with me, eh?
The day after that training, I went on an exchange with one of my Hermanas
and wow. We just had an excellent day! It was amazing because I had come to
her area a year ago...and when we were planning what we would do that day,
this girl popped into my head that I had met on that exchange a year ago!
The Hermana that I was with had never met her or heard of her and so it was
apparent that they had not been teaching her.  We decided it was inspired
and that we should look for her!  We found some records, but the address
was incorrect.  We looked in the directory, because her husband is a
less-active member, and we found it, but that, too, had an incorrect
address.  My compa for the day was inspired to get the map and look at it,
and when she did her eyes went immediately to a street and she said,
"that's it!" And so we went...and we found her! She was home. And she let
us right in!  What I loved about the experience was that we were able to
testify to her that the Lord is very much aware of her. If not so, my
experience with her a year ago would not have stood out so boldly in my
mind until it lead us back to her.  I remember meeting her last year and
thinking to myself as I left her house that I would meet her again and that
we were supposed to know each other.  What I thought that meant then is
that I would be assigned to that area...but I never was.  I now know why I
felt that way! And I know we are going to be friends still because oddly
enough, she remembered me too. (:
Our Father knows us! He knows what we need.

On Saturday, after doing some service, digging up a hard dirt ground for a
couple of hours, we were able to head off to the Mesa temple with a recent
convert here in the El Dorado branch!  It was an experience like I've never
had before.  The Spirit was present the entire time.  We were able to bring
the name of her husband with us!  What was so neat was that we didn't have
a man to perform the ordinance...but after my compas faithful prayer, a man
walked in and was willing to do it, even though it would be done in
Spanish.  And so her husband was baptized! And it was so incredible to be
there to witness it and to feel of the spirit that came with that
experience.

Okay, I have one more experience I'd like to share! At the beginning of
this transfer, my compa and I found a friend that we started teaching and
she decided to accept the invitation to be baptized.  After that, my
companion and I decided that we would set some goals and make some plans to
bring to the Lord so that He could help us to accomplish them.  One of the
things our friend had said to us was that a man had came up to her in the
street and told her that it was time for her to come home (and he was
talking about coming home to God).  She told us that that is what she hoped
to find.  SO. because we were making plans and setting goals, we were very
specific and said that we wanted our friend to feel like she came home when
she found out this Gospel is true.....well. A week or 2 ago, she called us
and told us she moved to Nogales out of no where!  We had other goals and
plans, and they were going well, but this goal seemed to be out of reach!
Until we met another friend (: She is 76, full of light and life, and she
came to church yesterday and loved every bit of it!  The members were soo
supportive and she even ended up in one of their home's having dinner with
them after church!  We had a lesson soon after that and she told us, "I
feel like I have come home!  I have been looking for this my whole life and
I finally found it. I am home."........*mouth drops* I  just. Heavenly
Father is SO kind. SO good to us!! We don't even deserve it!  She is set to
be baptized my last Saturday here....Very soon! But she is so ready.  I
know her! I have seen her before. The vision of her in white is so clear to
me. I have been there before.  I love her!

I have always wondered why the scriptures always say that "His bowels are
full of mercy." I wondered what that meant exactly...and so I looked it up
in the dictionary and now I know.  It talked about the very innermost
center of something and so I realized...He is filled with mercy to His very
core.  To the very depth of His soul, He is full of mercy.  I know His
mercy is real! His grace is sufficient. And the enabling power of the
Atonement reaches and extends to every corner. I am SO beyond grateful for
the experiences I am having, for the love I am feeling, and for the
miracles I am seeing.
His love is real! I just want you to know that I know that.  And His love
is what saves us, because He loved us enough to redeem us.

Have a beautiful week (: Love!

Come Unto Jesus, Ye Heavy Laden...(hymn no. 117) April 6th, 2014

I started reading a part of my journal this morning... I was so shocked to
see a very real difference in myself! The lines of this song kept going
through my head "I wish you could see me now. I wish I could show you how
I'm not who I was!" I was so happy and filled with gratitude and a new love
for the Savior as I realized that it is ONLY BECAUSE OF HIM! And, oh, how I
need a Redeemer.  I am so imperfect, I could never make it if it weren't
for His mercy and love.  I love His love.  I know it is real.  I know you
can find it, partake of it, and let it lift you as you read the Book of
Mormon. It testifies of Him and any person will come to know Him better by
reading it!!!

This last week has been sooo much fun! So edifying and so refining.  My
best friend and I seem to run into a lot of stumbling blocks, but we sure
do so laughing all the way!  We are continually strengthened by one another
and by the prayer of faith! P.S. the prayer of faith is real!  IT WORKS!
I'm serious (:
We've have been having a blast as we talk with everyone, set new baptismal
dates, and get rejected day after day.  I could not be happier. (: I feel
the sweet song of the gospel filling my heart with such joy.  I love the
youth here! I love that I get to work with them again.  This has been a
tender mercy of the Lord. Isn't His love so real? Wow.  He loves me (:

We have a goal to get to the temple this week with a recent convert of this
branch.  She was able to get her recommend last week and we have been
working with her to find names to take to the temple! This has increased my
love for my family and the blessings of the temple! We have been given SO
much in this life!!! And all He asks is that we keep His commandments.

I felt so blessed because we had zone conference Friday and then General
Conference Saturday and Sunday!  What more could you ask for than to be
taught from on high?!
I loved conference so much! It was a fountain of joy that I never wanted to
end! I could not stop drinking and I didn't want to....That is how living
the gospel should be, eh?
That the joy of it fills our souls until it is overflowing and we never
want to stop taking it in.
I am so grateful for moments like this that bring me back to the root of
the gospel. To the sweetness of the gospel!  Stay near the tree!! Don't
leave the tree! haha (:
We even had our lovely friend join us for 3 whole sessions! not including
the women's session she attended last week.
The Spirit is real! It works in the hearts of those that sincerely seek our
Savior.

I love how many of that talks in conference spoke of the importance of
family! I love my family (: They are so good to me! I want to share my life
with them through all eternity...I didn't mean to write the words of that
primary song, but that just seemed fitting there haha (:
I also loved how we were taught to continue to remember the sweet and
simple truths of the gospel. That is the most important thing! All else
will follow and come eventually if we will first root ourselves in those
simple truths.

Con mucho amor (:

ohhh my goodness! I have to tell you one more thing!  At zone conference
they installed these things called a TiWi in our cars! We have to log in
when we drive and they basically monitor our driving! They say "check your
speed!" or "check your seat belt" if you are speeding or not wearing one.
So no worries, I will come home a better, safer driver (; not that I'm not
already (; jajajaja  Hey, but you should know, it's only yelled at me once!
And it was when I didn't notice the speed change on the freeway.  sooooo
yeah! Have a great week! (: