Family!!
This week has been great! It’s been a
roller coaster but when is it not! I guess I will start with the sad news. Esperanza,
who I just loved so much, called us last Tuesday and told us that she got a job
offer back in Ecuador and that she was leaving:( She left Friday night and we
got to say goodbye to her on Wednesday. It was so sad. I cried. It was hard
because we became fast friends with her and connected with her so well! But I
know she will get baptized in Ecuador and she will be able to receive the
blessing she needs at this time.
But since Heavenly Father is so loving and
amazing, He blessed us with Jose! We found him knocking doors this week! He
said it was such a blessing that we passed by because he said he has seen our
church and has always wanted to go! We prayed with him and he loved it and
wanted to start learning more. So we set up a return appointment for the next
day. We went over the next day with a member who we thought he would connect
well with and they became friends right away! He didn't have a whole lot of
time so we taught about the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy and committed
him to read 3 Nephi 11. The next day we went over and we got to teach him and
his wife the restoration. It was really good!! They both really liked it and
the Spirit was super strong. We followed up with his reading and he gave us
full run through of what he read and what he learned. He loves the book of
Mormon and says he can just feel the power it has just by holding it. His wife
said that she has started reading the Book of Mormon too. It was an awesome
experience to see Jose just light up as he talked about the Book of Mormon. It’s
such a testimony builder that the gospel really does change lives! I love
watching investigators lives change as they come to know that the
gospel is real! :)
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| Sister Moise's first time at an IHOP |
This week we had a bug going around
our district and what do you know, I caught it. Yuck. I was out all Sunday. We
went to church but I only got half way through sacrament before I needed to
leave. I had a huge headache that was making me dizzy and I ached all over and
had a cough and a fever. Being sick didn't help my back at all. It got very
inflamed so I was in pain too but I was so spoiled by Sister Moise. She took
good care of me and made me soup and everything! She is the best! That night a
sister from the Relief Society brought us dinner and her husband and son gave
me a blessing. That night my fever broke and yesterday I was able to go out and
work. Recovering but I am doing good!! :))
This week I was reading a talk
called “You Were Born to Lead, You Were Born for Glory”. It was a super amazing
talk! I loved it! Some parts from the talk that I loved were:
".....This is not new news. You have been told countless times that you
are a chosen generation reserved for the latter part of the latter days. Just
two months ago, in general conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley said once
again: “You are the best generation we have ever had” (“An Ensign to the
Nations, a Light to the World,” Ensign, November 2003, 84).
It’s akin to being chosen to run the last leg of a relay, where the coach
always positions his strongest runner.
You were
recommended to help run the last leg of the relay that began with Adam and Eve
because your premortal spiritual valor indicated you would have the courage and
the determination to face the world at its worst, to do combat with the evil
one during his heyday, and, in spite of it all, to be fearless in building the
kingdom of God.
You simply must understand
this, because you were born to lead by virtue of who you are, the covenants you
have made, and the fact that you are here now in the 11th hour.
You were born to
lead as mothers and fathers, because nowhere is righteous leadership more
crucial than in the family. You were born to lead as priesthood and auxiliary
leaders; as heads of communities, companies, and even nations. You were born to
lead as men and women willing “to stand as witnesses of God at all
times and in all things, and in all places,” because
that’s what a true leader does (Mosiah 18:9; emphasis added).
You were born to
lead, and,
in the words of Isaiah, you were born for glory (see Isaiah
62:2–3).
Now the glorious
but sobering truth is that, in spite of your aeons of premortal preparation,
the days ahead will at times “wrench your very heart strings,” as the Prophet
Joseph told the Twelve (in John Taylor, JD 24:197). If you’ve
hoped to passively, comfortably live out your lives, let me burst that little
bubble once and for all. Now, please, do not misunderstand me: This is a
magnificent time to live! It is a time, said President Spencer W. Kimball, when
our influence “can be tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times”
(“Privileges and Responsibilities of Sisters,” Ensign, November
1978, 103). The strongest runner wants to run the last leg of
the relay.
But the last days
are not for the faint of heart or the spiritually out of shape. There will be
days when you feel defeated, exhausted, and plain old beat-up by life’s
whiplash. People you love will disappoint you—and you will disappoint them.
You’ll probably struggle with some kind of mortal appetite. Some days it will
feel as though the veil between heaven and earth is made of reinforced
concrete. And you may even face a crisis of faith. In fact, you can count on
trials that test your testimony and your faith.
Aren’t you glad I
came bearing such optimistic news? Actually, I am nothing if not optimistic
about you, for everything about your lives is an indicator of our Father’s
remarkable respect for you. He recommended you for now, when the stakes are so
high. Now is the day when His kingdom is being established once and for all,
never again to be taken from the earth. This is the last leg of the relay. This
is when He needs His strongest runners.
The simple fact is
that our Father did not recommend Eve or Moses or Nephi or countless other
magnificent exemplars for this dispensation—He recommended you and me. Do you
think God would have left the last days to chance by sending men and women He
couldn’t count on? A common theme of patriarchal blessings given to men and
women your age is that you were sent now because our Father’s most trustworthy
children would be needed in the final, decisive battle for righteousness. That
is who you are, and it is who you have always been."
I not only love it
because it talks about running, but how true it really is. It was a mind blowing
experience to realize that Heavenly Father has saved US for these latter days
for the last leg of the race. He didn't save Moses or Moroni, although they played a huge part in the church and
they were saved to do a special work but as we grow nearer to the end of the
battle/ race, Heavenly Father is counting on us. We have such a greater
responsibility. We are the anchors and we need to do our part! This talk was
very uplifting for me and helped me realize how important i am and how
important my part is. I hope it does the same for you!! :)
I love you all so much!!! I hope you have
a great week!!! Miss you all!!!! :)))
Briaunna
