"I'm on a roller coaster only going up my friend" // week 38

10:46 AM

Hello hello everyone. How are you all doing? This week has felt super long, but at the same time I cannot believe that it is already pday.... Everything is getting better, as you can see from my email title. Hmm lets see what happened....

Monday we found out that the Angel Moroni on the Bountiful temple was struck with lightning, pictures below. Oh and my district leader, Elder Fuhriman, gave me a blessing of counsel and guidance and man I really needed it and it helped me out a ton. I am so grateful for the priesthood and the power that it has and that we can receive these marvelous blessings from it.

Tuesday my companion and I were able to go to the temple so I could receive guidance and peace about what is going on at home. And it was a great experience. It was cool though, before our session we were in the restroom and a lady walks in, right now we are in white dresses without our tags, and she says to us "oh hello sisters, where are you from?" So she knew we were missionaries without our tags so that was cool. Afterwards I met with my counselor and that was good, helpful as usual. Not much happened on Wednesday. I got a sunburn on my neck so that wasn't fun, but that's because we biked all afternoon. Oh and Sister Spendlove came out with us in the evening. We love Sister Spendlove and all that she does for us.

Thursday we went out to lunch as sisters and that was a lot of fun. And we were able to meet with some Less actives that never let us meet with them so that was awesome! Friday we had a zone training meeting, and it was one of the best ZTM I have had on my mission. We did some super fun role plays, one of them involved us practicing street contacting and it was good and super helpful. Also the missionaries going home this month/transfer bore their testimonies and that was super sweet and spiritual. And our leaders told us what they love about each of us so that was special as well. I really like this zone, especially the leadership!

Saturday was a crazy busy day. We went down to SLC in the morning and I was able to see my aunt and uncle and talk to them and get some advice about how to keep working hard here and not worry about my family back at home so that was a blessing. Then on the way home we stopped to get smoothies and we got some for our DL and his companion because they shined my shoes for me, I tried to do it on my own and that was not working out... But long story short they were on exchanges so Elder Tauai, one of our ZLs, got Elder Fuhrimans smoothie, he was sad haha. Then I was able to go back down to SLC to my first area for a baptism for Julio! So this is a cool story about how we found Julio and Keishla. So we were out with Hermana Madrid and we knocked on some doors and no one was answering. So we are in the hall contemplating on what we should do and Hermana Madrid hears people speaking Spanish and she was like "Hermanas, we should knock on that door!" And she was super excited, so we were like "okay Hermana, you can knock on the door!" Hahah so she did and Keishla and Julio opened the door. We had a lesson with them and we found out that Keishla is less active and Julio wasn't a member. We ended up having to pass them off to the elders a week later and they have been taught by missionaries since them. And now Julio and Keishla got married and right after Julio got baptized! It was great! After the baptism he said that he felt like a new man! I love seeing the gospel shape and change their lives. And it was great because I was able to see lots of missionaries that I haven't seen in awhile. Overall Saturday was a great day! And on Sunday we bore our testimonies and had a great day where we street contacted a ton and had a super powerful lesson with a less active member and we testified of the power of Gods love and that He is always there for us.

That is my favorite lesson to teach. Because it is true. God is our LOVING Heavenly Father. He is always there for us. Jesus Christ is His son, and He loves us so much that He died for us. And He knows how we feel, He knows our pains, our heartaches, and He knows that through Their help, we can conquer anything. This past week has been hard. But it's getting better. I am so grateful for all of you and all of the sweet messages I have received this past week. It truly means the world to me. I may not know why we have certain trials in our lives, but I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. He truly knows what we are going through and He is going to try to put us where we need to be, with people we need to be with, during these trials to make it easier to conquer. There is a scripture we found in comp study that I would like to share with you all. "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things." 2 Nephi 2:24. There is a reason for everything. We just need to have the faith to trust in the one that has the wisdom. He is there, has been, and always will be.

LOVE YOU ALL! Have a great week! I hope to get pictures from your summer adventures!