Monday, April 7, 2014

Take up the Joyful Burden of Discipleship

     Hola familia y amigos! This week flew by and was jam packed with lots of events. On Monday we had a family home evening with President and Hermana Borg in their home, since they live here in our ward boundaries. We taught a recent convert and her nonmember friend. We were pretty nervous to teach in President's home, but it turned out great and we had lots of fun. We played uno and ate banana splits at the end, which was awesome! 

     On Tuesday, we had a leaders meeting with all the zone leaders and hermanas capacitadoras. The assistants trained us and also President and Hermana Borg. We talked a lot about setting goals in faith, and how we can motivate the other missionaries to work hard and set good goals. It's always fun to see friends in the missions that are in other zones and to learn together. 

     It sounds like you've heard about the two big earthquakes in Chile. We got a tsunami warning here but they turned out to be false alarms. But, everybody says that the earthquakes messed up the corriente del niño or something like that, meaning that it got cold really fast, and I got sick with a cold. We are also super close to the ocean here, so the cold humid air got me sick pretty fast. So don't worry mom, you're not the only one! At the beginning of this week we also found out that one of the hermanas that's under our care has been having lots of problems with her joints. This hermana is a good friend of mine in the mission cause we served together in the Magdalena zone for about 4 months. We went out to Callao to visit her and she's in a lot of pain. We've been talking with President and I think they're making plans for her to finish out her mission in the states. That's been hard for me this week, mostly cause she's a good friend, and also cause she's an hermana that I'm supposed to be taking care of. Hna Gomez and I were supposed to start our exchanges this past week, but with me being sick and everything that's happening with the other hna, we'll have to start this week and be a little behind. 

     Needless to say I was sooo excited to hear general conference! I knew that the messages from the prophets would help me move forward in faith and hope. And I wasn't let down! This conference was amazing! 

I especially liked Elder Holland{s talk when he talked about how people these days want "comfortable gods." They want a god who tells them just to relax and go out and pick maragolds all day. But Christ's gospel is not that way. As always, Elder Holland motivates me to be a little better than before.

I also loved Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk about religion, that all our actions should tie us back to God, especially in our Sunday activities and attitude. 

Elder Uchtdorf's talk was amazing!! I have learned here in the mission to be more grateful, but I loved what he said about being grateful IN our circumstances, and not being grateful "for" things. I loved the phrase, "Endings are not our destiny." The fact that Christ overcame death should be our source for happiness and hope. What other reason do we need to be happy and grateful?

Elder Bednar's talk was also amazing. Dad, I think I win the conversation about the free firewood now :) I loved how Elder Bednar talked about how it is the load in our lives that gives us the spiritual traction to move forward in life. It was a great talk!

I noticed a few commitments that the prophets left for us as families:
1. Study the scriptures daily as a family (Linda S. Reeves)
2. Every member should have and study a copy of Preach my Gospel (M. Russell Ballard)
3. Assess our own personal load and study the doctrine of the Atonement (Elder Bednar)
4. Wake up each morning with a determination to respond with love (President Thomas S. Monson).

I know that the prophet and apostoles are men called of God, and that their priesthood keys were restored from God through his prophet Joseph Smith. I know this church is true. I know Christ rose from the tomb and is a resurrected being, and that by him and through him we can live forever in the precense of God.

I love you all so much!! Thanks for your letters and your love. Let me know what you thought about conference. Have a great week. Chaufa!!!

Love, Hermana Anderson

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