January 10, 2012

Hello Family!

This week has been amazing. We continue to see miracles as we are doing the Lord's work. It is amazing. One of my favorite parts of being a missionary is the chance we have each day to go out in faith not knowing what will happen or who we will meet but knowing that the spirit will guide us and we will see miracles. Princesse was baptized on Sunday! She is an amazing girl we recently started teaching. She had a baptism date for a week later but she was so ready we all decided to move it up. She takes diligent notes each lesson and studies in between. I love her! I love those that realize the blessings of the truthfulness of the gospel and can't help but drink it all in. I love the people we meet and the examples they are to me. I learn so much from their faith, willingness and humility.

This week we had a mission wide harvest! So for 2 hours every missionary in the Ft. Lauderdale mission were out going into people's homes leaving the Savior's peace and blessing. We saw incredible miracles as a mission! It was awesome to be united and feeling the spirit guiding us. We had a cool experience last night with harvesting. We went by a potential investigators house he wasn't home so we gathered his whole family together and prayed. The feeling of the spirit was incredible. I love seeing people go from really reluctant and sometimes a little hard hearted to warm and wanting to embrace us. After we said the prayer and identified the spirit the grandfather, who we thought only spoke creole, said "we don't have much time and we can't pray that long but let's go." I wasn't sure what he meant but we followed him a few houses down on the street to his son and his family's home. This man said these two ladies just prayed for us and they are here to pray for you. We went in and blessed another beautiful family. It was amazing. I am still on a spiritual high. I love being a missionary. This is the most incredible time of my life. I love being a representative of our Savior Jesus Christ and I love the gospel and how it blesses every single person's lives. I love it!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

January 3, 2012

Dearest Family!

Happy new year! I love this time that we have to recommit ourselves to doing and being even more! I am still working on goals and resolutions. It has made me very grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. That we even have the chance to repent, to change, for the better. No matter what has happened in the past or what weaknesses we have through Christ's atonement we can have hope. In preach my gospel under how to begin teaching there is a list of ten bullet points. One of my favorites says something like :we all make mistakes in life. These mistakes create feelings of guilt and shame that cannot be relieved without repentance and forgiveness. They can be fully healed through Christ's atonement. How amazing and true. I love the gospel. It brings us closer to Christ who can heal us of everything and we can feel peace and hope.

I love being in ysa! I have met the most amazing people in the world. As I have known people from all over the world I have come to the realization that Heavenly Father loves ALL of His children the same. He truly does. I called a potential that was passed to us from other missionaries. His name is Brian. He had met the elders when they left a blessing in his home. He was really sick and went to the hospital only to find out he has heart failure. We talked on the phone for quite a while. He is a young 21 year old. I directed him to mormon.org and was able to teach him over the phone! It was an amazing experience. He said he wanted to be a mormon and will be if we add him on facebook hahaha. I am so grateful for our resources and the opportunities we are given to share the gospel. It truly is for everyone! Everyone needs the atonement of Jesus Christ in their lives. We are so blessed to have the truth and to have the opportunity to share it with our brothers and sisters! I love being a missionary. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that it is for everyone and it is amazing that we have the opportunity to share it. Don't be afraid of your faith and to reach out to others and share the blessings you receive! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

December 12, 2011

HI!!

This week has been outstanding! I am so loved by the Lord! That was evident all week long as the people I love so dearly gave me so much love! Time and time again I felt the spirit touch my heart and confirm to me that the Lord loves me. Sister Beck and I have been talking a lot about tender mercies with everyone and I saw them all week long as I looked for them. I know that the Lord knows each of us and he loves us! What made the week really amazing was seeing T'jon enter into the waters of baptism! T'jon we just met a few weeks ago. He is really good friends with a member in the branch and he brought him to church a few times. We didn't even realize he was a member for a few weeks he just fit right in and looked right at home. We began teaching him and invited him to be baptized. He was a little hestitant so Hermana Beck's first lesson I told her to invite him to be baptized for the 18 of December. She fearlessly extended the most beautiful invitation, my heart beaming with pride and love, and T'jon accepted without hesitation and asked if we could move it up a week! Of course duh! It was amazing the love and support at his baptism. Having his friends and family there was amazing. Sister Beck was smiling and saying to me over and over "I am so happy." I am too! T'jon is incredible and it is truly amazing to see people discover what they have been searching for, and to watch the spirit work and see them overcome with the satisfactory joy that the gospel brings.

It has made me think a lot about the blessings and joy that come from the gospel, and all of the people that don't have that. Especially the ones we know our very own friends and families and how important it is to share the basic principles of the gospel with them. Not only by living it and testifying of it, but by inviting them to have it as well. I loved seeing both the member and the investigator slightly hestitant and we were able to testify and help them both along, to see now the incredible blessings they both are receiving as a result. Christ has given us everything. His body and life and spirit so that we may have eternal life. Certainly I can give Him my time, me efforts, my so called comfort zone to share the blessings of His gospel. So that my brothers and sisters can come closer to Him and more fully utilize the power of His atonement in their lives. And we receive from Him more than we could ever give. I love this time of year. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know he is the Son of God. I know he lives. I have come to know him through living his commandments and coming closer to him. I love the Book of Mormon and I know it is the word of God. I am so blessed to be a missionary! I receive more than I can imagine or take in.

I was reading in the Helaman chapter 3 this morning and I loved these verses:

24 And it came to pass that in this same year there was exceedingly great prosperity in the church, insomuch that there were thousands who did ^ajoin themselves unto the church and were baptized unto repentance.

25 And so great was the prosperity of the church, and so many the blessings which were poured out upon the people, that even the high priests and the teachers were themselves astonished beyond measure.

26 And it came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting to the church of God, many souls, yea, even tens of thousands.

27 Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.

28 Yea, thus we see that the ^agate of heaven is open unto ^ball, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

I know this is the Lord's work and he is indeed merciful! May we all remember Him this time of year, what he has given us and what we can give to Him!!!

And pictures next week if I remember:)

I LOVE YOU!!!

Hermana Pack