Another Inspiring week

Dear everyone,

Sorry this email is coming a bit later than usual. We were able to go to the temple in Snowflake today (3hr drive total) and it was amazing! We saw the new video and I LOVE being in the temple. I wish I could just live there because I felt so much peace. This week was really great and really sad at the same time. We'll start with the sad news first so that we can end on a happy note. Sad news: we had 5 baptisms scheduled for this weekend and they all fell through. 4 of them moved to Mesa (it was a single mom with 3 kids that were over 8) and the 5th decided that she wanted to get married before her baptism, but her cohabitant isn't divorced yet, so that makes things a little... tricky.

Now for the good news: WE LEAVE FOR TREK THIS WEEK!!!!! We leave Friday morning and won't get back until Monday around 1pm (somewhere in there we're beheading a chicken). Right after we get back we're showering and then driving down to the valley to drop Sister Goodwin off at the airport and then she'll be off to Brazil! I'm so excited for her and I love my new companion! We'll get along splendidly. Anyway, in prepping for trek we've been hiking Flat Top every morning (except Sunday) to get in shape and to help us break in our hiking boots. The hiking boots are a story in and of themselves, but suffice it to say that some members took pity on us and gifted them to us. I know, I'm still completely blown away. The people up here have honestly become family to me. I love helping them progress towards Christ and I honestly think that people move to Eagar to be converted. We just keep having the windows of heaven open up and shower us with blessings.

For instance, we found a family this last week and they were at church on Sunday and are progressing towards baptism. We had a lesson with an investigator that was incredible because He follows the Native American traditions (yep can anyone tell me WHO the Book of Mormon is about and WHERE it came from?) so we shared Alma chapter 18 where Ammon talks about the Great Spirit with King Lamoni and how the Great Spirit is actually God. That lesson went from him doubting our message to telling us about near-death experiences that he'd had where he'd heard promptings from the Holy Ghost. Yeah, it was pretty bomb-diggity.

We had another lesson this week with one of our less-active recent converts. First of all, can I just tell you all how much being an EXAMPLE means to people?! The recent convert that we taught this week grew up with his best friends being members and they always invited him to activities. We are supposed to be examples of the believers! And, honestly, it doesn't hurt anything to invite someone to a family home evening or to a family event where they can be exposed to how much the Gospel blesses families. This recent convert SAW the difference between his family and the family of his friends. THAT is what started his conversion. Sure, he wasn't baptized until last year, but his heart began changing and shifting it's priorities to the Gospel when he was younger. So, again, BE AN EXAMPLE of the believers and INVITE them to stuff with your families. Of course, invite the missionaries as well. They appreciate a good dinner and a potential investigator :D haha.

I love you all so much and I'm so grateful that I get to be here, sharing the Gospel with my Brothers and Sisters. I can honestly say that I love them all so much more than I'd expected and I know that it's the love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ manifesting itself through me. I never thought that I could feel this much love for people that I don't know. It is just one more thing that proves that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that his Gospel has been restored again, in its fullness to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's proof that we have a loving Heavenly Father who has given us temples so that we can be sealed together, as a family, for ETERNITY. It proves that we receive latter-day revelation from a prophet, Thomas S. Monson, on the earth today. And it PROVES beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. That it was HIS blood and HIS sacrifice that enables us to return to live with our Father in Heaven again. And it's his Atonement that can cleanse us from years of sin. He wants us to come back. He wants us to return to his fold. He wants us to have the blessings that this Gospel brings. Who are we to deny our Brothers and Sisters the opportunity of partaking of those blessings?

I'm so grateful for you all and I'm glad that we can be together forever, because it wouldn't be heaven without you crazies! :)

Love,
Sister Lee

PS. camera was dead and I forgot to charge it... so, no pics this week

Transfer #4 Week 1

Hi everyone!

So, big news of the week: I'm in a trio!!! And I have to say that it is, by far, one of the craziest, funnest, and most spiritual things I've ever been involved with. Sister Heap is our new companion, she's from Montana (Bozeman?) and she was down in Phoenix for 14 MONTHS!!!! crazy! Apparently she was so excited to be back in the country that she ran around our house barefoot when she got out of the car. I'm sorry I missed it, because it would have been hilarious! So we now have 6 Sisters living in our house; which actually isn't too bad because we got bunk beds! (yep they gave us a bunk bed).

The work has been... interesting this week. We've had a lot of drama. One of our investigators (with 5 kids) got evicted from her house and then she got kicked out of her friend's house where she was staying and was barely able to get a motel room for her and her kids for 2 nights. We were finally able to get a hold of her and there are people up here that have been so kind to help out while she figures out what to do. It just shows you how hard Satan will work to prevent people from finding the Gospel and from getting baptized. It just reminds me of how hard it was for me in the weeks leading up to going through the temple, but Satan has just slammed her with just about everything that he can, but she'll make it through because she still has her faith. She's such an example to me.

Another one of our investigators is preparing for baptism this weekend, but we were worried that she might not be able to because of her living situation. Thankfully, they decided to get married. Do you want to know the best part? WE WERE THERE WHEN HE PROPOSED!!!! She wants to be baptized so badly and so we're going to have a "waptism". So, basically, they're going to get married, she'll go and change into her jumpsuit and get baptized, and then we'll have a little "mingling" reception afterwards. Yep, crazy stuff.

I love the work up here and I know that I'm incredibly blessed to be up here in Eagar. It's here that you can definitely see the work progressing and what the efforts of  the members and the missionaries combined can do. Honestly, they say Eagar is 90% LDS already, but the members up here are rooting out that 10% for us to teach. It really is incredible.

Another side note: besides trek, President Sweeney also gave permission (the Stake YW president actually asked him) for us to go.... TO GIRL'S CAMP! I may or may not be here for that amazing event, but it's really cool how much President trusts us. I guess it's because we're so obedient (or trying to be). You know what they say, "Exact Obedience Bring Blessings."

Anyway, I love you all so much and I'm so excited for everything that's going on in Germany, Ohio, and at home! Jen, just keep reading your scriptures, praying and going to church and you'll be able to do just about anything! Allison, you lucky dog! That's so exciting that you get to help with the mural in the temple!! To everyone else that I love SO STINKIN' MUCH: I love you :) Keep the Faith and be disciples of Jesus Christ. He never said it would be easy, only that it would be worth it.

Love,
Sister Lee

pics: we all happened to be coordinating at the evening session of Stake Conference, so we took a picture with President and Sister Sweeney and the other one was when we hiked flat top (taking the really really hard short cut) and the next one is one of the cute engagement pics for our investigator and her fiancee

note: that green corvet that I sent a pic of? That's one of our new potential investigator's cars (a pic I'm now sending as a reminder of what it looks like)

Mother's Day week

Hello everyone!

 So, first of all, the Mother's day call was great! I'm so glad that I got to see you all and hear about things that are going on every day. It's great! The best part about it was that I didn't get homesick at all! I just felt like I was at college again and that I'd talk to you again soon. Which was right because here I am, emailing, just a couple days later! Fun stuff! I think I don't feel homesick because I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me be a more consecrated missionary... who knows? Anyway, the week leading up to Mother's day was fantastic! We did SO MUCH SERVICE this week! We started the week by helping a sister in one of the Elders' wards dig up what she called "pokers" and separated them. We ended up returning to their house just 2 days ago to help paint a fence and to trim hedges.

The hedges were WAY overgrown, so one side looked a little... gaping when we'd trimmed it back to it's original border. But the rest looked fine! We then had a service project on Saturday where we helped a sister in our ward move wood and wood chippings into burn piles. She's an amazing person. I learn so much from her. On Thursday I officially graduated from counseling (BOOYAH!) and on our way out of the counseling office, there were some elders from st johns in the waiting area, so I'm not the only one having issues. I know that probably shouldn't comfort me, but it does :) I know I've probably said this before, but my companion finally got her visa to Brazil!! I'm so excited for her! I'm also excited for the new companion that we picked up from the Valley yesterday. She's really sweet and she absolutely loves it up here already! She's been in Phoenix for 14 months, so Eagar is definitely a change, but she says that "this is my place! I'm so happy!" so that makes me excited. The cool thing is that she's gluten intolerant, so I know how to cook for her! Remember when mom and Allison couldn't have wheat? Yep, I'm going to be making stir-fry, rice and rice flour pancakes! It's weird that I'm so excited, but I am!

Anyway, back to the work itself. We have 5 baptisms scheduled for the 24th!!! We're hoping and praying that everything works out for all of them, but they are all on track! We are worried about Courtney (she's the single mom with the 5 kids). This week she got an eviction notice, so the bishopric is working with her to help her find a place in the ward. The ward has been absolutely amazing with her family! I have a theory that the Lord will give us those that he's prepared 1)  when they're ready. 2) When the missionaries are obedient and listening to the Spirit; and 3) When the ward is strong enough to receive them into the fold. Cool theory, right? I think it makes sense :)

Other than that, our schedules have been completely full most of the days of the week! Sure, we have some cancellations, but that just means that we'll see them again later or that they aren't quite ready or prepared for the message yet, so I don't despair. Sunday was amazing! Not only was it Mother's Day (they gave us lotion and chocolate in our wards), not only did I get to skype you all, and not only did I get to fast and feel the Spirit help me through the day, but one of the people I fasted for made it to church!!!! AND (drumroll please)

SHE'S GOING ON  TREK!

There are, seriously, so many blessings from being obedient and praying and fasting for people. I know that sometimes it doesn't give us immediate results and that it may take years, but the prayers and the fasting work! We are currently teaching or have baptized people that have had family members fasting and praying and sending missionaries to them for YEARS! Don't give up on them! The Gospel has so much light and truth that the light of Christ that resides in them will be drawn to it. It may take years, it may not happen in this life, but we should NEVER give up. That's what I've learned up here. NEVER GIVE UP!

I love you all so much and I hope that you all continue to be healthy and happy. I encourage and invite you to study to signs of the second coming. And don't freak out about it because as long as we are keeping the covenants that we made at baptism and in the temple, we have nothing to fear :) This Gospel is amazing. It's brought so much light into my life when there was only darkness and it's brought me so much hope when I've only felt despair. I KNOW this church is true. I know that Joseph Smith was the prophet that our Heavenly Father called to preach his Gospel and to restore the Church of Jesus Christ in our day. I know that families can be eternal and that we can all be together forever. I don't just believe this, I KNOW it. I know these things through the power and gift of the Holy Ghost. How can I know it and not share it? 

Love,

Steph

April Showers bring May Flowers

Hi everyone!!

This past week was pretty insane! On monday we had exchanges, so I didn't get to learn how to milk a cow (service project!) but the exchange itself was so much fun! We've discovered that service is absolutely amazing at getting people to open up to us! Of course, everyone up here is pretty self-sufficient, so we normally have to be very specific in our service requests. We've brushed horses, cleaned kitchens, stacked wood, milked cows (I wasn't there for that... sadness), helped till a garden, split wood, etc. What can I say, you do what you've got to do to show your love for the people. And if you don't feel like you love them, serve them! It works pretty well.

Anyway, Tuesday we went around to all of the Spanish families (I was in the other area) and I really wanted to kick myself for not practicing my Spanish more when I was in high school. namely because I could only understand every other or every three words that they spoke. Sso I've decided that I'm going to study the Book of Mormon in Spanish AND English. End of story!

 But it was really cool and the dinner that we had with one of the members was amazing because she made Cafe Rio. Let me say this again: she made HOME-MADE PORK BARBACOA CAFE RIO AMAZINGNESS!!!! Yep, if you can't tell, I've missed having my favorite restaurants just 5 minutes away. I think the nearest Cafe Rio is in Phoenix or Albuquerque. And the nearest Panda Express is supposedly in Snowflake, but I've never seen it. This is what happens when they send you to the boonies, but I absolutely LOVE it here! On Wednesday, we had interviews with President Sweeney and sister Goodwin and I had a very specific question for him. His answer stunned, surprised, amazed, (whatever word you can use in this context to describe jaw-dropping). Anyway, the short story is..... drumroll please....



WE GET TO GO ON TREK!!!!!

Yep. We got permission to go on trek because of all of the non-members that will be going (including some of our investigators) and because it's a very unique teaching opportunity. So we're madly trying to get everything together for it, but the ward members are being super helpful. So, could you possibly send my blue pioneer skirt, bonnet, and my steel-toe boots? If not, I'm sure I'll be able to scrounge something up :)


Friday was very special because it was my birthday! I woke up to a bed covered in balloons with one floating over my face (which scared me to death!) and we opened presents (no worries, I re-opened both of the packages you sent). Then, one of our members took us to breakfast! After that, we drove up to Alpine to help look after a 90+ year old woman. We stayed up there for lunch, visited a few people, then came back home and finished our lunch-time with a nap. I love naps, they are amazing things; especially if you don't get to take them very often. After our nap, we tried to visit a few people and then went to a service project. We are currently helping one of the women in our ward with a quilt. She's HAND-QUILTING a 1500+ piece quilt, so we offered our services so that she can get it done faster. We then had a lesson with one of our investigators on the Law of Chastity (the topic that all missionaries love to teach) and we got her on date for baptism for the 24th of this month! She came to church this week and even is participating in the stake choir for stake conference with one of our other investigators! It's pretty amazing! Later that evening we went and got shakes before our next lesson and we ran into a few less-actives at DQ. What can I say, the Lord inspired us to get milkshakes :) That, and we gave the 1st vision in 3 different languages (Spanish, English and Portuguese) as our message for our members. I know, it's pretty legit.

Fast Sunday was pretty fantastic as well. We finally got a ride to church for one of our investigators and her 5 kids. They were all so excited to come to church and one of her kids (who is 11) got up and bore her testimony!! It was the sweetest, most spiritual experience that I have had on my entire mission! Anyway, in both wards we had a total of 7 investigators at church! The Lord will bless us in so many ways when we sincerely pray and fast for others.

I know that when we pray sincerely, Heavenly Father will answer our prayers. I was reading in Nephi this morning and it was where Lehi is talking about his dream (1nephi8) and he said that AFTER he had prayed, he saw the tree of life. We are told in 2nephi25:23 that it is "by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." I know that as we keep the covenants that we have made at baptism and in the temple, that the windows of heaven will open and that the Lord will pour out a blessing that we won't have room enough to receive it (Malachi 8:10 i think). I have seen so many blessings up here! Not just for me, but in the lives of the people that are sincerely looking for the Gospel and looking for the truth. It is such an amazing privilege to be the tool in the Lord's hands to accomplish his work and I'm so happy that Andrew, Amy and I get to see these blessings unfold. Not just in our lives, but in the lives of others. It truly is a great work and a wonder.

Love,
Steph

The pic is of my bed covered in balloons (we did end up playing balloon baseball later in the day) hopefully I'll have more to send next week.

Speaking of, next week is transfers, so I won't be emailing until Wednesday (I have it on really good authority that I'll be here for at least another transfer, which I am SO GRATEFUL for)

The Windows of Heaven

This week has been super crazy!! We've gotten to a point up here where our schedules are actually full of appointments and it takes some serious time-managing skills to get everyone in that we need to see! We had another baptism this weekend, his name is Steven and he has very high-functioning autism. He is the sweetest spirit and he has one of the most brilliant minds that I've ever come across! He already understood most of what we were teaching because he'd sat in on his mom's lessons and he asked so many deep and probing questions that we were super surprised! Anyway, it was an incredible day and I hope I never forget the change in his countenance and the smile on his face.

This week has also been pretty amazing because we've had so many investigators! Sister Goodwin says that it's like they're getting blown out of the trees; which makes sense because (using the vocab of elder Shirley) it's "wind-ing" constantly up here!!! Anyway, we had a lot of lessons with investigators and actually got 3 of them to agree to prepare for baptism on the 10th of May (Mother's day weekend). One of my favorite experiences was with one of our investigators: Nicki. We hadn't been able to meet with her for a few weeks (which causes a bit of worry) and on the day we were supposed to meet, her daughter took her car. So she couldn't drive to the appointment. She said that she had the thought that "someone" (aka Satan) didn't want her to get to the appointment, so she texted us and we changed the meeting place to the church just down the street from her house. Then, her neighbor called her and asked if she wanted a ride to the appointment. She said "yes" and was able to come to the appointment at the member's home. The kicker for me was that she recognized that Satan didn't want her taking the discussions and deciding to move forward anyway. She is going to be such a pillar of strength when she's baptized!

On Sunday (yesterday), we had a birthday party at the Hamblins for one of the Elders. He turned the oh-so-ancient age of 19. I gave Sister Goodwin a little grief because she said, "that's so young!" and she just turned 20 a couple of weeks ago. Yep, that just makes me feel older. especially when it's announced to everyone that I'm turning 22 and that I'm the oldest missionary they have up here (barring Elder and Sister Baker). fun times, fun times.

The work up here is amazing! We've had so many blessings with the members opening up and giving us referrals for their neighbors and family members! It also blows me away (pun intended. aren't you proud, mom?) that so many of them are SO prepared to receive the Gospel. All of those seeds that had been planted all of those years ago are now bearing fruit. And by the sounds of it, the fruit is multiplying. I know that it is extremely important for us to get, not only our converts involved, but those who have strayed from the flock. We don't need to preach or use scare-tactics to get them to come back. We just need to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and LOVE them into the fold. Christ's church is a church of love. It's a church of bettering ourselves so that we can live up to the covenants that we've made with God. And the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is CHRIST'S CHURCH restored again, in it's fullness, to the earth. I'm so grateful for the blessings that I've received from the covenants that I've made with my Heavenly Father through baptism and in the temple. If we keep the temple as our goal, and if we keep it in our sights once we've made those covenants, it will become much easier to live the Gospel because we will have turned our will over to the Father.

I love you all so much and I'm so glad and so grateful that I've been raised around such amazing people. Especially because I know that I will get to live with you all again! There is so much comfort in that knowledge! Anyway, have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you all next week!

Love,

Sister Lee

Here are the pictures of the week! 

1) the baptism (Steven is in the middle, and when they were taking the picture, he wanted to hold Sis. Goodwin's hand. It was so sweet!)

2) The package that DIDN'T say "do not open" that may or may not have included my birthday presents (oops lol) But thanks so much for the CD!! Piano music. ah, you all know me so well!

EAster in EAgar

Hi everyone!!!

I hope you all had an amazing Easter, because I did!!! But first things first: the week. The funny story of the week was that it was Sister Goodwin's birthday this week! That's not super funny, and you're right, it's not. But that's not the funny part. The night before (Monday) the Stake President and his wife threw a birthday party for her and we had cheesecake and fun and stuff. However, the funny part was when the Stake President sang "Happy Birthday". He didn't sing the traditional version that we all sing and harmonize with on someone's birthday. Nope, his version went like this:

(sung very solemnly)

It's your birthday, Happy Birthday

disease and pestilence in the air

people DYING everywhere

On your birthday

Happy birthday

Yep, it was pretty hilarious! But that isn't where it ends. The next day, Sister Goodwin woke up with the 24 hour stomach flu that's been going around, one of the elders went to the hospital for strep and another elder was ill as well. So Sister Goodwin would be sleeping in the bathtub (convenient place when you're sick) and I would be studying in the other room when I would hear her faintly singing "disease and pestilence in the air, people DYING everywhere, on my birthday. Happy birthday." Yeah, we kind of laughed about it all day. It's good to laugh about something when your sick, it lightens the mood!

Anyway, later this week we visited the Apache Reservation and I helped some sisters understand ancestry.com and familysearch a bit better and then we got 2 new investigators and... oh, I almost forgot. WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!!! One of our investigators, after going through many sets of missionaries, made the eternal commitment to take upon him Christ's name and be baptized. The best part was that he got confirmed on Easter Sunday. I almost cried.

So besides that, Easter was pretty busy. We spoke in 3rd ward at 9am (I spoke on the crucifixion) and we had one of our less-active converts attend, then I taught the Signs of the Second Coming in Gospel Principles (that lesson is amazing, I would recommend studying up on the signs because THEY'RE HAPPENING!!) and in our other ward, we had 2 investigators come to Sacrament Meeting and Sister Goodwin taught the Restoration in Young Womens.

But it doesn't end there. After church, we got home and there was a knock on our door. A Sister from the ward had gone around to different ward members to collect food and stuff for us for Easter and then she dropped it off (the previous night, we'd returned home to find 4 Easter baskets for us on the front porch). We then had Easter dinner with a family that hid the eggs before they dyed them and then, after they'd found them all, they dyed them and secret Easter messages would appear and they would have a little lesson with those messages. She then fed us Mongolian Stir fry (I'd been craving chinese all week) and then had a s'mores cake for dessert (I gained a few pounds from that but it was SO WORTH IT!). After that, we ran over to the church building to sing in the Easter Cantata (we got one of our investigators to participate with us) and then we donated our Easter baskets to some of the families that we're working with. All in all, It was an incredible day and I'm so grateful that I was able to spend it in the service of my Savior.

I want you all to know that I miss you all so much and that I'm grateful that I was born into such a wonderful family that raised me in the principles of the Gospel and prepared me to lead the life that the Savior would want me to lead and that I have the opportunity and PRIVILEGE of helping others come unto him and to take upon themselves the covenants and the promises that will enable them to gain eternal life in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father. I know that, as we stick to those covenants, we will be blessed in so many ways and we will recognize those blessings in our lives. Thank you all for being such wonderful influences in my life. I'm truly grateful for you all.

Love,

Steph

The pics are of Josh (our recent convert) and yes, his personality is exactly like you see it in the picture :) and the second pic is of our doorstep when we discovered that the Easter Bunny had left us some gifts

By the way, I believe Sister Hamblin (the stake President's wife) may have sent a pic of me and Sister Goodwin to the home email. (she's super sweet)

The air in Eagar

To the house of Nuts, (and any related by blood or who get this email for kicks),

This week was AMAZING!!! So, I'm pretty sure that I told you all that we had an epic April Fools joke played on us. Yep. It was epic. Anyway, the rest of the week has been CRAZY!! We had an investigator receive a priesthood blessing to help her quit smoking and she's preparing for baptism on the 26th of this month! Amazing blessings! We also have this investigator, Josh, who has gone through a TON of missionaries. I don't know why that was. because when we asked him if he would like to be baptized, he said "yes" right away, so of course we asked him why he hadn't been baptized before and he said that he hadn't liked the previous missionaries........... But we got him to commit to a baptismal date on Easter weekend!! WOHOO!! In my opinion, that's the perfect day because he is becoming re-born and that's the day that we celebrate the Resurrection of our Savior. Yep, Sister Goodwin and I are the boss ;) just kidding (I'm working on becoming more humble if you can tell). So, that happened last night. Now for the previous days.

Conference was INCREDIBLE!!!!! We watched conference at the Stake Center and on Saturday, after the first session, some members invited us to join them for lunch (tortilla soup). The sessions themselves were amazing and I really like Elder Cook's talk on how the hastening of the work doesn't apply JUST to the work for the living; it applies to the work for the dead as well. So, get off your duff and do some Family History work and go to the temple!!! But keep having those missionary experiences, I love hearing about them. I also loved the talk that mentioned that missionary work can start with just a smile or a "hello". It's really not that hard. I don't know why I always thought that it was so difficult before I came on my mission. Oh well; we live, we learn.

This week, President Sweeney asked me to put my Ancestry skills to good use and to train some of the Sisters in Ft Apache on the best way to use the site and the search engine, so Sister Goodwin and I went to the family history center here so that I could get a refresher. Of course, a refresher only works if they haven't terminated your subscription 7 months before they said that they would. No complaints though, it was a free sub anyway. I am, however, having to completely re-learn Family Search because it's been so long since I've been on it. If anyone has any tips or tricks for using it (like tying in to someone else's tree/account) I would greatly appreciate it.

So, in the last email I sent, I said I was eating healthy. That's because it was prescribed. Who would've thought that eating healthy is part of the word of wisdom?! I know, I'm still reeling from the shock. Anyway, I've lost a lot of weight from eating healthy and breaking a sweat for 30 minutes, and I have TONS of energy left over for the rest of the day. SO, eat healthy and break a sweat. It's good for you :) To move on, sorry that I don't have a lot of pictures this week (haha I don't have any) but, because I love you all, I will be sure to send some next week!

Thanks for being so supportive of me! I wouldn't be out here, sharing the Gospel if I didn't know that it's true. When we know that the Gospel is true, it is our duty to share it in whatever way we can. We are all on missions in this life. Our mission is to return to live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and to help others on their way. We've been asked to live like Christ lived. When we receive that knowledge and that witness of the truthfulness of the restored Gospel, we can't return to our "nets". We can't, because we will have experienced a change of heart: we will never be the same. That change is the greatest change that could ever happen to anyone because we will have aligned our will to God's, and he will bless us in multitudes of ways that we would never have dreamed of. But the first thing we have to do is to give God the only thing that he can't take from us; our agency. When we do that, we experience peace and he will help us grow.

One of my favorite scriptures this week is 2 Nephi 25:23. It says, "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, AFTER ALL WE CAN DO." God will strengthen us: after all we can do. We will receive our answers: after all we can do. He will always make up the difference for us: AFTER ALL WE CAN DO. That scripture has gotten me through a lot recently because there are many things that we can't do or can't face alone. We do all that we can and then we rely on the Savior and his sacrifice and he will ALWAYS make up the difference. I love you all so much and I pray for you all constantly and I want you all to know that God loves you and he will NEVER give up on you because YOU, INDIVIDUALLY, are so important to him. And to me (hence the prayers). Keep going and keep writing me because I love hearing from all of you!

Love,

Sister Lee