Hermana Kali Green : Week 21

Hermana Green, Bird, Santa Maria & Pearce

Holaaaaaa,

Como estan ustedes?

I hope you all have had a great week.

This week we were able to place two fechas (baptismal dates)! exciting things! woo!

Hermana Pearce and I work super hard everyday to find new people and new opportunities to share our testimony of the gospel. We can honestly look back on each day with no regrets. It's such an amazing feeling.

This last week, I finished reading the Book of Mormon for the second time in my life. The first time I read in two days when I was 13, so I will honestly say I didn't remember a ton of the stories. But reading it, almost 7 years later, it has had such a profound influence for me, especially during my mission. Everytime I read, I never wanted to stop. I can say that I have,"feasted upon the words of Christ", and it was as if the scriptures just came alive. I can testify that this book is the most correct book in this world. It is a guide for OUR DAY. It testifies that Christ lives. That he is the Savior of the world and that with these teachings, we can feel his presence and the presence of our Heavenly Father more abundantly and personally in our lives. I know this to be true. I know without any doubt in my mind, and heart that this book can and will change your life. Accept Moroni's invitation to read this book. To read it with an open heart and the Holy Ghost will testify of its truthfulness. For anyone that has doubts, or is looking for truth, start reading the Book of Mormon with a question in mind. The more specific the question, the better. Then, start to read. Listen for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Be aware of your feelings, which could be of peace, comfort, and joy, That's the spirit speaking to you. Read the book. Open your mind and heart to it's godliness and virtue and I PROMISE you too will receive a witness. I will forever be grateful for the Book of Mormon.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

-Hermana Green

Snip it from Our letter:

So Hermana Pearce and I went to Leunannis house one night to see if she was home (our phone wasnt working so we just decided to take our chances and walk) and Alexis was there! (crazy bc he is always working and never there). Leunanni has started working and so it's harder to get them at a good time. But anyways, we talked to him for a bit and he let us in the house and we talked to Leunanni and we asked if we could sing, pray and share a short scripture (which I was in charge of). So we sang, and Hermana Pearce started praying. While she's praying I am PLEADING with Heavenly Father to help me know what they needed to hear. I had NO IDEA what I was going to share and I had about 30 seconds to figure it out. We had just sang,"donde hallo el solaz" or for you english learners, "where can I turn for peace", and I just got the thought," 3 Nefi 17. connect it to the hymn you just sang", and I was like, "what" but then I figured it out within the prayer. Plus I didn't have the verses specifically marked in this chapter, and I only relied on my knowledge of spanish to find the scriptures I needed to share. Thank goodness for the gift of tongues. Their family rarely has any time together, especially now that both Leunanni and Alexis work, they are constantly busy trying to provide for their cute little family. They come home exhausted, with little time to enjoy together, which breaks their hearts because their family is everything to them. So with this in mind, I introduced the chapter, about how In this moment, it's the,"behold your little ones" verses, where the Savior invites all the children to come to him and He blesses each one of them. And then it talks about how they were encircled about by fire and that angels came and attended to them. And I asked them after reading these verses,"what can we learn about the savior's love for little children?" and they answered that he loves them enough to bless "cada uno de ellos". And I said, "like these children, our Heavenly Father and Savior know each one of us." And Hermana Pearce started sharing about the concept of "One by One" and then I explained that sometimes we can also feel like we too are enciricled about by fire, and that life seems impossible to bear with its challenges at times. But we also, like this verse, have angels constantly attending to us and our needs because Heavenly Father knows and loves each one of us. They both were crying by the end of the lesson. It was so so so powerful. It was cool to see how the Spirit literally worked through hermana Pearce and I as a mouth piece.

We Shared with Kali Elder Hollands remarks from Stake Conference and the YSA Devotional: Elder Holland came from a good, but inactive family and the gospel means everything to him. He went on to say; that his decision to serve a mission changed who he is and how he lives his life, and it has become the foundation and cornerstone of his marriage, career, family and church service. Elder Holland told the YSA's that happiness is the object and design of our pursuit in this life, and it can and will be our reward if we are faithful and trust the Lord! Nephi stated; that after enduring a 1000 years of conflict, sorrow and suffering, "we lived after the manner of happiness." That did not mean they had great happiness all the time, but they sought after (their PURSUIT) those things that would bring them eternal happiness, and they NEVER gave up hope and trust in the Lord that he would deliver them into a state of eternal happiness! Elder Holland reminded us that; our pursuit requires effort on our part, it is not a free ride - "Happiness is the consequence of our effort."

Kali's reply was," Woah. I never knew that about Elder Holland. That's really cool! It reminds me of my own experiences of serving a mission. I completely 100 percent agree with him, that happiness requires action on our part! It is all about perspective, fe and action! (spanglish is happening lol) We actually talked about this in our district meeting today. Life is full of heartbreak, but as long as we strive to keep the commandments and our convenants, Heavenly Father will ALWAYS keep his side and bless us. I love that,"Happiness is the consequence of our effort". That describes the mission right there.

I love you both,

Hermana Green