Know. Live. Love.

One More Week!

A week from now, I'll be on a plane to Arizona!! CRAZY!!

So, I guess I'll start there - Friday we got our travel plans! I'm leaving next Tuesday morning, CRAZY!! I can't wait to get to the field. I got a letter from President Wheeler today talking about what the first day is going to be like, and I'm sooooo excited! I can't wait to meet some of the members there and meet my trainer and start REALLY learning how to speak Spanish out in the field. 

This week, teaching with Hna Casos has been amazing. We've really both been focusing on the spirit in our lessons, and as a result we've been completely in sync and really in a "groove" during our teaching. There have been so many times when I've felt prompted to share something that we hadn't planned for, and then Hna Casos has shared the same thing! She said that the same thing has happened with me. It's been such an amazing thing to realize how the spirit really is in charge and that as we focus on teaching by the spirit we, too, will be in sync with one another.

red white and blue

red white and blue

Saturday we had a "celebration of freedom." It was basically a devotional where they talked about the restoration coming forth and specifically about the freedom of religion. It was interesting to celebrate the fourth of July with a focus completely on the gospel and the REASONS why this country was made free. Afterwards, most of the missionaries went to the parking lot across the street to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks, but Hermana Casos and I decided to go back to the dorm and watch them from the giant window in the stairwell of our building. Honestly, it was the best decision ever. We got in our pajamas, grabbed snacks and our journals, and just enjoyed chatting and talking about life, getting to know each other more. It was just the two of us, and we could see the fireworks perfectly. It was a peaceful moment where I also learned even more just how much of an amazing person she is, and I feel that our friendship grew so much stronger that night.

Saturday was also our last day with one of our teachers, Hna Ellison. She just moved to California on Sunday, so we don't get her our last week.  We all miss her. I'm so grateful for everything she taught us and for her love and support!

Last day with our teacher, Hermana Ellison :(

Now for scriptures!

This week, I've been reading mostly in 3rd Nephi. There's SO MUCH I could share, my scriptures have become like a coloring book! There's so much throughout the entire book that's about the prophecies of the gathering of Israel and about what it means to be part of the tribe of Israel, and it was so enlightening! It was also humbling to realize that I am playing a part in the fulfillment of those prophecies.

The part that was the most profound to me when reading this week was in 3 Nephi 19:20-23. It's when Christ is praying for the people. He says: "Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost to these whom I have chosen; and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of the world. Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in their words. Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and they pray unto me because I am with them. And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, and that we may be one."

He prays again in verses 28-29. When I read those verses the spirit testified to me so strongly that that prayer was a continuous prayer that the Lord is praying for all those who believe in Him! And with that, I made the realization that he's praying for me! What an unbelievable, incredible, humbling, absolutely unfathomable truth! The Lord is praying for all of us, and He's praying for each of us, that we may be able to be One with Him.

There are more scriptures, but there's no more time!

Love you!