Casi Latina

Holaaa Familia y Amigos! 

  Aaaah I have so little time and I don't even know where to start so I am so sorry this is going to be a scatterbrained email. First, my CCM experience is coming to an end! I fly out on Monday to Salt Lake and will stay in the mission home that night! Crazy thing is, if I understand the email right, on Tuesday morning I will be traveling to the Provo MTC with my mission president to pick up the missionaries there! Which is so crazy for me because I thought I wouldn't see Provo again for 18 months. Its going to be hard driving through there knowing I have many friends and family members there and I cant see them! My people in Provo, know that I am waving to you the morning of September 19! 

 So much always happens but Ill just pick a few things to share right now. First, at the Tuesday devotional this week I sang with the CCM choir, and we sang the EFY medley, the Army of Helaman and Sisters in Zion mixed together, in Spanish! It was soo powerful to sing as missionaries. I was singing towards the front of the choir, so I had many voices behind me, and I couldnt help envisioning myself in the mission field, possibly feeling challenged and alone. And I promised myself that I would remember that moment, and know that so many people are behind me when I go out to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Missionaries, family, angels, and the like! I am not alone. 

 I also want to share a miracle! Its a little silly, but it actually became really significant to me, and I hope it has meaning to some of you too. So today at lunch I was wearing my blue and white skirt, and  through a series of unfortunate events I spilled bright red juice ALL OVER it. Like literally all over it. You know, the kind of embarrassing thing that happens and all you can do is laugh it off? Haha soo bad. So my companion and I rushed to the tienda to get stain remover and we did everything we could think of to help save that skirt. Then I promptly threw it in the wash and the only other thing I knew to do was pray. So my roommates and I had a group prayer that my skirt would be completely clean. I felt a little silly, but I told Heavenly Father that it was important to me and that I had faith. A little while later, I found myself staring at a completely clean skirt, with NO evidence AT ALL that a stain was ever there. Small thing, but a MIRACLE to me! Juice normally ruins clothes. And in that moment I felt God teach me something. He reminded me of a scripture I had memorized, Isaiah 1:18 ¨Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool¨ This has become one of my favorite scriptures, and its message is powerful. Only through Jesus Christ can we be completely be free of our sins, guilt, and burdens. And the amazing things is, that like my skirt, there can be no evidence that they were there! We can become entirely new through Christ!

 I am so humbled by my incredible privilege to represent Jesus Christ and share this message with His children. Im about to go to that for real, and I am so grateful for all the ways the CCM has prepared me. Not only have I learned Spanish here, I have learned the language of the Spirit, how to listen to others, how to submit my will to God, how to plan and make goals, how to study and teach, and most importantly, I learned more about my Savior Jesus Christ. I can do nothing of myself as a missionary, only be an instrument that others may see Christs light throught me, and learn more of Him through me. Yo sé que mi Salvador vive y Su iglesia fue restaurado en la tierra otra vez. Jose Smith fue un profeta, y El Libro de Mormon es tan verdadero! Podemos tener una relación personal con Dios y Él nos ama muchisimio!! Ive truly been changed by my experience here yet I know this is only the beginning! I look forward with hope and excitement to how I can serve the Lord these next 17 months. 

Les amo ustedes con todo de mi corazon,

Hermana Adison Alley