Reason for Everything

The hermanas with some of their investigators at Temple Square

Mis queridos,

  Before I start, I really do believe there is a reason for everything. I had an amazing interview with my mission president this week and in order to combat discouragement he invited me to think "What is God trying to teach me?" rather than "Why is this happening?" This means there are even reasons for bad things that happen. Here's the context for this: our much anticipated day of joy for [S]'s baptism on Saturday didn't happen. When Hermana Dorsey and I went over to their house a couple hours before the baptism we found them all in tears in the middle of a family emergency. They asked us to just go and my heart broke as we called a bunch of people in the ward to tell them we were postponing it. Please keep her family in your prayers this week. Let's just say that I have now seen first hand the power of the adversary working against the children of God making the covenant of baptism. Great light always has and always will be opposed by great darkness. But I've also learned it goes the other way too. After the darkness of the night comes the light of the morning. She is so strong though and later told us she still wants to be baptized! How grateful I am for a Savior who "suffer[ed] pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind...and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:11-12) The afflicted will be comforted. The hurt will be healed.

  Another example of bright mornings following dark nights is that less than an hour after we learned our baptism was postponed was that we had our first lesson with a super golden investigator, [J]! He told us that he felt an emptiness in his life and wanted to be surrounded by good people. When we showed him the Book of Mormon, he asked if it would be ok for him to borrow it! We were like, you can have it! And then he looked at how many pages were in the book and told us he could finish it in two weeks! We just looked at him and he just said, I like reading. Like what that never happens!!

   Another miracle/cool experience with the Spirit was with our investigator [Se]. He recently married a member and he's super solid preparing for baptism. Hermana Dorsey and I were praying about moving his current baptismal date (December 2nd), and didn't feel good about that date. But then we didn't feel good about another day in December either. But then my companion said, what about moving it earlier, to November 25th? So we prayed about it, and the Spirit told us it was right! We were surprised! So we brought this up with [Se] and he told us he had actually been thinking that week that it would be right for him to move it earlier. The Spirit is SO REAL! This hasn't been the only time lately where me and my companion or someone else was thinking the same thing at the same time. I'm starting to see that means something is from the Spirit. 

 Well, I could talk about more miracles and moments where I felt like "wow, THIS is why I'm on a mission", but there isn't time or sufficient words to describe. I just know it's all worth it. A note about serving in Utah, everyone is either Mormon or knows a Mormon well. This is both a blessing and a curse, because that means people either have a lot of respect for the church because of what they've seen in their friends, or that they've had a bad experience with a church member. It's a good reminder to all of us to really live the beliefs we have. We follow Jesus Christ, which means we want to keep his commandment to love all God's children. 

 Shoutout to my brother Abram who's birthday was on Friday! 13?? What the heck?? Love you bro! 

Mi corazon esta lleno con amor por todos de ustedes,

Hermana Alley 

P.S. I went to temple square on Monday! I think our picture with the Christus statue is symbolic