Querida Familia y Amigos,
It's really hot outside and no one here has air conditioning. It's the struggle. But people are home just lounging around all day so it's a great time to find people to talk to since lot of our "usual" investigators were out of town.
So a few things that happened and other things have been on my mind:
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| The Three Amigos Hermanas Brooks, Stoddard & Christiansen |
1. We said "hasta luego" to President and Sister Choi. He is on his way to Japan to be over the East Asia area of the church. It was sad to see them go. They truly loved us and this work. And in came President Schofield. The moment I told him where I was from, he told me that he was a judge there for years. I went from a mission president from the other side of the world to a mission president who knows everything about my hometown. Weird. President Schofield introduced himself to us and boldly told us that he is not President Choi so he might do things differently, but they have to same master...our Savior Jesus Christ.
Sister Schofield is just the sweetest lady. She told us a story about cleaning the chandeliers in the Timpanogos temple. They cleaned every individual light every few months. She explained how they weren't that dirty, but they shined even brighter once there were done with the three day cleaning process. That's much like our spirits. They don't need to be washed just once in our lives. The Atonement is a daily cleanser. Repenting everyday and taking the sacrament every week heals our souls. We don't want to be running around with gaping wounds, now do we? No, no. It's the daily cleaning that refines us and makes us sparkle and reflect the light of Christ, just like the crystals in a chandelier.
2. As you can imagine, living in Seattle we have been getting a lot of questions about homosexual relationships and marriage. Lots of people don't like the response that we give them. Can I just say that all the Apostles and general leaders of the church including the Prophet expected the legalizing of gay marriage!?! If you reflect through many of the talks this past conference, you will find that most of them talk about marriage and family. The Lord is clear about His standards. In the end, they are the only way we can be truly happy.
3. With it being Independence Day and everything, I reflected a lot on our freedom as Americans and as Children on God. Because we live in a country where we are free to believe, we have freedom of mind. This also gives us the freedom to fully exercise our agency. Christ fought for our agency and we are privileged enough to use it. Because we are Children of our Heavenly Father and He loves us, He is here to liberate us and support us, but He will not force us to choose.
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| CELEBRATING THE 4TH!!!! |
We had a sad experience this week when our progressing investigator David dropped us. A large factor was the issue with gay marriage. He told us that because of us he went from being atheist to believing in God, but he can't believe in the Christian God. It broke our hearts for him to finally see someone who loves him, but not understanding His laws. We were all sad and cried in the car after that lesson.
But I am very thankful for the gift of agency. I am grateful for my motherland, America. I know she is God's promised land. Without her, we wouldn't have had the restoration. I hope all of you had an excellent 4th of July and continue to have a fantastic summer.
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| Blanca & Makenzy with the 3 Sisters |
Con Amor,
Hermana Stoddard
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| Celebrating 1 year (July 2nd) at the Taco Truck |
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