Week 58: La vida es buena...y BONITA!

Querida Familia y Amigos,

          En realidad "la vida es buena...y BONITA!"  That's quoting the 1st counselor in the branch, Hermano Garcia.  He always says that when we ask him how he is doing.  It's a trend that I want to start doing as well. "Life is good... and beautiful!"

          I had to do a lot of hard things this week as far as my job as Sister Training Leader. The hardest thing is having to give Sisters corrections when I know that they are struggling.  This calling has stretched me in so many different ways.  It's a blessing, but a very hard blessing.  I don't think I am a natural born leader, but Heavenly Father keeps putting me in these positions, including being the first born in my family.  He knows me very well and knows its the pressure I need in order to grow. 

          We have had a lot of great things happen as far as our missionary work goes.  Busy, busy, busy!  We are always busy and it's great.  I will be somewhat grateful when church isn't like a circus!  This week I gave a talk in the Overlake ward about the Atonement and the Sacrament.  Of course I learned more than anyone who listened to it.  The Sacrament in Spanish is La Santa Cena which directly translates to the Holy Dinner.  It is our weekly time to dine with the Savior and talk about our problems and how we are going to fix them together.  The Atonement has two parts: the Redeeming power and the Enabling power.  The Redeeming power is the power that saves us from our fallen state in sin.  The Enabling power is the ability that we get on a daily basis to do things that are beyond our own capacity.  During the bread, I like to think about the Redeeming power.  I reflect on my weaknesses, the things I did wrong that week and how I am going to do better with Christ's help.  During the water, I like to think of the Enabling power.  What was I able to accomplish that week with help from the Spirit and the powers of heaven.  This is how I have made the sacrament more meaningful to me. 

          This week we started teaching the two nephews of our Branch Mission Leader.  They have lots of the big "out there" questions.  They are college students so of course they want to be intellectual and social theories are more important than God's laws. But it's been really neat teaching them.  We were able to go to a stake BBQ with them as well.  We had so much fun!  It was a Guinness Book of World Records  theme so we got to do things like see how many smarties we could eat in one minute with chop sticks and my companion wore 155 ties around her neck at one time!  The record was 260 so she was a little off, but still so fun! 

          I hope everyone continues to have a great summer and that you will all have an amazing experience with the Sacrament this next week.

Con Amor,

Hermana Stoddard