5

week 5? already?...time is flyin!!

  this week has been absolutely amazing. (one of the greatest spiritual experiences of my life)

somethin funny real quick..so on pdays we email our branch president...elder shipp decided to invite president sanchez to our weekly planning session and decided not to tell me..hahaha hes a stinkin goof! came to a huge suprise when president walked in and sat with us..elder shipp just laughed!  being district leader has been fun so far! learning alot of useful leadership skills!

   well family and friends! this week has been a huge blessing! im edified daily through the spirit that my teachers teach through and i have learned sooooo much!! this weeks fundemental weve been taught and applying in our lessons with our investigators is.."teaching people not lessons" what an important thing in missionary work!! listening to the investigator and listening for the spirits guidance is key.i wanna talk more about it but...theres one thing im dying to tell yall!!!

 Tuesday night i was blessed to be in the presence and hear direct revelation from an apostle of god. all 3000+ of us missionaries sitting in the gym PACKED...we sang our three intro hymns and then all of a sudden there was an undescribable feeling of peace..Then..all 3000+ of us stood as an apostle of god entered the room!! we had no idea who we would be hearing from!! so it was an awesome suprise... at first i couldnt see who it but as soo as he started to walk up on the stage i knew exactly who he was!

 Jefferey R. Holland!! he expressed so much love and respect for all of us! i felt his love through the spirit! and i felt gods love through Elder Holland. it was the most powerful talk i have ever heard..i was glued. he said something ,a promise, to all of us close to the beginning of his talk... he was talking about how the early saints knew they wouldnt succeed...but they knew we would. these are the latter days!! "Although they knew they would not succeed... they continued with faith because they knew we would." the next thing he said hit me really hard... and was so powerful.."You are the dispensation that will see the lamb of god." elder holland speaks with so much power and emotion! i wish i could write his whole talk out ! i will look back on it forever. he also talked alot about RMs who come home and become inactive...WHY?  how can someone be so emmersed in the truth and then fall away? elder holland started to cry... "everything i have relates to that day i received my call.".. i remember him pausing for quite some time... then he  said "I command all of you to come home with atleast one convert...yourself." then he jokingly said "if your an inactive RM... you dont want to see me in a dark alley."

    "invest in this for yoursake, for Heavens sake, for those peoples sake."

what an amazing talk ..that was honestly just the first 20 minutes or less... it was such a powerful talk and the spirit was so strong!

 everything is goin great! the best two years are rollin! :( spanish is amazing! struggling a little more than i was ..but the gift of tongues is real!! the spirit has no language barriers. when i find myself teaching through the spirit i know exactly what i need to say in order to meet the needs of the investigator. i love this work and i love you all!! thankyou for all the mail! im sorry if i dont get back to ya for a while!! mom those cookies are so amazing! haha there gone so quick! my district loves you! grandma!!! congrats on your mission call!! im so happy for you! that is so amazing! Tristen keep your head up! pray always! god loves us all so much! hows the real world like?haha... but really! sissy! thanks for your letters! i love em! i promise im workin on a letter for you!... pops! i love all your letters as well!! mail is so nice to have sometimes! love ya! tell danielsons hello for me!! JUNE BUG! and LIVIE! miss them! cant wait to meet claire! congrats! thos pictures were amazing! haha there hanging on my wall along with melodys also!! aunt wee thankyou for your amazing letters!! 

  our new district is practically all from arizona! 2 of them actually know rigin and somehow me...probably from just me bein awesome i guess....haha love you all! have an amazing week!!  i would love to hear from everyone!  one last quote from elder holland.."people can have earthquakes directly where they stand...you are the ones that cause them." ( i could give quotes all day from his talk) what an amazing week. love ya all!!

   - Elder Harper-Smith