Hello Family!
It was so good to see everyone yesterday! You all look so great!
Everyone is changing. I was so happy grandma and grandpa could make
it too.
Well basically I told you all everything yesterday so i guess there is
not much more to write but for the sake of not being the family joke anymore...
I guess i can come up with a longer letter.
Basically we flew to Puerto Rico on Thursday and we had a meeting
with the whole mission which we haven't had for a really long time. It
was good to see all of my old companions and the missionaries from my old
districts and the ccm. We stayed at the sisters apartment in Puerto.
All the sisters that came in from the islands stayed there so there was 8
of us in one apartment. We slept on deflated air mattresses without
blankets and pillows for two nights... haha so it was an experience. Also
because we haven't had any fast food options for 5 months we went to Panda, Chiles,
and Dominos while we were in Puerto Rico. Not a good idea haha.
The meeting was really good. President Zwick and Sister Swick are
so amazing. They spent the first hour and a half shaking hands with every
missionary. He told me that their construction company is building the
new Zions bank on central street, and they have property in Midway. Also
he said that President Uchtdorf and Elder Bednard have property in Red Ledges.
So I guess you were right mom!
The conference was like General Conference. It was so good.
They talked a lot about changing through the atonement of Jesus Christ
and being exactly obedient to the commandments and the rules. As long as
you have the spirit with you, you can change. Sister Zwick said don't
hold yourself down by your own capacity. With Jesus Christ we can expand
our capacities and go to the next level.
It reminded me of an example that I read about in the book
Jesus the Christ. It refers to us as mortals being likened unto the plane
of plants and Jesus Christ like the plane of animals. Plants will never
be able to become animals, because they are in a different plane. But if
an animal reaches down and eats the plants, the plants can then become part of
the next plane, but it is impossible to do it on their own. Likewise with
us, we can not overcome the consequence of sin or mortal weakness on our own.
We need the help of Christ, we need to invite him to reach down to our
plane and help us overcome trials, sins, weaknesses through power from a
different plane.
President Zwick talked about when we are less
obedient, we are less spiritual, and we have less trust with those around us.
So as we obey with exactness, we will draw nearer to our Savior and
be able to help those around us.
So after the conference, we tried to get back to our
little island for 2 days. Airlines in the carribean are impossible. We
were so so nervous we were going to miss Avarnel's baptism. That's why we
moved it to Saturday, but then our flights were delayed until the next day so
at 3:00 pm we were still in st. martin. We finally took off at 4:15 and
got into St. Kitts at 5:10. 50 minutes before the baptism. We
were so grateful that we made it back. It was truly a miracle. And
the branch had even filled up the baptismal font for us, Avarnel was there on
time, and everything went smooth. Except for the actual baptism... haha.
But that was our fault we should have showed her a little better how she
was going to be baptized, so she didn't have to scream for help as she was
coming up. After she was baptized she pointed to a bigger guy in the
branch and was like I thought the fat guy was going to baptize me, not the
little kid. haha. Woops... he probably should have.
Church was really great yesterday too. Usually we are
really stressed because our investigator has 3 little boys under the age of 5
and they are crazy. They just run around the chapel. And we spend
most of our time trying to contain them so the mom doens't feel overwhelmed at
church. And it was a miracle, yesterday they were so well behaved.
Each time she comes to church it gets better.
We are really going to focus this week on getting the
members to work with us more. President Zwick said every week we need to
have a missionary huddle with as many members as we can and ask them 4
questions
1.
What are the names of the people that will be coming to church on Sunday
2.
What are the names of the people that have accepted a baptismal date
3.
What are the names of the members that will be coming with us this
week.
4.
What are the names of the people we will be teaching in your home this
week
He gave us a prophetic promise that if we do this every week and are
obedient with exactness, Puerto Rico will have a temple soon in the future.
So that is our goal! I have complete faith that it will work.
So we are going to try and do exactly as he said so we can see a big
miracle in our mission.
Also, we are really working in Sandy Point. Tonight we are
going there and going to teach some people with a member that is preparing to
go on a mission. We are really praying to find a family that will help us
to start a group out there. So please pray for that!
Spiritual thought for the week. Anchors are really
important in helping us stay in a desired place. But an anchor used improperly
can do us damage. If we anchor ourselves in work or school or technology,
that is where we will stay. We need to anchor ourselves with the gospel
of Jesus Christ, and we will be safe, protected, and stay in a desired place,
and not let storms or light winds carry us away.
Anyways, I hope this letter makes up for the last 14 months?
haha. I will do better to write more. I love you all and I am
so grateful that I could talk to everyone yesterday. HAPPY MOTHERS
DAY!
Love
,
Sister
Cole
Ps.
i finally got an english name tag. So people will stop calling me
Hermana Nicole.
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