March 24, 2014

Dear Family,

Oh my, it's been an interesting week! First let me just tell you about how excited I am for the changes being made in our stake! No tracting and more member work is so exciting! Both Bishop Pike and Brother Hinton and Bishop Fuller and Brother Nelson are so excited to get us into the members' homes. It's going to be a more pleasant experience all around-not as many doors slammed in our faces and more time spent with the members-love it!

So, on Saturday we had an opportunity to spend some time with a wonderful Samoan family! We saw them outside earlier in the day and talked with them and they invited us back to eat later in the day. They sure know how to BBQ! We spent an hour and a half eating awesome food and trying to talk to as many people about the gospel as we could! It was a great combo. Samoans really seem to like to laugh and cheer and at one point one of the aunts started cheering for having missionaries at the party. They are wonderful people! We quite enjoyed our time there. Also, one of our friends from the laundromat where LaChelle works was there and we were able to talk with her. We haven't seen her in a long time, but she is still looking for a church. We invited her to ours, of course! We hope to teach her soon. What I might have once said was a coincidence I now can promise is evidence of the Lord's hand in our lives. He is so aware of each of His children and He will lead us to where we need to be.

In church yesterday Brother Brady gave an absolute wonderful talk on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and not allowing discouragement to weaken our faith. Satan uses whatever he can to weaken us, discouragement being one of his greatest tools, I think. What stood out to me most in his talk was a poem he shared at the end. It was about a little boy who was running a race. He fell once in the race and felt awful. He saw his dad's face in the crowd, and then got up and kept going. He fell again and the same thing happened. He fell a third time and he really felt like a loser, but then he remembered his dad's face and he wanted to please him so he got up once more. Even though he came in last place, the crowd cheered loudly for him. He met his dad at the end and felt like he had failed him, but his dad taught him that winning didn't mean finishing first. The last line of the poem says "All we have to do to win is rise each time you fall." The same goes for us and our Heavenly Father. He doesn't measure our success by how fast we run or how successful we are by man's standards. He only cares that we get up each time we fall, no matter how many times we do. As we exercise our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we will have a desire to repent, or to get up each time we fall in the race of life. And at the finish line that's what Heavenly Father will count. We must not become discouraged with our imperfections or with the imperfections of others. As long as our focus is on the Savior, we will be happy. He will help us, and we will see miracles. I want my focus to be on being accepted of the Lord, not by man. Although, I believe that when our focus is on the Lord, people tend to be drawn to that. It kind of reminds me of the story "You are Special." Do you remember what Panchanelo felt at the beginning of the story as he sought to obtain stars from the other wooden people? He was always unhappy and he never felt like he was special. But when he began to care about what Eli the carpenter thought, a new light and appreciation for himself came into his life. He began to understand who he was, and that made all the difference. Do not forget who you are and how much your Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you! I must remember this too! And then imagine the joy we will have when we are able to share this knowledge with others. Nothing can compare!

Conference is coming up! It's like a missionary's equivalent to a movie marathon! 10 hours of listening to the words of the prophet, apostles, and church leaders is 10 hours of bliss. I am reminded every day of how blessed we are to have a prophet on the earth who God's mouthpiece to us. If we heed his counsel, President Thomas S. Monson, we will not go astray.

I know Jesus is the Christ and this is His church. And I know that I love my family thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much! Have a wonderful week. And pray about who you can invite to watch conference. Heavenly Father puts us in people's lives for a reason! :)

Love,

Sister Mecate

March 17, 2013

Dear Family,

Guess what, I spoke in church yesterday, and it was great! I got to talk about how members of the church helped Mom and Dad in their conversion to the gospel. It was easy for me to talk about it, because it is so important to me! Taking time to ponder how all of those people helped you made me realize how grateful I am for them! Their efforts in helping you come unto Christ is leading to generations of people who will get to have these same blessings. I shared D&C 18:15-16 that says, "And if it so be that you shouldlabor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one ^asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy withhim in the kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the ^akingdom of my Father, how great will beyour ^bjoy if you should bring many ^csouls unto me!" We each can have a greater influence than we realize as we exercise our faith in sharing the gospel. Our joy will be great if we bring just one soul unto Christ, but that one soul may lead to many, many more who will get to hear about the gospel. Now, as active members of the church, you have already influenced many, including your four lovely daughters, in helping them come unto Christ. Isn't the gospel great!?

This week I really tried to listen to our investigators and to the Spirit. The Spirit is the key! I just read this morning in Preach My Gospel-"The Spirit is the most important single element in this work. With the Spirit magnifying your call, you can do miracles for the Lord in the mission field. Without the Spirit you will never succeed regardless of your talent and ability." -Ezra Taft Benson. It is always a learning process, trying to listen to the Spirit. I'm hoping the "slow and steady wins the race" idea applies here. ;) But here is one of the blessings I've seen from that this week. One instance was during a lesson with the daughter of a less active member. She has not been baptized, but has heard a lot about the church. The first half of the lesson she kind of wanted to tell us all the reasons why she disagreed with us, not in a contentious way, but without an open heart. I felt impressed to talk to her about some of the spiritual gifts that I thought she had, and almost right after that small conversation she opened up and talked about things in her life that we could apply to the gospel and then helped her recognize some of the faith she has. By the end of the lesson she was asking us if we could come back and teach her more about the Book of Mormon. I am so grateful for the promptings of the Spirit!

This leads me to the next thing I've seen this week-the power of the Book of Mormon! The Book of Mormon invites the Spirit like no other during lessons! We can receive answers to questions as we read it with people as well as just peace. When we feel peace from the Spirit we can know that what we are saying or reading or discussing is true. We found one of our investigators absorbed in the Book of Mormon when we went to visit her at the laundromat where she works. It was a beautiful moment to see her through the window engrossed in the Book, searching for the truth and conviction that she wants. And I know she will find it as she searches and ponders and prays with all her heart, just like we all can.

I love you family! Have a great week! If you want some more light in your day, bear your testimony! I promise it works!

Love,

Sister Mecate

March 10, 2013

Dear Family,

Why do we do the things we do? Why do we go to church, or pray, or read from the scriptures? Why do we choose to do a kind deed or to hold our tongue when we could say an unkind word? And why do we repent and decide to do better when we maybe aren't so kind or good on any given day? I believe it's because of our faith-faith in Jesus Christ, faith in the power of His Atonement, faith that our Heavenly Father will keep His promises to us as we strive to keep the commandments and live as our Savior lived. Please, never ever ever give up on faith. I see on a daily basis what happens to mankind as they lose faith in their Savior Jesus Christ, and so do you! We all can see what happens as the world continually loses faith in God and moves toward a more carnal and unhappy state. I am so grateful for the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. This knowledge gives me strength to keep moving forward every day, to keep beliveng that I can be better than I am, and to believe that same thing for others. And I want to specifically point out that the adversary (Satan), does not want us to have that faith, especially not in the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that moments before faithful young Joseph prayed to know which church to join and was told to join none of them, that none of them contained the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the adversary tried to stop Him from praying, attacking his faith. I have seen how the adversary is doing that today in the hearts of God's children and it is discouraging! But I want to promise you that I know the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ really happened, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true. How do I know this? Not by my own understanding-my mortal brain doesn't have the capacity! But by the Spirit! What a marvelous gift our Heavenly Father has given us! 

1Cor. 2: 9 "But as it is written  Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which Godhath ^bprepared for them that love him.

 10 But God hath ^arevealed them unto us by his ^bSpirit: for the ^cSpirit ^dsearcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

 11 For what man ^aknoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God ^bknoweth no man,^cbut the ^dSpirit of God.

 12 Now we have received, not the ^aspirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freelygiven to us of God.

 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s ^awisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost ^bteacheth; comparingspiritual things with spiritual.

 14 But the ^anatural man ^breceiveth not the things of the ^cSpirit of God: for they are ^dfoolishness unto him: neither can he^eknow them, because they are ^fspiritually ^gdiscerned.

 15 But he that is spiritual ^ajudgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may ^ainstruct him? But we have the ^bmind of Christ."

I have a testimony of this, that we come to know things of God through the Spirit of God! We cannot logically prove He is there or gain a testimony of His love for us. The Spirit, which teaches us through feelings of goodness, peace, and love, will tell us what is true. Now if we can just help people to understand this wonderful gift, I believe that is the key!

This week has been really good. We had the most fantastic stake conference this weekend. The Saturday Evening Session was all on the Hastening of the Work of Salvation. Probably one of my favorite talks was from president Millard-that man is a power house speaker. He talked about how we covenanted before we came to earth to serve our Heavenly Father and to be a part of His work in bringing others unto Christ in this life! He bore a strong and simple testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, as did his son the next day in conference. We also heard from Elder Call, a member of the Seventy, Saturday night and Sunday morning. He spoke of how we cannot progress in this life and come closer to Christ without trial and opposition. How do we stand strong during the most trying of times? We make sure that we have oil in our lamps, like in the story of the 10 virgins. If we prepare now by doing the simple daily things of scripture study, prayer, and attending church, we will be blessed with a heavenly peace during times of opposition if we turn to the Savior. I love the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants 59: 23 "But learn that he who doeth the worksof ^arighteousness shall receive his ^breward, even ^cpeace in this world, and ^deternal life in the world to come."

The simplicity of the gospel and of God's promises to us makes the gospel beautiful!

And our Stake President, President Rodarde left the stake with a 2-part invitation to:1-Get your keys, get in your car, and go visit someone who needs help coming back to Christ, and 2- Invite the missionaries into your home and work together in hastening the work. The work is real! And God is really hastening it! Oh, and our mission isn't tracting anymore! Crazy! We will now be doing more member visits and teaching them how we can share the gospel. Heavenly Father really loves His children-that is so apparent to me. 

Well, I can't think of what else to say today, other than I miss you all and love you! These next 9 months are going to fly by before I know it! I cannot believe I'm over half way done! I still feel like a newb! Anyways, I hope all is going well!

Love,

Sister Mecate

March 3, 2014

Dear Family,

Washington weather is such a tease. We had one beautiful day this week, and then back to the dreary, rainy, cold weather. But all is well nonetheless! The gospel makes up for the gloominess! So we had a most fantastic lesson with one of our investigators this week, focused on the Book of Mormon. Wow, that book is true, I'm telling you. The spirit that the Book of Mormon invites is amazing. And when the Spirit of God is present, we feel the love of God and we begin to gain faith in His Son Jesus Christ. And we have hope that all will be well and that we are not alone in this vast, sometimes unwelcoming, world. If you need hope, read the Book of Mormon, and I promise that the light and hope of God's love will flood into your life. And it doesn't always come so easily, but if we search diligently and with real faith, we will find the peace we are looking for. I had a district leader once who said, "When we know the Book of Mormon is true, so many other things just become true to us." That is a testimony to me that learning truth from God is a spiritual matter that we don't always understand. We can't logically make sense of everything, because we are human and can't comprehend all that God is or does! Who would have guessed! but if we trust the Spirit, if we trust that there is something greater than us out there, then it all begins to align and we find the peace and understanding we are looking for. In one of our meetings yesterday, we discussed some of the struggles that Satan (the adversary) attacks us with to make us doubt or fall away from trusting in Heavenly Father and being at peace. If there is one thing he doesn't want, it's for us to know the truth and to be happy. So he finds ways to introduce doubt. If we fall into the trap of gaining a logical testimony, we won't make it very far when the winds and storms of life hit us. But if we trust in the soft, sweet whisperings of the Spirit, we will never fail. We must remember that God speaks to us in a different way than we might expect. In Isaiah 55:8-9 it says, "For my ^athoughts are not ^byour thoughts, neither are your ^cways my^dways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ^aways ^bhigher than your ways, and my ^cthoughts than your thoughts." The Lord works differently than man does. We need not "trust in the arm of flesh," (D&C1:19), but trust in the Lord. Trust in the things you have felt in your heart. Work hard to strengthen your testimony through the Spirit. It will carry you through more than any worldly or "logical" knowledge could. Preach My Gospel says, "No one can know of spiritual truths without prayer." If we pray, the answers from the Spirit will come, and we will be happy! The more I teach people here, the greater my testimony of these principles grow. They are true, and I am committing myself to remember these things throughout my life!

I am surrounded by some great missionaries. Right now my district is-Elder Dymock (district leader). He is one of the most energetic and enthusiastic missionaries I have ever met. Our district meetings are filled with excitement and laughter, that's for sure.His companion, Elder Peay, has the funniest humor, and such a tender heart. He reminds me of my friend, Ridge! Same conniving ideas, too! Then there is Elder Smith. He goes home at the end of this transfer- he is so humble and so awesome! I want to be more patient and humble like Elder Smith. His companion is Elder Pennington-what a crack up. He is too is humble and teachable and so willing to work, but just a tad crazier than Elder Smith. Then there is Elder Bagley, who actually came out with me and I couldn't remember him. I felt so bad! But he is great, very knowledgeable and a good balance for his companion, Elder Barg. Elder Barg is a convert and loves to talk. He's from Hick town Idaho, and he's serving in Hick town Washington so he loves it. And then there is me and Sister Kirschner. We are pretty cool as you know, so I won't say much else :) but I will say that I love Sister Kirschner, and she is crazy ina good way!

Sorry my email is shorter this week. I love you all sooooo much! Share your testimony with someone this week! It'll be great! 

Love,

Sister Mecate

February 24, 2014

Dear family,

Oh, boy, am I learning the principle of endurance. I LOVE Maple Valley, there is no doubt about that. But I will end up being here over half my mission at least-which makes me so happy! But I also see how Satan is trying to wear down my faith. I have had to do some reassessing concerning my faith, because it can be discouraging at times when you don't see the fruits you expect. But it is humbling, amazing, and gratifying to reflect upon how both I and the area have changed in the 9 months I've been here. There is no denying that the hand of the Lord has blessed me significantly, as well as the areas that I have served in. I am being blessed as the Lord is teaching me what it means to endure to the end, definitely on a smaller scale than what most people go through in their lives, but as real as any other experience. I've also seen how we have to endure the weaknesses that we each individually have. Sometimes I just want some different weaknesses-I'm tired of these ones! But the Lord has a great plan in store for each of us, and without those weaknesses we won't be able to become what he wants us to become. I'm sure I've quoted this to you before but Ether 12:27 says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their ^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgraceis sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them." In church yesterday, the lesson was on the Plan of Salvation. What a precious gift to have the knowledge of that plan! To know that we all chose to come here, even knowing how hard it would be, makes me excited! We had faith in Jesus Christ before we ever even came to this earth. We knew he would be our Savior. We knew we would each have weaknesses and go through trials, but that through Christ we could be made strong. I also love that having a knowledge of this Plan gives us the perspective of who Satan is. In the introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants, it says that some of the doctrines are meant to teach us about "...the reality of Satan, the purpose of mortality..." We can better understand that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that all He wants is for us to be eternally happy, and that we need to constantly be protecting ourselves from the Satan's attacks. I think I have also quoted this scripture to you before as well, but Doctrine and Covenants 10:5 says, " ^aPray always, that you may come off ^bconqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may ^cescape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work." I have a testimony of that! If we pray with faith, we will be able to succeed and avoid the temptations we face. The more we understand God's Plan, the more protected and prepared we can make ourselves. I am so grateful for modern day prophets who help teach us these things, along with the scriptures!

And I definitely have a testimony that there is opposition in all things. I can't wait to tell you guys about some of the experiences I've had with people. All I can say is that my character has grown stronger!

We have seen quite a few miracles lately! Some less actives we have been working with have started coming back to church. In these instances it is a testimony to me that the Lord is in control of the work, because I feel like I have played a very small role in helping them come to church. We also had a young lady come to church with one of her friends. Hopefully we will start teaching her soon! She asked for Book of Mormon all on her own! She wants to meet with us, we just need permission from her parents. We also have some single sisters who have gone or are going to the temple soon! I know the temple is the house of the Lord and that we gain so much strength as we attend the temple and feel of the Spirit there. I also received a priesthood blessing at transfers, because we felt we needed some counsel and direction. And I am always amazed at how individual and specific the blessings are, and how even when the elder who gives it doesn't know everything we are going through, God does, and that is apparent in the blessing. I know the priesthood power has been restored to the earth by the prophet Joseph Smith, and I am so grateful!

I love you! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Mecate

February 18, 2014

Dear Family,

I'm feeling particularly blessed today, because I'm staying another transfer in Maple Valley! It's gonna end up being over half my mission that I will be here, and I love it. Sister Kirschner is helping me grow beyond what I could do on my own. She's a great blessing. I also forgot to tell you, sometimes when we are out talking to people, we compare our mission to a baseball game. Some people throw curve balls at us, and sometimes we strike out, but then we look at what a decent batting average would be, 300, and we feel a lot better about our efforts-Ha! We like to have a good time.

Thank you for the packages! I loved the Valentine's package from Mom. We ate our breakfast on those plates :). And when I saw that you had sent me almond cookies, Dad, I just about died. I have already almost eaten all of the chocolates you sent me, Cass-my favorites! It seems like you all want to make sure I come back as plump as possible ;) I really appreciate the treats from you guys. They remind me of being with you!

We had some great success with tracting this week. We found one lady who was so open and honest with us about how she struggles with her belief in God because of deaths in her family, but that she wants her kids to have Christ in their lives. We are going back this week to talk to her more. And we met a man whose daughter has had 4 spinal surgeries, and has experienced a lot of pain, but he recognizes the need for trials and for turning to God-part of the Plan of Salvation! He and his family have a lot of faith. He said he would read the Book of Mormon in a week. We are going back Friday! We met a cute couple who are searching for truth and have lots of questions about the Church. We are going back Saturday. There are many people in Maple Valley who are prepared to hear about and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love seeing how real the hastening of the work is. It is a difficult and engaging work, but it is great!

I am most grateful that Heavenly Father is teaching me how to love-myself, my companion, and all of His children. Learning how to love is a life long process! In my studies this week I read from Moroni 7, which is all about charity. There is so much goodness in there, I don't even know where to start! How about with verses 44-45?

44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

 45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

These verses made me think back to a lesson we had with Mick this week. He talks a lot about wanting to change his heart through Christ, in other words obtaining charity. He was worried that maybe we "only believed in works." But these verse make it very clear that we do not. If we only become a do-gooder and we don't have charity, we "are nothing." We are a hollow image of Jesus Christ. But as we obtain charity, we reflect the light of Christ in our lives. I am working on some of the things listed in verse 45 that I may become a more converted and charitable disciple of Christ.

And this one was just the faith booster that I needed.

"33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me."

I also studied in 1 John, chapter 4. 

"7 Beloved, let us ^alove one another: for ^blove is of God; and every one that loveth is ^cborn of God, and knoweth God.

 8 He that loveth not ^aknoweth not God; for God is love.

 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might ^alive through him.

 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he ^aloved us, and ^bsent his Son to be the ^cpropitiation for our sins.

 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

 12 ^aNo man hath ^bseen God at any time. If we love one another, ^cGod ^ddwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."

I am running out of time so I will let that speak for itself. Oh, and just by the way, LaChelle has decided she wants to be baptized and has committed to march 15th! I love that woman! And I LOVE YOU! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Mecate

February 10, 2013

Dear Family,

We had zone conference this week. Woohoo! It was the spiritual reboost I needed. President Eaton taught us about teaching by the power of the Holy Ghost. What better way to do the Lord's work than through His power! What is the most important thing we can do as missionaries? Help others become connected with God. After that, truth makes itself known as the Spirit touches people's hearts. And guess who has told us she wants to be a member of our church....drum roll...LaChelle! She has recently been going through some awful trials, like having her pipes frozen for 2 days amongst other things. She told us she has never prayed so hard. The Spirit is working miracles in her life. It is amazing to see how when someone truly has a broken heart and a contrite spirit, the Lord can teach them. I also believe LaChelle has the "sincere heart" and "real intent" that Moroni talks about in Moroni 10:3-5 of the Book of Mormon. LaChelle's faith is growing and she can recognize answers to her prayers, because she has these qualities that qualify us for the presence of the Spirit. I want to strive more in my life to have these qualities so that I can be more receptive to the Spirit and closer to my Heavenly Father. I think back to the way I felt sitting in the celestial room in the temple and I want that feeling more often in my life. I want to feel and know that I am a daughter of God and that He loves me. The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is the way we can have these feelings to the fullest extent on this earth. Oh how grateful I am for that blessing in my life, and oh, "how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth." (2 Nephi 2:8)

So this week was the celebration of winning the Super Bowl. There was a parade in Seattle where at least 700,000 people went to go crazy in celebration of the Sea Hawks' victory. This really made me think about how insane our country can be sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I like a good celebration and being excited about things! But I was just thinking maybe we could get a little more excited about good family relationships, or the returning of a wayward son, or going to church, or the Second Coming of Jesus Christ! Sister Nilssen in the Rock Creek ward kind of sparked some of these ideas and I quite liked them. I think as a society we could strive to be as excited about things as the Seattle-ites over here but about things of eternal significance.

Some other updates.

Riley and Devaughn will now not be baptized until April, because of family scheduling. We are bummed. But we still get to work with them and teach them so that's good. In our last lesson, Devaughn really wanted us to teach him about Satan, so we did! We talked about pre-mortal life and how Satan wanted to force everyone to choose the right and how that was not part of the Plan so he was cast out and now he doesn't have a body and is unhappy and wants us to be unhappy too. We turned it into fighting a battle here on earth, so we said that praying, reading our scriptures, and going to church are weapons we can use against Satan, and that that's how we follow Jesus Christ and fight on the good side. They understood it really well then! Riley really likes Star Wars so he says Satan is like Darth Maul! Teaching them is my favorite!

We found a lady this week named Rosie who lived in the Imperial Valley for 4 years! She is looking for a church where she is comfortable, and she really wants to teach her kids about Jesus Christ. But she won't let us teach her! I think she is a little wary of the stereotypes of Mormons. But soon she won't be! She told us about all the things that seem to be lining up. She realizes it wasn't coincidence that we showed up at her door. And we know it definitely wasn't! God's hand is in this work! We are going to visit her again this week with a member and help her feel more comfortable.

Transfers are coming up. Boo! I really hope Sister Kirschner and I get to stay another transfer together. That would be beyond amazing to stay in Maple Valley. I love being a missionary. I am so excited to see what else Heavenly Father has in store for these people. I hope you have a wonderful week. Find an opportunity to share your testimony with someone who could use it. It will not only strengthen them, but it will strengthen you too! I love you! May the Spirit always be with you!

Love,

Sister Mecate