June 9, 2014

Dear Family,

This morning I read a talk by Elder Christofferson called "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ." It was a powerful witness that he bore that Jesus Christ truly did live, died, and then lived again, that He truly is the Son of God. Then I watched a video that was up on the lds.org home page about the Saints and missionaries in Europe, where Elder Christofferson again bore that Same witness that Jesus Christ was Resurrected and that He is our Lord and Savior. I am so grateful to know that we have Special witnesses of Christ-the Apostles and our dear prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. Their testimonies strengthen me and help me keep the most important things in sight. I was thinking "what does the resurrection mean to me in my daily life?" Well, I know that We all will live again once we die. I know that without a doubt. And I know I can repent daily, be reborn spiritually, even for the little things that bring me down and farther away from Heavenly Father. Christ's sacrifice and resurrection help me every day!

This week we had 2 investigators to church and two less active women that haven't been to church for a long time. I was so happy inside for them! One lady we have been meeting with every week. I just adore her. This past week we taught her about the sacrament and how she can feel clean every week if she has a humble heart and a contrite spirit. It was the best thing to have her there with us at church! She's the one that quilts and sews and makes cakes. We found out she rides a motorcycle too. She's cool. This area has so many women that have just stopped coming to church for one reason or another, and we have been able to visit with them and get to know them. One other woman, I just love her. She kind of reminds me of me in 40 years. This week she was joking with us about if she had to escape from a natural disaster she would have to pack up her cats and run to higher ground! And she also considers herself a hippie. She is just so cute. We love her. She joined the church in her 50's and used to be very active, but something is keeping her away now. There is another woman we have been helping with her yard work. She is a tiny 83 year old Japanese lady. Her husband is sick and has always stayed inside when we come over. It is sad the trials they are having to go through. But I was inspired by her this week as she told us that she is never lonely, because the Lord is with her. She has such a positive attitude. We love going to work with her in the yard. She has a mini forest of flowers, grass, and trees everywhere! The last two weeks we have pulled A LOT of grass/weeds from the ground. It's been great fun! And this sister, though older and very tiny, is not afraid to use her weed wacker! She cracks us up. And when we are done, she always lets us pick strawberries from her garden to take home. I am so grateful Heavenly Father put us here to get to know these sweet sisters and to be able to serve them. I love them, and I hope we can help them to come to church and feel the Savior's love!

We've still been trying to talk with everyone we see! It can be intimidating at times, but we see miracles as we do it! (We also have some interesting stories to reminisce about later, because we run into some interesting situations!) There was one moment this week where the Lord really taught me a specific lesson this week. We felt prompted to go visit a sister who might have needed some service from us. She ended up not being home. We were both so disappointed, because we felt we really needed to go there. I felt a determination to find the reason why Heavenly Father wanted us there. So I really tried to talk with literally everyone as we headed back to our car. In one instance I hesitated-there was a young man up on the third floor, and I didn't really want to have an awkward moment, but I decided to shout up to him anyways. He was polite, but didn't want to hear a message about Jesus Christ. After our conversation with him, a young woman and her baby passed by us. We said hi, but she kept going. Not feeling that that was enough, I asked if we could share something with her. She said yes. We introduced ourselves, talked about our message, and ended up finding out that her best friend is LDS. We were able to set up an appointment to come back and teach her more. This experience helped me realize that if we are diligent in all situations and just give our best, the Lord will not let us fail. We will be able to find those He wants us to find.

Well, it's going to be another great week. I hope that each of you have a wonderful week as well!  Oh, here is the name of the video I watched "Unto All the World: Building On Ancient Roots Europe." And then I watched this one too "Despoina's Story: A Light to All Nations" So inspiring! I love you guys so much! Thanks for all you do to help keep me going. Try not to have too much fun this summer without me! ;)

Love,

Sister Mecate