April 14, 2014

Dear family,

Last week I talked about the atonement and Nephi's experience with it. I studied this in Elder Bednar's talk called, "The Enabling Power of the Atonement." So before I forget, you should check out that talk, especially with Easter coming up! Which leads me to my next point! The church has created a video about Jesus Christ called "Because of Him." Visit http://easter.mormon.org/ to watch it and read the story about Jesus' sacrifice for us. It's filled with the Spirit and is a wonderful reminder that Jesus Christ suffered and died for each one of us. He made it so that we could be saved from the storms of this life and from our own weaknesses, fears, and mistakes. Because He died and lived again, so can we. There is no greater knowledge than this, that we have a Savior, that we have a Heavenly Father who would not leave us to bear the burdens of this life alone, that we might have hope, and that we might be able to become free through the atonement of Jesus Christ. I feel privileged to be a representative of Jesus Christ at this time of year, similarly to how I felt around Christmas. I am grateful that we can know every day of the year of the principles of the gospel, that we can have faith in Christ and repent, we can receive strength from baptismal covenants, and rely on the Holy Ghost for peace, comfort, and guidance.

This week was great! We taught lots of lessons and met a lot of people. I am still getting used to all the people here! I just want to talk to them all, but that's not exactly possible. That's why I really need the guidance of the Spirit! By the way, I can't wait to tell you all about the some of the super awkward moments that I've had! I have a feeling I'm getting a little too comfortable with uncomfortable moments. I think I'm going to be super awkward when I get home! Anyways, this week we read the Book of Mormon with one of our investigators and his grandma. It was awesome how they both applied it to themselves. They made the connection with how Lehi and his family were similar to Jospeh and Mary when they were commanded to pack up and leave everything to follow God's plan for them. They also noticed how Nephi was similar to Joseph of Egypt in that he was young, yet he was made a ruler over his brothers because of his righteousness. Those were some eye opening observations to me! I love the Spirit of
the Book of Mormon and I love reading it with others. I always learn so much. We also got to meet one of the families who has 2 boys about to be baptized. The elders in our ward have been teaching them, and we are kind of going to be like on-the-side teachers, I guess. I love those boys! One is 9 and one is 7. They have some trouble concentrating so lessons are a bit crazy, but are so fun. They are just the sweetest and they are so excited to come to church.

The ward members are great. We are slowly, but surely, getting to know them. President Eaton's father and step-mother actually live in our ward! They are so great! Brother Eaton is making us birthday cards, because he apparently has some awesome cartooning skills. We went over to practice teaching them about the Restoration and the Spirit was so strong from all the comments they made. They are awesome people.

 All the families that we've visited are great. One lady in our ward is someone I've met before at zone conferences. She mends our clothes for us. She is so great! I can't remember her name, because it's pretty unique, but she is awesome. She told us how the missionaries taught her years ago and it took her 11 months to decide she wanted to join the church.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter. I will be thinking about you guys! And even though I've been booted out of the Easter Egg Hunt, because I'm an "adult," I will miss the great fun that we always have! (I hope they still give you some candy, Brooke!) And I hope that we can all remember, amidst the fluffy bunnies, colorful eggs, and yummy candy, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, lives and that we each have the opportunity every day feel of His love in our lives. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

Love,

Sister Mecate

April 7, 2014

Dear Family,

I love change! (only sometimes though) And I love Auburn. I'm serving here in the White River ward. It is such a different place. I am so grateful for what I learned in Maple Valley-it is invaluable knowledge about the gospel of Jesus Christ that I can never replace. But I am so grateful for this opportunity to start over in a new and different area and to learn even more! One of the best parts is that there are people everywhere here, and most of them will at least take a few moments to talk to us. It is refreshing to be able to be so bold, and to not be afraid of what people think. There is so much diversity here as well. We meet all kinds of wonderful people everyday. I also really enjoy being companions with Sister Evans-Bottoms. I can already tell we will learn a lot from one another. We have a lot of the same struggles and ideas about things. We are excited to work together and learn how to be missionaries in Auburn, which is quite different than both of our last areas! By the way, we are white washing, which means we are both new to the area and have to start blind. But it's great! We love it!

What I am most grateful for is the power of prayer and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Lord truly helps us become who He wants us to be when we turn to Him and rely on His Atonement. I can promise you that I am a different person than I was 10 months ago-more sure, more confident, and more driven. (I still have so so far to go!) But I know I am moving in the right direction. All because we have a merciful Savior who will help change us and who can bring a joy and light into out lives that we cannot on our own. Elder Bednar talked about the Atonement in his talk in conference, how it is not only for the redemption of our sins, but it is there to provide us strength and to help us become more Christ-like. One example of this in the scriptures is when Nephi was bound by his older brothers and left to die in the wilderness. 1 Nephi 7:16-18.

"16 And it came to pass that when I, Nephi, had spoken these words unto my brethren, they were angry with me. And it came to passthat they did lay their hands upon me, for behold, they were exceedingly wroth, and they did ^abind me with cords, for they sought totake away my life, that they might leave me in the wilderness to be devoured by wild beasts.

 17 But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me fromthe hands of my brethren; yea, even give me ^astrength that I may ^bburst these bands with which I am bound.

 18 And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet, and I stoodbefore my brethren, and I spake unto them again."

Nephi understood the enabling power of the Atonement, which can strengthen us spiritually, physically, emotionally. Christ has suffered all that we have suffered, and He knows how to help us. Nephi did not pray for his circumstances to be changed, but because he understood the Atonement, he prayed that he might be changed to overcome his circumstances.

I loved Conference. It went by way too fast. One of my favorite talks had to have been President Uchtdorf's talk about Gratitude. I have been wondering how I can be more filled with happiness. I felt like his talk was written directly for me. If we become grateful to the Lord in all things, whether easy or hard,  we will be happy. Rather than being grateful for selective things, we should be grateful for all that the Lord sees fit to give us. I want to develop gratitude as a greater part of my character. All of the words we heard at conference were amazing! You cannot help but feel the Spirit as you listen to the words of those who are called by God to lead and guide His Church. I cannot wait until I can go back and re-study the talks. We are so blessed to have a prophet of God on the earth today.

I am so grateful to know that God lives and that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die and atone for our sins. I am grateful to know that we are never alone, and that we are God's children and He loves us infinitely. I am grateful to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I am grateful to know that families are forever. I love my family!!! I hope you have a wonderful week. Remember to rely on the Lord in all things. He knows what He's doing much more than we do!

Love,

Sister Mecate

April 1, 2014

Dear Family,

It happened. I've been transferred. Getting that call from the zone leaders on Sunday night was probably the worst moment of my mission so far. I have to tell you that the only thing that helped me get through it was the power of prayer and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. As I prayed Sunday night feeling much despair, I felt the gentle promptings of the Spirit bringing peace to my heart. I know all will be well. I LOVE MAPLE VALLEY. And I do not want to leave. But I am so so so grateful for what I have learned here and for all the people who had such a wonderful influence in my life. I just can't believe my time here is over! It was almost harder than leaving home. When I left to serve my mission I knew you would all be there in 18 months and our relationships would never fade. But I can't know for sure that these people that I have come to know and love will be a huge part of my life here on earth. I love them so much! But what I do know and have hope in is knowing that one day I can see them all again on the other side! The gospel is just great! (Plus, facebook! Haha!)

Well, enough of my sob story. We had an amazing miracle happen this week! We met a lady who used to be a member of the church in the parking lot of our apartment complex last week. She was walking her dog and we talked to her for a bit and she said she missed the community of the church. We invited her to the Women's Conference and she wanted to go! She came with us this last Saturday, along with Sister Bryant. Afterwards we gave her a tour of the church. Yesterday we stopped by her apartment to set up an appointment and she asked for a Book of Mormon. She said she was excited to get back into. Meeting her is possibly one of the most amazing miracles of my mission so far! She is so humble of heart and has such a wonderful Spirit about her. Meeting her is a testimony to me that the greatest blessings are found as we "endure to the end." Serving in Maple Valley for so long, I have some of the greatest miracles towards the end of my service here.

So yesterday was pretty stressful since I was trying to say goodbye to A LOT of people. But I have to tell you what made my day wonderful. We had a member lesson set up with a family where the parents are getting divorced. The dad is active in the church and the mom is not, but they both welcome us into their home. We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ: Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. As we taught and as they shared their experiences in living the gospel, we felt of the most sweet and peaceful Spirit in the room. This dear family is obviously going through a tremendous trial. They need the gospel. Sister Kirschner and I were able to witness Heavenly Father's love for them as the Spirit testified to us that the things we were talking about were true. It was the most peace that I felt all day, and I walked away from that lesson with a smile on my face and real joy in my heart, the kind of joy that can only be given to us by our Heavenly Father.

I love you all so much! I can't believe it's only 8 months til I see you again! Sometimes it's still surreal that I am even on a mission. But I am so grateful I am here. There was a girl I met before my mission that told me that her mission saved her life. And I understand what she meant now! Serving the Lord in this way is saving my life in a way I have never felt before. I can promise you I do not enjoy every moment of my mission-it can be hard-that's life! But I can promise you that I have no regrets in serving and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is real. Our Savior lives, and He loves us tremendously. Have a great week and enjoy listening to the words of a living prophet of God this weekend during General Conference!

Oh, and please pray for me that I might start liking change. ha! :)

Love,

Sister Mecate

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