Hello one and all!
LA LOVE:
The other day I was walking down Pacific Coast Highway, the twilight sky was mildly overcast, the lights along the street were brilliant, there were palm trees standing tall, the air was cold, and I felt like I child for a second and how California has always been such a magical place for me. The best things have happened in California. And I was just overwhelmingly grateful that this is where I got to serve my mission.
EVENTS OF THE WEEK:
P-day was supposed to be seemingly normal for me. We would have to move Sister Nault into her new apartment but that was about all that I had to do. I was to be staying in the same apartment with whoever my new companion was. Or so we thought. We unexpectedly got a phone call from Sister Chou and Sister Romney that more or less informed us that my companion and I would be moving into their apartment. We called the assistants and confirmed this. So I started packing and we spent the whole night moving into the new apartment! I stayed with Sister Nault in her new apartment until we got our new companions. The best part is, we not only live with the sisters in that same apartment complex but also with Elder Platt and Elder Mangum! So we are one cute little family. Got a whole family group chat going on and everything. It's been interesting for sure and we are having a fun time.
I got a new companion! Her name is Sister Allred and she served for one month in the Japan Sapporo Mission, and now she has been reassigned here! I am so lucky to be training again! Sister Allred is a complete natural. She is so good at connecting with our friends. I've never met a more obedient missionary. She is the best and I love her!
Our zone has now doubled in size because we have been receiving so many new missionaries, so this week was our first district council with two districts in the zone. I love my district! We had a great time talking about finding through Come and See events together.
We had the grand privilege of attending three amazing Come and See events: Makeup with the Sisters, mission prep class, and an amazing devotional for the people of southern California by Elder Bednar of the Twelve Apostles!
FRIENDS:
I promise I taught this week, but I have next to no time to write about it. Nothing ridiculously earth-shattering except for Cathryn preparing for her baptism. She is amazing and passed her interview with flying colors.
To close, I wanted to share with you some thoughts about grace that I shared with my zone this week. One came while reading the first chapter of Preach My Gospel, where the eighth verse in 2 Nephi 2 is quoted as saying that no one "can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the... grace of the Holy Messiah". I hope you all know how true that is, and it's not a downer of a statement. We are saved by grace, and that is the truth of the matter. We are all incapable of making it on our own. So what a miracle to have a loving and merciful Heavenly Father! He provided us a Savior and showed us the path to access His grace. And thus by this redeeming power we are saved. I was also recalling 2 Nephi 25:23 that states that "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." And of course relating conference talks that have mentioned how we have access to Christ's grace before, during, and after all we can do. And I was thinking about how His grace helps us in each one of those stages. Grace is what enables us before all we can do, when we are first hearing the call to repentance but don't know where to start. Grace is the sustaining power during all we can do while we are trying to endure and sometimes struggle through processes of change And grace is the saving power after all we can do, where we are made whole because we showed that we cared enough to try, though our efforts may be small. I just wanted to share that with you all. You are all amazing, and the gospel me and my fellow elders and sisters preach is all based around the fact that Jesus Christ, a perfect Person, descended lower than the lowest so He could lift us up, because He was the only person that could make it out on His own. He hasn't forgotten you, and He sees you are trying hard.
Thanks and much love!
--Sister Day
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