Alive and Well

March 21, 2016

Hola familia!

                I am alive and doing really well. This week has been

super busy and crazy.  Because of Council and Tuesday and the exchanges

Hermana Borja and I have had two complete days together.   I miss her!

Haha But yeah this week was pretty great and the exchanges are only

getting crazier from here.   We are inviting all the Hermanas to our

sector to help us and also visiting their sector.

Bueno, this week was concilio (mission council).  We were asked to come in our normal

clothes and bring Pday clothes.  When we got there we all changed and

had the concilio in our Street clothes.  It was super weird.  Right

before lunch we all brought our chairs outside and then walked outside

and down a Little ways off.  President lives on a hill, kind of like

the cabin, anyways so we walked down a hill or two and stopped.

President then told us that we would have to walk back up to his

house, but with our companion on our back.  If we got tired we were

told to switch, but we could not move forward with out one of us on

the back of the other.  So we all started.  Most of the elders took of

running.  We took it slow with the rest of the Hermanas.   Well as you

can imagine it was very difficult and tiring.  We took turns carrying

each other up this long hill and wow when we finished we were so

tired.  Our arms were so weak that we could barely drink wáter.   My

whole body was shaking and just exhausted.  We all sat in a circle and

President asked us what we thought and the analogies that we could

create.  We talked a lot and President then read us a story about a

pioneer that crossed the plains with the Martin handcart company.  He

was a in a group of men who started criticizing church leaders for

allowing the company  to cross and suffer all that they had suffered.

This pioneer responded with his story and at the end said “the price

we had to pay to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay”.

President then talked to us about the trials that we will face but

that it is necessary that we are tried in all things so that we may be

prepared for the Glory of God.  D&C 136:31.  I learned that our trials

really do help us be prepared for Eternal Life.  Without trials we

would never progress or become like our Savior.  There is a new video

that the church has put out for Easter.  If you haven’t seen it you

need to see it.  I have been thinking a lot about the Savior lately

and everything that he had to go through.  I think that many times we

want to be like Him but we don`t always want to pass through hard

things or take on the adversity.  But in order to truly become like

Him and to develop the attributes that He has we have to be willing to

go through a small small portion of what he went through.  We cannot

be perfect with our trials and we cannot expect to become like our

Savior if we do not accept all the trials, afflictions, problems, and

tests of life.   We must be tried in all things.  How grateful I am

for the Savior.  He allows us to pass through hard moments but he

never leaves us.  He passes through them with us.

Love you guys.

Hermana Borja, Emma's companion.