Tender Mercies

Hello sweet boy! Happy Sunday. I hope you are having a wonderful Sabbath day. It has been a busy day for us because we were assigned to serve at the developmental hospital for their church services this morning. Did you ever get to do that? It was awesome! We had to be there at 7:30, and then we were trained and went to get the residents. I was so proud of our youth and their ability to jump right in. The sacrament meeting was great, and the spirit truly testified to my heart. Those people are truly celestial beings that are so close to the spirit—heavenly father loves them so much! Then we came back to our house and did nachos, keeping the tradition. We also went to our own ward, and it was my first time back in young women for a Sunday. It's great to be there serving.

I feel bad that I had to tell you the news about Mantha over messenger. I just didn't want you to see a post at some point and be caught off guard. I'm sure that was really hard news to hear. It has been an emotional week with many ups and downs. We've been trying to serve the Corey's and Clark's and help where we can, but it's hard to know what to do for them. I wrote you a letter that you should be getting this week and talked a lot about trials (I wrote the letter and mailed it before she passed). I don't think anyone could have known that she'd go so quickly. It really was such a blessing, though, and so many tender mercies along the way. I can tell you more about all of that tomorrow when we call.

We pretty much spent the week mourning, helping, and mourning some more. We prepared food for them and put out some lights to show some love (see pictures). It always helps to stay busy in the hard. Then yesterday we had a bridal shower for Karli McBride and a wedding reception for Colin Thorpe.

This morning in our meeting at the developmental center, one of the speakers shared this scripture:

What an amazing blessing it is to know and love our Savior and have the Atonement in our life on a daily basis! I am so thankful.

So how was your week? How are your friends progressing? I am so anxious to hear your voice in the morning—seriously CANNOT WAIT!

Oh, how I love you, Morgan David! You are such a blessing to me. I pray for you constantly and am so proud of all you are doing! Love, Mom.

Hi mom. I love you so much. Thank you for the email. It is always amazing to hear from you. I'm sure this week was a hard one. It was crazy to receive the news about Samantha's passing. It was like someone had punched me, and I just couldn't get a full breath in. But I was able to take some time to pray, and I was reminded of God's plan for us. It's truly a perfect plan. I sometimes find it hard to think that far out, but I truly do trust in the plan he has for each of us. Please let the Clarks and Coreys know that I am praying for them, and I hope they can feel my love.

Well, my week was a different one for sure. We had a mission tour with a general authority here, so that was super awesome. He talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, personal conversion, and the spirit. He also touched a lot on our potential and what we have been called to the earth at this time to do. It was a really good conference, and I loved listening to him. After he was done, Elder Meldrum and I were asked to give feedback on how it went and what we liked. I thought it was super fun to go back and think some more.

Now to the part you've been waiting for... Blanca and Abel. Well, needless to say, I am constantly learning about God's will. My conclusion is I have no idea what is going on. Blanca was ready to be baptized, minus her interview, and then on Thursday, disappeared. We haven't seen her since Wednesday of this past week. I don't know what I am doing wrong, but obviously, it was not God's timing for her to get baptized. With Abel, we called him this week, and he was out of town. He was up next to Dallas with some family. But he assured us he would be attending church and that we would be able to come by and talk to him. I was so excited and couldn't wait to see him and talk again. Sunday morning came around, and we were calling and racing around getting people to church, and we called Abel. He said he wasn't home and was actually in a different place up by Austin. To say I was sad is an understatement, but we finished the phone call, and we decided to stop trying. He will reach out when he wants to receive the blessings. So we have started at 0 once again. I have been praying so much, and I simply want to do what God has for me to do. I really hope he can tell that doing his will is all I want right now.

Other than those two, it really was a good week. I saw a lot of cool experiences happen because of following the spirit. I love trusting that when I act, it is under the influence of the spirit. I am so happy to be a missionary. We had a bit of a different meal appointment last night. It was with two returned missionaries, both inactive now, which is super sad to see. Bishop during church asked us to go by, so it was perfect that our dinner appointment was with them. We pulled up, had a lot of fun talking about sports and their missions. Then we did the spiritual thought, and Elder Meldrum shared Helaman 5:12 and talked about goals. The wife shared a couple of her spiritual goals which were awesome. Then the husband said he didn't have any. It was hard to see. But I felt so much love for these two children of God, and I know it had to have been the spirit. We testified powerfully of the Atonement and Jesus Christ. He wouldn't meet my eyes when I was talking, but she did, and it was so cool. I could just tell that Heavenly Father loves them. So we invited them to do a family prayer every night to grow their relationship with their Savior. The other elders have a dinner appointment with them this week, so they are gonna follow up and see what they can do.

This has got to be one of the longest ones I've written to you. But mom, I sure do love you guys. I sometimes get anxious and feel like there's no hope. But I truly do know that the hope comes from our faith in Jesus Christ. Isn't it so amazing that he loved us enough to do that for us? I will forever be trying to repay him, which I know I can't. I know he lives. This is his church, and we have the tools to be happy eternally. I love ya, mom, and can't wait to talk today!