Una semana mas

Hola!

This was one of the most difficult weeks of my mission.  Like, really.
 Whew.  It's sometimes hard to work a lot and then not see the results of
your labors.  This week was very humbling because there are a lot of things
I realized I need to change about myself and how I've been doing the Lord's
work this transfer.  When I first got to this area, I was super nervous
because I was the new missionary, and even though I was the senior
companion, I felt like I couldn't take the lead because I didn't know the
members or the area.  This week we went on exchanges and I had to repent of
that hesitancy, because I realized that the things I had been trained to do
when I first got here are not the things I've been doing in my new area.  I
let self-doubt get in the way of what I knew to be the Lord's way of doing
His work, so I didn't speak up when I saw things that were not being done
right.  My companion, Sis. Perez, is a truly excellent missionary with an
incredible amount of will and dedication to her calling.  However, there
were some things that have been part of the "tradition" of the area that
aren't exactly correct, and she was trained in that environment.  Together,
we're working hard this week to change that and to work in the Lord's way.
 It was humbling to admit that I hadn't been speaking up to correct things,
but now I have a testimony of the importance of not being ashamed, ever, of
what's right.  In this case, it wasn't anything major, but it still
influences the success of the area.  And the same principle can be applied
to the commandments.  We shouldn't ever change what we know is right to fit
the culture that exists around us.  The Lord is plain in telling us what we
need to do, and we should be plain in defending and acting on what we know
is right!  And when we don't do what we know is right, the amazing gift of
the Atonement is there so we can make the choice to repent and change.

I have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It's so simple, but it's
the most beautiful thing there is.  Like it says in 1 Nefi 15:14, the
gospel tells us how we can come unto Jesus Christ and be saved.  The plain
and precious truths of the gospel really have been restored in this day and
age so that we know EXACTLY what we need to do to come unto Christ.  The
world will tell us that we don't have to do anything to be saved--just say
we want to and then we're saved--or that there is no such thing as
salvation, or worse, that there's no such thing as sin.  But the truth is
that if we have faith in Jesus Christ, truly and sincerely repent of our
sins, are baptized by the priesthood authority, receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and continue in obedience and
fidelity to our covenants, we will receive eternal life.  There is nothing
more beautiful than the truth that the power of the priesthood has been
restored so we can progress through this gospel and be perfected through
the Savior.  It truly is "good news!"