Love and Miracles‏

28 Abril 2014

Why, Hello there to YOU!

WOW I feel like I need an entire day to write all that has happened this week. Last Monday feels like a month ago. I really like what Aubrey said in her email this last week:

"Many times if think back to a part of my life, or for instance, a time in my mission that was ‘so good’.  I find myself wishing for life to be as it was, or to be better in the future. But today if went back and started reading my journal from the mission. As it turns out, there has never been an 'easy' time on the mission. Never. Every day in itself is a roller coaster! But, there are sweet moments and glimmers of hope. And with the confidence of God´s trust in me and His love, if can get through it and be happy."

I feel like that has also been my struggle on the mission (and in life in general). Thinking about the good times or wishing time was going by faster and not taking advantage of HERE and NOW. We, as humans are so quick to forget the miracles and tender mercies and testimonies that God so willingly gives us. That being said, there are ALWAYS hard times on the mission, there has not been one day or week without them, but it has been a difficult week of miracles (if that makes any sense). Haha the difficult times always accompany the miracles, I consider it a prerequisite.

But shortly after I had emailed you last week, we met with a 22 year old guy named Leo. It was really incredible to see the Lord´s hand Monday night, because we decided to pass by the fabric store that a member owns (Luz Marina, I think I told you about her!) and we had the lesson there. Leo is golden :) He has been so prepared, he is very thoughtful about all that we teach, and everything leads back to his mother... what she taught him as a child about following Christ. He seems a bit tormented inside, because his mom is not with him, she has chosen to stay in Bolivia, far away from her children and he is here with only his siblings and father. But Luz Marina just took him under her wing. He really needed this motherly figure in his life, and Luz Marina has been struggling with two of her less-active children in the church, so it really gave her hope of her children returning to the church, seeing this strong young man with desires to follow Christ.

Sister Burgos and I have been working hard, trying to figure out the best way to help the ward become more involved with the missionary work, because that is something we lack here in Santa Cruz. We decided to pick a few families to visit every week and really try to serve them and build confidence. Just the other day in fact, our lesson failed, and we decided to teach a lesson of missionary work to two members, Luz Marina, and Ana Rodriguez. We emphasized that we NEED their help. It was incredible, at the end of the lesson, a friend of Luz Marina came in and Luz Marina says: You know I am a member of the church right?! It is something that makes me so happy, and I should have shared it with you a long time ago! These are the missionaries! When can they meet with you?

WOW. So many prayers were answered in that moment. God hear our prayers and saw our desires to strengthen the members and work with them. We also passed a member on the street with one of her friends, and she said: "This is Juan, one of my good friends! He is an investigator, haha actually not yet, but I want him to learn more about the church." So we asked him for his number, and He came to church yesterday. MIRACLES. Wow, I was amazed with the faith of the members, and their desires to share the gospel. God answers our prayers, sometimes we just have to take a step back, and look for his tender mercies.

It was so cute yesterday too... Haha. We came walking down to church, passing Luz Marina´s store, and she was standing out there on the corner, as if she was waiting for someone. We asked her what she was doing, and she said she is a missionary, waiting for her investigators and she wanted to see happy missionary faces!! Turns out, she had called some of her friends getting to know the church and wanted to surprise us. It has been incredible to see the power of service and love. We try our best to serve and love her, just saying hi as we pass by her work, working with her children and trying to help them find the joy of the gospel again. And in turn, she has felt that love and wants to share it with others. It amazes me. With her help, we had EIGHT incredible people that we are teaching come to church, way more than we had expected, we just keep looking around and we were amazed.

I have been studying charity a lot as well, thinking about the power of love and how I am NOTHING without this pure love of Christ. I can have the best numbers, serve for one-and-a-half years, follow all of the mission rules, but this will not mean anyyyything to me if I do not serve and do everything out of LOVE. That can be hard, when we are tired or wonder why no one wants to listen, but Christ did it. He is our best example. I was thinking about times I have felt others reach out the me in pure love:

• When we ran the 15 mile race, and I felt so discouraged at the last 2 miles, feeling like I hadn't done my best and I just couldn't finish, but Wade finished the 15 miles, and came back to run WITH ME. Discouragement turned into belief in myself because he believed in me!
  
• Nathan drove all the way from Idaho to BYU to give me a cake and take me out for my birthday.
  
• Dad took me to the emergency room when was injured, found out my arm was broken, and gave me the best comfort I could ask for as I was scared that I wouldn't be able to play lacrosse for the season.
  
• Mom wakes up at five in the morning to make us breakfast and lunch to send us off to school, sacrificing sleep and time, but always making time to study the scriptures and to pray.

I could go on and on and on forever! But I was meditating, what do all of these things have in common? A true desire for the happiness and success of others. Sacrifice of time, energy, sincere words and actions. Just pure love. It is so true that "The kind words we may forget the kind words we say today, but the recipient will remember them forever" -Thomas S. Monson. I hope to better emulate the example of the Savior and remember the importance of Charity as a try to reach out to others. Join with me?

Oh and a funny moment... we were knocking doors in Añaza this week, the last door we knocked was a young man probably about 20 years old, who opened the door in whitey tighties!!! hahahaha Hermana Burgos and I wondered WHY IN THE WORLD he opened the door. We just keep eye contact and took about ten minutes to recover from laughter afterward. Awkward missionary moments.

Well, I am out of time, it turned out to be a novel! Pictures to come next week!!

Love, Hermana Mather

"Porque JesuCristo andó Totalmente Solo, Nosotros No Tenemos que Hacerlo"‏ [Jesus Christ Walked Totally Alone So That We Don’t Have To]

21 Abril 2014

Happy Easter!!!!!!

I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating Easter yesterday, filled with lots of Cantata singing and egg-dying. I know that those weekends are quite exhausting but very fulfilling at the same time :) Oof, sounds like a busy time, graduation announcements, lacrosse games, Aaron with friends, Nathan with the job, HOW DO YOU DO ALL YOU DO? hehe. I sure love you.

Well, it is official, we have made it TWO WEEKS in the mission without a mobile phone. Wow, the past two weeks have been rough, going to appointments, unable to call the people if they don´t show, or call members to help us in lessons. But after lots of confusion and wrong addresses and looking, we have a phone, happy as ever to feel more efficient and not have to go to the church to make all of our phone calls.

It has been very interesting to me, learning to work with different ward members, investigators, companion, but I feel like a have learned so much about the Lord’s will for me, and I have learned a lot about myself. We are working on getting the ward here excited to come to teaching appointments with us and excited about missionary work. That is one thing I miss about Alcobendas, but members make a HUGE difference in the missionary work and they give the people we teach a friend to help them along the way and we are excited to get them more involved here.

Do you remember I told you about the little family from Bolivia: Virginia, Cristian, and Brian? We are still teaching them, and had a nice little lesson in the park, as we sat on the grass, pulled out the little pictures to explain the Plan of Salvation :) what a sweet experience. It truly shows me what an incredible message it is that we carry... it touches the hearts of people of all ages. Little Cristian understands the scriptures we read and read ponders what we say. I feel blessed to be here as a representative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to testify that Virginia can be with her sons and live in happiness for all eternity. We have invited them to baptism, and I think Cristian was about to say yes, but Virginia began shaking her head right away, haha. She says she feels very unprepared, but we are working on that :) Oh it was so cute too, little Brian was embarrassed to pray and Cristian helped him very humbly and willingly.

God also continues to remind me that this is His work. Sometimes I think to myself, WHAT am I doing here? Am I doing enough? But he truly guides our steps... on our way to copy papers for English class, I felt the need to talk to a man on the street as I saw him from the distance. We stopped him and testified of the truth of the Book of Mormon and taught a lesson in the street. This man was very prepared, and I feel blessed to see the power of testifying of the Book of Mormon!! All of his circumstances seem to be leading him to search for the truth. Which of all the churches on the earth are true. We actually taught him a lesson in the street, and he planned on coming to English class. When he didn't come, we called him, and he said he was running late, but we ended up having a second lesson with him the same day, this time about The Restoration, and we watched the movie of Joseph Smith. WOW. I felt the spirit testify so strongly to each one of us there that God loves us, and because He does, we don't need to live in darkness, he has called prophets and apostles here on the earth to guide us. He has brought us the Book of Mormon. He was amazed, and committed to read and pray, sincerely wanting to know the truth. God is incredible, and I feel blessed to see his hand in this work.

I cannot tell you how much I love our district here. Where else can we all come together, all have a meeting completely in Spanish and hear very inspired talks that help us get excited about missionary work. I feel humbled and inspired by them. We talked about the power of prayer and humility. As I have been studying about prayer since, I have been making goals to pray more specifically for each and every person we come in contact with and their specific needs and make it a point to thank God everyday for those tender mercies and answers to prayers that we find. Family, I am sending a letter in the mail to you to show you a little bit of what I learned about the importance of humility, I hope you like it!

Since I have been working on improving my prayers, I would like to know SPECIFIC things I can help you with and add to my prayers. Will you please write me and tell me a little bit about your needs and I would love to pray for you. I know that the Lord loves us and hears our prayers. I know that when we feel like we are too tired or weak to go on, Christ has the power, and through His Atonement, He gives us to means to finish what He has sent us to do. I know this, because I feel it every day!!

I love you OODLES!!!

Have a splendid week :)

Love, Hermana (emaloooba) Mather :)

P.S. A few interesting facts about the islands:

• Lots of people, even younger teenagers... wear fanny packs here!! haha
• Everyone says "hola mi niña" "gracias me niña", ward members, strangers on street. Haha.  Niña means baby
• And you know those beach houses in Texas on stilts? We live in an apartment on the beach like that... just kidding. Normal apartment building :) More pictures to come next week!

Hermana Burgos and I with Virginia and Brian (Cristian is in Barcelona right now!)

We decorated boiled eggs with markers!!
And had an Easter egg hunt for the ward family home evening!

Loca Semana [Crazy Week] en Santa Cruz de Tenerife :)

14 Abril 2014

It's been a good week here! It really has flown by and I feel so blessed to be here. We as missionaries have such a great opportunity to meet a large variety of different people, and teach to their needs and learn how to love them all. A lot of the apostles and prophets in General Conference emphasized using LOVE as motivation in all that we do, and I think this is something we can always improve on, in any aspect of our lives!

Last week, our phone was stolen, so we have spent an entire week without a mobile, we are going a little crazy!!! Ha, nonetheless, it has truly been a week of miracles. Two weeks ago, we started teaching a lady named Virginia, and her sons Cristian (14 years old) and Brian (8 years old). They are from Bolivia! I have a special little place in my heart for the Latins. :) I have never taught such little children before, I sure love it :) I can't stop thinking about how Cristian is the same age as Aaron (my little brother) and it just makes my heart melt. They came to church on Sunday and they seemed comfortable and content.  Brian got to go to Primary and Cristian to Young Men. It has been fun seeing them learn to sing hymns and teaching at a level to help all three of them understand.

We also met with a former investigator from the area book, named Gustavo, from Columbia.  He sure loves the Book of Mormon and has really sincere desires. We were very firm and clear with him, and taught him that baptism is the end goal, and that he can live with his wife and daughter forever as a family as he follows this beautiful gospel we have been given. He seemed a bit shocked and said that he liked the message and would meditate about what we said. Sometimes ya gotta be clear with where all of this is going... and the Spirit takes what we say and carries it to their hearts so that they can ponder what we say and ask God if it is true.

I cannot tell you how much I love having district meeting every week, it feels like family here, and I feel a strong spirit as we join together to share talks. The main theme of our last meeting was centered on three things:

1. The Lord is WITH US (Matthew 28:19-20) He will protect us. Sometimes I wonder if I realize what a special and important time of my life this is to be able to represent the Lord and focus all of my time and talents and energy on others. So grateful to be here.

2. Testify of Christ more. On the street, in lessons, on the go in the Tranvia [tram / train].

3. I surely love my companion, Hermana Burgos :) She is so wonderful to serve and love and light up my day. I am so grateful to learn more about other cultures, even though it can be a bit of a shock, the different way we were raised, what we like to eat, how we react to certain situations. But what a great opportunity it is to mix cultures and become enriched. When I am having a hard moment of the day, she clues in, and makes me a nice banana smoothie or makes me take a relaxing bath with candles. She loves to laugh and joke. I learn from her profound Bible studies every day, and her diligence and willingness to learn the gospel and love the people inspires me.

We went to Candelaria to teach one of our investigators this week. You should look up pictures online :) It’s beautiful!

Also, I got some news from Hermana Sanchez, my companion that I trained in Alcobendas. She said that they had a baptism the other night, and a lady named Gabriela came. I don't know how much I told you about her, but Sister Aagard and I taught her for a while. She was a reference from a member in the ward. She seemed to lose interest for a while, or just wanted to investigate on her on, so we hadn't taught her for a little while. But she approached Hermana Sanchez and said that she wants to be baptized in April!!! She will be baptized the same day as Vicenta, the other Dominican lady we had been teaching in Alcobendas. What a JOY it is to still hear about the fruits of missionary work going on there. I couldn't stop smiling when I found out. Hopefully she'll send me pictures so you can meet them :)

Well, that's about it for the week! I look forward to you emails and letters about what you are learning in Preach My Gospel :) hehe.  Will you start studying with me in Chapter 5, What Is Role of the Book of Mormon?

Have a great week! You are always in my prayers :)

Love, Hermana Mather

p.s. A short little note. Did you ever realize in 1 Nephi 8, that before Lehi has the vision of the tree of life, he has to walk in darkness for HOURS.  Lehi. A prophet of the Lord. He then prays fervently to the Lord, then he is shown the beautiful tree and sees the Love of God. I never realized that before. It is a testimony to me that sometimes the Lord needs us to step into the dark and take the scary step of faith so that we can appreciate the light and testimony that come afterwards. :)

Paella [Valencian rice dish] homemade from the islands

Eating today for Pday with some investigators of the Elders!!! 

The streets of Tenerife!!!

Hermana Burgos taught me how to make Arepas [Columbian flatbread]! Yum!

Happy birthday creation for Tibisai, our investigator (far right) with member Luz Marina (center)

In the mission with have “cumpli-meses” [completed months] where we celebrate
every month how many months we have been in the mission field.
Hermana Burgos made me pancakes!

I Love General Conference!! :)

7 April 2014

Hello family.

First of all, yes, we are only seven hours ahead of time here now, instead of eight! I am so glad you were able to watch all of the sessions of General Conference! Did you make cinnamon rolls? Did you stay in your pajamas all day? Elder Bednar´s talk was my favorite too. So in Tenerife, there are three wards, and we are a part of the Santa Cruz Ward, in between the two other ones La Laguna and Los Cristianos. We attended conference in the chapel in La Laguna, and had special permission to stay out a little later to be able to watch it all live. We were doing the same thing at the same time this weekend for 8 hours!

And to correct my last email, our apartment doesn't actually have an ocean view, it is facing the opposite way, haha we actually see the beer factory behind us. I feel like I am in a different WORLD here. I am most definitely not in Spain, they speak very different Spanish here and the people are very different in their way of dressing and speaking and they seem quite a bit more relaxed in many ways. We don't really go close to the beach, but we can see it from many parts, it's beautiful! It's nice to have a little sun, too. I will try to attach pictures to this email :)

So, I first just want to tell you that this first week has not been easy. Not that I want to worry you or anything, but I feel like I have hit another hard part of my mission, and sometimes I have been trying to understand why! I do not feel like myself lately. It's been a struggle to adjust to a new area where I do not feel like the ward is my family, feeling very vulnerable and unsure of what I am doing, and trying to work with a new companion who is trying to help. But I don't know the area or members very well, feeling a bit like dead weight and hoping I am doing what the Lord wants me to do. One of the most important things on the mission is the companionship, and it's very difficult when you don´t click right away. I have just felt alone. Hermana Burgos really is great, I suppose that some relationships take more time that others, and I need to learn to live with ALL different kinds of people. I cannot really put it into words, but it has all just been a struggle and I have had those same panicky feelings that I had my first transfer, and I so badly just wanted to call home and talk to you. So please just pray for me. I don't want to worry you or anything but I do need you to just know what I am going through. Sometimes I wish I could just call and talk, but your letters help. And I have gained a testimony of prayer.

One night this week, after feeling a weight especially heavy on my shoulders, I said my nightly prayers out loud and just told my Heavenly Father all that I was feeling, pleading for guidance and relief. It was there on my knees that I felt the relief. I knew He was listening. I knew that He was the only person that could possibly know all of the thoughts and feelings and pressures and weight I could feel. Finally, the tears just came and I felt calm. I am certain that My Heavenly Father listens to our prayers and gives us trials so that we can look back at moments like this and say with certainty that He is listening. I also know that He gives us moments like this to test our faith and push us as far as we can go sometimes. I felt very humbled and receptive to the Spirit in this moment. I desired to know more than ever why I am here and what God wants us to do with this area. I read Doctrine & Covenants 100 and felt comforted about home as I try not to miss it so much. It doesn't feel like home just yet here, but I know God has a purpose here, and I just want to do His will.

WELL, that all being said, there are so many things to be grateful for! This experience makes me more ready than ever to hear the words of the Prophet and Apostles. I know with a certainty that they are inspired men of God who speak His words. I don't know about you, but I always have one or two talks that truly speak to me. Do you feel that way? As if God knew that you needed to hear those exact words or apply those specific principles for the next 6 months? The talks by President Deiter F. Uchtdorf and Elder David A. Bednar spoke to me! What a blessing it is to feel the peace and happiness this gospel brings. Conference is so powerful when we write down specific questions we have (for example, how we can enjoy life more, and recognize God's hand better?) and while we listen to General Conference, they are answered!! Do you feel the same? What talks spoke to you?

Also, I would like to put into practice what Elder M. Russell Ballard said: We should share our studies of Preach My Gospel with each other in emails and letters. Would you do that with me? Does everyone own a Preach My Gospel? :) AND are you doing the WRITE THE MISSIONARY Family Home Evenings? I would love letters from you. Amber, did you like the Preach My Gospel suggestions I gave you. I know you are busy, but just shoot me a letter and we can share what we are learning, and I would love to help you prepare :) And yes, I don´t know how other missions are, but these maps get WORN OUT using them all the time and usually we are lost in new areas. Hehe get ready for it.

I love my district here. Hermana Heims, my companion from the MTC [Missionary Training Center] is here, along with some other great Elders and Sisters, I really enjoyed our last district meeting, full of the spirit and missionaries that want to work hard!

Just to share a little bit about our investigators here: We had an incredible experience with a reference the Elders from the north passed to us.  Her name is Tibisai, we met with her once this week, and she told us she is from Venezuela and was passing the store of a member from Venezuela. She we decided she should meet her. Turns out, they are from the same TINY town in Venezuela and had never met each other, but knew a lot of the same people and family members. We just couldn't believe it! Tibisai feels very alone and sad here without her family... what a tender mercy for her. Our lesson went very well with Tibisai, she said she wants to make changes in her life, and she knew that meeting this woman from Venezuela was not a coincidence. She also came to two sessions of general conference and loved it.

We also called a young man from the area book named Nelson, who has been passing through some trials in his life with friends and is looking for peace. In our lesson, he had so many great questions about the church, and told us that the missionaries always show up in his life when he needs the most peace. We told him that this is not coincidence! And that God is trying to send him a message. He said that when he met with us he felt so much peace of mind and had forgotten his problems.

So, all in all, I suppose the theme of this week is that God can sooth our minds and hearts in times of turmoil and he did with Tibisai, Nelson, and with me. I am so grateful that these "loads", as Elder Bednar says, are what leads us back to God (back to our families, as he said). They give us the spiritual traction to do so and I feel determined to live with more of an attitude of gratitude, as President Uchtdorf said, no matter the "number" of blessings we have. Simply living in gratitude because we know the Lord has a bigger plan.

OKAYYYY I think that is all for this week! Thanks for listening to me ramble on and on, I feel like a whole month has passed since I flew into Tenerife; it's only been a week! I am going to try to attach pictures now!

I love you and think of you and pray for you always :) have a great week! please write me letters EVERYONE. hehe.

Love, Hermana Mather

Transfers............. a Tenerife!!!‏

31 Marzo 2014

I am not even sure what to put in the subject write email, so much has happened in the last week I don´t know where to start!!

First of all, I have a new address: :) :) :)

Calle Juan Pedro Dàvila Garcia 2-6B
38008 Santa Cruz Tenerife
Islas Canarias

I have been transferred to the TENERIFE!!! One of the seven Canary Islands!! We found out Saturday night and since then Hermana Hansen and I have spent HOURS on end packing and weighing and packing and weighing suitcases! WOW, it has been a lot of work, but the boots and coats and tights have been left behind :) I just got off of a three hour plane ride from Madrid to Tenerife. My new companion is from Ecuador and lived in Spain for many years before the mission. Her name is Hermana Burgos. I already love her, and I feel so blessed to have another native companion. She only has two transfers left in the mission, and her family actually just moved to New York while she has been serving. From what I can tell, she loves being here and she is very calm and collected. I love that. It was hard to say goodbye to the ward of Alcobendas, but I feel like the Lord blessed me to really see things in an eternal perspective, realizing that the relationships we have made here with the members and converts do not stop here, and we can all stay in touch, but I am needed elsewhere right now. All of the goodbyes could have been a lot more sad, but I felt at peace with the changes to take place! Even though I still have been a bit nervous at the same time!

So I said goodbye to Hermana Hansen, who is leaving for Norway tomorrow, and Hermana Sanchez, she will receive a new companion there in Alcobendas. She is very nervous to "area train" which means she knows the people and the area and needs to help her companion out, even though she is brand new. I know that our investigators are in good hands with her, she is very capable and loving and I will miss both her and Hermana Hansen :)

The Islands are beautiful!!!! Ah I have really missed seeing green everywhere!!! I am pretty sure it's about 70 degrees all of the time here, our apartment is big and overlooks the city with ocean view. :) I feel so blessed to be here, and grateful for change. :) It is exciting to start working in a new area with a new companion. All so overwhelming and out of the comfort zone, but really, what isn't out of the comfort zone on the mission?!

Oh we also had leadership meeting this week, where all of the zone leaders and sister training leaders come to president´s house to have a council and we talk about how we can improve as a mission. I loved being a leader :) President and Hermana Jackson are so incredible to have us over at the mission home and make us feel at home with their love and support and Sunday-dinner type food!! Those missionaries that are leaving this transfer also bore their testimonies, we felt the spirit very strongly, and two of the missionaries have entire families that aren't members. One of them shared his testimony about how his mom didn't want anything to do with the church but on his mission her heart had softened, and wants him to baptize her. He goes home tomorrow :) what a sweet story :)

I wanted to share an experience that we had with Gustave this week. We met with him, sang a hymn like normal, opened with a prayer, and we asked like normal where he had been reading in the Book of Mormon, and if he had any questions. He grabbed the triple we had given him with our testimonies written on the inside, and thanked us for the words we had written. He said; I realize how important this all is to you¨, and I am so grateful that you found me that day on the street. After I finished reading your testimonies, I just flipped open to this page. Then he asked us to open to Alma 29:9: "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy."

And he said that he now realizes what JOY we have found in seeing him come to repentance and be baptized. I could not stop smiling!! Gustavo progressed so rapidly and it was such a blessing to witness and to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands to find him and teach him. He said that this scripture is a gift for us for all that we have done for him. But I don´t feel like I did much, The Lord simply put him in our pathway and told us what to say :)

It was a tender mercy before I left Alcobendas to see that the people we were teaching really have progressed in the love for the gospel. Alba and Walter slowly but surely progress, but they have recently shared a lot of personal experiences about how the gospel has changed their lives, 180 degrees. He used to drink all of the time, and she used to have issues with her temper. They say that no matter where they go, they consider this their church and they know it is true. It has been incredible to see their changes, even if it is very slow. And Gerson, he has such a desire to know the truth for himself, not just because everyone tells him it is true. He has a lot of respect for the church and recognizes his doubts and wants to change. I feel such love for these people. I feel like I am leaving 10 children behind that I care about with the recent converts and investigators!

SOOOO all in all, ALL IS WELL. I am excited to get to work here and love the people, love my companion. Please send all mail here now, not to the mission office because I will never get it!!! BUT still send letters :) hehe.

Also, Pam VanWie asked me to share one way I have learned to Come Unto Christ at this time in my life, I would say that being a missionary is the most humbling experience in my life. I am grateful for that because the more humble we are, the more we need to lean on the Lord, I have realized how human I am, and I need to lean on the Lord's wisdom and strength on the days I am tired and feel little desire to work, or scared of what is expected of me, or when I wonder if I can live up to who He wants me to be. BUT He never fails to show me that HE IS ALWAYS THERE. Always, unconditionally. We just simply kneel down to pray and we find peace, comfort, and unconditional love. We learn to accept our circumstances and move on :) and then we look back and see at God´s hand was in it all. I love that. I am so grateful that the mission has helped me COME UNTO CHRIST in that way. ANYONE thinking about going on a mission should go :)

Have a great week family! Pictures of everything to come next week (I forgot my camera cord this week!) I love you!!

Oodles of Love,

Hermana Mather

Las Hermanas de Alcobendas: Hansen, Sanchez, and Mather