"The sun never sets on the work of the Lord"

Mi familia,

Thanks for the email, Dad! I really liked Sister Elaine Dalton's talk yesterday about how fathers can show love for their daughters. I was so happy to see your email today. Sister Dalton said that the best way to raise a daughter is to love her mother. Thank you for always doing that, Dad. I completely agree with Sister Dalton--I've been blessed by your example in the home.

The mission office wanted me to remind anyone who sends a package that it should be sent through the U.S. Mail so that they can forward it to our areas--otherwise I'll have to wait until someone brings it from the mission office to my area to receive it.

A lot of you have been asking about how J's doing. Things were going really well with him, but we sensed that his wife was feeding him anti literature. We bore our testimonies to him, which was very powerful, and encouraged him to be strong despite all the adversity in his life. We had, and still have, so much faith in him. At this point we're pretty sure that he's avoiding us. We haven't been able to contact him for almost two weeks, which breaks our hearts. He knows that the church is true. He is confused with certain aspects of the gospel, but he knows that what we teach is the truth. Hopefully once he's had a little time to think about it, he will desire to feel the Spirit again and want to learn more. Until then, all we can do is pray for him, that his heart will be open to receiving us. That's the update with J--we warned him that adversity would come, and unfortunately it did in full force. He'll come back.

This week we met with five investigators. We added a new investigator this week, E, and she is just the sweetest viejita. During our first lesson with her, I was telling her about how tenemos profetas en la tierra hoy-- we have prophets on the earth today. I can't remember the context of the conversation, but E heard "sierra" (mountains) instead of "tierra" (earth). She said, "Sierra?!!" Sister Carlos can't get over how funny that was. I guess my Spanish isn't quite that clear yet.

We taught another investigator this week who has been investigating the church for a year now. She wants to be baptized and just has to get married first--so that's the challenge now! Last year she didn't want to marry her 'husband' but now she wants to so that she can receive the blessing of baptism. She came to conference this weekend--you can always count on the prophet--and really loved everything she learned. After our lesson with her on Friday morning, she offered us some oatmeal. After eating the oatmeal, she asked if we'd like bread and jelly. I said, "Oh, estamos bien, hermana. Muchas gracias," which I thought meant "We're good. Thanks!" Well, we got the marmalade sandwiches. Then she offered us some pasta. Again, "estamos bien, muchas gracias." After the pasta, the same thing happened with garlic bread, beans, tortillas, and meat. And lemonade. I was so stuffed. I don't think I'll ever forget that lunch. But it just reminds me how blessed we are to have such gracious members of the Church and investigators who are so willing and want to serve us.

You might remember how I told you that in the MTC we taught our teachers as if they were investigators. Our teachers were "Laura," "Eva Marie," and "Jose." I just thought about it this week--I've taught a Laura, Eva, and Jose since I've been here. Just a funny coincidence. :) We also have a new investigator, M, who is so intelligent. He knows the Bible inside and out and even has multiple copies of the Bible, including one in Greek. It's been somewhat of a challenge teaching him just because he has question after question after question, when in reality, what he really needs to know and do is read the Book of Mormon and pray about its truthfulness. I continue to have questions about life, about the gospel, but I have that firm foundation--that knowledge and testimony that it's true--and my prayers are always answered. In order for your testimony to grow, you need to have that foundation that it's true--from there you can continue to nourish it, and it can grow deeper and stronger. The gospel is so simple, but you can also find those hidden treasures of knowledge as you continue to study. Well, at this very moment M is reading and praying and he's building that foundation. He's had a Book of Mormon since 1988 or 1992--he's been searching for the truth for a long time... and it's been there all along. :) After the Saturday morning session of General Conference, I was really excited to talk to M. I felt like we needed to drive to his home to talk to him about it--what we learned and how he felt. I saw that light in his eyes, his enthusiasm about the things he learned. Yes, he still has questions, but bit by bit we're breaking down that wall of having to know absolutely everything before taking the step towards baptism. Moroni 10 had a great impact on him this week--that we can know the truth of all things through the Holy Ghost if we but ask for a confirmation of the truth.

Speaking of Conference, one of my professors from the business school is in the choir. He was 28 when he was my professor, so I was slightly surprised to see him in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir already.

Wasn't Conference wonderful? I watched a few of the sessions in Spanish, so I'll be rereading those talks shortly. :) One of my favorite talks was by Elder Richard G. Scott "Scripture Study." "Great power can come from memorizing scripture." I love how Elder Scott talked about how recalling and reading scripture can be like calling an old friend. The scriptures are always there to turn to. You can rely on them to lift you and comfort you, to advise you. I was so happy to start Conference on such a high note.

I'm out of time. I love you all. Hope you have a wonderful week. I think about you and pray for you often.

Love,

kates