Maayong aga! (Good morning!)
This will probably be another throw up "wall of text" email, but okay-lang! (Add lang to any word... It's fun! It means just, or only. Ex: okay-lang! Just okay! Pronounced "long".)
First of all, big shout out to Charlotte Mae, for sending me hand drawn pictures AND words! "I love you, Amy" and a picture of a cupcake, I think. Or a temple. Either way, it was the best part of my day! Oh, also all the other awesome peeps in my life that have sent the MOST mail. You guys are the best.
For those of you sending Dear Elders... Please date them! :) It only says the day they are printed, and sometimes they stop printing after a certain time of day, so let me know when you write it. Salamat! (Thank you! Say it like Salami... But without the i and with a soft "at" instead. :) )
Read Elder Hollands, "The First Great Commandment". Seriously. One of my favorite talks. If we love Him, we'll feed His sheep! Can't believe I'm lucky enough that I get to do that.
So the big pieces of news from this week: We moved to West Campus (Mom, tell Stacy! I go to class in Raintree... I hope I get to see her!) and I get to sing in the Relief Society broadcast!! Woo hoo!
West Campus is great! The food is healthier there (relatively) and we get to go to Jamba Juice, Great Harvest, and the BYU Creamery and other places like that. A lot more freedom, but a lot of responsibility as well! We live in Wyview apartments and that is WEIRD because only a few months ago I was playing cards with the Mitch, Colton WIlliams, and Carly in the same apartments!
We sing Saturday, and basically we will spend all morning getting ready, and all afternoon in Salt Lake! Lucky us. Outside food! I'm so excited for the song choices... Make sure to watch the broadcast, not just for the choir, but the music will indeed be amazing... What an opportunity to get to literally sing with the Lord's angels. These sisters here are incredible! I love the MTC. Our directors are fabulous, and the MTC choir director, Brother Eggate (sp?), who is helping us prepare is really funny. Somehow it just makes me miss WJ Mads and DeHaan. Things can never be quite the same as that! But how blessed we are to have those memories and teachers!
The Lord is blessing me in so many ways. Even the little things! I get up at 6:15 and mostly feel pretty awake within the first 5 minutes of my morning. If any of you know me.... Miracles do indeed happen. Ahaha. But I don't mind even when I am tired, because it means I'm doing something! I love having such purpose in my life. The small things don't matter so much because this work is the most important thing I can be doing right now. We listened to Elder Holland's talk "For Such a Time As This" given in an MTC Devotional almost a year ago on Sunday, and he had so many good things. I loved especially that he pointed out that this is our real lives. We don't return from our mission to "real life". He pounded that pulpit as he said, "This is as real as your life is ever going to get." I loved that. Real people, real testimonies, real lives, and real souls! Isn't this work astounding? He also said, paraphrased, that we will do nothing more important than this work, nothing will surpass it. Marriage and family will match the importance, but there is nothing better that I can be doing. What a comforting thought.
At Devo on Tuesday night, we sang "Sing We Now at Part(ies)" and I thought of you, Mom and Dad :) I giggled a little bit. Hopefully I don't get struck down.
I want to share a small experience I had yesterday. We have class in Raintree apartments now, which have just been converted into classrooms. In one of the empty classrooms, I was studying PMG and I was looking at the painting in there. It's by Simon Dewey and it's of Christ visiting the Nephites (i believe, not sure though). I loved it because the light from Christ touched every figure in the painting, whether they were touching him, or standing behind him, or simply looking on. Every one of them had some degree of His light, although the brightest light fell upon those closest to Him, and as I considered the painting, I thought that we are the same way. Each of us is born with the Light of Christ, but some of us have developed it to a different degree than others. Many of us now have the Gift of the Holy Ghost, the opportunity to keep the Spirit with us at all times. We have the most Light from Christ when we are closest to him. I don't know if that makes sense, or is said in the most eloquent way, but it touched my heart. In order for us to feel the warmth and light of the Savior, His Spirit, most often, we must be as close to him as we can.
I studied in Mosiah this week and found these scriptures on the Atonement as we were preparing a lesson for one of our investigators, Bipoy. In Mosiah 4:5, it says,
4 Surely he has aborne our bgriefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was awounded for our btransgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are chealed.
6 All we, like asheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.
This brought to my mind the line from Les Mis, "I have bought your soul for God." Not much to say on this, but it's simply brought me comfort. Later in the chapter, verse 11:
He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shallabear their iniquities.
I will return home in March of 2015. Will I see the travail of my soul, and be satisfied?
Last, verse 12:
.......he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made cintercession for the transgressors.
This one I loved because as I think of the Saviors sacrifice, this brings to my mind thatafter he had gone into Gethsemane to suffer and then found his apostles asleep, afterhe had been betrayed, after he had been beaten and scorned and spit upon and literally torn, the Savior was still the Savior. He healed the guards ear, he comforted the thieveswhile he was on the cross, he forgave those who crucified him, and he literally poured out everything in his soul unto death. He didn't just die for us, he suffered for us, he poured out his entire soul for us, and after he was empty, then he gave up his mortal body unto death, STILL, for us. I always knew about Christ's sacrifice, but as I read the accounts of the Crucifixion I felt Christ's personal love for me. He is there, and He listens and loves us, and I testify that He lives! He lives who once was dead! What a joyful gospel this is.
I love this gospel, and I love the Savior. My testimony has already grown leaps and bounds! Sorry for the huge beast of an email again, but I love you and I hope you have a wonderful week! Your prayers are felt, and I pray for you every day.
can't wait to hear more about your lives and adventures.
XOXO
Sister Luke
P.S. My New Zealand sister, Sister Viliami always says, "That's a crack up!" and I love it. She is awesome :)
Sister Haun and I being Bootiful
Language anyone?
Temple walks are the bomb
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