Dear
Mom and everyone else,
And speaking of fresh
starts and new life, everything went well with the baptism on Saturday! It was a very spiritual experience for all
involved, including the English ward members who couldn't understand Spanish
and what was being said but they could feel the Spirit and recognize what a
momentous occasion it was. Truly, it was beautiful. The person being baptized
was the father in a family with a wife who was baptized 5 years ago in Mexico
and an adorable 6 year-old daughter. The daughter said the most precious
opening prayer and thanked Heavenly Father that her dad was getting baptized,
and then his wife gave a short talk on baptism and what it has meant to her
personally. The baptism went smoothly and I could feel the Spirit as he came up
out of the water. Then, a ward member who is a very dear family friend to them
gave a short talk about the gift of the Holy Ghost and almost couldn't make it
through because she was so emotional and full of joy for him. It made me so
happy to see their family united in the gospel and I'm excited for what will
follow in the future. I really love the people here and I just feel grateful
all the time that I get to be here and get to know them. This is the last week
of the transfer and I'm really hoping that it's in God's plan to let me stay at
least another 6 weeks, but I know that He knows what's best.
I also had an
interesting experience yesterday morning. I woke up from a horrible dream in
which a family member whom I dearly love was dying and I was still heartbroken
from the pain of it even when the dream was over and I woke up. And then the
thought came to me, "But no matter what happens, it will be okay because
that person will be resurrected. Because of Jesus Christ, we will all be
resurrected." That was the very first waking thought I had, and it brought
me peace. I sat up and said "Happy Easter!" to my companion, and she
was still pretty groggy so all I got back was a crackly "What?" but I
still remember the peace that thought brought back to me. Life is rough
sometimes and things happen that we don't always understand, but Heavenly
Father knows what He is doing. He has accounted for everything in His plan,
including death, and I know that we will all be resurrected one day. That is a
gift from God. Not a free gift, because it was paid for with a high price,
including the best life this world has ever seen, but we don't have to pay that
cost. We will all be resurrected, regardless of what kind of people we are. But
whether or not we will be able to return to live in our Heavenly Father's
presence, united eternally with our families, is another story. That one does depend on our actions and who we are. And that can be a daunting
thought at times too, but in His providing for everything in the plan, mercy
and forgiveness are also accounted for and they correspond with repentance. His
plan is perfect and I hope we can all take a step back for a minute and think a
little more deeply about His plan and our part in it and what we need to do. I
love you all and I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter and took a moment to
reflect on the sacrifice of the Savior of the world. Have a wonderful week!
~Hermana Burton
Also, I may or may not have become a ginger
this week...
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