Amor y Amistad

Querida Familia,

Well, that`s right. This Saturday is the officialy Day of Amor y Amistad. Also known as Valentine`s Day!! I want you all to know how much I love you! You have all helped me incredibly in my life. Mom and Dad, thank you for teaching me correct principles desde mi niñez and for always being examples. You not only taught with words, but also with example.

William, thanks for being a great older brother. You always knew what to say, how to make peace, and took the brunt of most of the punishments just because you´re the first, but I´m so proud to call you my brother. It´s always an honor to be called Will´s sister--a name I hope to carry throughout my life. Parker, thanks for always being the one who laughed at the same jokes as I did. I love your sense of humor, for being able to joke around with me, for being there to give me a spiritual pick-up, and inspire me with your powerful testimony. I know you´re doing great things in WV, and that just by looking at you, people can feel the Spirit. Christian, thanks for always being so humble. Thank you for teaching me how to love the Gospel, and how to be strong even when people don`t agree with or laugh at our standards. Thanks for being a friend to those in need and for always remembering to share the love God has with everyone. I love you!! Sunkist, thanks for still jumping on my bed even when I didn`t want you to and for waking me up in the night to open the door when you got locked outside. It made me learn to appreciate God`s creations.

A lot of people don`t like Valentine`s Day because they´re not dating anyone, but I love this day! It´s a day to remember the love that should be present every day of our lives, like you said, Mom. Love shouldn`t be a one time thing. It should be an always thing. God has commanded us to love Him and love our prójimo. Every day of our lives, we have the chance to share the love of Christ by sharing the Gospel! I hope you can remember the love and mercy God has had for you by blessing you with the Gospel, and then think of how much more you can share that love with everyone by sharing the Gospel! It´s a joyful message! And when the end comes, all will need to accept it. So open your mouths and share love.

This week, my companion and I tried working a lot with Menos Activos. We found a few, taught a few, helped out a few, and all of them said they would go to church on Sunday!!! But, they pulled a Chuck Testa---NOPE. It`s so hard to see people remember the joy they´ve had in their lives thanks to the Gospel and then still reject it. We have to go to church in order to repent each week! I never thought about what renewing our covenants meant, but really it is the way in which we get baptized each week. We can constantly be cleansed from all our sins and burdens, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world. We just need to go the House of Prayer! And take the Santa Cena! It´s so simple, but remember to not brush it off because of the simpleness of the way. God gives us things we can accomplish so that all can partake of His salvation!!

On Friday, my companion and I had a little time left, so we decided to contact some houses. We knocked one door--nothing. We walked past a second door that was open, and a woman was inside talking to her son. I thought, "We should talk with them." But then I brushed the thought from my mind and kept walking. As we passed the house and got to the end of the street, I got a weight in my chest that wouldn`t go away. So I said to my companion, "Vamos a contactar esa casa con la puerta abierta." We went back, and found a woman named Liz. She told us how she had gone to church a loooong time ago, but she was baptized as an Evangelica. We shared with her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about the Sabbath Day, and invited her to pray and ask God if she should be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ. She then told us how one time in her life, she was looking for guidance and comfort, and prayed to have God show her the camino she should follow, and right in that moment, 2 Elders showed up to her house. The Spirit was SO STRONG in that moment when she realized that God was showing her what she should do. I KNOW that this is the true church!! Liz still had a little fear of her family because all of them are Evangelicos, but I hope that we at least planted the seed for her, and that some day she can be strong enough to follow the guidance she`s received from her Heavenly Father.

I love you all and know the Church is true. I know God loves us and, por eso He sent His son Jesucristo to earth to atone for our sins. Thanks to Him, we can all be cleansed from sin. Which is an incredible promise. :]

LES AMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hermana Ayer

P.S. I`m glad you got those letters I sent. Did you ever end up getting the Christmas package I sent home?? Not sure if there`s a way you can check where that is in the post office or something. Mom, no, I still haven´t gotten your letter, but know that I love you and I´m grateful!!