Consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God - Feb. 9, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Good News and Bad News. You can read it in the order you want it.

Bad News: My Companion is going home tomorrow. She is an amazing missionary and I have already shed many a tear over it. I am so grateful for the time I had to be Hermana Allen's companion. 

Good News: I am getting a brand new companion this Wednesday! And I'm staying in Galveston AND Ramon is back from El Salvador!!!!!!!!! He bought us hats that say El Salvador haha. 

 Also, we have temporarily been kicked off the island for Mardi Gras and so we are working up in Texas City instead. It is kind of completely different. Below is a picture of the church which is not even a church building. 

Also my hair is now long enough that I can curl it and that is super weird. 

Moral of the story: I love Galveston. It's the weirdest, cutest little island. 

​Today I would like to write a little bit about one of my favorites talks ever given: Come What May and Love It. In the talk Elder Wirthlin gives us 4 things to do to better enjoy all that life brings (hardship, trials, happiness, etc) : 

1. Learn to Laugh

2. Seek for the Eternal

3. Understand the Principle of Compensation

4. Trust in the Father and the Son
​

I love his advice to laugh. He says 

"The first thing we can do is learn to laugh. Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam? Or have you had an encounter with an overhanging cupboard door left open at the wrong place and the wrong time which has been cursed, condemned, and avenged by a sore-headed victim? There is an antidote for times such as these: learn to laugh." 

I am grateful to be a missionary. I'm grateful for the profound moments of joy. For the awkward times. The scary times. The fun times and the really really hard times. God knows us. He loves us. And this is His gospel and plan of Happiness. 

-Hermana Ries

Mosiah 2:41