Tuesday, June 9, 2015

There is Gladness in my Soul Today March 2, 2015

Dear Family and Friends, 

It's been like 5 days since I have written, so I don't feel like I have a ton to say. This is my district. We cover the whole island in English and Spanish. 
We had a crazy week. We had a meeting on Tuesday and Thursday. We changed P-day to Wednesday to go to the temple and had a service project of Friday. So our time got cut down a lot this week and we ended up in the car quite a bit (as shown below). But the Lord is merciful and continued to help and bless us as we did all we could.
Angel is doing amazing!! We taught her the word of Wisdom and when we saw her two days later she hadn't smoked since the lesson! She also had read three chapters in The Book of Mormon because she likes it so much. 

Paloma and her niece Demitria came to church this week and when we talked about prophets, Demitria said "Wow. Cool. When is Conference? Can I go?" 

Speaking of General Conference, it is only a month away!!!! Are you all so excited? Conference in like Christmas on the mission. Actually maybe even better. What are your ideas to prepare for Conference?  I am trying to reread all the talks in Spanish.
The other day we read the talk "Which Way Do you Face?" It says:

Trying to please others before pleasing God is inverting the first and second great commandments (see Matthew 22:37–39). It is forgetting which way we face. And yet, we have all made that mistake because of the fear of men. In Isaiah the Lord warns us, “Fear ye not the reproach of men” (Isaiah 51:7; see also 2 Nephi 8:7). 

The Savior, our great Exemplar, always faced His Father. He loved and served His fellowmen but said, “I receive not honour from men” (John 5:41). He wanted those He taught to follow Him, but He did not court their favor. When He performed an act of charity, such as healing the sick, the gift often came with the request to “tell no man” (Matthew 8:4Mark 7:36Luke 5:148:56). In part, this was to avoid the very fame which followed Him in spite of His efforts to eschew it (see Matthew 4:24). He condemned the Pharisees for doing good works only to be seen of men (see Matthew 6:5).
The Savior, the only perfect being who ever lived, was the most fearless. In His life, He was confronted by scores of accusers but never yielded to their finger of scorn. He is the only person who never once forgot which way He faced: “I do always those things that please [the Father]” (John 8:29; emphasis added), and “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30).
I know that I always want to face our Heavenly Father because despite my flaws, He loves me. And He has a perfect plan. I know that His will is always better than ours. I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us. This is His gospel and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to share it. 

-hermana ries

"There is Sunshine in my Soul Today." 

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