email of 6 July 2010

Happy Tuesday!!!

How is everyone today?! Based on the emails I got, everyone seems to be doing pretty well! I got some great pictures from Joseph and Wendy, and even a little note from "el Rolo" ("It's a miracle, a miracle, It's a MIRACLE!!!!!!!!")!!!

Big happy birthday to Grandma Lynes!!! Hope you have a GREAT birthday, and know that your missionary in LA is thinking about you today! I Love You!

I didn't hear anything about the family reunion...did that happen this year?

I want to share with you my favorite scripture from this last week -- it's a 4th of July scripture! Only this one is an "Independance from sin" kind of 4th of July. It's Alma 10:6-7 :

"6 Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart, even until the fourth day of this seventh month, which is in the tenth year of the reign of the judges.
7 As I was journeying to see a very near kindred, behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto me and said: Amulek, return to thine own house, for thou shalt feed a prophet of the Lord; yea, a holy man, who is a chosen man of God; for he has fasted many days because of the sins of this people, and he is an hungered, and thou shalt receive him into thy house and feed him, and he shall bless thee and thy house; and the blessing of the Lord shall rest upon thee and thy house."

Cool, huh? :D

So our new mission pres came in this week! Pres and Sis Baker, from Utah (Springfield, I think)! They're really great. We had a zone meeting with them the day after they got here, and they seem really excited and really nervous! I can't blame them -- I was nervous enough coming out on a mission myself, and I'm mostly only responsible for me! They come, having complete stewardship over about 200 missionaries and all the missionary work here in the LA area, and they're here for 3 years! They're very happy to be here though, and we're happy to have them! Something really neat that they told us is that when they first got their call, they printed off all of our pictures (they have special access to that kind of stuff), and made flash cards with them to memorize our names! President said that they were on a trip in Seattle to visit their daughter and her family, and that one day while they were there, their little 2 year old grandson was sitting with him as he was looking through these flash cards. As he would look at each one, Pres. would say, "That's Elder Jones," or "This is Sister Wilson," to which his little grandson would reply with this personal greeting: "Hi Elder Jones!" or "Hi Sister Wilson!" SO CUTE!!!

It's great to the Lord's hand in His work, and how it all just progresses on forward no matter what! It'll be interesting to see the focus and emphasis that Pres Baker has; He did mention that there will be a lot more training on things to do with teaching skills and teaching by the Spirit. The MTC is changing it's curriculum and the way that the new missionaries are taught so as to help them come out better prepared and able to do that, so we have to be prepared to receive those new missionaries! So, David, your MTC experience may be a bit different -- better, probably -- than mine!

I realize that I never really mentioned much about my new companion! Well, not so new anymore, I guess...

Sister Molina is great! She's from El Salvador, and this is her first time ever to the states! She's 25 -- back home, she had already finished college, and is a teacher! As a matter of fact, she taught english as a second language there in El Salvador! So her english is quite good; we work a lot on her pronunciation, but she has a good handle on the language, which is nice, and her accent is cute! She is also a great cook! I told her she has to teach me to make latin food (specifically Pupusas, Chile Rellenos, and beans and rice) while we're companions! She also has a great testimony, and I'm learning lots from her everyday that we're together. It's interesting to see and feel the different dynamic with each companion; each is totally different, but with SO much to offer!

Well that's about it for this week -- the church is true, and I am SO grateful that I was born and raised in a strong family in the gospel!!! Thank you all so much for your examples, for your love and support in everything!

I Love you all SO MUCH, and I LOVE being a missionary!!!

Love,
Hermana Sallie

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!!!!!!