July 23 Email

HEY FAMILYYY!
  Wow seems like we are almost reaching the 2 month mark since i have been in Nicaragua!! It's been great i have grown so much in these last two weeks then i have in my entire life! I have def. learned patience this week as our investigators have thought it to be funny to not go to church last week so this week has been frustrating! we really pushed for them to go to church teaching the blessings and how much it can help us in the week! We learn of His doctrine! the people here have really opened my eyes to new things and have really helped me to grow closer to Christ! I know i came here to help others come unto Christ however in the process i have learned about myself and have grown and truly leaped mountains! In the beginning of the week i said i was working on my Patience and now i want to tell of my experience of this and what i have learned! first off in my studying i wrote what i think patience is and i wrote " its when you put up with things you don't like and don't want to do" haha however patience is FAR from that! I learned that first off you need faith because when we hope and desire we put into action of faith and are willing to sacrifice our own needs for something greater.  one experience of this is one investigator wasn't receiving a answer to his prayers about the Book of Mormon and the church and so i gave faith i had fasted for him.  I was upset the next time we visited him because he still didn't have a answer and i thought for a second that he is doing sometime wrong.  However yet again that wasn't good for me to think.  I realized that just as we make mistakes and are forgiven we also need to truly love.  This week started off with me just struggling and not knowing how to do it.  However i have realized that patience isn't only putting up with something its believing and hoping for things unseen... Faith believing it is possible through Jesus Christ and through His grace and mercy.  Loving with a pure love of Christ and sacrificing our own needs for the needs of another person! This helped me to truly feel the love of the Lord! because 1 I put love in God and Jesus Christ believing that they will help me and strengthen me and 2 i love others and not think of how its helping me! Patience has shown me how to love and how i can show my faith more! It has brought me such joy! Through our trials and through our hardships we truly learn the most! God loves us that he gives us these experiences for our growth! i am full of joy when i am given trials and hardships because i now think what can i learn and how can i become more like Christ! Every time someone rejects me, or every time i get made fun of i am full of joy because i get to feel a tiny glimpse of what our savior felt and what he went through! I know Jesus Christ lives that He is my savior that we have a father in heaven that loves us and gives us opportunities to grow! i know Through Him we can be made strong