March 29, 2016

This week as I studied the talk by elder holland called "none were
with him" last week, I found a quote that really struck me. "For His
Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like
to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like
to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally,
abjectly, hopelessly alone.
    But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed
faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish. The trust He
lived by told Him in spite of His feelings that divine compassion is
never absent, that God is always faithful, that He never flees nor
fails us." That part really struck me. I have never thought of the
fact that being Christlike means not forgetting who we are and where
we came from. The mission is hard, I have had many, many struggles,
but I think going forward in this new area, with new trials, I can
become more like him by remembering who I am, who I came from, and
that God is always faithful, that He will never flee or fail me.

I've always had companions who spoke Spanish before their mission
except my MTC Comp and my trainer until now. Well, I understand way
more than I thought I did of Spanish. Like.....I understand everything
they are saying. I didn't really think I would, but I do, so mission
miracles I guess! My companion is awesome though and her Spanish is
definitely way better than mine was when I had her time in the
mission. She is from Hurricane, Utah and she's 23 (Yes! I got another
oldie, they're the best!) we have been having a good time together and
it's definitely not awkward and quiet al the time....I always get
nervous about that when I receive a new companion. My area is
literally on the border of Mexico and so we teach English and
Spanish.....but most everyone here speaks Spanish. The Ward has an
English group and a Spanish group, which is cool, but also a
challenge. We have some awesome members though and I love them.

In this area, there is not a habit of asking every person to be
baptized on a specific date at least by the second lesson. We have
been working on that and we got someone with a baptismal date on the
first lesson! It was a miracle because he has wanted to get baptized
in this church for years, he has just been putting it aside. His name
is Arturo and we are hoping that he can keep his baptismal date, he is
getting his Ph.D. Which has made him very busy. Prayers are definitely
needed for him to be baptized on the 30th of April! I am super excited
though, he has wanted to talk to the missionaries and get baptized for
20 years! He even wants to move to Utah once he finishes his Ph.D.

We had an awesome Easter. I gave a talk in the English group this
Sunday and I had to apologize for my English! Another thing I thought
would never happen. We had a dinner with an awesome family and I
definitely have some people to add on to my list of favorite people I
have found on my mission.

Anyway, it's been a great week full of miracles and I have been cooking lately!

Love,
Hermana Lapp