September 15th

a friendly reminder from a great band:

"Love will not betray, dismay, or enslave you. It will set you free to be more like the man you were meant to be."

I feel those lyrics come to life with the perspective that Christ has a pure and unchanging love for us. We have great potential, you and I; and it is all possible through Jesus Christ and His Atonement. 

yesterday was Independence Day for Guatemala, so it was fun having a chapina companion. we ate beans for lunch. unfortunately, Hermana De Leon has changes. i'm super sad because i have learned so much this change with her. she has been in this ward for almost 6 months, so this past week she wanted to say goodbye to all of the people she loves. last night some of the members from Columbia invited us over for dinner, and they made us Arepas. if heaven were food, it would be arepas.

i was able to meet a general authority this week, Elder Ochoa. he and his wife came on wednesday and held a multizone conference with the missionaries. as he first stood at the pulpit to begin his planned discourse, he stopped and said "lets just talk" and we ended up having a 4 hour open discussion on questions or doubts we had about missionary work. it was healing as he searched the scriptures and promised us blessings. it's funny how sometimes we forget to have an eternal perspective.

Hermana Carmack, President's wife, also taught a powerful lesson. President was standing beside her, translating her carefully prepared talk. at one moment, the Spirit entered the room with great power, and Hermana Carmack couldnt finish her sentence. Her and President began to weep together as they look out to all of us. I really felt the love that our Heavenly Father has for us. i truly do know God is real.

i love each of you, very much.