Ratones

March 16, 2020

Hola todos!

Okay so to start: No, I don’t have the Coronavirus and no, we're not quarantined. The work continues in McAllen, Texas! Just to get that out of the way 😂

ANOTHER transfer has come and gone ugh! Sister Bainbridge left this morning for Las Vegas which was so sad  😥 I'll miss her a ton. I'm staying in the YSA and I'm gonna be companions with Sister Gilleland who came out with me but went to the Mexico MTC. I'm excited!

This week has been pretty wild with everything that's been happening...one of our member's mom’s showed us like a 15 minute video about the virus then gave us 50 masks and a pack of hand wipes. So, don't worry about us we're all good. We got to take the sacrament at home which was weeeeiiirrdd. We took it out of teaspoon measuring cups and it was just funny. But wow it's crazy that we are all so prepared for it! They literally just instituted a home-centered gospel study and now look how ready we are! I love this quote from President Nelson from his closing remarks in last general conference. He said, “We also know that each home can become a true sanctuary of faith, where peace, love, and the Spirit of the Lord may dwell.” Even through these confusing times, our homes can be a sanctuary for us. I can't remember who said it, but the temple and our homes are the two most holy places in the world!! So, our sacrament can be even holier in the coming weeks!

I hope you are all safe and healthy and thriving.  Love you!

Hermana Coleman

Hi!

March 2, 2020

Hey everyone!!

Yet another crazy week in the YSA! We had an emergency transfer on Monday, so I have a new companion (6 companions in 6 months woohoo)! Her names Sister Bainbridge and she's from Las Vegas. She's super super awesome and we get along really well (:
We had tons of fun activities this week like soccer, volleyball, a scavenger hunt, and institute (scripture study class). It’s honestly just the best. Also, I *almost* made a half-court shot and saved two goals and wrecked the other team in volleyball so I'd say pretty successful 😊 
This week in institute we talked about the Book of Jacob in the Book of Mormon. We focused a lot on Jacob 5, and for those of you who know the Book of Mormon, you know that it's a super long chapter about a guy and his olive trees and how he keeps trying to get them to bear fruit. In reality, it's an allegory for the scattering and gathering of Israel and is about like the 7 seals and stuff in Revelation which was all really cool, BUT we didn't really focus on that. In Jacob 4 it says, “Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall”. Which is telling us that as we read Jacob 5 we need to focus on the “mark” and not ignore the plainness of it. What we should be focusing on in this story as well as in everything that we do, read, and think about is the atonement of Jesus Christ. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can be made into the best version of ourselves. Jacob 5 says: “I will prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it, that perhaps it may shoot forth young and tender branches, and it perish not.” Everything God does is to help us grow and flourish. Sometimes it hurts because it's like he’s cutting our branches off or digging up our roots or putting fertilizer in our mouths, but it's all because he loves us and sees us for who we truly are and have the potential to become. He came to this earth from his divine throne to suffer literally every pain and sadness and insecurity and anxiety that we all individually feel. His arm will continually reach out to us even if we push it away. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He is my Savior, redeemer, and friend :)

Have an awesome week!
Hermana Coleman