Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

Dear Family and Friends

This week was great! Elder Lambert and I have had a pretty great week here in the 10th Ward and Las Palmas area. It has been an amazing blessing being able to work along side the members and less actives of this area. I have been continuing to learn many things here that I know I couldn't have learned anywhere else. I am so very thankful to be on a mission. My ponderize scripture for this week is Joshua 3:5: "And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."  Lately I have been having a strong desire to improve and to become the missionary that the Lord needs me to become. I desire to be the instrument that he needs me to be in His work. My sincere question leading up to conference was what I was going to do or change to become the priesthood holder and missionary that the Lord needs me to be. When I heard this scripture from Elder Holland's talk yesterday at conference, that was my answer! As we continue to sanctify ourselves and strive to improve, our Heavenly Father will work miracles and wonders in our lives. There are always things we can improve upon or change in our lives, but knowing that the Savior is there for us every step of the way will help us reach the divine potential that our Heavenly Father knows we can reach.

We have been able to visit with Juan and the Oliveira family in helping them overcome their obstacles with the word of wisdom and it has been going great! We were able to help them make many different plans to help aid them in overcoming this trial and challenge in their lives. It will be very exciting to see not only Juan to be baptized at the end of this month, but to see his family United and fully active again in the church. It will be very neat to set their eyes on the temple as well. The future is bright!

We have also been working with Carlos LaQue who requested the Book of Mormon and for missionaries to come by. It was pretty interesting to see the circumstances that he was in and to hear the stories that he had to tell. It has been amazing seeing his desire to understand the bible and to improve and become a better person. Many times he has expressed his desire to find peace again and to have his family back in his life. I know as he lives the gospel and as he follows the Savior, he will be able to find that peace and forgiveness in his life. We hope to continue meeting with him and in helping him see the blessings in being baptized into the Lord's church.

General conference was amazing! It has been such a blessing being able to hear from our prophets and apostles. They truly do receive guidance and direction in how we can have peace in this world and to help us live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was pretty neat to hear the talks relating to the importance of the family and how the greatest work that we will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes.  How truly important it is to strengthen our families temporally but even more spiritually. As we base our homes off of gospel principles, we have the ability to withstand the temptations and evils of the world. Though we may still have trials and challenges in our lives, we will have a safe refuge to turn to to feel of the influence of the Holy Ghost and to feel of our Savior's love. How great it was to hear from our prophet, Thomas S. Monson! I loved his talk about using our agency to follow Christ and to choose to do the right. I loved how he said, "Choose the harder right, not the easier wrong". It is important to realize the necessity that agency has in our eternal progression. As we choose the right and keep the commandments, we will receive our eternal reward in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I really enjoyed the final talk given by Elder Holland as well. We can always find those things to improve upon and we will always have that heavenly help to reach our goals. Though we are not perfect in this life, we strive all we can to do our best. As we do so our Heavenly Father will make up the rest in our lives. It is a blessing to know that we are on a path and a journey in which we can grow into who our Heavenly Father wants us to become.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I love you all so much. Hope you all had a great conference weekend. Have a great week!