Week 40 in Florida (Naples 2.6)

Well, this week was pretty amazing, just like every week!  Seriously,
thank goodness for journals, because I would not be able to remember
everything that happens!
Well, here's a good one. Last week, before we went to the baptism for
the Lobaton's, we we're walking in the street, and a young lady pulled
over in her car and told us she use to go to church, and she just
moved here, and she wants to come back! Millem's her name. She's come
to a couple activities, and church last week, and we just love her!
This week, we were at the church, and about to leave to walk some more
when she called and said she had a friend she wanted us to meet. So
they came over to the church, and we met her friend, Ciera. Basically,
she just knows that she's made some wrong choices, and life is hard,
and she wants help! She was telling that to Millem, and she thought of
us! It was awesome. We started teaching right there, and she wants to
continue learning. And we also learned that Millem's parents aren't
going to church right now, and she hopes that if she gets active
again, they will too! That's so awesome! I'm so excited to work with
them!
So, there's this house of an inactive that we've knocked several
times, and no one answers, even when we know someone is home. This
week we were in that area at a different time of day, so we thought
we'd try again, and someone answered! We didn't know who exactly we
were looking for, so Hna. Killpack just introduced us, but he kinda
cut her off, and said he knew who we were and he wasn't going to be
coming back to church. We try a few different ways to get in, but he
wasn't having any of it. So we were walking back to the car, and I
thought we should ask if he wants his name removed, so that we don't
keep bugging him. We went back, and he was annoyed. I told him he
could get his name removed so that missionaries don't keep bugging
him, and he said sure, do it. I told him he has to write a letter to
bishop, and be said he had his number, and he's not in a rush, he'll
do it eventually. He said to just write a note to future missionaries
that he's inactive.  It was so sad! We don't even know what happened!
And he won't accept any help :( But we did try! It just made me sad
for him.
On Saturday, we had transfer calls. We didn't really think anything
would change, I've only been here 2 transfers, and Hna Killpack has 4
here. But lately people have been staying in areas for a while. But!
I've also been feeling lately that something big was coming, and I was
right. Hna Killpack is leaving, and I'm gonna be a trainer!!!!!!! It
looks like there's only one new Spanish Hermana coming in, and I'm the
lucky one that gets to train her!!!!! I'm freaking out! Of course, I
know it's a calling from Heavenly Father, and everything will be fine.
But I'm still nervous, and worried, and really anxious! Also, we'll be
going back to 4 hours of study every day! So, that's crazy!
Also! This morning, we got to do something kinda special. We're
teaching a couple old men that are in AA (alcoholics anonymous). They
invited us to go to an open meeting, and so we went this morning
before Hna Killpack leaves. It was so interesting! The program is so
well planned, and it works for whoever wants it to work! The people
there were so grateful that we came, and said it brought a little more
of a spirit to the meeting (hmmm, I wonder why!). It's so cool to see
people who know they have problems and are actively trying to fix it!
I think one of the biggest frustrations on the mission are meeting
people who have serious problems, know they do, but won't do anything
to fix it. It's so true that we can only help those who are willing to
help themselves. We can't do ANYTHING with a person who doesn't want
help, or won't do anything.
I hope you're all having a great Memorial Day! Thanks to all of you
who served or who had family serve. #proudtobeanamerican!
Les quiero, todos! Cuídense :)
Hermana Despain

Week 39 in Florida (Naples 2.5)

I seriously feel like I was just here, lounging on a couch, emailing
you guys. I've tried to make a goal to just not count time, at all.
But I think that's making it go faster! Also, whenever people ask how
long I've been out, I just tell them when I'm going home, so that they
can count it!
This week was awesome! First of all, because the Lobaton family got
baptized! It was so awesome! It was went swimmingly ;) except that
Vanessa got a cold because she got baptized first, and then stood in
the cold of the Florida AC to watch her mom and sisters get baptized.
She says it was worth it :). And their confirmations on Sunday we
beautiful! Hno. Montes, who baptized them as well, promised them all
that they'd be married in the temple, which I think that was really
cool for them to hear, especially Ana, the mom. And then the bishop
interviewed Melanie and Vanessa to be able to go on the temple trip
this Thursday! And they're going to youth conference in June! They're
just taking the gospel and running with it! With lots of help from the
ward, thank goodness :)
Um... I can't really think of anything else specific from this week,
but it was a good week! We taught more lessons than we have before,
which is always good!
Oh! Oh oh oh! You'll NEVER guess who we met this week!!!! Does anyone
know the Boston Celtics very well? I don't really too much, but I did
have a thing for them last year. We met on of the ex-players! Derrick
Lewis!!!! We were actually visiting with some other guys at the
apartments where he was, and Hna. Killpack stated to talking to him,
and had a lesson with him while I visited with the other guys. It was
late and dark, so when I introduced myself before we left, I didn't
really get to see him. But then on the ride home she said he name, and
it sounded really familiar, and then she said he use to play for the
Celtics! Not gonna lie. I kinda freaked out. And then she told me that
he was SOOOO prepared! He knew that we should have a prophet, that
there has to be life after this one, and that kind of stuff. And he
said he would come to the baptism on Thursday and church on Sunday!
How cool is that!
And then, it happened. He didn't answer his phone when we called to
remind him about the baptism. And when we called one of the guys from
the apartment, they said he had to leave Naples, back home to Boston,
maybe. So... I'm pretty bummed. But it's probably my fault. I was too
excited! But I did learn a good lesson. We should always be that
excited to teach people! We're all children on God! We all are just as
special as everyone else. We all need to gospel as much as everyone
else :)
Also! I was trying to be all Latina his week and make tostones y
maduras, pero uno se cayó en la aceite y me dio una quemadura :( pero
está bien! Oh bueno, está en español. I just said that one of them
dropped in the oil and gave me a burn! But they turned out pretty good
:)
So, that's about it! I hope you all have a great week!
Les quiero, muchísimo!
Hermana Despain

Week 38 in Florida (Naples 2.4)

I can't believe I just saw you guys yesterday! It was just Christmas!
Right? Time is just getting away from me, I don't even know what to do
anymore.
Well, I hope you all had a great Mother's Day! Mine was pretty good!
Basically all we did was go to church and skype, because we went to
the Spanish ward and the English ward. We have a new open area thing
in the mission. You can work wherever within your ward boundaries, and
if you have the language capacity, you can teach them. Passing off
investigators between missionaries just doesn't really work. There's a
reason we meet them, so we shouldn't have to pass them off if they
want us to teach them. I feel bad for the English missionaries though,
because they still have to pass off people if they don't speak
English. But so far I think they're doing ok. But that means that we
go to church with them too. So we had church with the Spanish people,
a quick lunch break, and the went to an English investigator's house
to walk to church with her. We didn't think she was going to want to
stay all three hours, but she loved it! We taught her a lesson for
Sunday school, and challenged her to be baptized. She said yes! She's
turning 17 in a couple weeks, so I'm not sure if she really understand
what that all means, but we got some time to explain it all!
The familia Lobaton came to church, so they are totally set to be
baptized this Thursday! They had they're interviews on Thursday, and I
got to sit in with them, because the girls were nervous, and the mom
needed an interpreter. It was so cool to hear them bear their
testimonies about everything we've taught them! I think that must be
kinda like what a proud mom feels like ;) it's be sooooo amazing to
see their conversion. I love that family!
Alberto, who is taking the gospel and running at full speed, is still
doing amazing! He smokes and drinks coffee, so we taught him the word
of wisdom this week. He said he'd do his best to stop. We met with him
the next day, and he told us he only had one cigarette and a little
coffee. He use to have a cup or two, and like 10 cigarettes! That's
way better than we expected! He also got us giant Mother's Day cards
that play a song. He said "I know you're not moms, but you're my
hermanas, so that's kinda the same thing." He's so sweet! He's like
our mission grandpa!
Mario and Iris are getting married!! She's a member, and Mario wants
to be, but they weren't able to get married in time for him to
baptized for Noche Blanca because Iris was still in a divorce process,
and we haven't been able to see him this week, because he has like 3
jobs. He was kinda sad, but we have a new plan, which includes
wedding, a baptism, and very very happy lives! I'll send fotos :)
Harvey, who you guys met yesterday on Skype, is planning on a baptism
the end of May. He had a few doubts about things, but he told us the
other day he's just gonna go forward with faith and lean on what he
does know! I love that kid so much! I'm so glad he came over yesterday
:)
Basically that's it! We try really hard to make sure the people we
work with are working toward baptism, meaning that they should all
have a date by the 2nd lesson. I think we've been doing pretty good at
that! I love it!
Hey! I forgot to tell you guys yesterday about a book that will change
your life! Well, two books! The first one is the Book of Mormon. If
you're not reading it everyday, you're doing something wrong. With
technology these days, there's no reason to know read or listen to it!
Read the kids version as bedtime stories, let your kids see you
personally studying your own copy, read with your families, get the
CDs and listen in the car, use wifi and listen to it while you're
baking cookies to send to me!
But also, there's another book, The Power of Everyday Missionaries.
It's so good! It helps define member missionary work and how to be the
most effective. It even helps full time missionaries, it's so good! Go
buy one! The proceeds go to the general mission fund :)
I love you all so much! The next time I see your faces will be in
person! Well, except for the millions of fotos you're all going to
send me, right? (If it was a contest, Lauryn would be winning...;)
¡Que tenga una semana de los ángeles!
Hermana  Despain

Week 37 in Florida (Naples 2.3)

Well, hello again! These email days just kinda sneak up on ya, huh? At
least they do for me! We had an excellent week! I hope I remember all
the cool stuff!
First of all, we met this man, Alberto, at a house of another
potencial, who's not really interested, but we felt we should try
again. It was because we needed to meet Alberto! We just explained
some of mission life to him, and he said we just looked like
representatives of Jesus Christ! We taught him a couple days later,
and he said he would do whatever we told him to. We also set a baptism
date with him!!!! We met him again the next day and gave him the Book
of Mormon. I asked him how long it'd take him to read a book with 640
pages. He said a couple days. After we explained it all and read a
little with him, he said he was gonna go home and start reading! We're
seeing him tonight! And I won't be surprised if he's done with it! I
wish everyone had that kinda fire about the Book of Mormon, especially
the members!
Ok, so next Thursday, the 15, we have 6 people being baptized!!! But!
The interviews for all of them is this Thursday. And we still have a
lot to teach them all. There's so little time! I told Hna. Killpack
that this is when it feels most like we're on a "mission". I love it!
I know that The Lord will provide a way to get everything done so that
there is time to do everything :) I'm so excited for them all!!! It's
been amazing to see them all change their lives :D
Here's the coolest miracle: we got a call from a Josue, and we had no
idea which Josue it was. But he asked us to meet me at a grocery store
on Saturday. So we got there and waiting, and realize de didn't have
his number. So we couldn't contact him, and we never saw him. Later
that day we went to find an old investigator, who is named Jose. We
met someone who kinda seemed to be expecting us. We asked him if he
remember missionaries and what not. He said he'd never met
missionaries before. We told him the name of the person we were
looking for, and he told us his name was Josue, and that he called us
earlier in the week. We asked if we we're suppose to see him at the
store, and he said yes, but he couldn't make it and couldn't find out
number! It was crazy!!! We found him, and we were really even looking
for him! We taught him a little, and said we could come back, we'll
see what happens!
Sundays, we got to watch the temple dedication. It was amazing! Pres.
Uchtdorf did it. The spirit was so strong, and we were just in the
chapel! It was a little sad, before it started, because all these old
ladies were talking! There was footage of other temples showing, and
music playing, all to invite the spirit, and this little, old, white,
floridian ladies we gossiping! Us Hermanas were trying to focus and
feels the spirit but it was working well because we were just annoyed.
Eventually, I turned around a asked a couple of them if they could
save it for after the dedication. They said yes, but first looked at
me like the scum of the earth. Seriously?!? I hope I never get to the
point where I feel comfortable just sitting in church, in the chapel,
and just gossiping, not trying to prepare myself for the meeting. I
hope I can have that motivation for all meetings, it was a great
lesson learned.
After the dedication was done, everyone left, but we just sat there.
One Hermano came up to us, and just thanked us for what we do. He had
tears in his eyes, and told us that his life was changed by
missionaries, and he knew we were doing a great work. It was SO sweet
:). We just sat there, soaking up that spirit. All those members can
go to that temple whenever they want now, but we have to wait a few
more months to have that spirit so strong again. I'm glad we got the
most out of it :)
I think that's all the big stuff! I'm excited to see my family on
Sunday! We can do it like Christmas, yeah? At 5 my time. I hope you
have some experiences of hastening to work to share with me!
Les quiero, muchísimo!
Hermana Despain

Week 36 in Florida (Naples 2.2)

This week was just pretty normal, I think. Because I can't think of
too many crazy things that happened... Well, that's just from my
perspective. I'm sure from the outside view, everything we do is
crazy.
Here's the coolest thing- we have this man we've been trying FOREVER
to teach, but he's always busy, with work, or his own church. But one
night, we stopped by, and he was still working (he's a mechanic), but
he stopped to talk a bit. We showed him "Gracias a El" and he loved
it! So he invited us to come back the next day, before he went to his
church in the evening. And then he asked us to go to church with him.
We said sure, and he was basically ecstatic! We jus thought it'd be
like a prayer meeting, or bible study thing. Oh no. It was a party!
They had a band playing, singing songs about Jesus, and everyone was
standing in the rows clapping and dancing! It was so fun! You could
tell all those people just love Jesus so much! And he was so glad we
came with him and his family :) now we just need him to come to our
church!
We had exchanges this week, which was interesting, because we live
with the sister training leaders... So it didn't really feel like an
exchange. But it was still awesome! Hna. Lewis came to work with me.
We stopped by a potencial, who wasn't home... But when we went to get
in the car, a man had just got home from work, and came up to us!
Which doesn't happen very often. And then he asked is if we could
teach him about God! It was awesome! Of course, when me and Hna.
Killpack went back, twice, he was drunk... So.... Yeah. We'll see! Oh
man, the number of drunk men I've seen and talked to on the mission is
ridiculous. Seriously, it's not attractive. They just look like fools,
and they can't do anything with they're lives! Because when they're
drunk they don't have control of they're lives... I'm so grateful for
the word of wisdom!
Next week is the temple dedication! It's all anyone is talking about
:) I love it! Everyone is so grateful to have a temple so close, and
it's still an hour away. I definitely didn't take advantage of living
in Provo and having a temple so close. I'll be better when I get home!
So, Mother's Day is in 2 weeks, right? That came up so fast! Family!
I'm giving you my question ahead of time: how are you specifically
hastening the work of salvation? If you don't think you've done
anything yet, I've given you 2 weeks to come up with something! Good
luck :)
I love you all! Be good, and be happy :)

Love, Hermana Despain

At the temple open house, they had some
guys driving golf carts to bring you from your car to the entrance
(because the ground was gooey and there were so many people!).

Week 35 in Florida (Naples 2.1)

Oh man, this week was a little nuts! But it was very good :)
We were at the house of one of our less actives who's been kinda
ignoring us lately. But she fed us! (It's a big deal, I promise). It
was so good! Until we woke up the next morning and felt awful! So we
had a sick day, but still went out and had one lesson. I'm still able
to say I've gone out to work every day of the mission! I love it :)
Then on thursday we had our no car day. We rode the bus to the church,
and did planning there, when a HUGE thunderstorm started. So we just
planned for a couple extra hours, walked around and then went to a
relief society meeting. So not too much work that day.
Saturday was the best day ever!!! Something else that happened on our
sick day was that the other sisters called us and asked of we could
clear out our plans for Saturday. We asked why and they said it was
because we were going to go to the temple open house in Fort
Lauderdale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fort Lauderdale isn't in our mission, so
none of us missionaries were going to be allowed to go. But the
missionaries there had a conference on Saturday, and needed some
replacements. So 18 of the southern most sisters got to go! We were
there all day. Me and Hna. Killpack worked in the exit tent from the
temple. We answered questions and visited with members. I saw some
members from Tampa! I freaked out! It was so great to see them, and
they had no idea i was going to be there either, so they were pretty
excited too! Then when the other sisters got back, we got to take our
own tour through the temple. And we had a guest with us! Remember the
man who spoke about the Olympic athletes in conference? That's Bishop
Stevenson, and he came with us! When we were were in the sealing room,
he talked to us about eternity with the mirrors. He just kept looking
us in the eyes, and of course we all had tears in our eyes. We were SO
grateful to be in the temple. I kinda forgot how much I missed it. I
can't wait when i can go all the time! Hna. Newbill, my mtc companion
was there too. She said the next time we're in the brides room
together will be when one of us is getting married! Ah!
Oh man, you guys. The temple! When was the last time you went? A
month, a week, a day, and hour? GO AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! I can't go at
all, so I'm not gonna put up with many excuses right now. If you can't
put aside a few hours a month to go to the house of The Lord, you need
to change your priorities. I'm not being harsh, I'm just saying what's
true. Don't let yourself be comfortable not going to the temple. That
just gives satan more room in our lives. And that is never good.
We had all but one of our people getting baptized on May 15th at
church yesterday! I'm glad they're all still on track! That day is
gonna be awesome!
I love being a missionary! I hope you're all studying preach my
gospel, like Elder Ballard told you to! What have you learned so far?

Les quiero! Muchísimo!
Hermana Despain

Week 34 in Florida (Naples Week 6)

We got transfer calls on Saturday, and......... I'm staying in Naples!
If anyone's surprised, that actually makes sense, I've been bumped
around all over the place! But I think I'll be safe for a while. I
should even keep the same address for at least the next 6 weeks.(keep
you fingers crossed!)
Well, we had a bit of a slow week.  It there were still a couple awesome things!
One day we were going around to all the members that we've never met.
Usually in these situations they don't answer or it's a wrong address.
But we found one! It's a less active family, but the kids remembered
us as missionaries! We said a prayer with them, and they said we can
come back this week :)
Oh! Funny story! Remember when I got bit by the chihuahua? Well,
that's kinda a one-and-done thing, so I'm pretty caution with dogs. We
went to one member, who lives in an efficiently (an apartment built
into a house). But we had to go though a gate. The only problem was
there was a dog standing in the way. Every time we moved, he would
roll up his lip, and show us his nasty teeth. We spent a good few
minutes trying to distract him and get to the door. Hna. Killpack
knocked, but no one came. So we went back to the car. And then we
realized we didn't leave a note. So we had to go back and do the same
thing! I'm sure it's a really nice dog. Maybe he was trying to smile.
I don't know. But it was just a little ridiculous.
Ok, lesson of the week- I think I've already shared this one, but it
was reinforced this week. Well, I guess there's kinda two parts. Word
of wisdom and the law of chastity. If you can master those two
commandments from God, you're gonna have a pretty solid life ahead of
you. I have seen too much heartache, broken families, lost blessings,
misery, and everything else that is bad occur because of breaking one
or both of these commandments. It leads to NO GOOD! First of all,
alcohol is a depressant, second, it takes away your agency. Both of
those things are from Satan, not from God. Why would you EVER let
Satan into your life like that! I'm very grateful for the knowledge I
have of the commandments of God. I guess I'm also grateful to have
these experiences to fortify my testimony in them. But at the same
time, I wish no one had to go through these pains.
Aw man, you guys. This is where true joy is found. Don't ever let
anyone or anything take it away from you! It's not worth it! We've all
seen or experienced the alternative of obedience to God's laws, why
would even think about trying anything else?
I know this is the Church of Jesus Christ. He is the leader. Our
Heavenly Father knows what's up, and what we need to do. We just need
to listen to Him :)
I love you all! Keep up the good work in Hastening His ;)

Con amor, siempre
Hermana Despain

Week 33 in Florida (Naples Week 5)

Ok, so this week was nuts. Thursday we left the car and were riding
bikes. We had a couple appointment fall through. But we did have one
good one with a family we met a couple weeks ago on the road.
Wednesday we left a prayer with the mom, she said we could come back,
and we did! Her husband was there this time (Thursday) and we started
teaching them. But the little girl was running around, so the mom
wasn't really paying attention. And I think the dad was drink beer...
But they liked what we were saying, and said we could come back on
Friday! We left their apartment, and asked each other what we should
do now. Literally right after we asked that we got a phone call.
Hermana Killpack answered and was speaking English, so I assumed it
was another missionary. She told the person, "hold on" turned to me
and said "AP Flinders wants to know if we can move in with the other
hermanas by tonight." She put it on speakerphone so we could both hear
what's going on. I said "Elder, you want us to move out right now?"
He said, yes, and I said, "well, ok!". So we raced home, and started
packing. We were able to push it back to the next morning, Friday
morning, so it wasn't as stressful. I swear, there's a curse on me.
This is the third time, mid-transfer that I've moved apartments. This
is the 7th place I've lived on the mission!  So the next day we moved,
and then asked AP Flinders who was taking our apartment so we could
give them the keys. We had been assuming it was some English elders,
because they're on full bike, and that apartment is in the most
densely populated part of the city. But we were wrong. He told us it
was the Tampa 5 elders, who I served with just a month ago. I called
them to make sure it was really them coming all the way down here, and
they said yes. They said that some things had happened with the ward,
and they were taken out. Meaning that Hna. Miller and her companion
are now the only missionaries in the ward! We aren't sure how
permanent this is, but it's crazy! They're just going to be walking
around teaching on the street or whatever they can. But it's also our
area, so we'll be working there too... And we're living with the
sister training leaders, which is awesome, because we'll get news
before anyone else! And also because they're just awesome :)
The other highlight of the week was getting a GOLDEN new investigator,
Mario. We committed him to a baptism date the first time we met him!
His girlfriend's a member, and they want to get married. So he already
knows a lot about the church. He wants to see us everyday because he
just wants all the knowledge he can get. We're planning a "white
night" (where many people are baptized the same day to bring in the
ward and other people to invite unity and whatnot) on May 8th, and
he's set for that! We're so excited!!!
And then there was conference!!!! Amazing, as usual :) I don't like
how old everyone is getting! I loved the talk in conference that
explained why endings are so hard. We weren't meant to have any
endings! We're eternal beings! Things don't end for us, they're just
put on pause. I loved that :) There were also many talks on obedience,
and just how important it is! I hope that I can continue to be this
obedient after the mission. There's so many blessings to be had!
Here's my lesson learned for the week- We have an investigator that
has failed to meet a third baptism date. I've been thinking that the
reason why she hasn't met any of them is because she's never really
lived the gospel of Jesus Christ. She hasn't been converted. The
mission is the perfect time to be COMPLETELY converted. We are living
the gospel of Jesus Christ better than we ever have, and maybe ever
will! I love the life I live here, I love the testimony and conversion
I have gained, and I hope I will keep moving forward for the rest of
my life.

I love you all sooooooo much! As of tomorrow night, I have 9 months of
being a missionary. That seems SO CRAZY. But it's true. Still got a
while yet to go :)

Love, Hermana Despain

Week 32 in Florida (Naples Week 4)

So... Tomorrow's my halfway mark... No big deal.

This week was pretty awesome! We went to our correlation meeting, but
it turned out it was canceled, right before we left to go find someone
to teach, some investigators came for mutual. But the activity was
canceled for spring break. So instead we taught them! We haven't been
able to teach them in a while. We have a member who doesn't feel
comfortable at church because she doesn't get along with the Relief
Society president. We had a couple talks with her this week, and she
came to church, and brought a nonmember family with her! Get this, the
family speaks Russian! The dad speaks Spanish and Russian, the mom
just speaks Russian, and their two boys speak Russian and are learning
English. For sacrament, the husband translated for his wife, and I
translated into English for the boys. For Sunday school, i downloaded
the lesson in Russian for them to read, and for third hour I used the
google translate app to translate things for the wife! We're hoping to
start teaching them. They seemed to like church, even though if was
confusing, and didn't understand everything. We met with a recent
convert that I haven't gotten to meet yet. When I told him my name
instead of the usual, "that's nice, but what's your name?" He said,
"oh, that's French!" He's from Cuba, which had a lot of French people
come to be slave owners. He said there's a lot of Despain's there, and
he has a cousin with that last name! He says you know it's French,
because the way you pronounce it is the way the French say it. He
agreed with me when I said a family moved from Spain to France and
became the family "from Spain". It was awesome!
Here's a funny thing- I told a member that I'm 20, and she told me
that's when a woman's body starts to change (aka, that's when we
really start to age). That was comforting! But she said to drink two
glasses of soy milk a day, one in the morning, one at night. We'll see
if that changes anything!
GENERAL CONFERENCE IS THIS WEEKEND!!! The women's conference was
amazing! I'm so grateful to be a girl :) If you didn't get to watch
it, do it now! And make sure you're making plans to watch the prophet
and apostles speak to us next week. This only happens every 6 months.
We should be able to plan for this. They have the secrets to life!
Well, they aren't really secrets. We've pretty much heard everything
before, but apparently we don't listen very well ;) but seriously. If
you feel like you're stuck in a rut and don't know how to get out,
watch conference. Of you aren't sure if Heavenly Father's been present
in your life, watch conference. If you want to know how to recognize
the Holy Ghost, watch conference. If you want to follow Jesus Christ
and do everything you need to in order to be on His good side, WATCH
CONFERENCE. It pretty much solves all your problems.
Well, being a missionary is pretty much the coolest thing in the
world. I know I'll forever be grateful that I chose to do this. Even
on the worst days in the mission, I don't regret being here. At all. I
know this church is the church of Jesus Christ. He is our leader,
savior, and big brother. He leads this church through his prophet,
Thomas S. Monson. I'm so grateful for this knowledge I have of the
truth. The only fear I have is the thought of now having the gospel in
my life. That would for sure be the worst thing ever.
I love you all so much!!

Con amor,
Hermana Despain