Hello family and friends :)

     I have been studying a lot about hope this week and it has been great- I have came to realize that the natural man has no hope, but we who know Jesus Christ and know about his plan have every reason to be hopeful in all situations- good or bad.  Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us and no matter what we have to go through in our life here on earth, if we are remaining faithful and doing as He asks their is SO much happiness ahead.  So grateful for that perspective :)  "Hope is an emotion which brings richness in our everyday lives," yes. Have hope. :)
     We have a new investigator named Irma- she is so cool!!!  Her friend whos family we had met with texted her and asked if shed meet with us and she said yes, so we set up a lesson on Monday and we taught her the restoration.  She is from a strong catholic family but has recently been questioning her faith and some of the things shes been taught.  While we were teaching the restoration, we recited the first vision experience and afterwards asked us how she felt.  All she could come up with to explain her feelings was that she wanted to cry! hahah we explained to her about the spirit and she eventually did start crying and it was cool to help her recognize the spirit as it testified to her of the truthfulness of what we shared.  We have met with her a couple times this week and she is progressing so well!  She committed to baptism on December 17th and is super nervous about family opposition but she is going forward with full faith!  She loves the Book of Mormon and she gets emotional every time she reads it- she's sooo cute. :)  

     One of our recent converts came to church wearing eyeliner this week- he is a boy. 

     We had a crazy week of exchanges!  On Wednesday we had exchanges with the Ely sisters, then exchanges with the Spring Creek sisters on Friday and then we did a blitz with the Elko sisters on Saturday!  There were so many I couldn't keep track of life and I ended up realizing once I had gotten to Spring Creek with Sister Moses that I didn't actually pack pajamas or exercise clothes- luckily her companion was my same size so I just borrowed clothes- ha.  Life.  I've also discovered that I love talking on the phone.. yes. 

     Everyone should go do family history!!!  They are doing a huge convention here in February and so they had us go do some during our zone training this week- the spirit of Elijah is real, my friends.  It was so fun and exhilarating! 

     Ok this is all over the place which I apologize for- but to close I wanted to share something from my studies this morning.  So the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednago... way cool.  They are told to pray to an idol but they refuse.  They are then told that they will be thrown into a fiery furnace.  Instead of giving in with fear they state that they will keep the Lord's commandments and that the Lord will save them.  They have faith that they will be saved BUT if not, they say that they will still serve Him and keep His commandments.  SO MUCH FAITH. Life is good.  I love Jesus Christ and I love this work.  Have a good week!

Love,

Sister Paul