Howdy!

Happy Monday Y'all!

    This week was a good week! On Monday we went to yoga and then did all
of our P-day stuff.  That night we went to the Burris' for family
night.  Every Monday one of the families in our ward holds a group
family night for all those in our ward who want to attend!  We went and
some other families were there too.  We had a lesson given by brother
Burris on faith (which was really good) and then we all ate some food
and got to talk with some of our members, and I got to know them a
little bit better since I'm newer to this area.
    Tuesday our Ward Mission Leader's daughter came out with us and we
went on splits!  We started something called #teamuptuesday with the
youth in our ward and every Tuesday we take a youth out to come with
us!  It was great!  We stopped by a couple of less actives homes and stopped
by a recent convert's house, Venida Smith (she got baptized back in
April of this year). We had a really good visit with her and talked a
lot about family history work.  She is going on a temple trip this
week with some of the members from our ward and we are so excited for
her!!
    Throughout the rest of the week we had district meeting and Hermana
McCarty gave her last training on Enduring to the End!  She did a
really good job!  I will miss her a lot.  Pricila Garcia, one of our
investigators, was out of town this week so we weren't able to meet
with her, but we are hoping to this week and invite her to be baptized!
We went and visited a lot of less active's including Sister Brito.  We
had stopped by a couple times but she was never home, but we finally
got in contact with her and were able to visit with her for a little
while, and share a message with her!  She has such a cute family and
is very sweet!
    We went to Walgreens this week to pick up some medication and
something awesome happened!  As we were checking out the cashier asked
us what religion we were from.  We explained to her who we were and we
talked with her for a little bit!  She sounded interested and hopefully
we can stop by her house this week and talk with her more (Miracle).
    On Saturday we drove Hermana McCarty to San Antonio to drop her off
because she is heading home today!  Her mission is complete!  It was
hard seeing her leave but I know she will continue to be a missionary
the rest of her life and I was blessed to get to be her companion for
these last 2 weeks!  Sunday was a really good day because we got to go
to church!!  It was fast Sunday so it was also testimony meeting!  I
felt like I needed to go up and bare my testimony so I did!  During
sacrament the spirit was so strong!  Then we went to temple prep class
because we have some members in our ward who are preparing to go to
the temple by the end of next month!  We helped teach the class, which
was great because I love talking about the temple!!  We are so excited
for these members to get to go soon!
    This week I read through President Monson's talk from this past
General Conference in April 2016 and I wanted to share some of it with

all of you because I loved it so much!
   

Choices:
By President Thomas S. Monson
(April 2016)

Brothers and sisters,

I have been thinking recently about choices. It has been said that the
door of history turns on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. The
choices we make determine our destiny.  When we left our premortal
existence and entered mortality, we brought with us the gift of
agency. Our goal is to obtain celestial glory, and the choices we make
will, in large part, determine whether or not we reach our goal.  Most
of you are familiar with Alice in Lewis Carroll’s classic novel
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You will remember that she comes to
a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in
opposite directions. As she contemplates which way to turn, she is
confronted by the Cheshire Cat, of whom Alice asks, “Which path shall
I follow?”  The cat answers, “That depends where you want to go. If
you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you
take.”  Unlike Alice, we know where we want to go, and it does matter
which way we go, for the path we follow in this life leads to our
destination in the next life.  May we choose to build up within
ourselves a great and powerful faith which will be our most effective
defense against the designs of the adversary--a real faith, the kind
of faith which will sustain us and will bolster our desire to choose
the right. Without such faith, we go nowhere. With it, we can
accomplish our goals.  Although it is imperative that we choose
wisely, there are times when we will make foolish choices. The gift of
repentance, provided by our Savior, enables us to correct our course
settings, that we might return to the path which will lead us to that
celestial glory we seek.  May we maintain the courage to defy the
consensus. May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier
wrong.  As we contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each
day--whether to make this choice or that choice--if we choose Christ,
we will have made the correct choice.

    I would like to end this email with my testimony of our Savior.
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God and He lives. I know
that He sustains, with all His might and power, the Father’s plan. I
know that President Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet. He holds all
the keys to successfully carry out God’s work on the earth. I know
that if we choose to make the harder right instead of the easier wrong
decisions in our lives our Heavenly Father will bless us. I know this
church is true.  In the name of Jesus Christ amen.

I hope y'all have a great week!!

Con Amor,
Hermana Mann