Truly Converted!

Hola Todos! 

What a wonderful week it's been!  To start off I wanted to tell all of you how much I love you.  Each and every one of you have impacted my life in one way or another and I thank you for that.  

Ana, Pearl, and Precious got baptized on Saturday!  What a wonderful experience that was to witness. They truly are converted to the Lord. Two members from our branch got to baptize them.  Brother Alvarez is a returning less active and Brother Sanchez is a Priest and this was the first time baptizing someone for both of them and they were so excited!  It was a wonderful day.  After their baptism Pearl and Precious both got up and bore there testimonies. It was an amazing experience to get to hear them share with us what they believe to be true and how they got to that point in their lives.  I am glad to be able to be a part of that and witness the changes that I saw them make.  On Sunday they got confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and before Sacrament all three of them were talking about who was going to receive the Holy Ghost first because they were so excited!  Pearl also received a calling to be a primary teacher and she is so so excited about that! They are all wonderful and I love them so much.  Jason, one of Pearl's sons, turns 8 years old this week and will be getting baptized on June 11th!  All of us are super excited for him.  He tells everyone of his friends about it and wants them all to come.  He keeps telling us to go see all his friends families and share the Book of Mormon with them because he wants them all to know about it!  So we are teaching a lot of families in that apartment complex.  It's the best!  Every time we go there all the kids outside come running up to us and give us the biggest hugs!  I love being a missionary! 

We have definitely had a busy week and this upcoming week will be even busier!  I get the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Lead Sister Training Leaders in San Antonio and I'm so excited to learn from them!  Also I get to attend my first MLC meeting (Mission Leadership Council) and I'm excited for that too!  It has been wonderful to learn so many new things from being a Sister Training Leader.  I truly feel like my Heavenly Father wanted to teach me things that I didn't know before and I'm definitely still learning.  I will be excited to share more about both of these things next Monday!

I wanted to share an experience we had this week meeting a new investigator. We were walking down the side of the road and both Sister Landon and I were talking about something and we see this man sitting outside on his porch looking around.  We looked at each other and smiled and both started walking towards him.  He looked right at us and immediately his countenance changed.  We greeted him politely and then introduced ourselves.  He was excited to hear about what we had to say.  As we talked to him for a minute to get to know him better we felt impressed to share a video with him about faith.  As we showed this video he began to cry. Tears rolling down his face he said to us, "My relationship with God is not that great right now.  Could you sisters help me gain that back?" He told us a little bit more about his family and how he cares about them so much and wants them to be happy.  This mans name is Luis Cardenas.  We scheduled another appointment to meet with him and his family this week.  I know this work is God's work.  He put us in his path that night so that we could meet him.  God is preparing his children and miracles are happening!

Isabelle is doing so well.  She is reading the Book of Mormon and is understanding it. Yesterday we had the opportunity to talk about the apostasy and why we needed a restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We also talked about Prophets and Apostles and invited her to read a talk from this past General Conference.  We are excited to see her progressing and making changes in her life.  

We have definitely had a wonderful week.  It officially now gets to 100 degrees or higher every day and I'm sweating like a pig all the time, but it's so worth it!  I wanted to share with y'all a couple things before I end my email for this week. 

Elder William Walker of the Seventy shared this experience:

“One day I was waiting outside the First Presidency boardroom. I had been invited there to take part in a meeting to discuss temple matters. I sat quietly outside the room alone. I thought the First Presidency was already meeting and that I would be invited to join them in a few minutes. As I sat there, I could hear someone walking down the hall whistling.

I thought to myself, someone doesn't understand proper protocol. You don't go walking around whistling outside the office of the president of the church. A moment later, the whistler walked around the corner. It was President Monson.

He was happy, and he was positive. He greeted me warmly and said, I guess we'll start the meeting in a couple of minutes. Even with the weight of the whole church on his shoulders, he is an example of happiness. And he always has a positive attitude. We should be that way.”

President Monson wrote:

“So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment.  We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.”

Here are three suggestions that contribute to a positive attitude.

1. Count Your Blessings – If we will periodically reflect on our blessings it will help us have a positive attitude. Remember the words of the hymn:

When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings; name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

Gratitude helps us have a positive attitude.

2. Agency determines attitude - When Elder Dale G. Renlund spoke to our mission, he spoke of the importance of a positive attitude. He even admitted that having a positive attitude was a challenge for him.  He taught that attitude is a matter of choice.  Agency allows us to determine what our attitude will be.  He promised great blessings if we will be diligent in our efforts and positive in our attitudes.

3. Be of service to others – Few things will lift our spirits and improve our attitude more than lifting others.

President Monson taught, “To find real happiness, we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves. No one has learned the meaning of living until he has surrendered his ego to the service of his fellow man. Service to others is akin to duty, the fulfillment of which brings true joy.”

“The Savior taught His disciples, ‘For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.’

I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives.  I hope that we may all chose to have a positive attitude in life.  We will be happier when we do so.  I love y'all!  I hope you have a wonderful week!

Con Amor,

Hermana Mann 

Baptism this Saturday!

Hola Todos!

What another wonderful week to be here in the great Texas San Antonio Mission!  I am grateful to be here in Carrizo Springs with these wonderful people!  We have been working hard this week to find those who are prepared to receive the gospel.  We've been focusing on family history and introducing that to people and it's been awesome!  I'm learning a lot!  The family is central to God's plan.  Because of the Restoration we understand God's purpose for families.  The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave.  Sacred ordinances and covenanats available in Holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.  Isn't that wonderful! 

On earth, family associations can be the source of some of our greatest joy. Satan is attacking the family on many fronts, through divorce, drugs, violence, bad peer influence, cheating, etc and too many families are being destroyed by his efforts. The message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ makes it possible for families to be united now and in eternity.  By living the principles of the gospel, families can experience peace, joy, and a sense of belonging and identity in this life.  Through the light of the gospel, families can resolve misunderstandings, contentions, and challenges.  Families torn by discord can be healed through repentance, forgiveness, and faith in the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities” (Ensign, Nov. 1995). "The most important of the Lord's work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home".  -President Harold B. Lee. Live the gospel principles.  Teach your kids and family members God's plan that he has for them.  It brings families true happiness.  I have met so many families on my mission who are looking for this happiness.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is where they can find that.  When they truly have the desire to follow God and his commandments then he promises us that true Joy and happiness.  

On that note Pearl, Anna, and precious's baptism are this Saturday May 27th!  We are so excited for them.  They are doing so well!!  I love them so much.  This week we had the wonderful opportunity to start doing their family history with them and it got Pearl and Anna so excited to know they could go to the temple after they get baptized and do work for their ancestors.  Hopefully we will get to go with them in a couple weeks so they can take their own names to the temple!  Also on June 3rd Jason (one of Pearl's sons) is turning 8 and is getting baptized.  He is so excited, still reading the kids Book of Mormon stories.  Every time he sees us at their apartment complex he comes running to us asking if he can help us with missionary work!  So cute.  He's going to be a wonderful missionary one day!

We were able to get in contact with the Longoria family again this week and had a lesson with them on eternal families and invited them to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon as a family each night in order to prepare to become an eternal family.  We are excited to see what they learn from reading together.  

Mary Treviño is one of our new investigators.  She has met with missionaries in the past but decided to not continue meeting with them but when we knocked on her door she really wanted us to come back the next day and meet with her.  When we did she had expressed to us some of the things that the Elders had taught her in the past and wanted to learn more at this time.  Way to go Elders for planting the seed!  She expressed how lost she feels and just wants to find peace and joy in her life.  We shared the restoration with her and she liked how much she relates to Jospeh Smith and so we invited her to pray to Heavenly Father and ask him for help and guidance in her life.  She gladly accepted the invitation and we are excited to go back tomorrow and see how that's going.  

In District meeting this week there were a lot of wonderful testimonies and trainings given.  I learned a lot about asking inspired questions to our investigators more in lessons while using the scriptures to help them.  Here is an example of what I came up with during district meeting. 

In Moroni 10:3-5 it says

3. Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Search question: What does the Lord ask us to do? 

Analysis question: What sort of feeling would you expect to feel as you pray? 

Application question: In order to receive these feelings of peace and joy will you pray and ask God if the things we have taught you today are true? 

It has been amazing to see how asking better questions in lessons helps our investigators really think and have the opportunity to feel the Spirit witness to them that what we are teaching is true.  We got to teach Isabelle and her girls a lesson about the covenants/promises that we make at baptism this week. It was a really good lesson.  When we are baptized we make a promises with our Heavenly Father.  These promises are CTR (Commandments: keep them all, Take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ: trying to be like Jesus, and Remember him always).  He promises us that when we do these things we will always have the Holy Ghost to be with us (the Shield). 

It has been a wonderful week!  I know that as we follow the simple principles of the Gospel we will be happy as individuals and as families. Keep being strong, stay safe!  I hope y'all have a wonderful week!  I love you.

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Mann  

Mother's are the BEST!

Hola todos!

Today is transfer day!  GOOD NEWS is that Sister Landon and I are both staying here in Carrizo Springs.  We love the border!  So many great things happened this week and will be happening this next transfer!  I also received a call last night from our Mission President asking if I would accept the assignment to be a Sister Training Leader down here at the border.  I'm so excited and grateful for this opportunity!  I am also a little nervous but I know the Lord will help lead, guide, and teach me through this experience.  I am grateful I get to work with the sisters down here. They are all so wonderful!

What a wonderful week it has been.  We saw so many milagros!  I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to talk to my wonderful family yesterday...especially my mother.  I love her and I'm so grateful to know that I can be with her forever.  Thank you for all that you do for me mom!  I miss and love you! 

First I want to talk about Pearl, Anna, and Precious.  I love that family so much!  We had a lesson with them on Tuesday and our branch president went with us.  When we went over Anna said her and Pearl had watched a mormon video about Priesthood blessings.  Anna got a little emotional and said, "Can we get a blessing to help us stop smoking?"  After our lesson both Anna and Pearl received a blessing.  Later on in the week we had another lesson with them and Pearl said they both completely stopped smoking and didn't have any desire anymore (milagro)! Anna also told us she wants to be baptized with Pearl and Precious on the 27th!  Precious also told us this week that she had finished reading the kids Book of Mormon and now her brother Jason is reading it.  He told us he took it to school and showed all his friends and said it was an awesome book!  Jason is turning 8 on June 2nd and wants to get baptized on June 3rd.  We are super excited for that family!  

Last week I had mentioned that we met some new investigators.  Pearl introduced us to one of her friends named Isabelle.  She has 6 kids and we have been meeting with her, and she also came to church yesterday on her birthday!  She loved church and so did all of her girls.  We are excited to continue teaching her!

Gloria Santoya is another one of our new investigators.  We knocked on her door last week.  She let us right in and we taught her the restoration.  She invited us back this week and we also met her boyfriend Art who was super excited to meet us.  We taught them about eternal families and it was a really good lesson.  We are also so excited to continue teaching them.  Gloria loves learning from the Book of Mormon.  Wow the Lord is preparing his children! 

Kris Poff is doing so well.  She is so excited to be baptized soon.  She loves sharing what she is learning with her husband Jim and his heart is being softened.  It is awesome to see Kris learn and grow and receive answers to her questions.  I love the gospel!  It is all true! 

We had an awesome lesson with Anthony Hernandez, who is a less active in the branch. His girlfriend and mom (who are non members) joined in the lesson that we had with him and it was really awesome.  We got to teach the restoration and Anthony even bore his testimony to his girlfriend.  He also came to church yesterday!  

On Saturday we  had the wonderful opportunity to go to a Spanish conference in San Antonio.  It was amazing!  I am learning so much from those.  Im not sure we will have any more of them but I'm so glad I was able to attend the 2 that they had.  We have been applying what we are learning in our area and it's working so well! 

So many miracles are happening in this area and I can't wait to continue to serve here and meet those who the Lord is preparing! 

I would like to end my email today by sharing some thoughts with y'all.  In 1 Nephi 15:2–11. “hard in their hearts” was the phrase I pondered and studied this week. 

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles discussed how a hard heart limits our spirituality:  “Nephi attempted to teach his brothers that they could know the meaning of their father’s prophetic utterances, ‘which were hard to be understood, save a man should inquire of the Lord’ (1 Ne. 15:3). Nephi told them if they would not harden their hearts and would keep the commandments and inquire of the Lord in faith, ‘surely these things shall be made known unto you’ (1 Ne. 15:11).

“If we harden our hearts, reject continuing revelation, and limit our learning to what we can obtain by study and reason on the precise language of the present canon of scriptures, our understanding will be limited to what Alma called ‘the lesser portion of the word’ (Alma 12:11). If we seek and accept revelation and inspiration to enlarge our understanding of the scriptures, we will realize a fulfillment of Nephi’s inspired promise that those who diligently seek will have ‘the mysteries of God … unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost’"

The Prophet Joseph Smith explained that not only could Laman and Lemuel know the things Nephi and his father knew, but that this principle applies to us as well.

I want to leave a question for y'all to ponder on this week. How can you use Nephi’s example of inquiring of the Lord to make inspiration and revelation a more important part of your life?

I love y'all!  I hope you have a wonderful week!  Be safe.

Con amor,

Hermana Mann 

Muchos Milagros!!

Hola Todos!

            What a week it’s been!  It was super busy….y tuvimos muchos milagros (we had a lot of miracles). I can’t believe I hit 15 months on Wednesday!  Time flies when you’re doing the Lord’s work.
            This week we had the wonderful opportunity to go to San Antonio and have Zone Conference.  There were so many wonderful trainings given on how we can work better with members! We've seen so many wonderful miracles happen by applying the things that we learned!  I love member
missionary work!  One miracle that happened this week happened on Sunday.  We had 15 investigators at church because of the fellowship that they have from the branch!  It was wonderful to see all our
investigators at church and enjoy all the testimonies that were given.  Another miracle that happened came towards the end of Sacrament meeting.  There was a moment of silence and then all the sudden I see Precious (one of Pearl’s daughters) walk up and bare her testimony.  She wrote it down and read it off to us at the pulpit.  It was the sweetest thing ever and the spirit was so strong. She has learned so
much and grown so close to her Heavenly Father.  To see her understanding the gospel at a young age is such a blessing and miracle to see.  I’m so excited for her and Pearl to get baptized in a couple weeks!  They are so ready.  I just love them!  Anna, Pearl’s mom, is doing so well too.  The whole family is willing to give up everything to follow Jesus Christ and His example and I love seeing them
understand the Gospel better each time we go over and teach them.  Precious said the closing prayer with us in one of our lessons that we had this week.
            Another miracle that happened was on Sunday morning as well.  We were texting some of our investigators and got an impression to text Anna Flores, one of our other new investigators, and invite her family to church.  She had said she was planning on it but that morning her house flooded from her toilet.  We hurried and put our shoes on and headed right over to help her.  When we arrived there was water everywhere. We spent a good couple hours drying things out and Anna turned to us and thanked us and thought it was crazy that we happened to come at the time she needed help (milagro).  Her and her family came to church with us that morning and loved it (milagro).                                                                                                                       I had the wonderful opportunity to go on exchanges with my awesome Sister Training Leader Hermana Newman (who was one of my first companions) In Eagle Pass. It was so wonderful to get to serve with her again for a day.  She has grown so much since the beginning of our mission and I loved being able to learn from her and am so excited to apply the things she taught me.  She is a wonderful missionary and I
just love her so much!   We taught so many lessons in Spanish together and had the wonderful opportunity to do service and help someone move.  She's in a biking area so we spent the day biking and it was the greatest thing because we got to talk to so many people and also got chased by some wild dogs which was the funniest experience of my life.  I’m glad to say we're ok.
            It’s getting hotter here and all the Scorpions are coming out again!  I’m glad I wear shoes all the time but it’s crazy to see some people walk around with no shoes.
            We got to have an awesome lesson with the Sanchez family (one of the less active families that we're working with). We played a game with them that related to the lesson that we wanted to share with them and
they loved it.  I’ve seen by having an object lesson people seem to understand and pay attention more which is awesome.  Sister Sanchez shared her testimony multiple times with us throughout the lesson and it was great!  Their family really wants to make it back to church.  I’m super excited to continue meeting with them.
            We saw so many more miracles throughout the week.  We met a couple of new investigators that I will hopefully talk about next week. The Longoria family is doing well.  We got to have a wonderful lesson with them this week and one of the members from our Branch came with us. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and they loved it and were so into it.  Sadly they didn't come to church this Sunday but hopefully they can make it this week.  Kris Poff is doing so well.  She has quit drinking tea as well as smoking and is loving being a missionary to her husband Jim and sharing with him everything that she is learning!  She’s so awesome!
            I wanted to end my email this week by sharing a thought from my studies.  In 2 Nephi 2:11–14 - there really is opposition in all things.   President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, explained that opposition helps us grow stronger; “Life will not be free from challenges, some of them bitter and hard to bear. We may wish to be spared all the trials of life, but that would be contrary to the great plan of happiness, ‘for it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things’ (2 Nephi 2:11). This testing is the source of our strength”
            President Ezra Taft Benson explained that opposition provides choice; “Opposition provides choices, and choices bring consequences good or bad.  The Book of Mormon explains that men are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil (2 Nephi 2:27).  God loves us; the devil hates us. God wants us to have a fullness of joy as He has. The devil wants us to be miserable as he is. God gives us commandments to bless us. The devil would have us break these commandments to curse us.  Daily, constantly, we choose by our desires, our thoughts, and our actions whether we want to be blessed or cursed, happy or miserable”.
            Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles commented on how opposition relates to happiness: “Indeed, without the existence of choices, without our freedom to choose and without opposition,
there would be no real existence. This is so much like Lehi’s metaphor of how, in the absence of agency and opposites, things would have resulted in a meaningless, undifferentiated ‘compound in one’ (2 Nephi 2:11). In such a situation the earth would actually have ‘no purpose in the end of its creation’ (2 Nephi 2:12).  It is a fact that we can neither grow spiritually nor thereby be truly happy unless and until we make wise use of our moral agency”.
            I know that opposition can make us stronger.  Opposition really does provide choices.  May we choose to be patient, know our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and we can do this!  I know that our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and find joy and peace in this life.  We can learn and grow thought the opposition and challenges in our lives.  I love y’all!  Keep being strong!
            I’m so excited for Mother's Day on Sunday!  Everyone give my mom big hugs from me and tell her I love her!  I hope y’all have a wonderful week.  Be safe!

Con Amor,
Hermana Mann

The Plan of Happiness is found when living the Gospel!

Hola Todos!

I can’t believe it’s already May 1st!  What a wonderful time it is to be able to be serving in Carrizo Springs.  I love the people here so much (like I do in every area I serve).  Pearl and Anna and the kids are all doing so well.  Pearl, and one of her daughters Precious, have decided they want to be baptized on May 27th!   We are so excited for them.  Anna is taking a little bit more time to quit smoking and really wants to make sure she is ready.  They are all so willing to learn and grow.  Somehow in one of our lessons with them this week tattoos and piercings got brought up and Pearl has a couple extra piercings.   As soon as we talked about not having more than one piercing Pearl looked at Anna and said "Ok" and took them out.   They have really been doing awesome! 

We had a miracle happen this week!  Pearl’s oldest son J3 (Juan) was outside playing basketball in front of their apartment.  We haven't been able to talk to him much because he's rarely ever home when we go by.  I told my companion that we should go over and talk to him.  As we approached him I said, "J3 I would like to challenge you to a game of HORSE and If I win we get to share a message with you (he is a really good basketball player).  Well, I won, and we got to share a message about prayer (miracle).  He told us that his family is the most important thing to him in his life and he really wants to be there for them and do everything he can to make them happy!  It was a spiritual moment as he opened up to us about that.  I’m excited that now we have a good relationship with him and that he was able to feel the spirit.  We invited him to start having daily prayer and he agreed!   Thank you Lord for helping me win that game of basketball (miracle)! 

We got to have a lesson with Kris Poff and as we were answering her questions we were able to review every point of the restoration with her more in depth and she really wants her husband Jim to be open to hearing our message.  We gave her a copy of the restoration video so they could watch it together and she was so excited.  She has also been doing so well and loving family history!

Last week we met some new families that we are excited about.  We were able to have a lesson with our new investigators The Longoria family ( Nufo and Jeanette Longoria and their 3 kids).  We met them street contacting and when we went by again for our return appointment they let us right in and we were able to teach them the restoration and they were so into it!  We are so excited for them to start reading in the Book of Mormon.  We have also been trying to use our members of the branch more so we can get immediate fellowship for them in the Branch when they come to church! We love member missionary work! 

I had a wonderful exchange with Sister Ferrell this week.  I learned a lot from her new ideas that I want to apply in my area.  She really is a wonderful missionary!   We had district meeting this week and I got to see one of my wonderful past companions, Hermana Newman!  Man I miss her.  It’s the best feeling when you get to reunite with a past companion.  She is now my Sister Training Leader!  I always love learning from my leaders and I can’t wait to go on exchanges with her!  They are so inspired.  We had some wonderful trainings given on how to work better with members and also on Faith, Hope, and Charity.  I hope to continue learning more about those things in my own studies

Church was awesome!  We got asked last minute to teach sharing time in Primary!  It was the best and brought back so many wonderful memories of teaching primary back home!  I sure do miss my primary kids!  It was a lot of fun.  We taught the song "If The Savior stood beside me" and the kids loved it!  It was the best!

I have been studying more about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ ties in with the Plan of Salvation. The Plan of Salvation is the Fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The plan has always been to gain eternal life with Heavenly Father and the Gospel is how we accomplish that.  We are physically separated from God during life on earth, but He wants every one of His children to find peace in this life and a fullness of JOY in His presence after this life. He wants us to become like unto Him.  

One important way God shows his love for us is by calling Prophets, who are given the Priesthood - the power and authority given to man to act in God’s name for the salvation of His children.  Prophets learn the gospel of Jesus Christ by revelation.  They in turn teach the gospel to others and testify of Jesus Christ our Savior and the Plan that God has for us.  

Our Father’s Plan for us to be successful in this life and to return to live with Him is called The Gospel of Jesus Christ, with Jesus' Atonement at the center of that plan.  Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receive eternal life if we exercise faith in him, repent, are baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end.  How great the plan of our God is!  2 Nephi 31:19-20 

Elder Bednar taught that the Coming unto Christ (living the gospel) requires a lifetime of pressing forward in consistent obedience: "Coming unto Christ isn't a single event with a fixed point of beginning or ending; rather, it is a process that develops and deepens during a lifetime.  As an initial step in the process, we certainly must obtain knowledge and learn about Jesus Christ and His life, teachings, and ministry.  But truly coming unto Him also requires consistent obedience and striving to become like Him in our thoughts, motives, communications, and actions.  As we press forward on the pathway of discipleship, we can draw near unto the Savior with the expectation that He will draw near unto us; we can seek Him diligently. With the Hope that we shall find Him; we can ask with confidence that we shall receive; and we can knock anticipating that the door shall be opened unto us. FOLLOW THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRSIT, PRESS FORWARD, AND TRUST HIM!”   Alma 41:10 

Many people try to find happiness and fulfillment in activities that are contrary to the Lord’s commandments.  Ignoring God’s plan for them, they reject the ONLY source of real happiness.  They give into the devil, who seek that all men might be miserable like unto himself.  As you seek to be happy, REMEMBER that the only way to real happiness is to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  You will find peaceful, eternal happiness as you strive to do so. The Lord’s plan is for you and I to find peace in this life and a fullness of Joy forever!  Start by having faith. I hope y’all have a wonderful week! I love you!

Con Amor,

Hermana Mann