Dear Family scattered all over the place!!
Mom! You made it "back"!! I'm so jealous you get to go to the Women's Conference in Hong Kong! I'm sure it's going to be amazing and a real blast seeing all your best friends :) Please say hi to everyone for me, especially the Finamore/Young family! Jake, I hope you have a good, safe time in Canada! I want to hear all about it :) Adam and Jordan, I hope your day's work in Provo was fun and rewarding. I hope you all have a great Monday!
This week was another good one. Wow, missionary work is so hard but so rewarding. Monday started out great with having Family Home Evening with a used-to-be less active mom and her kids (we only met with her once and she came back herself, WITH her two youngest kids! They haven't missed a week of church since, and have been some of the most faithful members). The husband (not a member) wasn't there, and the oldest daughter wasn't there either. Ye jiemei was really sad when we first got there because she had just gotten off the phone with her teenage daughter who left home and is living a rebellious life and won't tell her parents where she's living. It was so heartbreaking to see Ye jiemei so pained, but it was also really touching to hear her share her testimony with her daughter. I gave her a big hug, and told her to keep having faith and that she'll return eventually. We enjoyed a really fun FHE with another family present and it reminded me the simple joys that come from spending time together as a family, learning gospel principles together. Needless to say, we laughed a lot and Ye jiemei was feeling a LOT better by the time we left :)
I KNOW the power of the Atonement is real and that families can be united together for eternity, but it's no small feat! Faith, repentance and doing the basics (reading the scriptures and praying daily, having weekly family home evening, and attending church each Sunday) are becoming more and more important to me as I see how lacking any of those starts to weaken a family. But at the same time, they're so simple it can be accomplished with diligence and hope that the blessings and spiritual protection willcome as those bricks of faith are placed consistently, one by one, on the foundation of Christ. That's the beauty and simplicity of the gospel.
We've also been teaching a sister named Joyce lately. She has so much faith and can feel the Spirit very easily. It's been such a joy to teach her because she has such a desire to live a righteous life and turn things around. She's had a really rough background and the first question she asked me when I talked to her on the phone was, "I just want to know, why do bad things happen to good people?" The next time we met we helped her know that God loves and knows her, that this life is full of difficult trials (sometimes because of the choices of others), but that God will not let us be tempted above that which we are able, but will provide a way for our escape. We taught her that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that escape, and that with God, we can bear all things. She responded with so much faith and has been developing that faith through prayer and scripture study ever since. She says she's really been feeling more peace in her life as she's been developing her relationship with Heavenly Father through prayer.
I just love this gospel so much. I know it's true with all my heart. It can answer any question, heal any pain and give any honest seeker of truth confidence and assurance. It fills people with hope. I can't imagine my life without it. Mom and Dad, thank you so much for teaching me when I was young. I love you so much, and I love you, Adam, Jake and Jordan, more than I can say. I want to be with you for eternity SO bad, and I can't imagine living in the Celestial Kingdom without any one of you. Please, let's not have any "empty chairs!" I know it takes diligence and faith, but it's worth every sacrifice because life is filled with the sweetest joy that will continue on for eternity. And, as Adam once said, "eternity is a long time." Don't let anything compromise that so we really can live together forever, ok?
All the love a sister and daughter can ever give,
Sister Morey <3
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