Hola, eh?: Mon, May 9, 2016 1:57 pm The Short Answer.

Dear family and friends,

First, I want to say Happy Mother's Day MOM!!!! It was so good to talk to you all yesterday and tell you how much I love you! It is so fun to see how much everyone has changed. I hope I have changed too!:) Change is so good.

So as I was talking to my family, I felt prompted to commit them to memorize something called the 'short answer'. I have been trying to memorize it so I can explain to everyone I meet why we believe the things we do and why we live a certain way. I would like to invite all of you to do this same! Memorize it!! If anyone has any question about the gospel the answer is always the "short answer". Which is this:

"The short answer is this: In 1820, a young man by the name of Joseph Smith went into a grove of trees in upstate New York to pray. He wanted to know which church he should join. There he saw God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Joseph was told he should join none of the churches. But he was told that through him, the Church that Christ had established while He was on the earth would be restored. This restoration would be through a process of revelation." (and it is through revelation that we know . . .)

-Elder Dale G. Renlund.

These are such powerful words that each and every one of us can use to explain our testimonies. I have loved studying more about the Book of Mormon this week and gaining a stronger testimony of it. I know that it is the key to our religion. If the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, he received the priesthood, he received revelation to be able to restore Christ's church on the earth. We are part of Christ's church.

Rosa and Raul's baby Emily

It has been so good to work with Rosa and Raul again. They really are our family. we love them so much! We were able to celebrate Raul's birthday with them and share a lesson about the Atonement. I love how much they are working together to be unified as a family. We also had a lesson with them this week with the Bishop and his wife. Bishop thinks that Rosa is so close to baptism. I love that when the Bishop asked Rosa what her thoughts were on baptism she said, "Well I am still just waiting to feel it." That is the perfect answer. She must feel the truthfulness of the gospel for herself. If she can learn to feel the Spirit now, she will be more prepared and willing to RECEIVE the gift of the Holy Ghost after her baptism. I am so impressed with Rosa and her honest desire to follow God! Rosa and Raul love us so much and want us to come with them to El Salvador next year for a trip...haha that sounds pretty good to me!:)

I just want to ask all of you to keep Rita in your prayers. She is trying so hard to stay close to God, but still so many challenges keep coming up! Pray for her granddaughter too, she was just in a car accident!