April 21st Letter

HOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ESTA LOCO! Yo tengo dos y media semanas mas en el MTC! It's crazy. Even though I am not yet fluent in espanol, as I never should have expected to be, I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited to be heading out to Sacramento and getting started in the mission field!

The Spanish is coming along really well. As I said, I am nowhere near fluent but I know that will come with time and that the Lord will help me as long as I do my part to study, learn, speak it and live it as much as possible, just like we have to do with the gospel.

Really quickly, I don't know when I am leaving yet but I should be getting my flight plan by the end of this week so heads up for next week! I can't believe how fast this has flown. If the field is going to go by like this, I better be running from door to door and person to person so I have time to be an effective teacher in the Lord's hands!

So because my time at the MTC is coming to an end, you should probably start sending mail to my CA address starting on the 28th or 29th of this month. Okee Dokee?

So I see Elder Bausfield at least 2-3 times a week. We have classes in the same building so it's not uncommon to see him going back and forth between classes and meetings and such! I didn't really know him before but it always is nice to see someone from home and now we are the best of friends who ask questions such as "Hola, Como esta?" "Bien, y usted?" in passing. It's fantastic how much spanish we are using, right?

I was so excited to hear that Brother Ron Scharr? (Couldn't quite make out the spelling in your letter) got baptized. My companions and I are going to write a card for him so if you will please pass it on to him at church on Sunday for us, that would be wonderful!

So I don't think I have told you this but, yes, I am singing in the choir, but don't hate me because we weren't on General Conference, Please! It's a lot of fun. We sing every Tuesday night for Devotional and have practices on Sundays and Tuesdays before dinner. So on Sundays my companions drop me off to go sing for an hour while they go back to the room and take a nap. Yes, believe it, I chose Singing over Sleeping! Anyway, singing with the choir is really a lot of fun, especially since its the biggest choir I have ever sung with that actually can sing the parts, unlike when I was in elementary school! This week we are singing "This Is The Christ" by James E Faust on the Testaments DVD. It's such a beautiful song and I love that it's all about 3 Nephi 11! I'm so excited for Tuesday! One of the best parts about that song is....... I don't have to sing higher than a G and lower than the other G! Go ALTOS!

Wow, I am so glad that I had the desire to serve a mission! This is BY FAR the greatest experience of my life. Every talk, meeting, fireside, devotional, etc... gives me something new to think about and apply to myself as a missionary and to my investigators that I will be teaching. I get so excited to go out to California that I've wanted to jump up, hop on a bus and head out right then and there! It doesn't matter that I don't know Spanish fluently! I know the Lord is going to be there with me every step of the way as long as I am obedient with exactness and focusing on His work and the people I serve.

We watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" again last night and there is a quote in there that I absolutely love and hits me every time I watch it. Joseph Smith is talking to Brigham Young about serving a mission and he says "If a man be truly converted, he will not want to bless his family alone, he will be anxious to bless the whole human race." I LOVE this quote. This work is SO important. It's so important for the world to know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. It is through Christ and Christ alone that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and our families for eternity. His Atonement is infinite, it's for everyone and it's personal. But it's also conditional. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ and do the things that we have been asked to do and use the atonement in our lives when we mess up.

The message of the gospel is really quite simple. Jesus Christ is our Savior and our Redeemer and His church has been restored once again on this earth! I know that I am going to run into some disappointing times on my mission, whether its thousands of doors being slammed in my face or helping someone get so close to receiving the gospel and have them reject it in the end, whatever that disappointment may be, I have promised myself that I am not going to let that get me down! The Lord will provide a way and I will always put my trust in Him. He is my Savior and Redeemer and I know that he lives.

I love you all SO much and you are always in my thoughts and prayers and I know that I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you! Thank You for everything!

Hermana Bradfield!