Sister in Sacramento: The Power of the Atonement

Hola mi familia,

I hope that everyone is doing well this week. Sorry to hear about the cold that seems to be going around, even I seemed to have caught it and I'm not even there!

So my week has been so good, minus the fact that I've been a little sick. That's life though and unfortunately it doesn't stop for you. I am definitely feeling better now though than I was a couple of days ago. My companion was sick first though, although she just kept saying it was allergies, by the time I realized it was a cold that she had it was too late for me to do anything about it. Sigh. I'm just glad it's not anything worse though.

The most exciting thing about this week though was definitely having Elder Neil A. Anderson come speak to us on Saturday. I have always loved hearing his talks in general conference because he is so sweet. He is just as sweet in person, but even more so he has a sense of humor I didn't know he had. It was really cool to get to see that side of him. He talked to us though about the Atonement and how important it is that we have a strong testimony of the Atonement because that is really what is central to our message! As I listened I thought a lot about the role the Atonement has played in my life and how grateful I am for my Savior and his sacrifice for me and for each one of us. He talked about how the the Atonement is a continual learning process and that the more we learn about the Atonement and experience it in our own lives the more we will become converted to the gospel and have that desire to share the message of Jesus Christ with those around us.

I thought a lot about how the understanding of the Atonement I have gained in my own life is one of the main reasons I am serving a mission to day. As I think about my own life I can definitely see the correlation between my understanding and use of the Atonement and my desire to serve God and His children. Now I didn't think it would be in this capacity but I had definitely been asking for opportunities to serve and bless His children and he answered my prayer by telling me that if I really wanted to serve him and prepare myself for a lifetime of service then I needed to serve a mission. The Atonement truly is amazing and so are God's prophets!

Even though at times it is difficult and I wish that I could sleep in my comfortable bed and see my family and friends, I know that it is worth it. It is worth it for my life and for the lives of those I will touch in Sacramento. I know that this gospel is true and I am so happy for this time I have at the MTC to really prepare myself to go to Sacramento and teach. I also really hope that each one of you will look and ask for those opportunities to serve those around you. I know that if you do your lives will be blessed more than you can comprehend.

So the second best thing about my week is that our first investigator (no we do not teach real investigators, thank goodness) became my afternoon teacher this week. Wahoo! Our whole district loved him as our investigator and we are so excited to have Hermano Cayetano as our teacher. It was definitely a tender mercy of the Lord after the week I'd been having.

Anyway I love you all and I hope that everything is going well. You are all in my prayers!

Happy Days!

Love,

Hermana Carpenter

P.S. they have nutella to put on toast every night at dinner which is great if you want it with toast, however I have made it a tradition to have just a plain ole big spoonful of it for dessert each night (they usually serve dessert at lunch which is good, usually, but by dinnertime I am definitely needing something sweet and chocolaty and it just hits the spot!)