We are constantly changing

Monday...April 28, 2014

Hi Family!!!

WOW can I just say that the other day I realized that we will be skyping in 2 semanitas. I totally forgot until Hermana Money told me on Friday. Wow, is time flying or what. Its killing me on the inside.

The atonement is REAL. The priesthood is real. I don´t quite know or understand how it works, but it DOES. Repentance is real. This week I was yet again reminded of the power of truthfulness of the priesthood! How lucky are we to have the privilege of having a taste of the power of God in our lives? Never be afraid to enjoy the blessings that come from it. We don´t even realize how much Heavenly Father loves us. Regardless of our faults. And through the priesthood we can get a small yet un-describable taste of that love and the plan that He has for each and every-one of us. The atonement CHANGES people. Change and “becoming” is the purpose of this life. Christ is just there with arms out stretched running to us. It’s never too late to turn. Christ truly is the only way we can be happy and feel weightlessness.

I had to teach young womens yesterday, and I really loved it. I love teaching young people. I just love this gospel. I LOVE it. It is sooo true. How lucky am I to have been raised in it. I still can´t wrap my mind around it. Or the fact of how happy I am to be a missionary. At the start of my mission I thought that the mission was maybe only for some people. That thought has changed so much lately. I was just thinking the other day, how are missions NOT for everyone?

I went on another intercambio with Hermana Money! How fun it was to be with her. It was so weird thinking about us back in Tenerife and what the odds were that we got to go on another intercambio again. I love her so much. I am so happy to have such good friends here with me. It is so fun to also see how people change. Well, really how the atonement allows people to perfect themselves. I love being here and learning how to change even the tiniest things to help us try to become perfect even as Christ was.

We had a really sweet lesson with a Spanish lady on a bench who was smoking maria the other day ha.. but I just have complete confidence in the atonement and the strength it gives us as natural men to do all things.

I have really been trying to fix my imperfections lately. I have been trying to suck everything out of the mission life that I can get. I am trying to consecrate myself more than ever before. To understand the spirit more than ever before. To be under the complete influence of the spirit in all moments.

The mission can and will change behavior! But it’s up to us to whether it will change our nature. It’s been something I have been studying lately. I have been studying the enabling power of the atonement and what grace is. I have been praying to understand even more fully the nature of God. I want to come back a changed person. I want to give my alll these next 7 months. The only way that can happen is when you leave all to the Lord and change your heart. You can do a bajillion things every day using all of the strength power, but if your heart is not there, it doesn´t mean ANYTHING. I want to make sure my heart it there. You cannot communicate with God until you have sacrificed yourself. After all, we aren´t here in this life to be ourselves, rather than to perfect ourselves in Christ.

How amazing is it that in Christ our weaknesses can and will be made STRENGTHS.  Our prayers are often answered through the means of other people. That is something I know with all of my heart.

J.M. is doing amazing. He will be baptized on Saturday. He is one of my favorites. I love teaching him because he really just LISTENS. He takes it in. We started to teach him in January and he has come so far. Conference was really the turning point for him. He came for EVERY SINGLE SESSION. #champ. Haha I love him. He is so cool. He is 26 and has changed his life immensely. He is so Christ-like. He came to a JAS (YSL) activity we had and then stayed to help clean the chapel. And THEN he wanted to go with us to visit a less active lady who is sick. We had a cake that we were going to give her for her birthday. He came over to me, grabbed the cake, and was just like VAMOS. Let’s go.

I love you all so much. I hope you know how much God loves you and of the incredible plan he has for you. Don´t forget that! Nothing is impossible when we embrace the light of Christ in our lives. Challenges bring us closer to God.

Hermana Nydegger

PS..KATIE GET YOUR CALL ALREADY. I am dying here hahaha. AH it will come for sure this week!