I don't have a lot to report this week. Just that we have seen miracles. When it rains for 4 days and you keep walking and keep knocking and keep teaching, miracles happen. Hermana Limb and I are the first Spanish speaking missionaries in Goldsboro in several years. Several people, including the bishop, speak Spanish so we do have some member support. We are finding people that are ready for the gospel. We found 2 families to teach and had a 10 year old boy read the pamphlet. We got surprise dinners and had 7 people in our Spanish Gospel Principles class. It was a very good week.  I learned that you get to choose to be happy. Faith is a choice, every single day. It's hard work and it's dirty work. It will make you laugh and it will make you cry.  We all have things to overcome in this life, but life is better with faith. Taking time each day to remember the love of God is so important.

Goldsboro is great. I could see that right away. For some reason I can't stay away from hushpuppies. You can buy them a dozen for a dollar a couple hundred yards from my house.

In order to end on a spiritual note, I wanted to share a 5 minute talk I wrote on the Atonement in preparation for Zone Conference:

"We believe that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel." Let's talk about the Atonement. I once read; 'an attempt to master this doctrine requires an immersion of all our senses, all our feelings, and all our intellect.' I only have 5 minutes, but if you will bring all that to the table, I will do the same.

Put simply, the Atonement was made in order to reconcile man to God. 2 Nephi 9:6-7 says: 

"For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord. Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement." 

In an incomprehensible way, Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, his suffering and death on the cross, and his glorious resurrection opened the way for each one of us to walk back to our heavenly home. That is the Atonement. I only have one question for you now -- Why? Why did He do that?

As Moses said, "I know man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed." We are nothing! From an outside perspective, there is no logical reason for Christ to have gone through all that and given so much to a people that could never pay it back!

It cannot be paid back. It was not meant to be paid back. It was given by the grace and infinite love of God. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Bruce C. Hafen said that, "Christ's atonement is at the very core of this plan. Without his dear, dear sacrifice, there would be no way home, no way to be together, no way to be like Him. He gave us all He had. Therefore, how great is His joy whenever one of us 'gets it'? When we look up from the weed patch and turn our face to the Son." ... He loves us. He loves us! Accepting that love is the first step to accepting the Atonement. That is how we thank Jesus for all He has done -- by accepting His love, remembering His sacrifice, and applying His teachings and Atonement in our lives. Christ's gifts are freely given but they must also be freely received. 

I want each and every one of you to study this topic. The immersion of all your senses, all your feelings, and all your intellect. Anything less will not be enough!

Tad R. Callister stated that, "One does not speak lightly of the Atonement or casually express his appreciation. It is the most sacred and sublime event in eternity." 

Learn about the Atonement. Discover the mysteries of God and pour out your thanks. God loves us. What a beautiful message this is! When I think on the Atonement it moves me to the most intense gratitude and appreciation of which my soul is capable. He lives and because He lives death has no sting, the grave has no victory. We can live with the confidence that comes from knowing God has a plan for us and that he is our loving Father in Heaven.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Con Amor,

Hermana Fletcher