8/18/2014 Email

From: Camille Weller [mailto:camille.weller@myldsmail.net]
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2014 11:15 AM
To: Melissa Wheatley;

Subject: Libro de Mormon!!

 Well this week was a great one!! Most of our time was spent visiting the members and working with them, the other part was spent planning the details of the sisters conferences that are this week and also my companion was writing music for the upcoming conference with Elder Anderson, it is so beautiful! she is too talented i tell you! Well i just wanted to touch on a few of the highlights from this week (:

First off i cant tell you all how much i love all of the members here, we talked with a lot of them about how next week is our last and i dont think ive ever teared up so much in my life. The members here are like little baby birds... We dont want to leave them until theyre ready to fly...But you have to let them go eventually...  In the words of sister stone.. "i dont know how im going to fit all of them in my suitcase" (: Love love love love love the members in Chivay. It will definately be the hardest area to say goodbye to. 

This week was a big holiday week in Chivay. It was the anniversary of Arequipa as well as a celebration for the "Virgen Asunta".... So basically it was a three day non-stop party in the streets of chivay... including parades that go ALL day long... from like 5 in the morning til... all night. haha The best part is that we live on mainstreet so guess where all the parades pass?? thats right, right by our windows haha Oh man it was a great week (: 

THis week i finished reading the Book of Mormon in spanish for the first time all the way through... only took me most of my mission(: But i got to reflect on how cool it is that i read it in another language and it still has the same power and spirit to it. I love that book, no matter what language its in. I felt its power and sacredness every time i read it and i know without a doubt that it is a true book. It is the word of God and teaches us the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we take time to read it daily we will come to know more about our Savior Jesus Christ and more about his teachings and our life will be filled more abuntantly with the spirit. We also went to read with one of the members on sunday and she was on Moroni 10.. the last chapter.. so we got to read that with her and finish the book together(: She is so amazing.. the second she finished she flipped back to the first page and said "well lets read it again and see if i can learn some more." Shes so awesome.

We had the most amazing lesson in Gospel principles on sunday.. Stone and I got to prepare and teach a lesson on the atonement.. It was such a spiritual lesson, as it should be. The atonement is something that i thought i knew well before i came on a mission but i´ve realized that im just barely scratching the surface of its deap and powerful meaning. Its something i have tried to study and understand more because i know that it is crucial that we understand and also put into practice what the atonement means and what it can do for us in our lives. We both got to share our testimonies on the atonement, repentance, and forgiveness. We shared a example of how each day we wear a back pack.. and every time we sin we have to put a rock into the bag.. if we wait until the night time or until the next day or until sunday to repent and to be forgiven then our bags are going to get pretty heavy.. The Lord has invited us to not procrastinate our repentance... The second that we realize we are in the wrong or that we have made a mistake he gives us the chance, right then and there, to pray (whether it be silently or in a private setting) and to ask for forgiveness and truly make the decision to change and to not repeat the mistake. If we do that with a pure heart and real intent he will forgive us in that very moment.. He will take out the rocks and make our burden lighter. I know that repentance needs to be a part of our every day life. I know that the atonement works. We can be forgiven and we can be free of guilt and shame through the sacrifice and love that our Savior has for us. People can change.. YOU can change. No matter if it is a small or a big matter, change is possible for each and every one of us. God knows our thoughts.. he knows our intents and if they are good he will give us the power we need to move forward and to make the changes we need to in our lives. Dont give up. Heres some parts from the Gospel Principles book....

 

The Savior atoned for our sins by suffering in Gethsemane and by giving His life on the cross. It is impossible for us to fully understand how He suffered for all of our sins. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the weight of our sins caused Him to feel such agony that He bled from every pore (seeD&C 19:18–19). Later, as He hung upon the cross, Jesus suffered painful death by one of the most cruel methods known to man.

How Jesus loves us, to suffer such spiritual and physical agony for our sake! How great the love of Heavenly Father that He would send His Only Begotten Son to suffer and die for the rest of His children. “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” (John 3:16).

Our sins are our spiritual debts. Without Jesus Christ, who is our Savior and Mediator, we would all pay for our sins by suffering spiritual death. But because of Him, if we will keep His terms, which are to repent and keep His commandments, we may return to live with our Heavenly Father.

It is wonderful that Christ has provided us a way to be healed from our sins. He said:“Behold, I have come unto the world … to save the world from sin.“Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved” (3 Nephi 9:21–22).

We are currently in Arequipa, president  gave us permision to come down here so that we can go and visit some of Sister Stones converts. Tomorrow we get to go to our district meeting... (should be interesting since were used to our district meetings being with 4 people in total.. haha) then wednesday we have the sisters conference here in Arequipa, then we head to Tacna, which is about 6 hours away and have the Sisters Conference there on friday, then we head back to Chivay on Saturday. Should be a pretty crazy week but i am so excited. Sister Stone and i are really hoping that we can help make this conference a spiritual experience and that all the sisters can enjoy the time together. I love the mission people. Best days of my life! (: 

love you all!!! 

Hermana Weller (: