" all I know is that's true." email, Monday, April 19, 2010

Hola familia mía!!!

¿Cómo están todos? We're doing well! :) I love you guys sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much! :)

I was happy to hear that you got my postcard. :) Did you ever get my Valentine's letter? It was dumb... but I hope you liked it. Volcan Osorno is beautiful isn't it? I am so excited for you guys to see it in real life too. It really is soooo beautiful. It's my favorite out of all the volcanoes that I've seen here. Yes, I did hear about the Volcano that erupted. I didn't know where but I did hear that it had happened. Was there really an earthquake in Utah? Wow! Who HASN'T had an earthquake? Seriously. Interesting, no? :)

Yes, I got my Easter Package and I loved it! You're right, I wouldn't mind recieving another one. Ha ha. Ummm... I could use some socks and some warm, thick tights. It snowed a tiny bit the other day. I have never been so happy to see snow. Ha ha. I don't know what came over me but I was just like a little girl with the first snowfall of the winter with all the urges to build a snowman. :) I was beaming from ear to ear and I just wanted to look up at the sky and just let it fall on my face and into my mouth. ha ha. :) Hmm... what else? Mmm... I don't know. I'm horrible at deciding what I want/ need. Ha ha. You guys know me better than I know myself. I trust you. :) I'm excited for the General Conference CD. :) If you could get the Young Womens conference on there too that would be cool. I loved Elder Uckdorf's talk. :) He talked about Princesses. :) It was really good.

Your comment about the dogs is true and really there are so many times where I know I have been protected by the Lord and I know there are more times than we even realize. I know that the Lord protects us and the people recognize it too. They always make comments. "Ustedes andan tan tarde... ¡¿y nunca les ha pasado NADA?!" Nope. Nada. :) Y nada va a pasar a medida que seamos obedientes.

I was sorry to hear that Grandma hurt her back. Tell her that I love her and that I'm praying for her. Tell Papa that I love him too and that he is also in my prayers. I love them!

I got a letter from Tanner this week. I miss you too bud! You are so awesome! Keep being the kind of person you are. You are an example to all of us! I love all of you my family!! I have the best family in the world! I am SOOOOOO blessed!!!! Good luck Hayley and Morgan with Finals. They are coming up, right? I know you'll do great! Kade, you're adorable! I love you! "Try not to get into too much trouble, okay? He he." :) Mom and Dad, thank you for always teaching me what was right and for always being there for me. Thank you for always bearing your testimonies through not only your words but your actions as well. Thank you thaknk you Thank you for being such amazing parents and for all the love that you have for us and all the sacrifices that you make for us. I love you!So Dallin is making cookies now? :) Mmmmm! Good job Dallin. That's my kind of man. Ha ha. When I come home we will be making lots of those together. I miss chocolate chip cookies. Hermana Lovell makes really good chocolate chip cookies too. But I don't live close anymore. Sad. :) But it's okay because I have been forced to make other delicious more simple treats. :) I have made quite a few grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and the other day I fixed Hermana Guevara a cup of dirt. Ha ha. See was a little horrified... :) But loved it. :) I will be making them again tonight for a family night that we have with an AMAZING family. You guys! This family is a miracle!!!

Okay, so we have been passing by all this Cambio and they didn't really seem interested but kept accepting citas. This is the family that I told you about that I told about Dad with working in the Hospital and changing to be with the family more and how being in a family requires sacrifices... anyway, every time we went to their house (once a week) they just sat there and didn't respond. Only the dad responded and he only let us pass by because "he felt like he had the duty to respect and listen to other religions" (I think also he was hoping that we could help his wife because she was really sad because she had recently had a miscarriage.) But whenever we challenged them to baptism Luis (the dad) put up the defenses and threatened to boot us out of the house. Carmen, the mom, whenever we passed by would just sit there with her head bowed not listening to anything we said and refusing to respond. Carolina, the daughter, always left the house unless Luis forced her to stay. The two little boys would just go over and watch TV while we taught in the entryway at the table. I don't know why we kept going back. Every time we entered, it seemed like we were immediately drenched in the depression of this family. The darkness was so thick and really it was just depressing to enter this house. We had to help this poor family and somehow we just knew we had to get Carmen alone and share something simple and fluffy. And following the spirit, we did it. We shared with her about the Love of God. The next time we passed by, you wouldn't recognize this woman. She opened the door and saw us and burst into a HUGE smile. "¡¡Pasen!!" :) We came into the house and it was clean. It was light. She was also cleaner. She had done her hair and make-up and light shone from her eyes which for the first time looked directly into our own eyes. She invited us to sit down at her table but then her daughter from the sofa (who usually left the house when we came) said, "No, come sit over here. We can all fit over here." She also looked different. Happier. The two little boys came home and kissed our cheeks and sat and talked with us. Before we could invite them to church, they invited themselves. Carolina went to seminary. Luis is still a little protective but he also can't deny the changes he has seen in his family. You should have seen his face when he heard his daughter pray. The whole family (except Luis) came to church yesterday and stayed for the whole three hours. Luis said he would come but the night before family came to visit and were there until morning. When the visitors left, Luis went to bed, but his family got ready and came to church. Imagine the changes in this family. And knowing Luis, he is going to feel so guilty (because he broke a promise) that he will be sure to go next week. Oh! And Saturday night we had an activity about mission work in la Capilla. Three members showed up and so did this family. Amazing, we had more investigators than members there... But it ended up nice because it was more focused in them and we watched a short video about mission work and when asked what their favorite part was... the part when the joven gets baptized. Wow! What a miracle! This family is amazing. We've just got to get Luis a little bit softer and they will become an eternal family!!! I am so excited for them and so thankful that God has blessed us so much. Also, I am so thankful that He has allowed me to witness in such a powerful way the effect that the Gospel has in our families and the power that it really does have to change our lives. I love this Gospel and even more, I love the Savior. I love Him for all of the love He has for us and for His Atoning Sacrifice. The more I learn about it and the more I witness it's power, the more I realize that I don't understand even half of what it means, nor do I understand really how powerful it is. I don't know how it is possible that one could have so much love and compassion and patience... all I know is that's true. That Jesus Christ lives. That His love and power are real. And that "Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows... He was hurt for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquity... and with HIS stripes, WE are healed." I love Him so much.

I love you guys! Have a great week! Talk to you soon! :)

Con mucho amor,

Madi

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