August 20th, 2017 Sad news

Hello everyone!

It's been an awesome busy week here in Cambodia but my apartment has been super sad the last 24 hours. President and Sister Christensen came to our apartment yesterday (which never happens) and told Sister Davidson (one of the Vietnamese Sisters) that her grandmother had passed away this week, and my companion's uncle was the only American killed in the recent ISIS attack in Barcelona, Spain. It's such shocking news and our household has been super sad.

I had a lot of time to reflect on what happened yesterday and it makes me so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. From it, we know that death is not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter of our life. We know that our families can be together forever through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and His plan of salvation and everlasting happiness for us. Sometimes, I don't know why bad things happen in the world. Why are there terrorists who want to kill and hurt people? Why would God allow such tragic things to happen to good people? One of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 4:9 which says, "Believe in God ; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." From this I have learned that sometimes we don't understand why things happen. Sometimes we don't understand the plan God has for us or our family. But He has all wisdom, and He loves each and every one of us so much, and because of this we have no need to fear or be sad.

Yesterday when we were all super sad, we told some of the Elders in our district what happened and they came and blessed the sacrament for us so we could stay inside. We sang the sacrament hymn, "As Now We Take the Sacrament" and I held Sister Luke as she cried. It was probably one of the most spiritual experiences I have had on my mission, as I got to see how the Atonement is so amazing and how the sacrament blesses our lives each and every week. I also got to see how the power of the Priesthood is literally on earth the bless the lives of men. So even though this has been a rough time, I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned and how close I have become to my Sisters.