This week marked the beginning of Round 2: Sister Gore vs Gnats. And apparently down this far south/near the coast they bite! Send extra prayers, please and thanks hahaha.

But actually it was such a good week!

On Tuesday we had an awesome lesson with a couple that had been meeting with sister missionaries for a while now. Each time we go I feel a little directionless and unsure about how best to help these individuals to understand and receive the message of the gospel. This week Sister Rowland and I wanted to focus on Jesus Christ and His Atonement. We watched a powerful video about how because of Christ we are not alone, but have access to His strength.  I had opportunity to testify  our purpose as missionaries is to help people become clean from sin and that it is possible for them to receive relief and peace by changing their lives and following their Redeemer.  Each child of God has the ability to choose for himself and must be allowed to do so. Like God, we can only invite, entice, and persuade.

On Wednesday we were on exchanges! I was with Sister M who was actually trained by Sister H, who trained me for a time. I've tried to keep tabs on Sister M throughout my mission and finally serving with her was a blast! I felt like I already knew her. We had an awesome exchange in which we followed up with an investigator whom we had left a copy of the book of mormon with in a previous lesson. This investigator had read almost half of the book in just the short week between our visits! I was honestly floored and so thankful for this individuals hunger for truth.

Saturday was general conference!! Wow that was such a long morning waiting for the session to start. Sister Rowland and I just could hardly focus we were so excited to go and hear from our prophet and apostles! Being able to sustain President Nelson as the prophet was such a powerful experience. I prayed all last week that I would receive confirmation from the spirit that he was called of God during the sustaining and the spirit did carry that truth to my heart. I know he has been prepared his entire life to lead and guide Christ's church today! I love and sustain him.

Sunday was Easter and I had such a sweet morning. We woke and studied our scriptures for an hour. I read in the New Testament  about the morning of the Savior’s Resurrection. I love the angels words, "He is not here, for He is risen.". That simple declaration brings so much peace to my heart. I am thankful for Jesus Christ who, in perfect obedience, descended below all things and overcome death and hell.

Cinnamon rolls for Easter breakfast - we ate on the porch and read an Easter story. Then we got ready and went to the ward building to listen to the morning session of Sundays general conference. It was honestly the most peaceful and restful Sabbath morning of my mission and I am so thankful for it. Sunday afternoon session of conference was something I will never forget. I have rarely received such clear and direct answers to prayers than that afternoon. Laid before me was the course I need to walk and an invitation to draw nearer to God, to always remember Jesus Christ, and to receive the Spirit in fuller measure by increasing our spiritual capacity to receive frequent and clear revelation.

I truly feel that the events of this last weekend will change my life. This is not because I am going to be acted upon by the changes in church ministering, but also because of the actions I will take in response to the outpouring of the Spirit and the will and mind of the Lord as delivered by His servants. I loved President Nelson's invitation to ponder, study, and discuss the conference addresses frequently and repeatedly in the coming 6 month period. I am so eager to do so. 

Now the challenge is to, as an Elder in the ward put it, "keep the pumpedness". Laman and Lemuel forgot. They forgot that they had seen an angel, they forgot the deliverance of the Israelite people from bondage in Egypt, and they forgot that "the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him". Because of their forgetfulness, they fell away from the truth and rejected their Savior and His teachings, also rebelling against their father, the prophet Lehi. Nephi, in contrast, remembered. Because of his remembering, Nephi became a spiritual giant! He conquers evil, has a close personal relationship with Christ, and has faith sufficient to do all things that are required of him. King Benjamin exhorts us to "remember, and perish not". 

Thus is our task. Following a spiritually energizing weekend, we will all return to some of the rote tasks of life. And this is necessary. It is necessary for us to go about our daily lives, for this gives us opportunity to act upon the invitations we have received and to share the light and truth we know with others. Now comes the real test! It is easy to sit and listen and feel the Spirit. It is not as easy to become something new as a result of that sitting and listening. It is our responsibility to remember the words we heard, the poignant feelings of our hearts, and to retain a firm resolve to live a whole-hearted life of discipleship.

I leave you with the words of a powerful hymn, the last we heard in General Conference. I sing this hymn as I wash dishes and it fills me with the Spirit each time: 

Let us all press on in the work of the Lord,
That when life is o’er we may gain a reward;
In the fight for right let us wield a sword,
The mighty sword of truth.

Fear not, though the enemy deride;
Courage, for the Lord is on our side.
We will heed not what the wicked may say,
But the Lord alone we will obey.

We will not retreat, though our numbers may be few
When compared with the opposite host in view;
But an unseen pow’r will aid me and you
In the glorious cause of truth.

Fear not, though the enemy deride;
Courage, for the Lord is on our side.
We will heed not what the wicked may say,
But the Lord alone we will obey.

If we do what’s right we have no need to fear,
For the Lord, our helper, will ever be near;
In the days of trial his Saints he will cheer,
And prosper the cause of truth.

Fear not, though the enemy deride;
Courage, for the Lord is on our side.
We will heed not what the wicked may say,
But the Lord alone we will obey.

-Sister Emma Gore