Salvation Is Not A Cheap Experience

applesauce! and peach applesauce!

This week was so sweet. We have been given a ton of apples from members, and we made applesauce! It is so delicious. Then we had the incredible opportunity to have a mission conference in Logan where we heard from the legend himself, Elder Jeffery R. Holland! You would think that being in the Ogden Utah mission, so close to church headquarters in Salt Lake City, that we would be visited by general authorities often, but it has been a few years since an apostle has come to speak to the mission! I feel so lucky and honored to have had the opportunity to listen to his guidance and council. He told us that the mission will change us- we must let it change us. We should not return home to be the same person. The commitments that we make on a mission are for life! We are God's investigators. When we want an investigator to read their scriptures more, God wants us to read our scriptures a little more. When we want our investigators to prepare to make covenants and promises, God wants us to recommit ourselves to the covenants and promises that we have made with Him. He also talked about how important it is that we respect and honor the authority that we have. In the scriptures, missionaries speak with "such power and authority" (Helaman 5:18) and cause "great astonishment" (Helaman 5:19). He said that we must use the power we have been given; Go astonish someone! Cause a personal earthquake! This work is hard and exhausting, because "Salvation is not a cheap experience". The most important work there is to do on this earth is the saving of a human soul. What a privilege to be here in Utah doing just that!

After the conference we had lunch at The Crepery. Ohhhhh boy after having crepes every weekend for most of your life (thanks nana and dad!), then not having them for six months, that was sure a treat! It was the cutest little hipster crepe and coffee shop. We drove around Logan a little bit, saw the beautiful temple, and then went out to Mendon to see some people from Sister Nelson's old area. It is so quaint and simply idyllic out there in Cache Valley. The leaves are starting to turn and we were blessed with a warm sunny day. 

delicious crepe with fresh peaches!

Things are going well in our area. We met with a less active woman who has recently been struggling. She felt as if everything in her life was falling apart, and she had lost hope. Luckily, she said that she still had faith that things could get better, she just didn't know how. She has been afraid to go to church alone, and so she asked us if we would come with her. I am so glad that she felt comfortable to ask us, that she trusts us. I felt so bad talking with her, because I didn't know what we could do to help. We're not marriage counselors, we're not therapists, but we are representatives of Jesus Christ. She knew that we would bring the spirit into her home, and we encouraged her and helped her to know that there is hope. No matter what we are going through now, we can do it with the help of our Savior Jesus Christ. We all have dark days. When the Savior was killed on a Friday, it was a dark and devastating day. But He rose from the grave on Sunday, giving us hope. We all have Fridays, but Sunday will come. And Sunday came for our friend. We walked into church with her, and she was so grateful for the peace and renewal that she received from the sacrament. She told us soon after that things had gotten so much better in just the few days that passed. Everything was looking up, and she had now had hope!

we get the BEST sunsets!

We have been visiting so many sweet families. The people here are so kind and genuine and full of love. Just what we need when we're far from our loving families. I love seeing the power that the gospel has to unite families together. They work together to strengthen and uplift each other, and they do the same things with their friends and neighbors who do not have the gospel. It is a beautiful thing. I am so grateful to be here.

I love you all, and I hope you're smiling!

xoxo

Sister BomanS