FAMILIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hola:)
It is so good to hear from you all!
Those pictures of the canal were crazy! I bet it's
so green and beautiful from all the rain. That's so fun that Marshall and
Stella have been with you guys for the past few days. Poor Norm though. I will
be praying for him!
Sounds like you are all doing great! I love
hearing about all your lives and activities, it makes me feel like I´m home
with you guys:)
This week has been great! It's so strange that I
only have a week and a half left here. Sometimes it feels like I've been here
forever and sometimes it feels like I just got here! But this past week was
very eventful. It was Mexico's Independence Day this past Monday, and to
Celebrate we had "Mexican Night" on Saturday night and it was so
fun!! The Mexican culture is so rich and vibrant, I love it! I´ll send some
pictures of the night. It was great. And then on Sunday night we watched the
President of Mexico do the "Grito de Delores" (spelling? No se). It
is basically a remembrance of the cry of independence of Mexico from Spain. And
when the president does the "grito" or "yell", he says
"Viva..." and then something else, and then the crowd answers
"VIVA!!"! And we got to do that and it was so fun and awesome. It was
cool to see that other countries have a lot of pride and patriotism in their
country, just like we do in ours. I felt blessed to be at the CCM to celebrate
Mexican Independence Day! It was awesome and such a cool experience.
The biggest lesson I learned this week was about the
Atonement.
I´ve always known what it is and what Jesus did for us, but I never
really understood that it applies directly and personally to me. He not only
suffered for the sins, pains and sicknesses of the world, but He suffered for
the sins, pains and sicknesses of me. He suffered for my sins, my pains, and my
sicknesses. All my life I´ve always said that Christ has atoned for us, but I
never really understood that it was for me. And when you start teaching people
this concept of Jesus atoning for us, you realize that the Atonement wasn´t
Jesus just suffering this general pain for the entire world, it was for each of
us, individually. That´s why he knows us better than we know ourselves.
That´s why he knows how to "succor his
people" (Alma 7:11). Because he atoned for each of us personally. He knows
exactly how we feel, all the time. He knows our guilt, our pain, our suffering,
because he did it all, for each of us. The Atonement is truly a beautiful
thing. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ, my Savior.
I challenge all of you, if you haven´t already, to really apply the
Atonement into your life personally. Not just once and awhile, but every day.
Let the Atonement wash you clean of guilt, let it comfort you in times of
hardship, let it lead you forward in life when you feel like you can´t go on.
The Atonement cannot work within us unless we let it!
Another thing I learned this week is how to more
able discern between your own thoughts and promptings of the Holy Ghost. You
know what Elder Bednar said about this?
"QUIT WORRYING ABOUT IT." He
said that if you are living righteously and trying your best to follow Christ,
those promptings will come, whether you realize it or not. When you are
striving to do what's right, your thoughts and the Holy Ghost's promptings will
be on the same wavelength:) Not that every thought you have is from the Holy
Ghost, but you know what I mean.
Anyways, I´ll answer your questions now, Mom!:)
1. Hermana Lui´s name is: Eleni Faylani. Pretty,
huh? Tongans are the coolest.
2. The one thing I would really love for my
birthday is just a little photo album:) I realize I talk about you all alot and
it would be nice to be able to show off my beautiful, amazing family:) And it
would be great to have a few pictures of me and my friends!
3. No, not all of our meetings on Sunday are in
Spanish. Relief Society is always in English, and district meeting and
Sacrament meeting are in Spanglish. We are to prepare a five minute talk in
Spanish every week on a certain topic and then on Sunday a few of us are picked
to speak. I was chosen to speak in district meeting this past Sunday. It was on
faith and I did it all in Spanish! There was one point where I was
talking/reading from my paper (in Spanish) about you guys and I got a little
bit teary. And then I couldn't read my paper because I couldn't see through my
tears, (haha) so that was a little embarrassing! But it was great.
Oh by the way, I LOVE SPANISH! It´s such a fun,
beautiful language. I´m getting pretty good at understanding it. We talk to the
workers on campus and try to get referrals from them, and I can usually hold a
basic conversation with them (if they talk slow)! It's so fun!
Give my little baby Olivia a big birthday kiss
from me! HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY, OLIVIA!!!! I can't believe she's two. She's
getting so big! I also can´t believe I'm turning 20. I still feel like I
belong in High School sometimes... crazy.
Well, I can´t wait to hear from you all again! I
love you all so much! I love all the pictures you send! You can also send
videos if you want...:)
Thank you for your prayers and love. I can feel
the extra strength and comfort everyday that comes from your prayers!
I love you all more than all the naps in the
world!
Les quiero siempre! Muchos abrazos y besos!
Hermana Lattin
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