July 2012- January 2014

Friday, October 26, 2012


Family!
Today I am emailing you from Amarillo College Library. Kinda fun! I am having flash backs of my beloved Utah State campus. I really love that place. (I never knew I had so much school pride…) Dad, thanks for keeping me posted on how awesome they are doing!
Momma and Pa, Thank you so much for the package. I absolutely loved it. All the missionaries are envious of my Halloween decorations! I loved all my little bats the grandkids sent! They are hanging in my window! And don’t even get me started on the salsa and dried apples. Seriously, those are some of my most favorite things. I think I like dried apples as much as my new companion likes candy.
Emily, I got your letter and I promise. I will write you back TODAY! I can just get so distracted on Pdays!
Johanna, some advice for missionary friends would be to study Preach my Gospel. I know if I would have started that earlier, I would have been so much more prepared.
So…. Here’s what is going on in my neck of the woods.
I’ve found that change is good. Especially in missionary work. I think I can do this for 14 months. My new companion is an amazing missionary and I’ve already learned so much from her. She is actually Filipino, small world! She was looking at my family picture and she picked out Flo as a Filipino too.  She is super patient (luckily) and likes to work hard. We have pretty similar personalities. I just wish I was tan like her. So I had to navigate her around town the first couple days…. Let’s just say, do to my poor directions we’ve had to do a lot of U-turns…. I think Brandon should send me some math jokes and analogies…. She would love that.

Well, a week ago, our friend's brother passed away. The brother’s death involved drugs and was really devastating for the family. We haven’t been able to see our friend much because our friend has been trying to take care of the situation so the parents don’t have to. We were able to talk last night and our friend told us that prayer has been a great strength. Our friend has such a strong testimony of prayer.  That is something I really admire.
We met with a Pastor at a little church last week. My companion and I left a Book of Mormon and asked the Pastor to read the Introduction and 3 Nephi 11. The Pastor seemed genuinely interested so we were thrilled to teach more. Well, we met at the Pastor's church to talk about what we read. The Pastor talked about how something in the introduction was bothersome. At the end of the fifth paragraph, it says something to the effect of if we obey the laws, we will be saved. When I’ve read the introduction, I have not given much thought.to this section, but I could tell that this was a huge stumbling block. The Pastor told us that Christ died on the cross so that we wouldn't have to obey the laws (the 10 commandments). To be honest, I couldn’t answer because I had never thought that much on the topic of grace. But luckily, My companion was well equipped to answer. She asked if the Pastor tells the congregation that they don’t need to go to church. And the reply of course was,  “no.” She explained that the commandments are all things that Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount. At the close of our meeting, the Pastor agreed to read another chapter out of the Book of Mormon if we will read Ephesians. We gladly accepted. In the 2nd chapter, it talks all about how the church needs to be built upon apostles and prophets.

Well, know that I am doing well! I promise! I am happy and working hard. And have learned so much and can’t wait to learn more.
Love y’all! Take Care!
Love, Sister Luke

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