Today's Weather: Sunny, with a High of 79

Someone flipped the switch for summer here in the city.  We went from temperatures in the 30s to the 70s in a manner of days!  We have enjoyed the warmer weather so far, but I hear things will cool down considerably by Friday.  It has given us a small taste of what summer in New York City will be like... it's going to be a hot one.

This week has been a week of miracles.  I am convinced that General Conference brings them.  Last General Conference, people just appeared out of nowhere, and this one was the same.  On Wednesday after we emailed, we went to the chapel and a girl in her early 20s walked in and asked for an English flyer.  She came the next day to class and heard the message we shared about prophets and told us later she wanted to go with us to General Conference.  Since that time we have met with her several times, she came to two sessions of Conference, and she brought her mom with her to her last lesson.  I was amazed.  She has been great about keeping commitments, too, which is awesome.

We also met a man on the street last week who told us that he was willing to try anything we told him to know if what we are teaching is true.  The best part? He was completely sincere.  It was incredible.  I am so excited for these people, and look forward to seeing them progress in the gospel!

General Conference itself was, of course, amazing.  I especially loved President Uctdorf's talk about light.  All of us are at some point on our progression towards eternal life with Heavenly Father.  It doesn't matter where we are on that progression, just that we are moving towards the light and towards Christ.  So often in the scriptures we read that Christ is the light of truth, and the light by which we can judge.  When I think about this, I often imagine someone holding a paper or a money note up to light to make sure that it is authentic.  Without the light we would not be able to see the watermark that indicates the authenticity of the bill.  The same is true with what we learn in the gospel.  Without the light of Christ to guide us, we have no way of knowing for ourselves through prayer whether or not the things we learn are true.  I am grateful for the modern revelation that tells us that God does communicate with us, and that He actuallywants to talk with us.

By this point many of you may be in the midst of or through with finals.  Good luck to those of you who are preparing, and congratulations to those who are already finished.  For those of you who don't have to worry about school, congratulations!  One less thing to worry about.  Regardless of your schooling status, you are amazing!

Love,

Sister Beer