Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!

I have been thinking a lot about about the Conference talk where the speaker referred his perpetually happy roommate.  As a result, this song is stuck in my head this morning.  And now it is stuck in yours. :D

This last week was super awesome.  Sister Lee and I set goals and achieved them!  I am such a firm believer now in setting goals and making plans! (For more on that, see my last post.)  Our success has prompted us to work harder and continue to improve.  This week: more member presents!

On Monday we had an awesome district meeting all about our relationship with God.  I had actually been thinking a lot about this recently, so it was well timed!  First, Elder Ling had us describe how we view a friend.  We know them, we love them, we trust them.  They want what is best for us, and we in return want what is best for them.  Friends are honest, understanding, people with whom we have good communication and a good relationship.  Then Elder Ling asked "is God your friend?  How do you think you are doing in all these areas with Him?"  He continued by illustrating that as we come to know more about our Heavenly Father, it becomes much easier and more natural to approach Him.  I love what the Bible Dictionary has to say on the matter: "As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part. Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. " (Bible Dictionary: Prayer) When we know Him, we want to talk to Him. There is no more worry about whether or not He will listen to our prayers, or whether or not He will answer them. We know He will, because He is our Father, our Friend, and our God.

How we show our trust in Him, in the end, is through obedience to the commandments He gives us. As we keep the commandments and actively build our relationship with Him, we are better able to recognize the blessings He gives us, particularly related to those of the Atonement.

It was a pretty awesome district meeting. I have to get going, since we are off to the temple today. I am so grateful to have a temple in my mission! It's a pretty incredible blessing.

Good luck as the semesters draw to their ends at your respective universities. Try and take a few moments to go out and enjoy the spring weather!

Love, 

Sister Beer

We went to Union Square (at 14th st) two weeks ago and got Pret a Manger to eat!  I haven't had it since going to London, and it was wonderful.  I had a really delicious sandwich with lots of veggies, made fresh, and a big chocolate chip cookie.  Sooooo good!

We went to Central Park last week, and it was awesome!  We ate Chipotle and played Ultimate Frisbee.

I love Central Park