God's Army

(Written Monday, July 6, 2015)

Hello Everyone!

What a crazy quick week it has been and we are at the end of another transfer! The verdict is that I will be staying here in Los Feliz for another transfer and Sister Stark is moving one area over so I will still see her once a week in meetings, but she will be working in a different area. My next companion's name is Sister Haycock and she came in with Sister Stark, she is super cute and I look forward to working with her! We had a wonderful fourth of July by going to a pancake breakfast with the sisters in our area that day and we tried to go and look at the fireworks on the mountain for a few minutes, it was a crazy party and I really want to come back sometime for the Fourth of July festivities as a regular person! It was so cool to see fireworks all over the valley! I tried to take picture of it but it just didn't do it justice.

4th of July pancake breakfast with the sisters

We didn't end up having any baptisms, but I know that this next transfer we will see so many miracles with people coming into the fold of Jesus Christ. There are so many ready people that we have that are right on the cusp of being ready and I look so forward to all the miracles we are going to have.

We had a very powerful moment this week with a new member of our church, her name is Jackie and her daughter is Veronica. We did an activity where we reminded them how far they had come and how much their testimonies had grown by having them write them down. We played church music and had a bunch of photos of Jesus Christ. It was pretty spiritual as I was writing down what I knew to be 100% true and how much I had learned.

I am so grateful for who I am and who I can become. I know that my Savior loves me. It was so cool being a part of God's Army on the Fourth of July, this will be the one time I will get to say that I got to do that. I wear His son's name on my chest and I am part of the most important army that exists. How cool is that? I read a quote in one of our church magazines this week talking about the importance of Religion and Government working together separately but how they are important together. This quote has quickly become my new favorite because I have seen this come true first hand. An apostle of the lord that was also working on the president's cabinet committee during the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower said
"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold people by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature" --Ezra Taft Benson

I have seen the gospel of Jesus Christ change broken homes with abuse, drugs, alcohol, little or no purpose and bring them into a refuge, with more unity and love and a purpose in this life. I have also realized that this gospel that I was privileged to grow up in has protected me from a world of hurt and sorrow. I know Jesus Christ lives, He knows and loves me and you and he can help us become who we want to be and who HE wants us to be.
Much Love,

Hermana Alayna Nelson

The last of Sister Nelson and Sister Stark