All Shall Be Made Alive

Jesus Christ is the center of the Plan of Salvation

Sunday (Palm Sunday) 

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people surrounded Him using their clothes to cover the ground he tread. They broke branches off and waved them in the air crying Hosanna. Jesus then cast out the merchants at the temple saying, "ye have made it a den of thieves" about the "house of prayer. " 

                                                               He heals the blind and the lame.                                                              

On Sunday March 20th 
Alexis was confirmed and Paul blessed the sacrament for the first time.  It was such  a beautiful meeting.  Paul was  beaming at the front doing his best not to make eye contact until he finally looked at me and the biggest grin I ever did see spread across his face. 

Monday

In the temple the elders questioned Jesus' authority, and He answered their question with a question they could not answer.  Jesus said, neither will I answer ye. (Jesus was really good at come backs) He taught multitudes, shared parables about repentance --the stone that the builders rejected, and the parable of the wedding feast.  He tells the pharisees that they pay big tithes, but they forget the more important parts of the law such as judgment, mercy, and faith.
He teaches that if we first cleanse the inside the outside will be clean also, and councils against being outwardly clean and filthy on the inside. (hypocrisy) Mathew Chapters 21-23

Monday the 21st of March

I talked to the fam via email and Sister C and I cleaned the apartment. I got rid of the mold in my shower (blessed humidity) and went to wally world to buy some yogurt and bananas.  We went to a lesson with Hannah and Jeremy and the kids where we learned of our worth in the sight of Jesus Christ.
We learned about His sacrifice, that
He overcame spiritual and physical death that we might not only live again, but live again with God. 

Tuesday
   Jesus fortold the destruction (sorrows) before He comes again.  He prophecies that in the last days (now) "many shall be offended" and because of iniquity the love of many shall "wax cold."  He teaches the parable of the ten virgins who are asleep when a messenger comes to awaken them for the bridegroom cometh! (the bridegroom is Jesus and Joseph Smith is the messenger)  Joseph Smith awoke the world to prepare us for the coming of Christ.  But only half of the virgins were prepared with enough oil for the wedding.  He related through more parables the importance of using our talents/gifts from our father in heaven.  And He invited the people and us to clothe the naked and feed the hungry because "inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of my brethren ye have done it unto me."               

Tuesday the 22nd of March

What a great day this was. We were able to visit a woman that left the church when she was a teen, and is now overcoming fears to have the gospel in her life.  She is one of the strongest people I have ever met. She has had some huge mountains in her life lately, but rather that blame her unhappiness on the trials she has been going through, she recognizes that the way to get through these things is through the atonement of Jesus Christ.  We could all feel such a sweet spirit in that home as we listened to her testimony.  She knows what she was taught long ago is where she will find joy, because she does not feel so now.  
It reminded me of my own testimony.  It was built line upon line, so gradual and so constant that I did not even recognize it was there.  The spirit was in my home, it wasn't until I knew what it felt like to live without the constant companionship of the holy ghost that I knew I had a testimony of the gospel.  Sounds super weird, but it was at that point that I worked my butt of to regain that influence of the spirit and as I did I knew that I knew, that this is the way.  He is the way.  
Jesus Christ is the light in a darkened world.  His gospel is how we access this light. 

Desire to believe, faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end by having faith, repentance (daily), keeping our baptismal and all covenants partaking of the sacrament weekly, staying worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end. It goes on and on.
Another highlight of this day was the car ride to institute. 

Sister C has a flash drive full of music she has never heard so we experimented.  We listened to a bunch of songs with Alexis on the way to institute and came across a tribal african version of Israel Israel God is Calling by my main man Alex Boye' and we were so pumped.  I'm not sure what exactly happened, but it was probably dangerous for us all to be tribal dancing in the car like that. It was fun though. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlNEeC_3Ruk

Also.. Institute was bomb. Brother Welty taught about the atonement but I think because I have been studying the Passion Week it just made the atonement (Jesus' sufferings to overcome physical and spiritual death) a lot more real and personal.  What a cause to have joy, the Lord of Lords has descended below all things and risen above all things that we might live again.
"all shall be made alive."

Wednesday 

Jesus fortold the coming days being betrayed and His own death on the cross. The woman anointed Jesus with precious oils to which the apostles rebuked her for wasting money that could have been used "for the poor" Jesus rebuked the apostles and thanked the woman for her act of kindness and sacrifice for Him. Judas made the deal: 30 pieces of silver and he would betray his master to the elders and the high priests for their wicked purposes. (Mathew 26:1-16)

Wednesday March 23 2016

So much happened this day but the highlight unsurprisingly was Paul Paula and Sweetie.
They fed us and provided us with a Paula Prayer

"Please bless these screw balls that you invented.  That their mothers gave birth to.  They need extra help." Not to mention when we walked in the door Paul had set out one crouton on each of our plates because he said we need to go on a diet lol.  He said, "I told the elders the other day.  If you wanna eat somethin' you better go on and do it now, fore the piranhas get here." 

That marks the second time I have been called a piranha in my life.. must be my spirit animal. ;) 

Needless to say, Paul caved and let us have some delicious spaghetti that Paula made. Then we had a super cool lesson about the temple and were able to answer some questions because they are preparing to go do baptisms.  I was so happy to hear this, Paul has a friend whose wife just died.

Okay.. let me clarify.

I was not happy to hear Paul's friends wife just died.. hear me out.

Paul explained that he pulled his friend aside recently at work, and Paul bore his testimony about the importance of baptism and then Paul asked his friend if he could take his friend's wife's name to the temple for her to be baptized which the friend replied yes.

Paul and Paula are rockstars. They were baptized in January of this year and they have been to all five baptisms since then, even if they have no idea who the person is that is getting baptized.
Most of the long time members don't even go.  They are at church every week and Paul reads to Paula the scriptures and has a whole slew of questions for us every time we meet. I love these peoples. 

Thursday

Jesus again fortold his betrayal and the apostles one by one asked, Lord Is It I?
Until Judas finally asked that question and Jesus said, "Thou hast said." 

The sacrament was implemented blessed and broke by Jesus.  They all went to the Mount of Olives where Jesus fortold Peters denial (three times before the cock would crow.)

 Jesus then suffered in Gethsemane while His friends slept.  Jesus bled from every pour.

When He left the garden to find a mob of people He was betrayed by Judas with a kiss.  Peter smote the ear off of one of the soldiers and Jesus healed it.  Jesus was then taken to Caiaphas' house where the elders/chief priests bore false witness against Jesus.  Accused Him of blasphemy and spit at and mocked Him.  Peter denied knowing Jesus three different times,  one of those times was in front of everyone at Caiaphas' house.  Two more outside to individuals. The cock crowed and Peter "wept bitterly." 
 (Mathew 26:16-end of chapter 26)

Thursday March 24 2016

Weekly planning, less active visits..

and a challenge.

The Stubbs were our dinner appointment that night.  They had been taunting us the last few days
about a challenge that they had had with the elders a few days before.
But they did not tell us what the challenge was.

I put it together that it must be a food eating ordeal because they had fed the elders as well... I prepared.

I am competitive.  One time I ate 14 breadsticks at Olive Garden.  (Shout out to Quade, my grandma, and the sickness that emptied me the day before for this victory at OG) 

The point is... I was going to beat the elders.
 I ate a very small breakfast and a piece of toast for lunch preparing myself.

We got to the Stubbs home and found out that the challenge was...

40 pieces of french toast between the two of us.

BRING IT ON

after the two of us ate 20 each (there was a lot of running around, and crunches involved) we were pretty pumped.

and the Stubs decided to give us some key info. The elders had together eaten 40 pieces of French Toast.. but we had both only beaten one of them.  Elder S only ate 14 but elder B ate TWENTY SIX

TWENTY SIX!?!?!?!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I HAVE TO BEAT HIM I CAN DO THIS I HAVE TO BEAT HIM I CAN DO THIS

I couldn't do it.

I was sweating syrup.
My body was over heating and the lack of insulin in my body was absolutely horrifying.
My vision was blurry at one point. 

I ate three more and that was it.  I had had it. 

Brother Stubs. "I'm texting the elders right now and they're crying because you two beat them HAHAHA"

We couldn't move.  It was a struggle that night planning for the next day.  We could barely peel ourselves from the ground. 

NEVER AGAIN

never. again.

Sisters: 43   Elders: 40

Friday 

In the morning, the chief priests and elders took Jesus to Pontius Pilate the governor.  Judas realized the depth of what he did when he betrayed the Savior, dumped the silver, and hung himself.

Pontius tried to release Jesus knowing that He was a just man.  Pontius's wife begged him to let Jesus go, but the Chief Priests and elders weren't having it.  Pontius brought out a murderer and asked the people which they would release as was their custom at that time of year.  The people shouted to release the murderer.  Pontius washed his hands and said that he was not responsible for the bloodshed of this "just man."  Jesus was scourged.  He was mocked with a crown of thorns, a reed in His hand.  He was nailed to a cross and even after all.. asked the father to forgive the people-- "for they know not what they do" 

He gave up the ghost

"it is finished"

 and was laid in a tomb of rock covered in cloth.  A stone door was rolled in front of the tomb.

(Mathew 27)

Friday March 25th 2016 

We had an incredible lesson about the Plan of Salvation with Alexis.  Jesus Christ is the center of all.
God loves us so He created a plan for us to return to live with Him, and to have all that He has. 

Later in the day we went to Mackey's baptism, such a sweet spirit was there as there always is when God's sons and daughters choose to follow His beloved son Jesus Christ and be baptized as He was.
Mackey is an eight year old boy in our ward, we were so proud of him. 

Saturday

The wicked men got permission to seal the tomb that Jesus' body was in.  They also set a watch to guard it lest the disciples steal His body and pretend that the prophecies were fulfilled. 

So they set a guard or two, and sealed the stone door to the tomb. 

(The end of Mathew 27)

Saturday March 26th 2016

The elders have been working with a 13 year old boy for a while whose family had all accepted the gospel besides him.  He was baptized on Saturday!  I think it is truly amazing that as missionaries we don't ask people to believe that what we teach is true, we invite them to find out for themselves through scripture study, prayer, and coming to church.  That's what this boy did, and he received his own witness that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Jesus Christ's restored church on the Earth and it is true. 

Something extra that I loved was that at this baptism, Paul and Paula were matching hahaha they let me take their picture and Paul actually smiled kind of ;) 

Sunday. 

"He is risen He is risen"

The final act that all mankind might live again was performed.

Resurrection. 

COME ALIVE

it fills me with such an amazing feeling.

 Death Is Conquered Man Is Free

Jesus' resurrection was the final act of the atonement.
He overcame spiritual and physical death.

Hallelujah. 

Sunday March 27th 2016

This was a rough morning for my emotions. I opened the package my grandma gave to me and found a picture of my grandpas headstone at his grave site with three flags planted next to it.

One was Honduras (Elder Saunders, my cousin) one was Washington state (Sister Peterson, another cousin) and FLORIDA (me)

Yeah.. I lost it.
One thing about the mission is that along with spiritual sensitivity emotions are heightened as well.

Crying is not uncommon. 

Especially on the day that Jesus Christ destroyed the chains of death many years before,
looking at that picture reminded me that because of Him I will see Grandpa Lyle again.  His body will be whole, that cancer will be a distant memory, and we as a family will be together again.  

to be continued...

(not enough time to finish, l will update next week. love you.)

Easter package from home:)  My mom even sent Sweetie a surprise!

Matching Best Friends necklaces!  Oh Yeah!  lol

~SWEETIE~

Be Sweet!  

Make it a good day! 

xoxo

Sister Saunders

The One With The Sneaky Grandpa

a lot of people ask

"What is so different about being baptized in your church compared to being baptized in mine?//"

Well you see, Jesus Christ had the power of the priesthood which is the authority and power that God has, and sometimes gives to man to act in all things for the salvation of man.  

The priesthood is the bridge that connects the gap and binds Heaven to Earth.  In order for baptism to be valid both on Earth and in God's eyes, it must be done under the direction of the priesthood.  

aka the man doing the baptizing must have this authority or power from God to do so.

Hebrews 5:4

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/heb/5.4?lang=eng#3

 Jesus Christ and His apostles had this power of God but what happened to the power when they were all killed because the people were wicked?  God withdrew his power from the Earth.

So how is it on the Earth today?  Joseph Smith restored the true church of Jesus Christ.  

He didn't start his own church, he brought back the gospel of Jesus Christ 

and the power to act in His (Jesus') name.

Cam got baptized last Sunday!!! Super awesome experience. 

His family really came together and the spirit was evident in their countenances.

But

uh oh..

that's right

 there's a but

but>>>>butt

but

there was some chaos

Cam's mom wanted her father to do the baptism, and he has been out at sea.

 We have been teaching Cam FOREVER and he has not been baptized.  So when mama Coop said, my dad is going to be here this weekend so we need to do the baptism, we were so excited! 

and stressed.. because throwing a baptism together that fast can be challenging. 

and we had still not met this grandpa of Cam's

we did not know a couple of things

 what he looked like

or the state of his mental wellness

(Only one of those things really matters in this case. You decide)

Now for the story.

The baptismal font in our building is in the gym. So we do the talks and whatnot, in the relief society room and walk to the font for the actual baptism. 

Everything was in place, everyone was waiting in the rs room and we decided as a companionship to get a quick picture with Cam and his family last minute in front of the font in the other room.

We walked into the gym area by the font, and I will never forget what I saw.

We looked up somehow, to see an older man dipping his toe in the water of the font, about to head right on in.

We were like.. what the heck..

who is this guy about to take a swim by himself

I was a little stunned 

next thing I know mama Coop is like

"Dad get outa there.. my gosh.  Get out of the font! We're not doin that part yet!"

He looked at her completely confused and said, "Where is everybody?"

So that's the story of how we met Cam's grandpa halfway into the font to baptize.. well.. 

no one because he was all alone in there.

I died laughing.

That's completely disregarding the fact that someone broke the plug to the baptismal drain and we tried to make one out of a jar, and some yay-hoo dropped the jar in the font and it shattered before we had a chance to try it out. 

(that yay-hoo was me)

((what's a yay-hoo anyway))

After cleaning out the glass so that grandpa and Cam would not be bleeding during the service, we stuffed a rag into a garbage bag and made our own drain stopper.

not to mention the hot water has been MIA for quite a long time which meant more boiling water to pour in the font so that it wouldn't be completely freezing

lol

because it was still freezing

as grandpa was able to find out prematurely 

tip toeing into the font

BUT THE SPIRIT WAS SO STRONG

and I realized something this week

Cam is not done

none of us are done

baptism is simply the first time we sign a contract with God that we will resign every week for the rest of our lives as we take the sacrament

Cam's progression, or any of ours, does not end when we walked out of the waters of baptism.

Jesus' mission on earth did not end when he was baptized by immersion, why would ours?

It begins and repeats every week 

"to the souls of all those who partake of it"

The terms of the "contract" don't change, but you better believe 

as we STRIVE to keep those terms that God has set:

 we do.

We Change

Holy beans Sister Saunders!! all you talk about is change every week just in different ways..

 like what the fetch

I don't apologize.  Because we all need it.  Not just change, but 

progression in the right direction towards PERFECTION.

"You're a butterfly held captive small and safe in your cocoon"

BUT

"there's no growth in a comfort zone.  And there's no comfort in a growth zone."

Do y'all think it was comfortable for Gandhi to give up all his money, worldly things, be beaten, jailed up, and give up all of the natural pleasures in the life he had previously led?

 No, but he did and as a result he freed his entire country from the tyranny of the strongest country in the world at that time.

(Hi, I love Gandhi)

anyways..

my Ryanne rant is over 

SiStErSaUnDeRsSpEaKs

ask Taylor Swift she will back me up

that whole "don't change" statement written all over our year books from junior high is so overrated

I challenge ya'll to write "stay cool, but get cooler" instead ;)

One more thing to keep in mind is that most of us are not going from bad to good

its more like going from good to better

and better to best

and on and on to infinity and beyond

#buzzlightyearquote

BUT MORE COOL STUFF HAPPENED THIS WEEK

For example

Pensacola Zone Conference



 

*when it's sunny we wear shades..

We also had correlation at the ward mission leaders home and his family is so stellar 

They live in this beautiful castle of a house right next to the water as in, the ocean is literally their backyard.

Not only that, but our ward mission leader has a man cave attachment to his garage where he has all kinds of super sick guns and wait for it...

light sabers

like.. yes.

man cave

Not only that but when his wife was a week and a half away from having her TRIPLETS he dressed up in all his gear (he has a night-vision one-eyed gadget and some sick black ninja looking clothes/a cool gun) and walked around the corner freaking the heck right out of his pregnant wife and in her own words

"I almost gave birth"

Not only that but both of them are doctors and have worked out schedules where one of them is always with the kids at home

Not only that but his wife worked as a doctor TEN DAYS before she gave birth to the triplets

Not only that but she had two older kids besides the triplets and after delivering said triplets (thats five kids under the age of ten) she looked at her husband and they both agreed, one more. 

IN THE RECOVERY ROOM they decided too have another which they did.

Not only that but their children are beautiful and Bo (one of the two girls of the triplets) drew me a picture on Sunday.  She is six and adorable.

Not only that but they met on his mission, they both speak Spanish, and they bought their German Shepherd from the Czech republic so the dog only speaks Czech which means when they are yelling at the kids it comes out in Spanish and when they are yelling at the dog they yell in Czech.

Not only that, but he converted his wife on his mission and she was originally from Cuba.

okay.. I will admit it.  My obsession with this family is quite out of hand.. and thank goodness repentance is real because the tenth commandment was a hard one not to break that day.

God bless the H family

Don't worry, we did go over a lot of missionary type stuff during the meeting in the man cave with the elders and bro h even though I was very distracted by their amazing life.

6 kids ranging from 4 to 16 like.. woah

not mention bro H sent us this text LOLOLOL he rocks

any-who

moving on with life or at least attempting to

Paul and Paula were talking about Sweetie one day this week like they usually do... only this time they caught on I think to the fact that Sister C and I just don't appreciate what it's like to have a dog that close to us in our lives. Paula gave us some reassurance: "Don't worry. You'll have kids someday."

we lost it

Sweetie is literally their child

and she was referring to Sweetie as the kind of kids we would have some day

still holding out for at least a few human kids myself ;)

I seriously love Paul and Paula, they got their temple recommends yesterday and it was so great to see their excited selves, and we are so excited for them to go to the temple

Huge Highlight Headed Your Way 

Alexis got baptized on Saturday!!!

Alexis is honestly one of the most genuine people I know.  We have been teaching her for a while, and she had been meeting with the missionaries a few times before I got here.

(when I say we have been teaching her I really mean she has been teaching us)

She is my age and she is beautiful inside and out, her baptism was so special. 

As we walked from the service to the bathroom so we could show her into the font, she began to spill tears of happiness and she bore her testimony to us.

She was so excited this whole week leading up to it, and that moment she was feeling such a tender love from God.

Watching her be baptized, the spirit was on fire and I couldn't feel more proud to know such a wonderful follower of Jesus Christ. 

One of the highlights of the baptismal service for me, was sitting close to Alexis' little brother (we were so happy her mom and dad and lil bro were there to support her)

Her little brother has downs syndrome and struggles with speech.  As we sang "Sunshine in my soul" and the part that says "Jesus listening can hear, the words I cannot say" it was so touching to me.  Her brother was singing the hymn and he was doing so well! Despite the fact that he couldn't really pronounce the words and he had never heard these songs in his life.  He's only eight years old and he was singing. 

I felt God's love for that little boy, Alexis, and her parents.  And at the end of the song her brother audibly said "I like that song.  That's a good song."

It was so sweet. 

I am so grateful to my father in heaven for these experiences and the gift that is His mission. 

It's truly a gift to me. 

it's hard sometimes.. 

it's not always baptisms and funny stories about fat chihuahuas.. 

or amazing dinners with an amazing family who spoils us....

 Marlins Seafood restaurant 

*Food pic for Grandpa & Nanny~phenomenal grouper

but the good outweighs the bad 

Sunday is Easter!

I am going to be studying in Mathew about each day leading up to the Saviors death and resurrection.

 yesterday was Palm Sunday~today there are a bunch of parables if you want to do it also:)

There's a new Easter video called #hallelujah so check that out! 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2016-02-1000-hallelujah-an-easter-message-about-jesus-christ?lang=eng

"Follow Him and find new life"

<3 Me, a Sister Missionary

p.s. my mom sent me fruit snacks and other green stuff for st pattys day so of course I was so pumped. Did you know my mom is superwoman?  Thanks mommy for the fruit snacks and the facial and the bubbles and the gummy worms (the kids at church are especially grateful for the gummy worms;) #maytheluckoftheirishbewithyall

Green Apple Jones Soda~reminds me of Gma Pat & the cabin:)

St. Patty's shenanigans.. 

p.p.s. my companion is the sweetest most hilarious human ever. She teaches me bold/directly, and with love. Just as the savior teaches.  She is beautiful and wonderful and all things good, I just had to give her a shout out because I love her to the moon and back.

Make it a good day!  

xoxo