Ello everybody! It was a pretty sweet week. I read a talk earlier and it explained that the message of the current living prophet is God's number one priority right now for the world to know. So, off the top of your head, could you tell me what President Monson's last conference address was about? I hope so, because that's the message that is the most urgent in God's eyes right now for His children to know. I'll tell ya anyways. It was all about the blessings we receive from attending the temple. This means that regular worship and participation in temple work is the most important thing to our Heavenly Father right now. The reason for which I'm especially moved by this subject this week is because of a new focus our mission is taking. We had leadership council this past week, and our president's message really inspired me. In case you are unaware, next year, France will have their very own temple! As a mission, we are taking a big head start on preparing this nation for such a sacred blessing. Why? Because exaltation is not possible without the temple. Woah! Did you ever think about that? You could live a very good life, be baptized, render all the service in the world, spend every minute of every day obeying the commandments, and still, it wouldn't be enough. You have to make the sacred covenants in the temple and then stay true to those covenants for the rest of your life in order to receive the highest degree of glory that our Heavenly Father has for us. As we teach people this concept more freely and from the very start of our lessons, their perspective will broaden but they won't lose their focus. Their focus will still be to get baptized, but they will just see it as a little step in the eternal process of coming unto Christ. Going to the temple to participate in the ordinances of salvation therein will become their real objective. And isn't that the real objective for us all? For those of you who live within a reasonable distance, do not hesitate another minute! Go to the temple! If there is a reason of personal worthiness preventing you from being able to enter, repent of those things and do not procrastinate it another second. There are anxious souls, your own family even, who want the same joy of eternal life that you want. Don't deny them of that for any excuse. Don't deny yourself the blessings of peace, comfort, and clarity that come from being in this sacred House of God. We have a promise from our prophet that in our Heavenly Father's House, "...we will be better able to overcome temptations and to bear our trials." He also tells us that, "In the temple we can find peace. As we attend the temple, there can come to us a dimension of spirituality and a feeling of peace which will transcend any other feeling which could come into the human heart...Such peace can permeate any heart--hearts that are troubled, hearts that are burdened down with grief, hearts that feel confusion, hearts that plead for help." I can't tell you what I'd give right now to be able to sit in the temple for just 5 minutes. So I hope that those of you who can go, do go. And to give you a quick update on some awesome things that happened this week. Well Saipo is now on track to get baptized the 16th of August! It was a really special moment when she finally agreed to it. We all got down on our knees together and she told Heavenly Father that this is her goal, and she asked for His help in accomplishing it. She showed Him her faith and her righteous desire to become part of His fold by being willing to make this goal. Then on Saturday a child in our ward got baptized so we brought her to that, and she is ready! But, she is deathly afraid of water....haha. Bless her heart. So, thank you for your prayers you've already given on her behalf, and please keep them going, they work! Gwen also came to the baptism and yesterday, out of the blue, he decided he wants to get baptized in September... WHAT! We freaked out a lot. The Spirit has a power that isn't make-believe. He really can change hearts after much heart-felt prayer. It's such a blessing to be a witness of this truth. Lastly, David and Silvia are as strong as ever. They persevered through all 24 hours of their very first fast, and even paid fast offerings. They told us it wasn't even hard, and that it actually felt good to know they were making a little sacrifice. So proud! Well, that pretty much sums up the highlights of the week. I deeply love this work and every trial and blessing that comes with it. I hope you all have a wonderful week! Love, Soeur Shields
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