Week 15: How many chickens are in your family?

 

Hey everyone! I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the kind emails and letters/cards! It was a fantastic birthday and I felt so loved by those near and far. I can't believe I am 20. It is a little crazy--haha. 

This week was great. Full of miracles, as usual, and funny moments, also the norm. One of said funny moments was when we were teaching an investigator (with his less active girlfriend and her active member mother) and he tried to talk to me in English.  It was the funniest thing ever, but the best part of this conversation was when he started to ask about my family and asked me how many chickens I have in my family...I dont know if there are any  chickens in my family (nobody calls me chicken), but there are, in fact, 5 children. Hermana Tapiero was laughing too, knowing very well he didn't mean pollo. 

I hope you all had the opportunity to watch or listen to General Conference this past weekend. Boy, what a weekend. We had our zone conference the day before, this past friday, and it was like being hit by a spiritual wrecking ball. 3 days of conferencing and spiritual high. What a weekend. 

My thought for the week is a snippet from one of the talks this past weekend, by a Stanley G. Ellis. He was talking about how some of the greatest lessons and blessings we receive often come during the hardest times. Hard is good when we let it be good. And we are all capable of hard things. I loved his analogy of the baby chick. When a baby chick is hatching, it struggles immensely to break out of its shell. One watching can't help but want to help the baby chick. However, if someone interferes with the struggle of the chick, the chick will not develop the strength it needs to live a full and healthy life. We are the same. Our trials, our challenges, they shape us. Stanley G. Ellis also talked about how our reaction to the hard things is the only variable. We can choose to let them build us or let them tear us down. Hard can be good if we let it be, if we choose to move forward with faith and trust in the Lord. 

I also loved that he shared the quote ¨For evil to prevail it is only necessary for good people to do nothing.¨ 

Your success and your happiness, both now and in eternity, depend on your responses to the difficulties of life. 

Make it a good choice. 

Lots of love as always from here in Chile!! Have a great week!! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Eibert