Happy Easter!!! 🐰 🐇 🐣

Happy Easter Everybody!!!

I hope you had a good Easter and everyone got their fill of Easter sweets and had some beautiful weather!!

Mission Tour was amazing!!! President Christensen of the Quorum of 70 and his wife came to speak with us and they talked to us specifically about how to strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ to do his work. They told us we need to be more bold in inviting people to change and at the heart of  strengthening our faith is Jesus Christ and his Atonement. The Atonement of Jesus Christ literally leaves us with no excuse to stay the way we are. Jeffery R Holland said at this last Conference "come as you are but don't plan to stay as you are."

Because Christ loves us he gave us a way to become all that we can be. There are some goals that we don't need the power of the Savior to accomplish, like waking up in time. And other we do. There is a

process of faith that goes along with that. There is no goal that is pass the grace of Jesus Christ. The Atonement of Christ has the power to transform, refine, heal, and forgive us. So that we can become all that our Father in Heaven wants us to become! That was one of my favorite things that was said at mission tour.

In other occupancies, Xander was baptized on Saturday!! Yay!! And almost the whole ward came!!! Copperton is a small community so everyone knows everyone out there. There were so many members of the ward there to support Xander on his special day, it was awesome!!! He was confirmed a member on Easter Sunday so that was really special! I remember last year when I was serving in Tooele we had two baptisms on Easter weekend. Shoutout to Brandi and Ralph!! I love you!! Easter baptisms are so special because the physical act of being baptized by immersion symbolizes the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is what we celebrate on Easter. As you go completely under the water your old sins are dead and washed away and once you come up out of the water you are perfect and clean! How special is that!

Something special about Xander, is he is an AMAZING missionary!! It was Xander who first asked his mom, Jennifer if they could start going to church and if they could pray, and that's how we came into the picture. Xander's step dad, Riley doesn't come with them, but Xander will always invite him to come and to say family prayer with them. Xander's biological dad is also not active and Xander stays with him every other weekend, and he always invites him to take him to church and to pray and read scriptures too. Xander is such an easy kid to love, he is going to be such a strong influence in his family as he looks to Jesus Christ as his role model. I love him so much!!!

This coming week we will find out about transfers and what my fate will be for the reminder of my mission. I'm really excited because whatever happens, it will be awesome. I would love to stay in West Jordan because there are so many people here that I love that I don't want to say goodbye too until I absolutely have to. Haha well, I love you all so so much and I hope you have an amazing week!!!

Love,

Sister Abby Martinez