Monday, August 10, 2015

Stacie's email August 10, 2015

Dear family,

I just feel so grateful right now for all of the blessings that I have! I'm grateful for a Father in Heaven that guides me and helps me through hard times, I'm grateful for a loving Brother and Savior whose love I feel so strongly in my life, and I'm grateful for all of the wonderful support I have back at home from my immediate and extended family members and my friends. I am so blessed and grateful for all of you and for the love that I feel. 

This week was a week of rejoicing for the people here in Tucson. There has been announced a groundbreaking date for the new Tucson, Arizona Temple!!! We are blessed here in Tucson already with 4 different temples only 2 hours away. I've come to really appreciate and cherish the covenants that I've made in the temple while being on my mission. I don't get to go very often, but I can definitely see the different spirit that the temple brings to people's lives. One of my favorite scriptures about the blessings of the temple is this: "And the same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory." D&C 130:2. I like to use this scripture when I teach my investigators about the purpose of the temples, and why it's so important for us to make it a goal to get there. In the temple, we receive very specific instruction on HOW we can obtain that glory, and also WHY it's so important to live all of the principles of the Gospel in this life. 

This week, my recent convert back in Nogales sent me a random text telling me how exited he was to have a temple going up in Tucson. He then bore his testimony to me about the truthfulness of the Gospel and how he just yearns to be sealed in the temple to his family for eternity. 

We've begun teaching a young woman named Joceline. She reminds me a lot of myself, and I feel as if, in some ways, I've been put here just for her. We are able to connect intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. She has been making some really bad choices, developing bad habits, and living a bad lifestyle that she just doesn't know how to get out of. I'm grateful to be here in this area helping her find her way back to Christ. I truly feel like an instrument in the Lord's hands! 

I love you all. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Hermana Townley 

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