Like a Lightning Strike in a Summer Storm

Hello friends, family, and other loved ones,

Highlights:

-That awkward moment when you need a banana for an object lesson and you don't want it to get squished in your bag so you carry it and then you don't know if people are staring at you because you are white or because you are a weirdo carrying around a banana.

-These past two weeks I came across something I haven't seen in almost a year-and-a-half: a toaster. I've been buying toasted bread or making toast in a skillet my whole time here. I freaked out a little bit to see them. But the weird thing is that I saw two of them in the same week.

-We’ve been getting those lovely desert storms!! :D The other day, after we got a sudden and dramatic one, there was a ton of mud in some of the streets :D So at one point we had to take our shoes off and walk barefoot and it was so fun to have the mud squish between my toes! And mildly therapeutic, too – ha-ha. Between being out working and having to wear flip flops all the time in the house I pretty much have shoes on all the time. And, even though I love shoes, I adore being barefoot.

-OK, about the title of this entry. During interviews this week we were sitting in the mission offices and admiring one of the desert thunderstorms. All of a sudden there was an incredible burst of light and the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard. We realized that lightening had struck really close by. It was powerful, and awe-inspiring. While I was thinking about it I remembered a conference talk from Elder Holland, which everyone reading this should read or listen to again or for the first time. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/where-justice-love-and-mercy-meet?lang=eng.

I reflected on our experience, what Elder Holland has said, the atonement, and how very powerfully – and quickly – our Lord and Savior helps us. I have seen it time and again in my life and also in the lives of others. Many times the atonement works in our lives slowly – so gradually and perfectly that we don't even notice it. But there are times when our savior reaches out to us like a lightning strike in a summer storm and changes our lives forever.

I testify of my savior, that He loves us, that He is real, and that He is there at every turn.

With love, 

Hermana Anderson