LOVED GENERAL CONFERENCE!

Family!!!!!               4-11-13

Another P-day, the second to last one! Can you believe it?? I can't. Seriously. Okay, lots to say and little time so I am just going to tell you know that I will have to write you a letter later and send that too for ya :) I want to save some computer time to upload pictures later ;) haha. Also, I am pretty dang positive we get our travel plans tomorrow, and when we do, I get to call you for a couple minutes so I can tell you when I will be at the airport to call you again before I leave! Woot woot!!!! So expect a phone call soon.... I THINK tomorrow. Mom, I will call your cell phone, so keep it handy :) And probably in the eveningish, but once again, I am not sure. We'll just have to see :)

Okay... this week. LOVED General Conference!!! Oh my goodness, was it not the greatest thing ever?? It just blew me away haha. I know you all watched it too, but I just wanted to share a couple general themes that I noticed and really loved. The first was families... I loved the emphasis on the importance of strong families and how the Priesthood and womanhood go so hand in hand. In between each session of Conference, my district and I watched a zillion Mormon Messages, half of which were on families, and it just made me so grateful for families! (Speaking of Mormon messages... random side tangent, but watch "Mountains to Climb." by President Eyring. It is seriously the BEST, most touching message ever and we watched it like 3 times in a row haha). Anyway... families! I am so grateful for you, my favorite family, and for your sweet examples! All of you! Mom and Dad you raised me to be the kid I am today, and bros and Kaci, you are the greatest little siblings I could ask for! I love you all so much! Families are so important and I know we need to strive to be as strong as we can be so that Satan can't enter into our home. There is no time for that! The work is progressing and Heavenly Father needs all of us to be a part of it :) Which leads me to theme number two I noticed.... missionary work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe it is just because I am a missionary haha but I seriously felt like very talk related back to that and how we all need to find our place in missionary work. "CATCH THE WAVE!" Haha I loved that phrase! There is a part for all of us.... full time missionaries, pre-missionaries, family missionaries, member missionaries.... we all need to find our place among the work and get to it! :) How neat is it to know that it the job of all of us, and we can't accomplish it unless we work together? Pretty neat, huh? :) I would just encourage you to make some sort of goal as a family to have missionary work always in your hearts and pray for opportunities to help others come unto Christ :) I can tell you right now, that nothing will bring you more peace and comfort :) And lastly, the Savior! He was in everything wasn't He?? I loved how almost every speaker ended their talk saying "I am a witness of Jesus Christ" because that is exactly what I am... what we all are! :) He needs us to build our foundation in Him, and then let that light shine.

If I could choose two scriptures that I think defined this past conference it would be Helaman 5:12 and 3 Nephi 12:16. We need to first, build our foundation in the rock of our Redeemer and then let our light, that light of Christ, shine for the world! :) As I was looking over my notes, I noticed how many times the speakers used the word LIGHT and it was so cool! President Uchtdorf said, "God's light is real." Oh man, I know that is true! And I feel like my eyes are just barely starting to open to that light. D&C 88:67 says, "If your eye if single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light." How awesome is that?! :) I know that as we strive to center our lives on Christ, we can receive His light in our countenances and share it with others. I love my Savior! :)

Other cool things... our devotionals this week were Vocal Point and Gerald N. Lund. Basically awesome! :) Also, I final saw Brandon!!! Woot woot! Actually I see him all the time now haha. It's funny that once you see someone once, you see them everywhere. Also, my friend Lorrain Hilton from my past ward. See her everywhere too! I love my missionary friends so much :)

Okay, one last awesome story from this week before I wrap it up. On Monday, for some reason our whole district was having a rough time. I was tired, felt unenthusiastic, unmotivated and irritable. And we ALL felt that way. Hermano Zuzunaga totally noticed and being the intensely spiritual man that he is, encouraged us to have a talk during language study later and figure out what was going on. I was listening to people share their feelings, feeling selfish and irritated still, but one of the elders wouldn't let the conversation go until he felt everyone had shared that needed too. All of the sudden, I was pulled out of my selfish thoughts because one of my companions Hermana Call was having an anxiety attack.... her family has a history of it and it is a legit medical problem. We all got down on our knees and prayed for her as a district, and encouraged her with words and scriptures, but this one elder felt really strongly that she needed a blessing. So they got the zone leaders, we other hermanas left the room and they gave her a blessing. We went to the bathroom and when we got back, I peeped through the door hole to see if they were done. I will never forget what I saw. Six 19 year-old boys, six elders called of God, six men holding the Priesthood authority stood around her in a circle, their headers bowed hands upon her head, giving her a blessing, not of comfort... but of healing. Tears immediately filled my eyes. I didn't need to be in that room to feel that immense power of the Spirit that was in that blessing. It was like nothing I have ever experienced, and to hear them talk of the Spirit there afterwards brought tears to almost all their eyes! Wow. I am so grateful for the Priesthood and the worthy men in my life that hold it. It is amazing. And Jaden, you are going to receive that soon!!! I am so excited for you, sweet boy :) I love this gospel so much!

Okay, I will write later, but kiddies thank you so much for your letters this week!! I LOVED them and nothing makes me smile more than your letters! Dad, thank you so much for the talk you sent me too. It was perfect! :) I love you all so much!!! Hope you are having a great week! Talk to ya tomorrow! (Hopefully!) ;)

Your favorite missionary,

Hermana Teeples

PS. Got to meet the new district last night and train them with the zone leaders! More training tonight. Super cool!!!! I love serving the hermanas, it just makes my love grow for them so much. There are six of them in this new district along with 4 elders, and 5 members of the district are from Arizona. Pretty neat! :)