Sister Bain in the Big Apple: 2016 11-02 "It's been raining like CRAZY here!! I LOVE IT."

Here we are again! Another week in Connecticut has come and gone! It feels like just yesterday was preparation day! Time goes fast.

Thank you so much for the pictures you took up in Logan!! They're so so cute!! I love you all.
We didn't do much for Halloween. We had to be home by 7:00 so that was lame. We had dinner at 7:00, a conference call at 8:00 and then we had nightly planning at 9:00....then we went to bed haha so yay Halloween is over! I'm glad Grant is learning the true spirit of Halloween😂
I got my flu shot today like you asked me to. It was awful and I hated every second of it and my arm already hurts but it's fine.

It's been raining like CRAZY here!! I LOVE IT. My companion doesn't like the rain, or the thunder, or the lightning, or the wind....she had me hold her umbrella the other day because she didn't want to get electrocuted while we were walking. hahaha

I had a good time this week! On Thursdays we serve at a food pantry called Person-to-Person and I LOVE IT. (I think I've talked about P2P before??) Anyway, there's a lady that serves there too named Julie. I LOVE HER. For some reason I'm super good at making friends with people who are a little bit sassy and have an attitude haha Julie is a little spitfire and I'm so grateful for her. Julie and her husband are moving to Florida today-- rich people in CT have winter homes in Florida haha so last week we gave Julie a Book of Mormon as a little "goodbye" present. I wrote my email and my testimony in it and told Julie to email me her thoughts. WELL. She emailed the next day and she told me she had read a little of the Book of Mormon and SHE ALREADY KNEW IT WAS TRUE AND THAT SHE WAS GOING TO WORK HARD TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WAS SAYING. I cried for a solid 10 minutes about it. WHAT A MIRACLE!! She told me that she wanted to keep in touch and that she wanted to continue to learn about what we do as missionaries. I LOVE JULIE. She said she'd visit me in Utah so she could meet more people like me. hahaha

My thought for the week comes from Mosiah 27 (my favorite part of the Book of Mormon) I've been studying up on the Atonement and Repentance this past week and I LOVE IT. What does Repentance mean to you? I was reading in Alma 36-37 these last few days and it's all about Alma telling his son Helaman his conversion story. So, I went back to Mosiah to reread Alma's experience. An angel appears to Alma, Alma passes out, then Alma wakes up. When Alma wakes up, he shares a powerful testimony of repentance. He says in Mosiah 27:24 "For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold, I am born of the spirit." He goes on to say that as we repent, we "become new creatures." Isn't that so powerful?? As we repent, we become more like what God knows we can become. Verse 29 of Mosiah 27 is my all time favorite:
"My soul hath been redeemed from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more."

He was in the "gall of bitterness" and "repenting nigh until death" (v. 28) he felt Godly sorrow for all that he had done and when he repented he beheld the MARVELOUS LIGHT OF GOD. He felt the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know the Atonement is REAL. Jesus Christ paid the price for you and for me! In Alma 36, Alma is telling Helaman that he remembered his dad teaching him about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I remember all those Family Home Evening lessons, young women lessons, girls camp devotionals, seminary lessons, and firesides about Repentance (I really was listening, I promise!) I know that through Jesus Christ we can find JOY in this life and in the life to come. Alma wraps things up with verse 24 (also my all time favorite) saying:
"Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost."

THAT IS WHY I AM HERE AS A MISSIONARY! I've tasted of the exceedingly great joy that the gospel brings. I've tasted of the fruit and I've felt the JOY of repentance and the Atonement-- and I'm here to share that with those in the NYNYN mission! Repentance takes work. Alma was bascially in a coma for 2 days being racked with eternal torment. King Lamoni had a similar experiance. Enos wrestled in mighty prayer to be forgiven of his sins, but I know it's possible. I know we can truly be cleansed. I know we can find JOY in Jesus Christ. I have! Have the faith that through the Atonement, Jesus Christ can change you. #RepentanceIsCool

I hope y'all are having a good week! I'm still stoked to have KC as a brother-in-law.
Good luck with the wedding dress shopping adventure this weekend! It sounds like a good time! If I don't get any pictures I'm never emailing home again. (Kidding. But also a little bit serious.....)
Read your Book of Mormon every day, kids! It'll bless your life.

Trust in the Lord.
The gospel is true!
#LightTheWorld
I love you!!

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8

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Sister Keauna Bain ♡
New York New York North Mission