Dear Family,
Happy Labor Day! I hope you have a great break from school and work as well as enjoy the visit from family : ) We are trying to put together a bbq for all the missionaries in the area so we can celebrate Labor Day, but we'll see how it plays out. Transfers was this past week, and I'm still serving in the Westgreen ward with Hna Woodward. Really enjoying this ward. Ward council absolutely blows me away- they are so organized, the bishop delegates and followed up on our report from the last time. So exciting. We did receive two new elders in the ward who are excited and ready to work. They are a half bike, half car area, so they are out working all day in the sun when they don't have the car. If they can do it, I can do anything : )
We are still working with the three brothers and they are really struggling to come to church. Please include them in your prayers so they can work everything out to come to church. We also started teaching this wonderful woman named Lima, from Honduras. She is a single mom with two little boys and she loves having us over. She is so ready for the gospel and we are excited to progress with her. Please pray for her as well. We had a great experience with a sister who has been less-active for several years. She lives in the elders area, but when we were up in the area for another appointment we felt prompted to stop by. I'd never met her before, but she welcomed us in and talked with us, and told us they were struggling financially. We set a time to come back later during the week. As we prepared to come back, we felt impressed to teach tithing. I'll admit to being a little nervous about starting off with tithing after having barely met the sister, but we listened. We were able to teach tithing and her heart was touched. She agreed to come to church and pay her tithing to act on her faith. We arranged a ride and she came to church!! She had a great time and really felt the Spirit. I had the chance to teach Gospel Principles since our ward mission leader wasn't there, so we were able to focus in on the needs of our investigators and this sister.
In our mission, our President issues the 12-week challenge to every missionary in their last 12 weeks of missionary service to read the Book of Mormon from start to finish. It requires lots of reading, but - you know me- I'm loving it! I'm doing the challenge in Spanish and keeping up with my Book of Mormon study on Christ in English. I just can't put it down. I started last Monday night and I'm already in 2 Nephi 10 : ) I loved this simple verse in 2 Nephi 2:24 "But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things."
I had a profound moment on Friday during our district meeting. Our district leader was bearing his testimony of the Atonement and mentioned how Christ suffered all the pains of Gethsemane again on the cross. And I realized in a way I never had before that aspect of the Atonement. I absolutely know that he suffered for me, that he bore the weight of every sin, pain, sickness, weakness, and loneliness in those hours. I don't know if He did it all in the garden (versus finishing it on the cross), but I believe He did. So to realize that He went through those same pains and suffering a second time, helps me know that my Savior knows what it is to go through a trial more than once. He knows what it is to suffer and pray through something and finally overcome it...only to have the same trial come back another time. He knows exactly what is is like to suffer heartache, loneliness, and despair again and again and again. We don't just have each trial once just so we have them all- sometimes the very hardest of our trials are repeated. Sometimes a little differently, sometimes exactly the same. But I know that Christ suffered for the pain of that repetition as well. I hope I explained that alright, but it was more something I felt.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Labor Day!
Love,
Hermana Kristi Koerner 
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