HELLO!!

Hi Mami and family and friends!

That huge house and the ball pit were at a member's house where we had Zone Activity today, which I'll explain more in my email. Neither of those girls are the girls that got emergency transferred. I'm not over those girls...who are no longer there. They switched them out and put in Elders. I am over two sets of missionaries in Temecula, and also the Winchester sisters here in Murrieta. It's been great fun J

Zone Activity!

Yes, I heard about the crazy accident with the woman getting hit by the truck. It was right by the Wal-Mart where we sometimes shop. Some people say it was suicide, some people say it was just a crazy accident. That same day, another teenage boy was hit over by another member's home. He was on his bike and got hit by a car and died on impact. It's been a crazy week. I feel bad that Patti and Marie had to deal with all that (they were visiting San Diego and stopped by a member's house to pick up spare items so Alyssa wouldn't have to ship them home). I hope they didn't have to see anything too crazy. I heard it was pretty gruesome. 

That's cool that Hermana Prestgard's (another neighbor) mission gets to go see a chiropractor. My foot and hip are actually feeling better this week. I feel like if I just deal with it and keep working, the Lord always ends up blessing me with a little bit of relief, so there's no use in worrying about it.

That's so fun about Mike & Jodi's trip to India! And Ariana's new place looks great! I'm excited to go spend a nice weekend there myself, sometime. J That really is so cool about Ariana's wallet. Wow! Isn't the Lord so merciful and people are so wonderful. That's amazing - and what a neat/scary experience for her, ha-ha.

I love Elder Ballard's attitude about being bold. It's so true. We had a training on being bold in our invitations recently, and being bold with love is just the best way to do it.

David is doing quite well actually, better and better every week. The Martinez family is going well, though still in the process. Keep them in your prayers; we have a lot of hope for them! The drama family is doing all right - I think we need to be a little bolder with them, because they need it. Our Branch President is also working with them though and he's fantastic. He's the best Branch President/Bishop I've ever worked with. He's so great.

We finished up all our exchanges this week and they went well. I felt like I was able to help many of the girls this transfer, whereas last transfer I still felt like I had no idea what I was doing and that they were probably helping me more than I was helping them - it's been good though. We go to the temple this week and I am so very excited! We had a fantastic Zone Activity today where we were able to learn a lot about the temple from one of the Temple Workers in our stake in his (huge) home. He has a "temple room" actually. It was pretty small, but we crammed all 20 of us in there and it was great. It was inspiring and I felt like I received some revelation and that I am preparing to receive more for the actual temple session. One thing I realized though is that it is a very small amount of members will ever really understand the significance of the temple and the ordinances there.

And then you think about how many people have lived in the world...and how many of those people are members...and then how many of those members are endowed...and then how many of those members are worthy and actually GO to the temple.... and then how many of them actually understand the significance of it. Crazy. It's a good thing we have a larger perspective as we learn about the Plan of Salvation and how merciful God is to His children. I love the temple so much though, and even though my current understanding is so very limited, I am grateful for the rest of my life that I have to learn. One goal I have for when I get home is to go to the temple every day the week I get home and then at least once every week after that. I love my Savior so much and want to feel close to Him there.

Sounds like you have a busy month this next month! Sounds fun! I hope we are just as busy over here. J The work of the Lord is so fantastic. Especially when you realize who is doing it...a bunch of 18, 19, and 20 year olds (or old 22 yr. olds like me) who don't really know anything.... but it doesn't matter, because this is His work, so it will go forth. I've really loved Jacob 4:7 this week, especially as I think about the meaning of the word "condescension". It's pretty beautiful. I'm so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ because without it, I would be nothing.

I love you so much mama, and all of you who read this. Thanks for the letters Grandma and Grandpa!

LOVE YOU!!!

Hermana Alyssa Nicole Escalante

With the Hermanas

And, the Sisters (note the careful arrangement of the Black & White)!