"Who am I to be so blessed and so loved?"

Dear family,

This week I want to tell you just how grateful I am to have a Savior who loves me dearly. I feel like I don't have the words to describe what I have felt this week through my personal studies and as I have pondered on the Saviors atonement. I love those moments in our lives when we experience such overwhelming joy that we can't help but think, "Who am I to be so blessed and so loved? I didn't realize that it was possible for me to feel such an incredible amount of joy." I had several of those moments in sacrament meeting, with investigators, and during my studies this week. Sometimes in these moments there are no words, and you can't help but just weep. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and He is your Savior. I know that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can find lasting peace and hope. I know that He loves us. He loves us when we feel that we don't deserve to be loved. He doesn't need a reason to love us, and we don't need to earn His love, He simply loves. I know that when Mary Magdalene went to visit the tomb, it was empty. I cannot think of a moment in history more beautiful than this. This week I want to invite you to study the Savior's atonement, and think about and my favorite line from Preach My Gospel:  "As your understanding of the atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase." (PMG pg 2). I promise that simply setting aside time to study the atonement will be a very special experience and you will feel an overwhelming love from the Savior that will fill your life! I would love to hear some of your thoughts and experiences!

We had lots of fun activities this week that we were able to use to help investigators develop greater friendships in the ward and develop greater trust with the ward members. We had a campfire/BBQ at the beach on Saturday. Going to the beach in Washington is not like going to the beach in California, in case you were wondering. It's freezing. We watched Michael get pooped on by a Seagull, and one of the elders investigators decided to go for a swim. That was entertaining. Shout out to Aunt Jeanna and Aunt Tiffany- they just opened a Cafe Rio in our area! A member took us a few days ago, and it wasn't quite as good as Chipotle (Also in our area :)) but it was definitely a fun time! I'm pretty sure all the Mormons in Washington flocked to Cafe Rio that first week. Sister Goode and I decided to color Easter eggs one night this week and personalize them for each member of our district. For example, we colored Elder Oliphant's egg blue and wrote "We believe in being honest, true, chased by an Oliphant..." We made a sunset egg for SIster Millett since she is always so bright and happy. I colored Elder Rencher's egg yellow then dipped the top in Orange and drew a face with glasses on it and called it the "Ginger Egg." (Shout out to Garett. :)) We also decided to buy cheap plastic eggs and chocolate and hand them out when we contacted at the college. On the eggs we wrote things like "Mormon.org- come on, we gave you chocolate!" and "Mormon.org- make a Mormon smile!" It's amazing how the little things and being sure to have fun can make life so much more enjoyable!

Oh! So this is crazy! This week we found out that Melissa got married!! The week after her baptism we were a little bit concerned because we couldn't contact her and we weren't sure what happened. Turns out she was on her honeymoon. She and her boyfriend Randy, who we thought weren't getting married for quite a while, decided to get married on April Fools Day- 3 days after Melissa's baptism. That's Melissa for ya! We're really happy for them. They are very firm in their goal to be able to get married in the temple a year from now and they are happy as can be, although sad that they will have to leave the YSA ward. Less than 6 months to go before the sealing of Darlene and Everett, and just over 6 months for Bennett and Verna!!

Well, I love all of you! (Bunches and bunches.)

Love, Sister Slade