December 26, 2011 From Argentina

I feel like I have so much to say to you all, but no way to express any of it. I´ll work on that for next week´s email. President Carter asked each of us to share our testimonies with our families when we called, but I forgot with all the rush and trying to get everyone in. I´d like to share it with you all now.


I know this Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is true. I know Christ leads His church through a living prophet and that He restored it through Joseph Smith. Every time we teach the first lesson on the Restoration, my testimony is renewed. I know God is our loving Heavenly Father and that He has a plan for us. He loves us and wants us to be happy and have success in this life. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth to set an example, perform the Atonement, and teach us the way to get back to the Father. It is only through His Gospel - faith, repentance, baptism, the reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and our perseverance until the end - that we can be saved. We can have faith in Him and repent because of His infinite sacrifice. Jesus Christ is at the center of the Plan of Salvation. We owe everything we have and everything we are to Him. I love Him. I love sharing that love with the people here in Argentina. I pray every day that I can be the conduit of the pure love of Christ to the people Hermana Reales and I get to teach. I know the Book of Mormon is true. It testifies of Christ and builds our faith in Him. We can find the fulness of the Gospel within its pages. I love the Book of Mormon. Because of the Book of Mormon, I know who I am, I know our Savior better, and I know how to follow Him more. There is nothing more simple and more fulfilling than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have that Gospel restored in its purity and perfect form today because we have a prophet. God loves us enough to show us the way. I love being a missionary, even though it´s hard. I love what the Prophet Joseph said, "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"


I hope you all will work to strengthen your testimonies of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and share it with the people you love. The Savior said, "Lovest thou me?....Feed my sheep."


I love you all so much more than words can express. May God bless you all and inspire you to be more like His Son. It is in following His example that we find true happiness. I am so grateful for your examples of obedience and service to God. You love Him and do His will. I have learned so much from you and I am so proud to call you my family.


Hermana Erin Litster