Week 77

This is kind of a weird week to email. First off, I'm so sorry for the
loss of Grandma Janice. I'm not sure exactly how to respond. It's not
too fun hearing about the loss of family members on a mission, because
it would be nice to be home for the funeral and be able to help the
family. On the other hand, I know that this is exactly where I need to
be, and that she wouldn't have it any other way. Out here I have
gained a more full knowledge of the Atonement and of the Plan of
Salvation. The most comforting truth that we have as members of The a
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is that Jesus Christ came
with the purpose of rescuing us from Physical and Spiritual Death, and
by doing so makes it possible for us to live with God and our families
again perfectly and with perfect bodies. I think the video "Because of
Him", explains it very well "Death has no sting, the grave no
victory", or as Paul states it in the New Testament,

"55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your
labour is not in vain in the Lord."

1 Corinthians 15:55-58

Also check out Alma 22:14. While writing this, I thought back to last
conference, and the talk that President Dieter F Uchtdorf gave. He
said

"In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder
that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem
unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that
resists endings.

Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are
eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless
and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our
destiny.

The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we
realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They
are merely interruptions--temporary pauses that one day will seem
small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.

How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no
true endings, only everlasting beginnings."

Well guys, I love you a lot. I'm so sorry that we had to lose Grandma,
but she's not gone forever. I know that one day we'll see her again,
and because of the power of the Resurrection, she will not be held
back by weaknesses, physical or mental.


So I'm sure you guys still want to know what happened this week. I'll
give you a run down. If I keep it in a light tone, I don't want you to
think that I'm not sad about Grandma. I am, but I have to keep going
and I want you guys to see how blessed of a week we had.

So last Monday was P Day. We went to the gym and worked out, played
basketball, all that jazz. After that, dinner was with the C
family in a park. The Cortez family and Hna G also showed up. So
anyway, we eat carne asada, rice, beans, your typical Mexican party.
And then they bring out a little surprise. Habaneros. So anyway, they
are like telling us to eat them, so Elder Ford, Elder Delgado, and
Elder Tepox eat one. And then the members are all like "Elder Foster,
you're not going to eat one? Come one!" and I'm like "if I eat one,
I'm going to cry." But the. They start chanting "chilango, chilango,
chilango" which is my nickname in the branch. So you know, how could I
refuse? So I pop it in my mouth, bite once and swallow. Let us just
say that I cried. Hard.

So that was a good start to the week! I also went to Benecia with
Elder Albertson on Tuesday, but we took a bike trail through Benecia
State Park and it was super easy and beautiful. While we were there,
we were blessed. You see, there aren't that many Spanish people in
Benicia, but almost everyone we talked to was Spanish. So we would
talk to one Spanish person in an apartment complex, ask them if there
were more in the same complex and they would say no, but in those over
there there is one family, so the first door we knocked was Hispanic
and it happened like 5 times. It was sweet.

So we had the sketchiest correlation meeting in the world ever. It was
pretty much the Vallejo version of the place where the Underground II
was in SLC, next to the animal shelter. It was at a chop shop, where
people sell stolen cars and they chop them and sell them for parts. So
we are on this dirt parking lot, everyone is looking at us like we're
freaks. Hermano G brought seeds and so we were all eating seeds.

Elder Ford got sick Saturday and Sunday, but he's better now, so we're ok.

Best part of the week- Marcos and Norma and Sauri and Jackie came to
church! Woohoo! Marcos and Norma loooooved it. They felt super welcome
and they even set up an appointment with us and invited Hermana A
to come. It was sweet, and all the members were telling us good job!
It felt good.

Well, I love you guys. Stay strong and help out Grandpa. I'll pray for him.

Elder Foster