Buenas!
We´ve had a great week in the branch! Sunday was the Primary program, and the kids were SO cute. We made invitations for Mari to hand out, and so many people came! The chapel was almost full! I´m not sure where they came from, but it made the kids feel so special and important. Right before the program started, Mari asked me to direct the songs. haha I was a little nervous, but it turned out great. Those kids did such a great job. On Monday, we had a Relief Society activity making jewelry. It was a lot of fun, and almost all of the women came. We invited Yudi and Yesenia, and neitehr of the could come, but we had a sister of another investigator come! It was a fun activity, and I love seeing the women spending time with each other. They´re all so funny!

We didn´t have a lot of lessons this week, but out of the ones we did have, most of them were with the members. It´s incredible to see the spirit that the members bring. They truly make a difference in the lessons. I hope all of you can have the opportunity to help the missionaries in your ward, because you all have experiences that can change these people´s lives forever.

I just want to share a little bit of Elder Klebingat´s talk from General Conference. He talked about having confidence before God when we stand before Him to be judged of our works. He gave six things that we need to do to prepare ourselves for that day.
1. Take care of yourself spiritually.
2. Take care of yourself physically.
3. Commit to being completely obedient your whole life.
4. Become really good at repenting quickly and thoroughly.
5. Become really good at forgiving quickly and thoroughly.
6. Accept setbacks as a part of life.
I wrote these down on a piece of paper that I read every night before I say my prayer. Kind of like nightly äccountability.¨ Something that I´ve always struggled with is letting things go when someone makes me feel bad. I know that it shouldn´t bother me, but sometimes I spend a little too much time focusing on it. But after I started reading this every night, it really helped me apply the prinicple of forgive and forget. One day I was annoyed with something that somebody had told me, but as soon as I remembered this talk, I was able to let it go. That´s something I´ve been trying to do my whole life! haha The Lord truly wants to help us try to better ourselves, and I know that He watches out for us and is always there to help us come closer to Him.

Sorry I was a little rushed today, but I hope everyone has a great day! Love, Hermana Jorden

A Day in the DR: During the Relief Society activity, one of the ladies was in the corner quietly trying to breastfeed her baby. Suddenly, all of the ladies ran over to her screaming Äh, no! Morena, what are you doing? We´re all ladies here! Ay, no!¨and they made her take off the blanket. haha Yep, that´s how things are done here in the Dominican Republic.