I hope all is well in the mountains of Utah and other places that you all may be. Washington D.C. is a beautiful and wonderful place. I think I've mostly gotten used to the humidity and I enjoy filtering my water so that it tastes more like home. :) Time seems to be moving so fast here and I am doing all that I can to slow it down. I have learned so much about enjoying the moment and focusing on what is happening now while also setting goals for the future.

That sounds so weird... it seems like you shouldn't be able to do that. The way I have been able to accomplish that is by setting daily goals that will help me to achieve my longer term goals. It is incredible because it helps me to focus on the needs of the day and the miracles of the day while still helping me to continue to meet the needs of the week and the month, etc. I don't know if that makes sense or if it is even enlightening for anybody else. The point I am making though is that it is important to have goals. Goals for our spirituality, for our careers, for our families, for our minds, and even for our physical bodies. In a talk given by Thomas S. Monson  he said
In Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice finds herself coming to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire Cat, of whom she asks, “Which path shall I take?”

The cat answers: “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t really matter which path you take!” ¹

Unlike Alice, each of you knows where you want to go. It does matter which way you go, for the path you follow in this life leads to the path you will follow in the next. 

However, it is so important to not lose sight of the beauty of the day that we are in. Each day is a gift given to us by God. Some days are harder than others some are busier and some are more of a celebration! Each day is something that we are given to experience. Let us experience them fully with every part of our soul and heart. Every experience is given to us to help us to learn and grow, to empathize with other, to help us to love more fully and to draw closer to God. When we understand that God is mindful of even the sparrow (there is a scripture that talks about a sparrow dropping please insert here.) we know that he is mindful of us. He has an individual plan for each of us. All of which work together for our experience and are for our good. No matter how righteous we are we will not be devoid of trying times in our life... that is not the plan. Some mistakenly think that if we can simply be righteous enough and do our part that we will never experience hard things. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was perfect. He did everything right, and it was He who suffered the most pain in this world. So much that he bled from every pore.  How then can we expect to avoid hard times in this life? We cannot, but we do have the promise that God is there, that He loves us, and that He will help us to have the strength to get through anything if we will keep our faith and strengthen it... especially in our difficult times.Jesus Christ does not merely lift us when we fall to put a band aid on.... If we allow Him to He will take us and clean our wounds, which may be painful at times, and He will stay with us and heal us. The prophet Malachi declared, “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings.” (Mal. 4:2.)I love you all so much! I miss you all so much and I hope that all of you are doing well. Thank you for your letters, your love and your support. :) I don't know what I would do without it! I hope that you all can fully experience your day today and in the coming days and that as you set goals for each day and for your future that you will see an amazing growth in your life! And remember that it doesn't all come at once but little by little. (Line upon line precept upon precept.) I love you with all of my heart!

 

God be with you till we meet again.

Love,

 Sister Gordon