Hello family!

Hello my dear family!

Well, another week has come and gone! It's hard to believe that I've already been in College Park for 3 weeks! I can't imagine going back to a family ward now! YSA is great, but something that's hard is remembering that I'm a missionary and that although all of these people are my age, I can't be casual around them. It's so easy to slip back in to being a college student--because I remember what that was like all too well! That's something that I realized this past week is that temptation is easy, and choosing the right is really, really tough sometimes.

I was reading about the Atonement this morning in Mark 14-16 and there was a verse that talks about Judas, when he decides to betray him:

10 ¶And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.

11 And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him.

It's amazing to me that someone who knew of the Savior's divinity, and he knew of his sacred calling as an apostle of the Lord had the nerve to even think about betraying Him. How could that happen? The part that stood out to me was that Judas looked for a way to "conveniently" betray Him. It was all according to his timetable, or so he thought, and he took no thoughts except for himself. We had zone conference this week, as I'm sure y'all know, and President Heap instructed on the sacrament. What he shared, and what I read this morning made me think. And also, it brought a question to my mind:
Who am I to deserve such a gift?

It reminded me of the words to the hymn "I Stand All Amazed".

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.
Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I have a feeling that in this life, we will never be able to comprehend His great sacrifice for us, but I know that at the very least, I can be grateful and live as He would.

We have been so blessed with people to teach. Recently, we contacted and taught two people who just blew our minds at how prepared they were! I am seeing the gospel change lives every day--sometimes big ways, sometimes small--but the biggest change I am seeing is in myself.

I love you all so much! I hope you have a fantastic week!

Love, Sister Tycksen