Weekly Email - June 20th - Happy Fathers Day

Hello Everyone!

Huge shout out to my trainer Sister Lavea for getting engaged this
week!!!! So excited for you:)

Happy late Father's Day to all you dads out there. Yesterday I had
time to reflect on the important role of fathers & how grateful I am
for my dad & his incredible example to me & my family. Elder L. Tom
Perry said, “Fatherhood is leadership, the most important kind of
leadership. It has always been so; it always will be so. Father, with
the assistance and counsel and encouragement of your eternal
companion, you preside in the home. It is not a matter of whether you
are most worthy or best qualified, but it is a matter of [divine]
appointment.”

This week has been so good. Jana is so solid. She's reading her Book
of Mormon faithfully. She is in 2 Nephi now & is just loving every
word. She made it to church again yesterday & is so excited to tell
everyone about her decision to be baptized! Yesterday in Sunday school
the lesson was all about baptism & members of the Ward were telling
their experiences of when they were baptized & Jana commented & said,
"I am so excited I can't wait!" Her husband is even starting to read
the Book of Mormon with her!!! It's so cool that through her example
she is bringing her less husband back slowly, but surely:) it has been
such a tender mercy from Heavenly Father to be able to teach her for
the last few months of my mission. I am learning so much from her!

This week we had dinner at the cutest family's house. So we started
talking to them about where they were from & all that getting to know
you stuff, they are this younger couple, & the wife said "oh I'm from
highland Utah" & I was like "what!! Same with me?" & then she asked me
what highschool I went to & I told her American fork, then she said
she went there too!! She graduated 3 years before me. Then I asked her
what stake she was in & said she wasn't active while she was growing
up. Then I asked her about how she became active again, because her &
her husband are both super active & are sealed in the temple now. So
her husband grew up here in Rescue, but went less active in highschool
& ended up getting a girl pregnant & was just partying hard core. He
moved to Florida right after highschool & got into some crazy stuff &
ended up in the hospital. He said while he was in the hospital he
realized how unhappy he was. He said he thought of his parents & how
happy they were & he knew it was because of the gospel. While he was
in the hospital in Florida he called the missionaries there to come
give him a blessing, & then he started meeting with them & moved back
to California & worked hard to turn his life around, then he went to
UVU & met his wife now. He brought her back into the church! I asked
the wife if she has seen a big difference since she has come back to
church & she just started to tear up talking saying how much the
gospel has blessed her. I asked her if her family is active & she said
they weren't & then she said, "I just wish my mom could live my life
for one day & see how happy I am" & that just really hit me. How this
cute couple was able to fully use the Atonement to change their entire
lives! I thought of the quote by President Hunter that says, "Any time
we experience the blessings of the Atonement in our lives, we cannot
help but have a concern for the welfare of others. … A great indicator
of one’s personal conversion is the desire to share the gospel with
others."
How we can all change through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, & when we
do have that change our desire to share the gospel with others
increases. This family was just a perfect example to me & their story
really touched me.

I am just so grateful for the people I've met here & the lessons I've
learned from them. I can't believe how fast time is flying!! Tomorrow
we have zone conference with Elder Lawrence from the quorum of the 70
so that should be pretty good. I'm excited. Well I hope you all have a
lovely week & remember to be using the Atonement daily. Jesus Christ
has given His life for us to use that strengthening, healing power of
the Atonement. So I hope you're all using it to become better people:)
& are looking for opportunities to share it with others.

I love you all! Have a great week. CTR❤️

Love always,
Sister Sobotka

Oh ps I learned how to us a lasso this week hahaha! Seriously people
here are legit Cowboys. (Sorry videos wont attach)