Eternal Life is Family Life

So I would like to first off wish my Dad a Happy Fathers Day! Thanks for everything Dad. So we have had a few exciting things happen this week. First off we were walking since we are always low on miles and we saw this girl with a super cute puppy, it is always easy to talk to people about their dogs, so we were all over that. And come to find out that she really wants God in her life and she really wants to come back to church. She is a native and she just got out of a really bad relationship, but she is super cute and I am so excited to teach her later today. When we gave her the Book of Mormon and told her that she could keep it she was so excited, she hugged it and said that she would treasure it forever and I was just thinking, yes you will you, you have no idea right now the difference that book will make in your life. But it was awesome, I have never had anyone receive the book of Mormon the way that she did. 

Also there is a guy who came to church this week that is a friend of the bishop's son and we asked him if he would like to learn more and he said actually yes I would, so we are going to meet with him tomorrow. The Lord has really been blessing us. And President Cutler gave us two referrals so that is exciting, I have never had my mission president give me a referral before. 

We had zone conference on Friday and it was super great. It was about 7 hours long. I showed up to zone conference and looked down at my feet and realized that I was wearing flip flops, so thank goodness zone conference was in Gresham and we just live a mile from the church, so we went home real quick so that I could change my shoes. But the actual conference was really great, it is President Cutler so he talked more about how "eternal life is family life", they have really ingrained that in us, but it is wonderful I love it. Sister Cutler also talked a lot about the atonement which was awesome as well, she had us write a one page summary of what we have learned from doing the Book of Mormon Atonement study, so that was kinda cool. I think I will attach it to this email, if you want to read it you can. 

This week a raccoon ate all of grandma's chickens, we set three traps to try and catch the raccoon, but it is too smart, somehow it got the food out of the trap without getting caught in it. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and a happy Summer! 

Love always,

Sister Koyle

 This is my mission president and his wife President and Sister Cutler, they are so sweet. We had our last zone conference with them on Friday. They go home next week. My new president's name is President Williams, we will see what he has in store for our mission. On July 1st we will be able to go down to Madison to meet him.

​You know, just the usual corn car . . . only in Wisconsin 

We went to the Sun Drop factory in Shawano for P-day last week, it was pretty fun and we got to try all of the flavors.

What the Atonement Means in My Life 

June 15, 2016 

Sister Naomi Koyle 

Between being a missionary, studying The Living Christ, and now doing the Book of Mormon Atonement Study I have learned a lot about Christ’s Atonement for all mankind. The first thing that I have learned is that all mankind includes me. I learned in Preach My Gospel that the Atonement includes Christ’s suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, His death on the cross, and His resurrection. Growing up I always learned that the word Atonement meant “at one with God”. Therefore, because of the act of the Atonement I can be with my Heavenly Father again, or in his presence. No unclean thing can enter the presence of God; as I rely on the Atonement I can become clean each week as I partake of the sacrament. In Alma 5:34 is says “Ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely”. Repentance is free because Christ has already payed the price for everyone. However Christ cannot make me clean against my will, I have to make the choice to accept his help. That is why repentance is so important. As I repent I am able to use my agency to choose to align my will more closely to Heavenly Father’s will. And since being on a mission I have realized that repentance is only possible because of the Atonement. In Mosiah 26: 29-30 I find that because Christ suffered for me I am able to repent and be forgiven, and I am also able to forgive others.  

Some of my favorite passages in The Book of Mormon are in Mosiah 14: 4-5. “Surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” I love that last line. I know that I can be healed through the Atonement of Christ. I know from Alma 7:11 that he not only suffered for my sins, but also for my pains and afflictions and temptations. He has suffered everything for me, all of my sorrow and sadness, He always knows exactly how I feel, and I can always rely on Him. In 3 Nephi 9:13-14 Christ says to come unto Him, His arm of mercy is always extended towards me, repent and return to Him so that He may heal me. He willingly suffered, took His life, and raised it again because He has so much love and charity His Father, for me, and for each of God’s children.  

Since Christ was resurrected I will also be resurrected. I will be able to have a perfect immortal body, my spirit and body will be united forever. And so will all of my family members. My Dad will have a perfect back, my Grandpa will have a perfect mind. I will be able to see my Aunt and my Grandpa again. Because of the Atonement I am able to live with my family and with Heavenly Father forever. That includes my family that I have now and my future family. Because of Christ’s Atonement families can be together forever, sealed together by his power in sacred temples. Because of the Atonement I can have eternal life, and we all know that eternal life is family life.