December 23
Merry Christmas!
Need I say more? I guess I can add a few things.
Once again, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. I hope you all take some time to think about some of the greatest gifts we've been given. Heavenly Father has a plan for us, and as part of that great plan, He provided a Savior. Jesus Christ willingly atoned for each of us. I hope we will keep the spirit of Christmas in our hearts and strive to be more like our Savior. I am so grateful to both of them and for this great season of joy and love. Seek for opportunities to serve. Seek for the good in people. Remember that we are all children of our Heavenly Father. And finally, remember that you don't have to walk this path of life alone. Heavenly Father knows our hearts, our hopes, and our desires. Turn to Him and you will feel His strength and love in your life. He is very aware of you, and He didn't send you to earth to fail, but to succeed.Need I say more? I guess I can add a few things.
This week started out with a grand adventure. We went to see some castle ruins called Lipova. We had to climb to the top of a big hill to get there. We hadn't anticipated that the ground would be so frozen over that it would make it difficult to walk. Elder Middlebrook could hardly stand! We finally all made it to the top though. We had the entire ruins to ourselves, so naturally we played a few rounds of hide and seek. The elders started having very skilled sword fights with choice sticks to use as swords. They were all thrown for a loop when Sora Bird joined and defeated them all. She's got skills (mostly in the form of war cries and swinging her stick repeatedly). That was our adventure. (This happened last Monday so Mom already posted some of the pictures)
The day ended on an interesting note. I lost the phone. I abandoned the poor thing, and now it is lost forever. I didn't realize how much we use the phone or had planned to use it until it was gone. It makes things a little harder, but we got a hold of the mission office and a new one is on the way!
We kept busy this week. We had our last two English classes. We ended early this transfer because of the holidays. We were able to do more service on Wednesday. This time we were going through gift boxes that had been put together and donated (like giving trees or toys for tots) and making sure everything was in order before they were handed out to children. I felt so full of love and peace as we worked. I was so grateful to all this people who so graciously donated even those simple things so that needy children here can have a Christmas. I'm so grateful we had the opportunity to help sort those and get them ready to go. I'm gaining a stronger testimony of service, I really am. I love it, and I love that I'm beginning to see how that even the littlest bits of service matter. We truly are blessed as we strive to help one another even with small tasks. Our lives will be filled with more joy and peace as we seek for opportunities to serve.
On Saturday we had a branch Christmas party. One of the members of the branch presidency shared a few thoughts, the children put on a little play of the nativity, and then we as missionaries sang some carols. We had a good turn out, although no investigators came. It was still good for the branch. There were many delicious treats afterwards, and I think everyone had a good time. The primary president put together a bunch of Christmas bags for the children. She's a sweetheart and gave same to the missionaries as well. We were able to talk a few and take them to a less active family who has three children. We just reconnected with this family a few days ago and we hope to continue meeting with them. Sora Bird and I have fallen in love with their kids! They are so sweet!
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