Hi friends!
I'm tooting my own horn today and saying. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!"
21!
j
I kinda wish I was 22 so you could all sing T-Swift in your heads, but that will have to wait another couple hundred of days.
Life has been so good.
I apologize for my lame excuse of an email last week, but I really did get sick. I caught the 24 hour flu and it had me real good. When I said that I was going to go hurl, it kinda really happened. Like all day. TMI? oh well.
The good news is that I was only sick for 24 hours. And that we live with members who can pretend to be your parents and get you medicine when you want to die. And that the elders can give blessings of healing. And that it was P-day and we really didn't have anything planned anyway. All tender mercies of the Lord.
So many things this week.
Christmas Eve was fun.
We did service at Bethseda (a thrift store, for you non-Wisconsinites) and organized the shelves. Which was sooooo fun because I love organizing shelves. Especially shelves with Christmas things on Christmas Eve.
We visited our friend Reagan and her kids and shared a message and got to know her and had a jolly good time. Those kids are hilarious. One is literally a miniature Will Smith. They are so witty. I was rolling on the floor the whole time.
We did a lot of walking and tried to talk to everyone. The only problem was that no one was out. haha. So we went downtown and tried street contacting down there and we had a little bit more success. We also ran into really cool things along the way, so that was sweet.
We had dinner with the Bishop and his family and other people from the ward. It was so cute.
We had a really good Christmas dinner and talked about Bishop and his wife's missions in the Philippines and it reminded me of my dad. Then we played a game kinda like Catch Phrase, but it was Mormon-edition. And I TOTALLY ROCKED it. haha.We played missionaries vs members and it was super fun. I'm pretty sure we won, but bishop wouldnt tell us because missionaries arent allowed to keep score. haha.
Then we went to the Linsley's. They are a senior couple in Kenosha. They had all the missionaries over in the area and we had chips and salsa and snacks and played some games. We almost got Elder Reynolds to beatbox and Elder Clark to rap, but to no avail. Then we had a precious little Christmas devotional and we read the Nativity story from Luke and all shared insights and it was super spiritual and one of my favorite moments. Probably one of my favorite Christmas memories in my 21 years of living. Just precious and spiritual.
Christmas was fun too.
We had breakfast with the members we live with and chatted with them for a bit. Then we studied and got ready and then we weekly planned all day. haha. Then we called home from the Riley's house. That was great. Can't believe it was my last call home.
And I got to play with a dog while my comp talked to her family, so I was happy.
Then we had dinner with the Grover family. That was a blast and a half. They are a super fun family.
The rest of the week we mostly just walked around Racine trying to find people to teach. Its hard when no one answers the door, but its also fun because you never know who will answer and what they will be like. And its not very cold, so thats good!
We taught all the youth yesterday for Sunday school, and that was super fun. I love the youth in Wisconsin. They are super strong. They live their beliefs so fiercely every day.I also loved it because it showed me how much I've grown and learned and changed. We taught about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and missionary work and it was really cool to see how much more I knew and applied that I had even a year ago, let alone 8 years ago.
I cant believe I have spent the WHOLE year of 2014 as a missionary. I mean, I totally can believe it cause it just happened... but... you get what I'm trying to say.
Time flies.
And I have learned SO much about the gospel and about myself and about life and about Christ and about my purpose on earth and so many good things.
I know that living the gospel of Jesus Christ is the best and only way to truly be happy. I know it because I've lived it and because I have seen it in so many of my friends here in Wisconsin.
I know that the Book of Mormon is the truest book on the earth. I know it is of ancient origin and that it teaches us SO much about Christ and how to live in a crazy, fallen, war-torn world.
I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God in 1820. I know that by the power of God, he translated the Book of Mormon.
I know that God still loves us and still has a very active role in our lives. He answers prayers. He still calls prophets and apostles to help us.
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