What's
up yinz?! Hope you all had a great Christmas!
Oh man this week was so good and it was
the icing on the cake to be able to skype home. I love my family so much! It was kind of
bitter sweet that this was my last skype... CRAZINESS! Shout out to the best fam for all the laughs
and good stories it was much, much needed. And how in the world did everyone get so big?!
Ha, ha, I'm like, are you even my siblings?! Also thanks to everyone that sent me Christmas
stuff- I felt so loved and remembered so thanks a million. J
Okay so this week some miracles went down:
Caroling gems galore- it was so
fun to go caroling all day with our district and really see how much it
impacted some people. From so many laughs, to older ladies crying, to the man
in the back shouting 'Encore! Encore! I don't care if I miss my dinner- keep
singing!' to countless whispered
"thank you's" as tears glimmered in the eyes of our brothers and
sisters as we hugged them goodbye. Caroling this Christmas is something I will
never forget. Also....I may or may not
have had to use the bathroom in the woods after caroling all night and there
are no bathrooms. L
Sister Roper and I made it a point to try to
get out and visit several of the widows or less actives who are older who don't
have family at home or near, and read Christmas stories with them. I'm so glad we did because the spirit of
Christ entered these homes with full force and so many hearts were
softened.
Christmas Eve we got to go to this awesome
family- the Blazina's, for dinner. It
was pretty legit ‘cuz we got to eat on this fancy glass by candle light and the
miracle of all miracles was that Sister Roper with her night blindness and me
with my klutziness, didn't spill or break anything!!!! Holla! It was super fun though I love
their family. Then their daughter Emily, took us to do our secret Santa for the
Hurley fam. Shout out to my Stoddart fam
for the help there. So this was the most
intense thing! We booked it (ran)
through their creaky fence, past their guard dog and swooping under their
windows. I'm pretty sure I've never run
so fast in all my life! So yeah it was a
big deal.
Christmas was also just amazing. We had a
powerful Sacrament meeting and the speakers were, Emily, a girl that took us to
do the secret Santa and is prepping for a mission - her testimony was so good,
Sister Rudy- a less active member that we've been working with that is now
active, her testimony of forgiveness and her testimony of the truth of the
restored gospel was awesome! It may have
made me cry a little bit to hear it. I
just love when people that haven't been active for a while come back and have
these grand-slam testimonies that they have built up again. Then we went to the
Reisingers and had lunch and a nice Christmas nap #hallelujah - my favoriteeee!
Then we went to the Kretchmans and
skyped and had a yummy dinner! Pretty
sure I ate the majority of the mashed potatoes. Ha, ha, oops! :P
And then we played games and had family
scripture study and it was just a great day. I'm so grateful that we are well taken care of
out here!
Last but not least, we got special
permission to go to the temple!!! I LOVE
THE TEMPLE! The senior couple in the
ward, the Thompsons, took us and the Ritzes (my P3 fam) came too! It was a trip
I'll never forget being able to look around and admire the beauty of the Washington
DC temple that great grandpa Fetzer helped with and to feel them so
close. I couldn't help but look around and think just how lucky I am to
be helping people feel the very same joy I was feeling then and to be serving
alongside some great missionaries. I
never would have thought coming out on a mission I would make so many great
friendships and gain such awesome "family." Sitting in the celestial room I couldn't stop
smiling. My cheeks - legit started
hurting, but I couldn't stop the smiles. How great to be sitting alongside some of my
greatest friends whom I call family and to feel my family from the other side
there as well. I know the temple really
is the Lord's house and that there are more people that have our backs than we
realize.
I am so grateful for the ‘Light the World’
initiative and for the focus each day that helped to bring me and others closer
to Christ. I feel that I have come to
know my Savior better than ever by trying harder to live every day in the way
that He would. If you guys haven't
looked at day 25 for LTW it's okay, it's still up- check it out and make a goal
for 2017 to do something to help you come closer to Christ. I love my Savior and I love you all. Thanks for being the lights that you are! J
💗Sister McDonald
Ponderize-
"I trust in Christ" ~ Moroni 9:22
Commitment-
"Pray often and sincerely to stand as a witness of God"~ Neil A
Anderson
Charity
Attribute- See the big picture
No comments:
Post a Comment