Christmas & New Year's Eve Details

Here are a few more holiday details: Christmas and New Year's Eve

THIS IS ME WITH AN ORIGINAL COPY OF THE BOOK OF MORMON!!  

So amazing!

This was a GREAT week! I am healthy again. So grateful. It got through the negatives this morning. Bring it on! "FOR NAAAARRRRNNNIAAA!!!" (Narnia = The Kingdom of God, in this email.)

Something really exciting about December... We successfully passed out 400 He is the Gift cards!!

We had ordered more before the office ran out and so we set a goal to pass all of them out because we were so privileged to have more than other missionaries.

With the help of about 4 members, who passed out about 150 of them with us, we met our goal! That means that 400 people just from Sister Prestwich and I had that card in their hands and the link to mormon.org. Sheboygan County was exploding with Christmas cheer this year! We gave them to people sitting in their cars, in parking lots, walking their dogs, people across the street that we would wave to and then hold up a card, the people at Bethesda Thrift shop for our Christmas present to them, etc. It was a lot of fun to go completely out of our way and truly talk to EVERYONE with a friendly smile! What I think is really amazing is that we prayed with a lot of them. I know that they were able to feel of God's love for them in that moment and hopefully reflect on how they can improve their relationship with Him in the new year!

A couple of highlights from this week:

-We watched the Restoration video in Portuguese with Thaina!! This was so exciting to her when we told her that was our lesson for the night. She was kind enough to put English subtitles on, although we told her we would watch it without them because we almost have the video memorized. haha It's my favorite. I'll probably want to watch it in every language by the time I come home just because I like watching it at night after planning in other languages so I don't get bored and so I feel like I'm having a movie night. ;) But one of the greatest things about watching it in a different language is that you focus so much more on the Spirit. You pay more attention to how you feel when they speak as oppose to what they are actually saying. 

We bore powerful testimony, invited her to pray to know for herself that Joseph Smith was a prophet, Val (member) said the closing prayer in Portuguese, and we left! It was amazing. We have been working on leaving while the Spirit has penetrated every heart in the room so those there can reflect on their experience when we leave. 

-We gave Kaletha and Reuben a chapel tour on Saturday! (One of the recipients of a He is the Gift card, we have been praying to teach a family)  They are coming to church next week with their 3 kids and we are teaching them the Plan of Salvation tonight with a member and her 12 year old daughter. 

-Last night we set a goal to find someone new to teach today... and this morning Bishop text us about a friend of his who wants to learn about the restored gospel! We are going to call her tonight. :) 

-The picture is of us at the Pond's for New Year's Eve. I met Kjirsten!! We ate there for dinner and after we gave our last He is the Gift card out to their neighbor. 

- We had lunch at Noodles and Co. with Kjirsten's friend Holly! She is in the military and she wants to find out for herself if the Book of Mormon is true because she had heard SO many people tell her it has changed their life! Kjirsten actually gave her her first Book of Mormon and then the Ponds sent her a copy when she was in basic training because the only books you can read are scripture.

I know our Heavenly Father is so aware of His children.  

Vanessa on the far left just survived cancer. We had a wonderful "Year in Review" lesson and the Perez family shared how it was one of the hardest but greatest things that ever happened to their family and their faith in Christ.

I was reading a talk and in Genesis 3:17 the Lord says to Adam and Eve, "...cursed is the ground for THY sake." We had a discussion about that and how all opposition is for our growth and progression in this life. Having that perspective can give us strength and cause us to turn inward and ask, "What purpose will this serve in my life? What is this preparing me for? What weaknesses will I turn into strengths because of it?"

Life is a Refiner's Fire my friends, Feel the Burn!

See the Change.