Christmas Miracles!!!!

Hello lovely family and friends!!!

OK! So this week my letter won't be so much a letter, just pictures with stories to go along with it. I actually took picture this week!! WHOHOOO!!!!

And I love CHRISTMAS!!!! Here are my favorite Christmas scriptures this year:

John 3:16-17

16 ¶For ^aGod so ^bloved the ^cworld, that he ^dgave his ^eonly begotten ^fSon, that whosoever ^gbelieveth in him should not perish, but have ^heverlasting ⁱlife.

 17 For God ^asent not his Son into the world to ^bcondemn the world; but that the world through him might be ^csaved.

Luke 2:14

14 ^aGlory to God in the highest, and on earth ^bpeace, good will toward men.

(Note for mom...this will be in lots of little emails with the picture and the description..put it together how you want ;)

Monday we had SNOW!!!!! And we got to decorate our car after gym time :) And everyone in VA puts their windshield wipers up like that so they don't freeze to the car. Smart. We thought that we would fit in and do as the Virginians do :)

 And we got to spend time at the Campbell's home. They are members in our ward. They had an open house party. We got to help her clean her home and then we got to meet all of their neighbors! They just moved into their home, so they wanted to have a party to get to know everyone! Everyone had such an amazing time! I could really feel the spirit of Christ there as people got together as neighbors :) They handed out the Joy to the World DVD as a little Christmas present. Too cute! I just love their Christmas tree...it looks so pretty from the outside. So here is a picture of it!

We had lots of packages delivered. Those were tender mercies! People are too nice to us! We even had an anonymous package delivered to our door. Sourdough bread and a poinsettias! SOOO CUTE! And who knew I was craving sourdough this week?!! Heavenly Father watches out for us!!!! I love the Christmas season of giving! I'm grateful for all that Christ has given us!!

Sister Randquist's mom gave us a little Christmas tree! The yellow and orange paper cranes Sister Randquist made. So talented. And the candy cane heart that my Grandpa had sent me was the perfect thing for the top of the tree!

We taught a lesson in a Mexican bakery :) So fun!!!

And we had a Christmas talent show with the whole mission! The senior couples played the chimes for us!!! It was on the spot and they were great! A family tradition being carried out on the mission!!!

And last night we had the opportunity to perform in the Stake Christmas concert in Mount Vernon. We had a ward member direct us....Larry Clouse. He is so talented and whipped us missionaries into shape!!! I am so grateful that I got to learn from him!

We sang, "I Heard the Bells of Christmas Day" and also combined a little bit of "Far Far Away" in with it! Everyone said that we did a good job! It was really fun to be singing about the true meaning of the Christmas season with everyone! That God lives and that Christ is our Savior!!!!

Well that's all I got for you!!!!!!!!!

I love you all and hope that your Christmas season continues to be well and is centered around our Savior Jesus Christ! I know that this time is a joyous time! Just like the scripture!!!!!! "GLORY TO GOD" and "PEACE ON EARTH"!!!! I know that there is truly peace on earth because of our Savior Jesus Christ!

Love you all!!!!!!

Sister Udall

"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

I think I will send her some money to get a few extra keys so she can hide them strategically for her adventures. Clearly the weather is frightful and there is no delightful fire. Good thing her coat arrived a few weeks ago!  It is comforting to know she will be warm despite rain and cold.  

Thank you for all the love and support you give her!

Kristin

December 2, 2013

Oh my, well there are so many miracles and tender mercies that have happened this week. Also a lot of adventures too!! But I love how life, all the experiences that we do face, help us to learn, grow, and realize that the principles of the gospel really do apply in our own personal lives.

 

So...I will just start from Monday.  P-day. It was great and relaxing, but then we locked ourselves out as we were going to get the car washed. We couldn't do that anymore because I had left the keys in the house. Luckily the office was still opened. So we both laughed as we walked to the office and got it all taken care of.  We said, oh we won't do that again!! Good thing it happened now when the office was open. 

 

Sister Udall and Sister Stones

Tuesday we went on exchanges! I got the wonderful opportunity to serve with Sister Stones! She is amazing! One thing that was a tender mercy was that I realized that she was a lot like me in some ways. That brought me so much comfort! That not all missionaries need to act a certain way! I had always heard that, but when I realized that we had little quirks that were the same and she was an amazing missionary it made me realize that we can do the Lord's work no matter who we are!! He makes us great! I hope that made any sense at all, but it brought peace to my heart.  We had a really fun day, because I stayed in the area and led it out. I don't know the area too well yet, but it was a good learning experience. We just had an adventure. It rained straight throughout the entire day!!  I just decided even before the exchange started that my attitude would be...Bring on the day, with patience, prayer, and a positive attitude we can work it all out! And we did see lots of miracles. Everyone that we went and saw was home!!!  I also had left my planner in the apartment, so I was going off of memory. And we made it everywhere safely and it all worked out. Because I had made up my mind to just be happy, go with the flow, and trust in the Lord, I didn't freak out. Wowza. Miracles galore. We also had matching coats!! That was a blast :)

 

Sister Udall and Sister Randquist
Locked out of their apartment for the
second time in a week. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving!!!! It was really fun. We went to a couple members' homes throughout the day. One family has a lot of really fun little kiddos.  We got to sing some primary songs with them to help calm the extra excitement going on in the home.  One of the little girls also shared with me her favorite scripture. It was too cute!!! Oh, I got to try liver at their house. It wasn't bad at all.  And then we had dinner at another member's home. It was a Thanksgiving miracle that we got there!!!! So before that we were determined to go and wash the car.  (It was kind of like a second pday because we could not proselyte).  Well, we walked out the door and I had left the keys in the house again!!!! Oh man! We just had to laugh! I was a little frustrated at first, but what could we do!? We just laughed about it and called it an adventure. We said many prayers of help and patience, made lots of phone calls, and met some of our neighbors.  The bummer was that the office was not opened. So that option was out.  We had it all lined up to somehow at least get into our apartment so that we could go to bed, but we weren't sure when we would get in.  Then a neighbor helped us out! Miracles!!!! He helped us break in...that's scary in some ways, but now we know to lock the top as well. He was our angel that day!!! Again, Heavenly Father just taught me patience. He taught me to just laugh through the frustrating and trying moments. 

 

There is so much more I could say, but I am running out of time. Those are just some of the highlights and miracles from this week. 

 

This scripture is the scripture of the week.  Sister Stones read it to one of our investigators, and I loved her insight. I also ended up studying it more this morning and oh man, I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

 

^aPeace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be ^ctroubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27)

 

So I was thinking back on all the many experiences that I have had this week.  This scripture sums it all up.  Heavenly Father has promised us peace, but we must choose to feel that peace by letting him into our lives and letting our heart "not...be troubled, neither let it be afraid".  The two words that stood out to me were "let" and "unto".  Heavenly Father will bring peace unto our hearts, but we must let it in.  We have the choice.  We receive the promised blessings by acting and moving forward in faith. I know that this is true. That is what got me through this week!!  And I know that as I acted--when I said a prayer when I was frustrated, upset, needed help, etc., or when I smiled and laughed, or when I just decided to be happy and smile even though I was exhausted--I felt that peace from God. 

I love you all and hope you all had such a very wonderful Thanksgiving! I am grateful for all of you. You are all such special blessings in my life!!!

Love,

Sister Udall

 

PS: The pictures are of us locked out and of Sister Stones and I in our matching coats :)