Suffice it to say that my
Christmas was doused with a good helping of Baggy-ness. Amidst the fireworks
and tamales and the Christmas package that was filled to the brim with sweets,
the only thing that I really cared about was the bi-annual Skype Call that I
got to do on Thursday.
It was, frankly, very
hard to think about anything else.
Namely because almost
every one of our investigators left to go and visit their families. Leaving us
alone on Christmas Eve.... So, taking advantage of the extensive amount of free
time that we had....Elder Chunga and I took a gigantic stack of our "He is
the Gift" Pass-Along Cards and just started handing them out to everyone
and their dogs.
The whole day we talked
to a grand total of 120 people and by the end of our 3 dinner appointments, we
were tired, stuffed and sick of eating tamales.
Christmas Eve: Mission
accomplished.
That night they lit off
fireworks off of every street corner, so Elder Chunga and I stood on our
balcony and stared into the heavens at midnight. There were 20 minutes straight
of prosthetic light. They soared through the sky.
So at around 12:30 we
finally turned off the lights and slept until morning.
On Christmas, I started
things off reading the Liahona and cleaning our house (because it was a big
mess), and I opened up my Christmas package from my family (they sent me a back
massager...I am so blessed). And we did a quick companionship study. After
sitting in anxiety for an hour and a half we went down to the Stake center to
be able to talk to our families!
It was a great
experience, I absolutely love my family. There were so many emotions attached
to the phone call: Joy, Happiness, The Spirit, Sadness, Unity, Love,
Desperation.....so many things that just left me completely worn out by the
time the hour was up. Then my mother asked me to be able to bare my testimony
to them in Spanish to end the call. It was an incredibly revelatory
experience....it got me to reflection on how much my testimony has grown here
in the mission...how much better I've come to know my Savior and his gospel
through the past year.
I know this church is
true and the blessings that I've received from serving a mission are simply
abounding.
There is nowhere I would
rather be.
By the time that I hung
up, I felt just...wiped out.
We went back home, had a
lunch appointment (we ate a Holiday Ham!) and then went out visiting with the
bishop, and then ate two dinners.
Merry Christmas.
The next few days were
kind of hard.... emotionally, trying to get back into the swing of things...but
we were able to manage!
I know that this church
is true! I know it! And I am so excited to be able to take advantage of the
last 7 months that I have to be able to share it with everyone that I meet!
That's the greatest
miracle of all.
The whole week, I've had
a phrase from the classic novel, "A Christmas Carol" running through
my head:
And so, as Tiny Tim
observed, God bless Us, Every One!
May god bless all of us.
And keep us under his wing and in his fold for this New Year that we are
starting...and always.
Con Amor,
Elder Monson
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