12212015 Christmas Week

Hey!

This week was good! We had zone conference which was good. One thing that was said in the training is that the Sabbath was made for us the appreciate the miracle of creation. I had never thought of that before but I thought it was cool! That night we had a family home evening at the Mission President’s home. It was cool. Sang hymns, some testimonies were shared, and it was a very homely feel. Also this week we went caroling. We did it at a crosswalk right by a subway station and two major streets, so there were lots of people, but I didn't love it. It was so busy and loud it didn't seem to fit the spirit of Christmas. It is like hiking up Pikes peak next to the road. At least that is what it felt like to me. But we are going caroling as a zone of Christmas eve, and I think indoors which I am super excited for. But as I was thinking why I didn't love that Christmas caroling, I guess I just feel like we often imagine Christmas as a quiet, sacred night, so as I sing carols I like a little more personal settings. I guess it just points to the fact that Christmas really is a sacred season.

                                                    Elder Grossgebauer and Daniel

Daniel's zone during zone conference

On Sunday, a missionary who is Korean American was on her way home but was staying with her family for a little before going home. She invited us over to have dinner with her Catholic Aunt and Uncle. They were very nice and I felt like I understood most of what was said! Yay! But man the who reversed grammar thing is rough. Anyway, just barely there were these guys in the PC store here who were cussing in English (who knows if they knew what they were saying) but Elder Kim stood up and said that we are foreigners and asked them to stop. I don't know I that that was very nice of him and but it was impressive to ask. He is a good kid.

Anyway on Sunday there was also a Christmas Orchestra/choir concert. It is a Mormon Orchestra called the Liahona orchestra. It was good! I love good Christmas music. Most mornings we play Christmas music in our apartment. It is awesome! :)

On Saturday night we had our ward Christmas Party. They watched two Christmas devotional and had a delicious dinner. Elder Godfrey was Santa and was perfect for the role. It was cute. I liked that they watched the Christmas devotional for the party.

During one lesson in English with Handy Choice I talked about 1 Corinthians 13 and the end about seeing through a glass darkly. To make it easier to understand I talked about tinted windows on a car. We can't see who is inside, we can only see a shape or just shadows. But the promise of the gospel is that God will come out of the car. We will see him even as he sees us from within: face to face. I thought it was a cool way of thinking about it. At least it increased my own personal understanding of the scripture. Handy loves faith. He always goes back to saying that that is the most important thing, so he didn't love when Paul says that the greatest of the three is Charity. He said that on an island we can't really show charity but we can show faith. Just assuming that is true, I thought to myself, "but that isn't heaven." Faith may be the starting point but without other people, good relationships, etc. there is no point. Heaven is Zion, not an island.

I also read Behold Thy Mother this morning. Elder Holland is amazing. I love him and that talk. I was thinking that I wish I had been/am currently better at thinking of my mother or Christ, the two who bore me, when I was tempted or struggling or whatever it is. So thank you mom for everything you have done for me. I know you have born a lot because of me and being a mother. I love you and my whole family.   So yeah those are my main thoughts this week. Hopefully we will get some more investigators soon. We are eating with several potentials this week, so pray for us and them. 

Merry Christmas!