I'm
going to start off by saying that it has gotten really cold. On
Wednesday, it got to -38 degrees (Celsius) with the wind chill. But my
puffy coat kept me warm!!
Tuesday
we had our Christmas zone conference! I got to see Elder Ipson again
because our zones combined for the conference. The conference was sooo
fun! We played a lot of Christmas games and had a talent show. It was
also a wonderful reminder that we truly celebrate Christmas to remember
the wonderful and glorious gift of Jesus Christ's Atonement.
The
past few days we've gone caroling a lot! We went through a bunch of
neighborhoods and old folks' homes. It's awesome to see how happy it
makes people. We were handing out candy canes with mormon.org cards as well so hopefully that pays off.
Friday
we went and volunteered at a soup kitchen and helped feed some of the
homeless people in Fredericton. We get to go there almost every week,
and it's super rewarding!
On
Sunday we had freezing rain, so they had to cancel church. We got
permission from the bishop to have our own mini sacrament meeting with
the 7 missionaries in Fredericton. So we made the dangerous trek up to
the church and had our own testimony meeting with just missionaries. It
was a cool experience.
This
week during personal studies I read a talk by Elder Wirthlin titled
"The Great Commandment" There was an awesome quote in there that I'd
like to share with you all. It says:
"Oh,
it is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us—even with all
our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves,
He never will. We
see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees
us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly
Father won’t, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of
becoming."
No
matter what our circumstances are, we must always remember our divine
heritage as sons and daughters of God and our potential to become just like him. We
are able to do this when we access the power of the Atonement and God's
grace everyday in our lives. I hope we all take advantage and remember,
especially during this time of year, of what an amazing gift the Savior
gave us when he atoned for our personal sins. I hope we all can use
this remembrance to become better people in all aspects of our lives.
Love you all! Hope you have a Merry Christmas!!!!
