My time in Raleigh: Merry Christmas in 3 Days!

So this week has been a pretty slow one. The week before Christmas everyone takes off and is preparing for family and the crazy schedule that Christmas brings. So we were kind of not as busy this week. But there were a few highlights:)

Last Monday my companion and I treated ourselves and did a little shopping at Forever 21...which was so weird! It was like we were part of the real world again. It took me a minute to adjust, haha.

On Tuesday we had the Zone Christmas conference! There were 3 zones there and after the training session and lunch there was a fun little Christmas program where people performed all types of things. It was fun! So I'm pretty sure I have 'The Face', the one where people look over the crowd and think, “Huh, I will pick on them.” I say this because in the MTC when they choose a random person to speak in Sacrament meeting, I was chosen. Then while going through 12 week training I was selected to give the spiritual thought at the meeting. Next, when we had a conference call for us trainees I was called on to be the one to bear the testimony at the end of the call. And low and behold at this Conference I was selected out of all 300 to give the random talk! So I quickly prepared and gave it at the end. Luckily everyone said it was good, so I wasn't as embarrassed as I felt at first:)

My companion and I wore some ugly Christmas sweaters along with another couple of sisters. We were definitely the only ones and stuck out like sore thumbs...but we did get a lot of compliments!

Zone Christmas Conference

This week my companion got the flu. It was not fun! I felt so bad for her. So in the mornings since she needed the rest I got time to bike on my bike trainer that I got for an early Christmas present! I absolutely love it and am so grateful for it:) I got some good cardio in for sure.

Here is the weird stuff that happened this week. When we went out with Sister Parker to go visit some less actives on our ward roster (keep in mind our ward roster is somewhere between 300-400 people) we ran into a few weird situations. The first house we came to looked abandoned. I mean boxes, blankets, garbage, shoes, pillows, and other random items were strewn across the porch. The smell was awful! To make things worse... there were a dozen cats just laying around in this stuff! It was gross. I turn to timidly knock on the front door (sanitizer at the ready in my bag) and I almost step on a dead flattened squirrel! You can imagine my face.

The second house we went to was not only the home to a sweet little old lady, but also to 5 dogs, 4 chickens, and 18 cats. Yes, 18. She said she had downsized from 67 cats! I couldn't even believe it. She was probably a hoarder. Haha.

A few other fun activities we participated in this week included making Christmas cookies with one of our investigators, painting the inside of a trailer home, wrapping presents with a member, making and assembling ornaments for the 25 days of Christmas activity with a member, eating really bad Chinese food, attending a Christmas party with a family in the ward and watching all the kids put on a nativity play afterwards :)

This week I really enjoyed my personal study time. It truly is a privilege to be in the scriptures and learning each and every day. One quote I really enjoyed was by Harold B. Lee and it reads, "Life is God's gift to man. What we do with our life is our gift to God." This made me want to make sure that all that I am doing is pleasing to the Lord and allow me to receive any blessings He may have in store for me.

Secondly, I read the talk called "Lessons learned from the Sacred Grove" by Marlin K. Jensen. I so enjoyed this! I would encourage you to go and read it after you respond to my e-mail;)

This Christmas season has really been magnified for me as I am currently serving as a missionary. I get to see more deeply the reason for why we celebrate this holiday and what I can do to make sure I apply it to my life. I feel that even if I didn't have any success as a missionary, I would still come out being totally converted. That has been my biggest blessing so far. Without any shadow of a doubt I know that this is the true Gospel found on the earth today. And I am so grateful to be a part of it.

Here are some pictures of my friends that I have been able to see during transfers.