Hello, I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was awesome. Thank you for the presents; they were perfect. We had such a great day yesterday. We woke up, opened presents, went to breakfast, emailed, and then had a little bit of free time before we went to a Christmas talent show. Some of the missionaries are so gifted. The very best one was this Elder who put on an incredible magic show. He got a major standing ovation afterwards because he did such a good job. Also, Lehi Bennion sang "You Raise Me Up" and he did so well! All the sisters are in love with him now. ;) After the show we went to lunch, which was our Christmas "dinner" (turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, etc.). Some of the sisters that we are good friends with brought decorations to the cafeteria and we tried to set it up like a real table, with napkins and a tablecloth and everything. It was really fun. I have been so blessed to make such great friends here. These sisters are going to serve in Albania and they are leaving on Tuesday. I will miss them like crazy but I'm excited for them to be able to start teaching the Albanian people. Anyway, after lunch we went to choir practice and then we had our Christmas devotional. Elder Bednar came and everyone was SO excited. You could feel the spirit just wash over the room when he and his wife walked in. It was wonderful. He did a huge question and answer session instead of giving a formal talk. They passed out 200 cell-phones and anyone who wanted to could text in a question and he received the texts on his i-pad and chose some to answer and had his wife answer some. It was really cool. I texted in a question and it didn't get answered but that's okay because I had other questions on my mind that I received answers to while he spoke. It was such a great experience. It was like a huge Christmas present to all of us.
After the devotional we went back to our classrooms to have a devotional review with our districts. I love my district a lot and it was fun to be with them and share my testimony with them and hear theirs as well. Everyone got something different from the devotional and I think it's amazing how real personal revelation is. We all have different struggles and questions, and we all can receive the answers that we need if we choose to be in situations where the Spirit is present. After the review we got to hear a jazz band perform and it was so beautiful and relaxing. We ate a sack dinner in our residence hall and just got to talk and enjoy Christmas with the sisters. One of them has an amazing life story and she shared it with us. She got married to the love of her life in the temple and several months later found out that he was addicted to pornography. She decided that she wanted to make things work and she did everything she could for two years to try to help him and save their marriage but he ultimately did not want help and told her that he didn't want to be married anymore. He became mentally and emotionally abusive and told his parents that she was the one who wanted a divorce. When the parents spoke to her about it, she explained the truth and that was the first time she had told anyone about what was happening (except for a marriage counselor they had seen). She went through much and now she is here on a mission and she is such an inspiration to me. I think she is so amazing and listening to her talk about how people with addictions need love and compassion was neat. I know she will be able to do amazing things on her mission and I am very grateful I got to meet her.
After dinner we watched the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas program broadcast and it was probably the most beautiful Christmas music I have ever hear. It was incredible and fun because everybody was so happy and everyone got a bag of kettlecorn. We did a clean-up service project afterwards and then we headed back to the residence hall. On the way; however, we ran into the elder who is here from Hungary- Elder Kettler. He is so cheeky and enthusiastic (I wish I could imitate his hilarious accent to you right now); it was a blast to talk to him and ask him how bad our accents are. He thinks we're terrible and he tells us but he is also very encouraging and positive. I've never been told that I was bad at something in such a positive way. I'm even on the verge of laughing as I type this. I don't know if it's him or if it's because I am so excited to meet the Hungarians and start working in the field. I won't be able to say or understand anything in Hungarian at first, but that's okay. I don't care. I'm just happy to be on a mission and to be able to see how the Lord can work miracles in my life and the lives of others. A Finnish sister that left for the field already emailed and said that she was asked to introduce herself in church and she accidentally told the congregation that she was serving in the toilet. Hahahaha! Oh, we laughed really hard about it but we're all very aware that that's going to be us in a few weeks. We're nervous and stressed and full of joy about it. It's going to be great. I love you so much and I hope that you have a truly wonderful and rejuvenating Christmas Break. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love, Sister Naegle
No comments:
Post a Comment