Thanksgiving Temple Trip

Wow!! Sooo cool! 

With this week being thanksgiving, I have reflected on how much I truly have to be grateful for. The Lord is so merciful to us!

Some crazy news for the week.... I'm getting transferred. I never knew it would be so hard to leave this area, but I am really struggling thinking about all the people I am going to miss here. One of the hardest things is the fact that I didn't expect it at all. I had great visions for this area and was really excited about the potential of all the people we were working with. I don't know where I am going yet, and won't know until Wednesday. I know that the Lord's plan is always better than what we might want and I am trying to look forward with optimism, but for now I am still really sad. I am ready for growth and I know that is what this change will bring.

Not sure what all this means, but looks fun :)  I had to laugh at the elder in the back on the left wearing Rachel's       "cheetah-themed" Santa hat! Guess I sent those for a reason! 

Before I knew I was being transferred I was asked to sub for the youth speaker and speak in sacrament meeting. So inspired. I was so grateful to speak my last Sunday here.

White shirt, tie, temple recommend in hand...so prepared for the gospel!

Joseph went to the temple this past week and loved it!! He was so excited the days leading up to it and when he was there he said he felt the spirit very strongly. He said it is one thing to talk about the temple, but a completely other thing to actually go inside. He is so right. The temple is the Lord's house and a place where one can feel the spirit unlike anywhere else.

The ward is really working well with Joseph. Yesterday was our last ward council and you can see the ward really feeling the responsibility of helping him stay strong in the church and become more converted to Jesus Christ. I am excited for him and for the ward. I think that seeing Joseph be baptized has excited the ward about missionary work.

This past week we were introduced to the "He is the Gift" initiative and are very excited about it!! If you haven't seen the video yet, go, RIGHT NOW, to christmas.mormon.org and watch it and then go share it on your facebook and everywhere else! It is a touching video which helps us to focus on the Savior this season. The church is putting a HUGE emphasis on it right now, so catch the vision and share this video with everyone. It is a really easy way to share the gospel and about Jesus Christ.

Another push lately has been for families to have their own mission plans and I encourage all that read this to do the same. It helps to keep a focus and a goal for missionary work. It also unifies the family on missionary efforts and gets everyone involved in the hastening of the work.

Look at that... 2 FHE's for ya! :) Mission plan and He is the Gift :)

I watched the video this morning.  It is wonderful!  As is everything the church puts out.  I'm excited to share it with everyone!  In our ward, our bishop has also invited us to council in our families about our personal and family preparedness, so we have 3 family home evenings ready to go for us!  YEA!!  

I love you all!! I am so grateful to be a missionary. I love this gospel and I love Jesus Christ. I love having the opportunity to share my testimony with everyone I meet. Happy December everyone!!

Missionary Christmas Tree :)