WEEK 17- MERRY CHRYSLER

Yet another busy week down. It was full of festive things though so it was mostly fun and magical and whatnot. Here are the highlights: Monday night he had dinner with the Browns. Always 10/10. Tuesday we wrapped copies of the Book of Mormon with sister Getty's. It was alot of fun even though she strongly disapproved of my wrapping ability. Dont worry she let me know and taught me how to do it the fancy way haha. Wednesday we had lunch with sister minter. What a queen. She's such a cute proper little lady with the strongest faith and I just aspire to be her. It rained all day Thursday and most of Friday. We had our weekly lesson with John and he continues to impress me with his faith and determination. We shared with him the talk God's compelling witness. It talks about how the Book of Mormon is proof that God loves all of his children and how we can use it to build our testimonies. Friday was very busy. We had a lesson with Trish, finally! And a lesson with Chloie and her little sister Liberty. They are like 16 and 14 I think. They are cool and I dont know how well they are grasping the material but I know if they just try their lives are gonna change. Oh and we did service for Carla. She loves me so much and I love her. Saturday was also crazy. We had brunch with the Vaassens and then hung out with the Fischers. They fed us and sent us with a bunch of goodies and deer meat. So gotta figure out how to cook that this week. Then we went and got blessings from brother Dutton. I love that family. They do so much for us, and their youngest Maleah is a perfect little angel. She'll run up to you and give you the biggest neck hug her arms can manage gosh it's the sweetest thing ever. Later that night we didn't have anything to do so we decided to go tracting. But its dark out and no one wants you knocking on their doors when it's dark so we decided we would carol to them and invite them to the Christmas sacrament meeting. I would like to make a public apology to all the people who had to listen to my less than impressive vocals that night. Sister Peacock can harmonize and all that though so hopefully she made up for my lack of talent. I hate that it gets dark so early. One guy told us "oh doing some late night ministering I see." Like no sir. It's only 7... Sunday was alright the wards were combined so there was alot of people there. Too bad non of them were our investigators, other than John, or the people we invited. I though surely since it was Christmas people would come, but man getting them to church is nearly impossible. It's pretty discouraging after you have a cool lesson with them during the week and they are excited and tell you they are going to go to church and then they never show up. It is disappointing. But I'm trying to stay positive. People don't know what they are missing. Sunday night we went Nativity caroling with the Vests and Campbells. Shout out to them for being awesome. It was so fun. We dressed up and reenacted the nativity right at people's doorsteps and then we sang them silent night. It was so stinking cool. I think this Christmas I've learned the most about recieving. Giving is great yes but it is so important to fully recieve and appreciate the gifts we are given. By our family and friends but more importantly from our Savior and Heavenly Father. When we were nativity caroling one woman opened the door and took one look at us and said "I'm sorry to put a damper on your night but we are not religious so go ahead on to the next house." She said that while looking at cute little 9 year old Holly aka "Mary" and I was upset. What made me the most mad was that she was wearing a Merry Christmas shirt, her house was decorated with lights, and there were presents under the tree, but she wasn't willing to listen to the actually meaning behind Christmas. Another lady we sang to and performed our skits for was brought to tears and was full of gratitude. You could tell she loved it. When we sang Silent night, it wasn't just a song. There was meaning behind every word. She was so thankful we brought this message to her and I know she felt the spirit and love of Christ. The difference between these women was the way they received our message. Tonight and tomorrow remember that to make Christmas more than a materialistic day we truly have to accept with a thankful heart the things Jesus Christ has given us. We celebrate this day for his birth. The birth of the only one capable and willing to suffer and die for each of us so that we could have joy and purpose for this life and the life to come. I get emotional thinking about the love Christ has for us, who are so undeserving. It's true we can't repay him for what he has done for us. All we can do is give our thanks and by doing so fully accepting his love, his forgiveness, his atonement, and his charity and then share that with all those around us. There would be no Christmas without Christ, but even more there would be no happiness or hope for us without him. I'm so grateful my Heavenly Father gave the gift of His perfect Son so that we can be blessed with everything and more. Thank you so much for all the presents, packages, letters, emails, prayers and goodies sent my way. From home and from the awesome people of Salem. I've never felt more blessed than I do this Christmas. I hope this is the best one yet for all of you. Kloveyoubye, Sister Fisher