The area is doing pretty well! Yesterday we had a great miracle. Well, lets actually start with Saturday. Sister Barnes and I felt like we needed to go see Jim and we had some things we wanted to talk to him about. When we got to his house he told us that that day wasn't a good day and that he wasn't going to come to church because he was in so much pain. We talked to him for a little bit about Heavenly Father and how much He loves Jim. We then talked about faith and how we can exercise our faith. Jim, told us that he really wanted to come to church but that he just didn't think it would be possible with how much pain he was in. We said a prayer for him and after talked about how important going to church was to Heavenly Father. We talked about praying for the health and strength to be able to get to church. At the end of our meeting Jim said the closing prayer and prayed that he would be well enough to come to church. We told him that we would be praying for him as well. Sunday came and as we were walking into the sacrament meeting room Jim walked in with one of the members of the ward! We were so excited to see him there. He sat through sacrament and loved it. Here is where the real miracle is. Jim never stays longer than sacrament meeting but this week he stayed for second hour and our teacher taught about the Book of Mormon and we listened to Elder Hollands powerful talk about it. Jim loved the talk and recognized that the power behind Elder Holland could not have come from himself, but from God. Jim then talked about how he loved the Book of Mormon and how he has been reading it. He said that he has really enjoyed it and has recognized peace from it. He bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon without even knowing it. When I first got to the area he really didn't like the Book of Mormon. Then to make things even better our ward mission leader and his assistant offered to give Jim a blessing of healing. The blessing was beautiful and Jim loved it. Jim then stayed for Priesthood and came out of class so happy. It was so great to see him progress so much in such a short amount of time!
Did you all get to watch the CHRISTmas devotional? It was so great! My favorite part was that I was able to watch it in a member's home this time! But that isn't the best part. This member had a brand new CHRISTmas tree and it smelled so good! The whole time we watched the devotional I could smell it. What is better than that!? Nothing. So my favorite part was when Elder Christofferson talked about how Christ is a spirit child of God as well as us. So when we came down to the earth it was a sort of condescension for us as well. He then went on to talk about how if Christ had to descend below it all and suffer to learn then why wouldn't we have to descend below some of it to learn for ourselves as well? It just makes sense! I feel bad for those people who turn against God when things go wrong. I wish they could understand that we are here to learn. If we didn't have any hard times we wouldn't grow at all! Duh! Those trials are there to turn us toward God not away from Him. I have loved being able to turn to Heavenly Father during my times of stuggle. And there is actually a quote that that reminds me of, it says "Do your prayers at times sound and feel the same? Have you ever said a prayer mechanically, the words pouring forth as though cut from a machine? Do you sometimes bore yourself as you pray? Will prayers that do not demand much of our thought merit much attention from our Heavenly Father? When you find yourself getting into a routine with your prayers, step back and think. meditate for a while on the things for which you really are grateful. Look for them. They don't have to be grand or glorious. Sometimes we should express our gratitude for the small and simple things like the scent of rain, or the taste of our favorite food, or the sound o a loved once's voice. Thinking of things we are grateful for is a healing balm. It helps us get outside ourselves. It changes our focus from our pain and trials to the abundance of this beautiful world we live in." ok funny story that isn't the quote I was thinking about. oh well. I already have it typed out, might as well keep it. That quote was by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. The other one spoke about enjoying Heavenly Father as we pray. I love being able to have a real conversation with him and hearing His answers. It is the most comforting thing when I know that He is listening and I can and will receive answers. Either way prayer can fix so many things.
oh wait! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKAYLA!!!!! Next Birthday I will actually be able to come celebrate with you! I hope you have a great day! You are going to be 22! Weird! (Also if any of you send me a letter with T-swifts lyrics in it I will not be happy. Kiera already did that and it wasn't good. Hahaha) Well, just know that I love you tons! I can't wait to see you again!
And another birthday side note...happy birthday to Tanner and Kenny. Why I still remember their birthdays I don't know, but their birthdays were last week.
Well, my time is up! Love you all! Have a great week!
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