Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[note from Annie: sorry I'm posting this email a week late]

Merry Christmas Eve! 

Here are some thoughts of mine recently:

When I left on my mission, we sang hymn 270 “I’ll go where you want me to go.” I love the verses that echo, “I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, ... I’ll say what you want me to say. I’ll be what you want me to be.” I came into the mission with that song in mind, and I will leave that same way. I pray that this is a mindset that stays with me my entire life. There is power in these words—go, say, and be. Each one has a different connotation, yet directs our thoughts closer to the Savior. That is truly what this Christmas season is all about.

My faith has increased dramatically this last week. I’ll admit I was starting to get discouraged, and my faith was weakening. However, it has changed. I began to rely on Christ more and direct my thoughts to the words of latter-day prophets and apostles. I truly feel the General conference talks are inspired. One that particularly stood out to me was Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk titled, “Of Regrets and Resolutions.” President Uchtdorf said, “We do matter. We determine our happiness. You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness” (See http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/of-regrets-and-resolutions?lang=eng for more of his talk). It was at that stage I decided to be happy. It didn't mean I needed to ignore the difficulties or challenges that lay in my path, but rather, I could be happy through the trial of my faith (Ether 12:6). Making that decision has blessed me incredibly because it has brought greater happiness into my own life. As a result, my faith is also increasing since I am humble enough to learn and adhere to the promptings of the Spirit. Missionary life is great!

Besides that I am not sure what else I have to report. We have been singing lots of Christmas songs recently. Christmas is finally here and it is wonderful to be able to spend time together with friends and loved ones. I hope each of you are able to do the same.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! Next week is transfers, so the next time I write it will be next year :)

Love, Becca

p.s. Pictures:

1. From the Christmas party at the mission home (me, Sister Doherty, and Sister Hadley).

2. I opened Rob and Michelle's Christmas package a little early :)

Christmas time is here

Let me report about my fantastic Friday. Sister Doherty and I were on exchange. She is the sister missionary from Australia who came and served with Sister Howell and me last March when I was in Whitefield. We were both trained by Sister Davis, so we are kindred spirits (we see things a lot in the same way). People could see that we were happy and had great faith.

In the morning, we went to contact a referral we had received from a couple on the street. This could have been a ten minute walk, which ended up being an hour and a half of speaking to people. The Lord put people in our path to speak to. One of those people was a young man named Mark. He is only 18 and is trying to find that guidance and direction in his life. He recognizes the great benefit faith has in people’s lives, and he wants that in his own. We were able to help him understand more of God’s love for him and how he can feel that in his own life. Most importantly, we opened his mind to new ideas and restored hope in his life. It was amazing to teach him and invite him to baptism!

We continued speaking to people, laughing along the way. I spoke to this one man in Spanish (who I had already met before), and afterward, Sister Doherty asked, “Was that Mexican?” I responded, “Uh, they don’t speak Mexican in Mexico. They speak Spanish.” We just laughed and began speaking to the next person who passed us by. It was natural and conversation flowed.

After that we went to Joanne’s house and helped her clean. It was like your spring deep cleaning in the kitchen, which was good fun. Then teaching her is always a pleasure. She basically teaches herself and has already thought about the things you teach. Joanne continues to be golden :) As the day continued, we continued on in the spirit of service. We went and visited a member, Anna. We shared about faith in Jesus Christ (quite fitting for this Christmas season) and then served her. She had some Christmas wrapping to do, so we volunteered to help. We wrapped gifts for over an hour, so I can’t imagine how long it would have taken one person. Service truly cheers the heart and reminds us of those things that matter most.

As for the funny part of the day. When walking home from Joanne’s the sole of my boot broke off. Hence, I changed to my back-up pair of boots at the flat. I was happy and continued on until we went to Anna’s and the zipper broke on my back-up pair of boots. We safety-pinned my boot, so it would stay on and I just walked around the rest of the night with my boot that way. All we could do was laugh about the situation. I mean honestly, two pairs of boots in one day? And both times it was my left foot. (See picture attached for more detail.)

Besides that, a lot of the same things have been happening: growth, learning, change, speaking, studying, etc. Life is good, and I am enjoying myself. As Grandma Jack says, "Aren't we blessed!" I have to answer enthusiastically, "Yes!" I hope each of you are feeling similar this Christmas season.

Love always, Becca

This is going to be a quickie

This is going to be a quick email, but I just wanted to write and say hello. We were able to watch the Christmas devotional this past week, and the Christmas season is definitely here. We put up a small Christmas tree with some lights in the flat (as I reported last week), so I am excited for that. Our theme of the messages last night was about giving. This week we have been able to serve others and give of ourselves. In particular, we helped the bishop and his wife decorate for Christmas, helped a friend move houses (luckily she had even less stuff than I did in my college dorm room), and sang carols at an elderly care home (it reminded me a lot of the olden days when we would visit SeaView). It is truly a joy to help others an serve them in so many different ways.

I think that is all for this week. Hope you have a fantastic week!

Love always, Becca

p.s. Sorry the letter is short, I will be sure to budget my time more wisely next week and write a bit more :)

The Heart of Winter

It has been a blessed week! The cold has definitely settled in. Most mornings there has been frost on the ground when we woke up and when we go home in the evenings. However, let me tell you about two of the amazing things that happened this week :)

Joanne was baptized! Everything went rather flawlessly, besides the fact that she had to be baptized twice since her knee went out of the water. As I sat in the baptismal service, it was the first time I sat there and actually felt I didn’t do any of the work. She really taught herself. Before we could teach her about the Word of Wisdom or reading the scriptures, she had studied it online at mormon.org and lds.org. Joanne was proactive about learning, and it is clear that she wanted the gospel. I was simply able to be there as an instrument in God’s hands to review material and answer questions. This experience has just made my week. Furthermore, we taught her about temples and family history, so she is looking forward to going to the temple to do work for her ancestors.

Another miracle is with our investigator Yarong. If you remember her, she wouldn’t even pray the first few weeks of meeting with her. Ever since she started to pray regularly, we have seen miracles. This last week we once again addressed the importance of the Sabbath day (since she works on Sundays during church) and fasting. When we asked about her job, she told us she recently thought about quitting. Yarong is mostly working for her resume, so she would prefer to be doing something related to her field of study (psychology). We are working with the ward council to help her find other work, even if it is volunteer work. Carrying on with the lesson, we taught her about fasting and how that can help us in our lives. She committed herself to fast that night. Yarong did exactly that. She included in her fast about moving accommodations (so she could be closer to campus and also church activities) as well as her lab report. The very next day after her fast, she told us how she found new housing and is moving on Saturday. It truly is a miracle, and it is clear that the Lord is mindful of each of us, especially as we fast and are willing to sacrifice something on our behalf (food and water) for something greater (the purpose of our fast).

Besides that life is pretty much the same. We are getting ready for Christmas. I recently set up a Christmas tree with lights in the flat. It is the same exact one as last year since I am living the same location.

Love, Becca

Photos: (I think you should be able to recognize the different people in each photo.)

One from the temple when we went and visited this past week

One from the baptism.