Sister Lauren Holbrook: Week 9: The Mountains are White (already to harvest)

December 9, 2013

Key points of this week:

I live in one of the most beautiful places on the face of the planet.

I actually planned out my email last night so we'll see how this all works out.

I need fisherman height boots to avoid getting snow inside my boots.

I have cousins all over Bountiful, Utah.

The Book of Mormon is the greatest book in the world.

Bunk beds and little Christmas trees are the best things ever. Besides the gospel, of course.

Miracles have been happening like crazy this week - last transfer we were really building up our relationship with the members, and now they are just calling us with referrals and people to visit! It has truly been amazing!

Monday:

Sister Beeton got to go to the Salt Lake Temple and the mission home for most of the day, so I got to spend some time with my mission mom (Sister LeSueur). We were SO EXCITED about not being transferred, so we went to Deseret Book and got this fantastic Christmas CD that we can listen to on P-days. The rest of the day consisted of laundry and a few lessons in the evening!

Tuesday:

The morning consisted of packing and cleaning and getting ready for our new sister. We had a lesson with Val then headed off to the transfer building! We met Sister Beeton's fantastic family and said goodbye, then went to pick up our new missionary! Sister Horseherder is this cute, tiny, Navajo sister from Tuba City, AZ and she is just amazing. That night we went on splits so they went to a dinner appointment and I went to a ward Christmas party where Buddy the Elf performed, there was a clarinet quartet, and they sang "Do You Have Room." Such a great evening.

Wednesday:

Fantastic follow-up meeting for the trainers and trainees! I absolutely LOVE President Hansen and his wife. So so much. And it's been absolutely amazing to see Elder Williams and Elder Colton and get to see how much they have grown over the past year and a half to two years. We then had pizza with one of our ward mission leaders and his cute grandkids, then it was off to a wonderful evening of Stake Correlation and learning all about the area book.

Thursday:

A few appointments cancelled, Sister Horseherder was sick, and then Sister LeSueur (as the sister training leader) was held hostage by some zone leaders who needed her help planning out their zone meeting. Which meant lots of study time and cleaning out the area book. Mom you would be ashamed of our planning sessions and area book right now. We are working on being more effective planners and having a much more organized area book. Still a work in progress though. Then the Relief Society Christmas dinner where we shared a little Christmas message. I felt like I needed to share about having a new heart for Christmas six years ago, and it's been really neat to see that story touch certain people as we've gone to other ward Christmas parties.

Friday:

Zone meeting and weekly planning. President Hansen has these 20 points that are to be our focus for this mission. It was awesome to review all of those! We then had two more ward Christmas parties where we shared similar messages. And I got to hear the Polar Express be read aloud which just made me super happy :) And then I of course started bawling talking about my new heart six years ago... good thing there were just Christmas lights around.

Saturday:

We had ward Christmas breakfasts, new bunk beds, and another ward Christmas party. Challenge: watch the Bible videos about Christ's birth. Absolutely incredible. Sister Horseherder was sick and slept most of the day, so we had a lot of Book of Mormon study time. It has been awesome! Next week I'm going to tell you all about the amazing Book of Mormon studies I have had!! It's been such a great blessing to be able to read the Book of Mormon. I am doing my best to finish it by the end of the year... maybe even by Christmas.

Sunday:

On our way to Stake Council with President Hansen, Sister LeSueur and I got stuck in the snow. Which means Heavenly Father sent the wonderful Moore's to pick us up on the way there. The snow here is amazing, and it's so deep and gorgeous. I just love it :) So then we were super late to a Stake Council. Where our mission president was there. Good thing he still loves us.

President Hansen is absolutely amazing. He talked about simply inviting people into your home without even hiding a Book of Mormon behind your back - just get to know them and love them until they open up. We also need to be more bold in inviting people to listen to the missionaries!! People will accept if only they are invited! He also talked about making time for the people around you, even if that means you can't have a family thing every single night. It was wonderful.

The Christmas devotional was just amazing. I love all of these General Authorities so much, and I love that I get to be around them in this area. Always remember to keep Christ in Christmas!!

How are you all doing on the challenges I've been sending you? Who have you been working to bring closer to Christ?

I love you all dearly! Remember our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you! This gospel is true. This is God's work, and I am so blessed to be a part of it all. I love my Savior, and I am so thankful for this time of year to reflect on His birth and His life. His Atonement is truly how we can experience true joy in this life.

Love,

Sister Holbrook