Hola familia y amigos!
Tuve una semana muy increible y estoy animada estar aqui con la Hermana Flake! (I had an incredible week and I am excited to be here with Hermana Flake!)
We had a lot go on and honestly, this week my testimony was so strengthened. I know that Heavenly Father puts us exactly where we need to be!
Hermana Flake is incredible! She has been in the mission for about 6 months now and she has such a great fire and excitement for the work. She always has a new perspective on things and keeps me on my feet! I love her so much and am so excited to spend this Christmas season with her as my companion. We are really similar in a lot of our interests and it has been fun to talk with her and get to hear about her mission experience thus far. She also went to the CCM in Mexico, and we have had fun sharing stories about our time there.
Our area is also incredible! Everyday holds a new adventure. I just love being back in a Spanish area so much! I had forgotten a little bit how different it is to work in another language, but I love it! It is such a blessing to see how Heavenly Father has brought back to memory things I have learned, or how to say certain things. I was really worried that it would be hard to get back into the swing of things, but it has been great! We have certain hours during the day that we try to only speak Spanish and it has been way fun! I have seen my language skills actually increase a lot in this week alone!
Because it is the Christmas season, we have been trying out new ideas to find new people teach, one of which is caroling. We have gone a few times with the Elders in our branch and we went once with the youth. Singing brings such a spirit to any situation. We met a few people that were totally shocked that we were singing to them! I guess it isn't really a normal thing to open your door and have a group of strangers caroling to you, but a lot of people were really excited and we could tell that it softened their hearts. I just love Christmas time!
We had a meeting with our mission president and he challenged us to read the book of Mormon from now until Easter. Not just to read it, but to study it with a specific topic. I decided to study out the characteristics and desires of the kinds of person Heavenly Father wants me to be. I am excited to study with such a defined purpose and to look at it in a new, exciting way!
Challenge of the week: Matthew 2 talks about 3 Wisemen who spent years studying the stars, searching for the sign of Christ's birth. When they discovered it, they traveled from a far land to where the Christ child was, and present him with presents of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. These gifts were not something they just picked up for the local drugstore, they put thought and effort into the gifts they gave to their Savior. Now, Christ does not need anything from this world. And we cannot give him just any wrapped up Christmas gift. There is only one thing we have, that he asks of us, and that is ourselves. My challenge for you is to think of that as 2014 comes to a close, think of some part of yourself that you have been holding back from him. And as you plan goals for this new year, plan how you are going to give of yourself more fully to Christ. I know that as we do that, 2015 won't just be another year come and gone. There will be ups and there will be downs, but there will be a difference. Because as we give our lives to Christ, we receive more that we ever could imagine and we will come to realize that others will be able to see him through us.
Well I love you all so much! Have a good Christmas week! Don't forget to take some time to focus on the reason for the season! Feliz Navidad!
Hermana Lundquist