Wednesday, December 7, 2016

(Please) Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!....December 5, 2016

Hola mi familia y amigos! 
We can now all safely say "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!" without getting yelled at by the Scrooges out there who like Thanksgiving more haha
Guess what!! It finally snowed here. Last night we got a whole......inch! Yes. An entire INCH of snow! I was soooooooooooo excited and yet so mad it wasn't more haha! But apparently it's supposed to snow more this week, so I'm looking forward to it. I need a better Christmas than last year. Ain't no way I'm gonna let it be 65 degrees again! It didn't even feel like Christmas (probably because we went to the beach and there was a bunch of people surfing too haha).
In December there are LOTS of activities for me to look forward to! We have the missionary Christmas Fireside, an all-mission Conference, Traditions with the Taggart's tomorrow where we get to hang out with President and Sister Taggart, and we're going to Ellis Island on the 17th, AND our ward has a bunch of lunches/dinners/fun events they're doing! And of course, Christmas itself. Can't forget about that. Woohoo! Best month ever!

This week was super weird for me. There were transfers on Tuesday, and for once in my life I didn't go! What?!? I ALWAYS go since I keep getting new companions every transfer. But we had a nice loooooong Tues to go and work instead, so that was awesome! We got to see lots of less actives, and even a few that have never let us in before! Christmas really does soften hearts people! When we mentioned we wanted to share a Christmas video they let us right in. Then we talked about #LIGHTtheWORLD and about the example of Jesus Christ. I wouldn't say we were exactly sneaky, but we definitely were able to get inside so we could talk about how Christ can help them and how they can come closer to Him- so I call it a win/win haha :)

District meeting was also weird on Wednesday- half of our zone got transferred out on Tuesday, so we have a bunch of people I've never served around or even seen before haha! It was sad because all of my friends left, but now I get to chill with new people before I leave. Hopefully I'll make some new friends, Wednesday wasn't too promising lol. I'm like an odd duck in this zone now, so I gotta get my social on! But you all know how hard that is for me...
Anyway! We got to practice for the musical Fireside on Wednesday as well, and let's just say not one of us knows how to sing! The poor missionaries who actually know how were having such a rough time teaching us how to sing in parts and get the notes right. I'm just glad it's not only our zone singing- we have another 60ish missionaries to drown out our voices lol!

This week we were able to pick up a new investigator. Her name is Mary and she's 84 years old, and just the sweetest lady you could ever meet! She's actually a member's referral, they've been chopping her wood and helping her for 3 years now, and they asked us to teach her! She's really open to our message too. She's had some hard trials over the past few years, and she's lost loved one along the way, so she was thrilled to hear that families can be together forever. We're going to be seeing her every other day now! We know that through that member family, and through others in the ward, she is going to feel SO much love it will (gently) blow her off her feet!! We're excited to keep working with her and loving her.

This week I've also learned a lot about service and the power of it. Since #LIGHTtheWORLD started and has been going, we have found many ways to serve our neighbors and friends. Even the small and simple acts of service have changed and touched hearts! I've got a firm testimony that service not only softens hearts, but melts them! It changes a person's perspective of you and it will open doors and change lives. The times on my mission, and especially in this area that I've felt the Spirit lift others, has been when we stop and serve them. Guys, service works miracles!!! I love it.

We weren't allowed to watch the Christmas Devotional last night, so I'm looking forward to watching that today. I'm sure it had lots of good stuff in it! :)
 And to end, here's a scripture that really stood out to me this week in my studies: "But Alma went forth and stood among them, and exhorted them that they should not be frightened, but that they should remember the Lord their God and he would deliver them. Therefore they hushed their fears..." Mosiah 23:27-28

Love you all!!!
Stay Jersey Strong.
Love, Sister McAllister
 beginning of the end??
 tree from mom
 DQ closes for the winter so they had to make one final run
 SNOW!!
The Store they helped organize and clean

No comments:

Post a Comment