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Dearest friends, advocates, acquaintances, and comrades:

I have had such a wonderful time here on my mission. There have been numerous ups, and even a few downs. I have been able to be a part of teaching two people whom I got to see get baptized. It has been such a humbling experience to watch people make a covenant with our Heavenly Father to take on the name of Christ, remember him, and keep his commandments. Becoming a member of Christ's church is a life-changing experience. It isn't just a moment in time where you "get dunked" in water, and then go back to living your old ways. When you are baptized, you make a covenant, a two-way promise, with your Heavenly Father. That covenant is real. When you keep up your end of the promise, God keeps his end of it. There are so many blessings that are attached to each and every commandment. I have been able to see this in my own life as I have served my mission worthily, kept the commandments God has given us, and worked hard each day to do what the Lord has asked me to do. I know without a doubt that when we keep the commandments, we are blessed. Yesterday, I got to give a talk in one of the wards in our stake. It was a great opportunity to learn and grow, and to be able to share that with others.

It has been a wonderful experience serving here in Utah. I have loved both of the areas I have served in, and I am especially grateful that I have been able to serve in one of my areas for nearly 4 whole transfers. I haven't gotten to meet and become friends with hundreds of super sweet and awesome people.

With all that said, I am leaving my mission tomorrow and going home early. I feel like that is where I need to be right now. It hard sometimes trying to figure out why God asks us to do certain things, but I know that as we follow the promptings we are given by the Holy Ghost, then we will never be lead astray. I trust God's plan for my life, and I know that happiness comes from doing those things that are right.

New Year and Nerf Guns

Here's a really quick synopsis of everything that happened this past week!

On Monday, after we e-mailed and did our grocery shopping, we got together as a district of missionaries (about 4 companionships) and played capture the flag with NERF GUNS!!! It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! We would sneak around the gym in the church trying to get past the other team without getting shot so we could capture their flag. Since we are missionaries, we had to stay in our companionships. If one of us got "killed", then the other one had to stay by us and "revive" us by waiting 10 seconds then touching our head, shoulders, knees, and toes (isn't that funny?)

This past week, since it was New Year's, my companion and I went around to many members and their families and helped them come up with a spiritual "Vision-Goal-Plan" for this upcoming year. The Vision was usually something like "become closer to Christ as a family", then the goals were things like "read scriptures every day, attend the temple weekly, and have family home evening regularly". Then, we would plan out how each family could accomplish those goals. It was a great experience to help each family figure out what they can do to increase their spirituality as a family this upcoming year.

Also this past week, we got to eat dinner with a family that makes homemade soap, chapstick, lotion, and medicine. I really enjoyed seeing what all a person can make from plants and things that you can grow in your backyard or house. The soap I got smells really good, like lavender, and it has little poppy seeds in it.

My companion and I had a great time ringing in the new year by helping people set spiritual resolutions for this year.

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I was so excited to get to talk to my family on Christmas! I got to Skype them, so I got to talk to them AND see them!!! It was so much fun. My family is awesome and I love them. They are amazing. It was so wonderful getting to see them, talk to them, and see who all was coming to Christmas dinner at my Aunt's house. I miss each and every one of my family members, and I can't wait to see them again.

On Christmas Eve as well as Christmas day, we got to play some really fun games with members. On Christmas Eve, we got to spend some time with a family singing Christmas carols, then playing a Christmas trivia game. My team won, by the way :)

On Christmas day, we had some really awesome dinner, and afterwards we played a super fun game. We stood in a circle, and each of us held a wrapped box. The leader of the game read a story about an elf named "Lefty". Every time we heard the word "left" in any context, we would pass our box to the left. Any time we heard the word "right" in any context, we would pass our box to the right. Any time we heard the word "Santa", we would run across the circle to a different spot. It was so much fun. There was tons of laughing. At the end of the game, we got to unwrap our box, and each of us held a box of candy. I got Sour Patch Kids. :)

Christmas evening after dinner, we went to visit some more people. It had been snowing all day, and the roads were covered in snow and ice. One of our awesome members was driving us, and every time we would turn in an intersection, we would end up sliding 180 degrees. It was crazy, but we were all safe and nothing bad happened.

It keeps snowing here, and I love it! I got some new boots, and they are waterproof and lined. :)
It's been a really exciting week.

I would like to thank all of you that sent gifts to me and my companion over the holidays. We greatly appreciate everything that we have received, and we are very thankful.

Hope you all have tons of fun on New Year's Eve!!!

Here's a picture of me, my companion, and the Spanish speaking sisters in our area.

A beautiful sunset.

Preparation for Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

Some really super awesome exciting things have happened this week! First of all, we had transfers on Wednesday, and guess what? WE BOTH STAYED!!!! I am so happy I got to stay in West Jordan. I absolutely love the people here. It truly feels like home in the Park Stake, and I wouldn't mind staying here for the rest of my mission (though that is highly unlikely). My companion is still Sister Johanson, which is good because I feel like we are learning a lot from one another.
On Thursday, we got to take one of our recent converts to the Oquirrh Mountain temple to do baptisms for the dead. (click here for more information on what I mean when I say "baptisms for the dead") It was so awesome to get to be a part of this sacred experience!

Also this past week, my companion and I made a few posters that show just how many blessings we get when we follow the Lord's commandments. I took a picture of the poster I made to show you what I'm talking about. In my poster, it shows what blessings we get from following the Word of Wisdom, which is a revelation from God received by a prophet that tells us what things we should and shouldn't eat or drink. You can also read more about it in Doctrine and Covenants 89.



This past Sunday, in Relief Society, they handed out the books that we will be using in class this upcoming year. In 2015, we will be learning from "Teachings of the Presidents: Ezra Taft Benson". I love learning the things that the past prophets have taught about Christ's gospel.
Christmas is coming up this week, and even though Imiss my home and family, the people here have been so kind to me and my companion. The Relief Society in one of our wards stopped by last night with a Christmas box for each of us. In it were mints, lotion, hand sanitizer, hand warmers, and many other much appreciated and much needed items! It was so sweet of them to be thinking of us and know exactly what we both needed. I am very thankful for their kindness. There have been other members who have shared things with us and helped us to feel loved and cared about. I am thankful to every one of the people who has already made our holiday season special.
Speaking of Christmas, I get to Skype my family on Christmas!!!!! I am SO EXCITED to talk to them!!!! It will be wonderful to see them and talk to them and hear their voices. I miss them a lot.
The last thing I would like to share with you this week is how awesome our Sacrament meeting was this past Sunday. We did a lot of sining as a congregation, and there were several special musical numbers. I really enjoy the services when we get to sing a lot. Christmas carols are forgotten for most of the year, so it's nice to use them while it's still that season.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a very Happy New Year. I love each and every one of you.

New Haircut

This week has been wonderful! I don't know if I mentioned it in my last blog or not, but I got my hair cut last week. I just got tired of putting it in a pony tail.

Also, one of our recent converts gave us each a little Santa figurine for Christmas. We have been working a lot in showing everyone the video "He is the Gift", and talking with them about how Christ is the very first gift of Christmas. It's true. If it weren't for Christ, we wouldn't have Christmas. And if it wasn't for Heavenly Father's love and His desire to make a way for us to return to Him, then we wouldn't have the gift of Christ and His Atonement. It's only about a week away until Christmas, and I hope each of you know and feel the love that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for you.

Baptism! (Short post.)

We had a baptism this past weekend! This man has been wanting to be baptized for 15 years, but he wanted to wait until his family was okay with it and would support him. Once they were okay with it, he made the choice to be baptized and to enter into a covenant with the Lord that he would remember Christ, take upon His name, and keep His commandments. He is so happy, and it is wonderful to see the changes he has made.

This blog is short because I'm short on time today, but I love each of you and hope all is well.

Five Months Out!

This week, I will have been out on my mission for 5 months. Time flies. I hope each of you had a marvelous Thanksgiving with lots of turkey and pie. I sure did. :)

There have been some super fantastic, amazing miracles happening in our area this weekend. Yesterday during church, we got a few text messages that really made our day. We got a message from one of our ward mission leaders that an investigator that we had been praying for months to come to church finally came to church! We were so excited, so as excited missionaries do, we gave each other a high-five. Then, we got another text message from an investigator who said that he had talked with his wife a lot over this past week, and she finally agreed to let him be baptized. He has been waiting for four years for his family to support his decision of being baptized into the church. We were so excited that we high-fived again. I should mention that this happened in between classes so we weren't being disruptive. He will be baptized this Saturday, and we couldn't be more excited for him. :) He's super excited, too.

On Thanksgiving, we had the wonderful opportunity to help a member in one of our wards make sopaipillas, which are a butternut squash fried bread. It was so much fun to make! We started by mixing the main ingredients for the flour, then we cooked the squash and added it to the flour. It was funny to watch the dough climb up the hook in the mixer and try to escape over the sides. After that, we kneaded it, then flattened it out. After it was rolled out, we cut it up into circles and other shapes with cookie-cutters. We stabbed each little circle with a fork so it wouldn't puff up when it was fried. Then we threw a few of the circles into the fryer. We would take them out when they looked cooked enough and let them dry and cool. They were super tasty!

Also this past week, the church put out a really awesome new Christmas video called "He is the Gift". If you haven't seen it, I think you should. I really like watching it because it helps remind me that the first gift of Christmas had nothing whatsoever to do with wrapping or stores or boxes. The first gift of Christmas was Christ. I am thankful for His ministry on the earth and for how He forgives me as often as I ask forgiveness (Mosiah 26:30).

I hope all of you know how much I love you and miss you. You are amazing. Don't ever forget that.