'Tis the Season!

Wow!  It's almost Christmas!

'Tis the season to do service, run around, and try to be in two places at the same time. But it's also a good time to be a missionary.  You get to help people decorate for Christmas, not worry about making dinners or getting presents, and to always remember what the season is really all about - Our Savior Jesus Christ!

Every Christmas, this Baptist Church creates a set of Bethlehem, and acts out the birth of Jesus Christ. We're going to see it tonight with the Hermanas. I'm excited.  We've been helping out at the Creche for the past two weeks.  It was so much fun...sooo many nativities!  We helped out in the Children's Room. They had crafts and clothes to play dress up. We ran into some other sisters and we took a picture for the nativity.  I got to be a Wise Man (Wise Woman???) and we had three Mary's.  Two little girls wanted to join in on our picture, so they both dressed up as Mary.  For a while, we helped kids play dress up, and we helped to keep things tidy.  It made me miss dressing up...and theatre. Afterwards, there was a marionette show for the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.  It was so cute!  Now I really miss theatre!  And of course, after all our hard work, there is always plenty of food for the missionaries.

This week, a lady we were teaching died of cancer.  We went to visit her a few times. We could tell she was suffering and in a lot of pain.  She could barely speak and wasn't very responsive.  We sang to her a few times and she seemed to enjoy that.  We received a text one morning telling us she had passed away. It was really sad.  I'm so grateful for this gospel.  I know that she was welcomed home by our loving Heavenly Father, and she will receive all the blessings that are promised to her and all of us.  She can now concentrate on learning the gospel without worrying about cancer; and she is no longer in pain.  I know this because we are all God's children, and He wants all of us to return home to Him.

Also this week, we were blessed to hear from Elder Bednar!  It was so cool!  He was really funny and fun to listen to.  He gave us good advice for missionary work and tips for the future.  It was so weird and cool at the same time to see an apostle up close and live!

This has been a busy, eventful week.  But it has also been a good week.  We've been teaching and trying to work with new investigators, and learning more about how we can help others.

Scripture of the week: 

Alma 24:19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.

Love, love, love the book of Alma!!! 

-Always, Sister Brown