Email received December 29, 2014

Wow what an amazing Christmas week that was! Despite it being the Christmas season and everyone being busy with family and errands we were still able to get around to see quite a few people! We saw a couple of our investigators before Christmas and then on Christmas eve and Christmas day we saw some members and we were fed some amazing food and had a wonderful time getting to know some more of the members :) Wednesday we still had District meeting which went really well :) I decided to lighten the mood by starting off the meeting watching the District meeting movie that the mission put together with the Shoulder Devil video in it.. so funny :) Shoulder Devil loves his Snowflake ;) (inside joke) But then in the rest of district meeting we talked a lot about companionship unity and the important role it plays in the work. It went really well :) Christmas eve we had dinner with Sister McFarren and a lot of her family and it was awesome getting to know a lot of them and talking about the gospel and the way it has impacted our lives and sharing with each other what "gift" we will give to the Savior in this coming year as a birthday gift (awesome tradition I'm going to keep going in our family) :) It was awesome this week to be able to move upstairs into the new apartment! It's a much better fit for us and it's a good change :) Our investigators were awesome this week! A couple of them committed themselves to come to church.. One was last minute mandated to work this Sunday and he told his work he would grin and bear it this week but if they mandated another Sunday he said he's going to church.. he's putting God first in his life which is amazing to see :) Something that we talked about on Sunday in Priesthood was Elder Scott's talk from conference and we focused on the 4 things that he says will improve the quality of our lives and that is 1: Prayer 2: Reading 3: Family Home Evening and 4: Temple Attendance. I have seen all of these make a true difference in the lives of those we work with. Something I emphasized was the importance of the Book of Mormon in someone's conversion. If someone is rooted in the Book of Mormon than they will have a sure foundation to go off of and they will have the Spirit it brings constantly in their life. Temple attendance is very important as well and I can't wait to regularly attend the temple when I get home. I have seen the difference in my life when I am not able to attend the temple for a period of time. I know of the power that rests in the House of the Lord and I can't wait to draw off of it constantly for the rest of my life. I can't believe it's 2015 already!! Time is flying by so quickly and I only have a short 6 months left. I'm so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve the Lord in this Mission and I look forward to what He has in store for me after I finish serving Him full time. I Love you!!! Have a wonderful week!! #Redsweatersarethebest #Lifeisgood #Peace :)

Elder G