2017 here we come!!

WOW Merry (late) Christmas every one! This week FLEW by. I mean absolutely flew. Kinda like the year 2016.

I don't remember a ton because honestly, it really was over in the blink of an eye. BUT Wednesday was AWESOME because it was return & report! For those of you (or all of you) who don't remember what that is from when I went as a newbie, It's when trainers & trainees go to Boston & split up & get trained on how to be better missionaries! We also get to eat lunch all together, and go to the temple! It was awesome. We learned all about teaching repentance, and how that can drive our investigators to further conversion! It was great. The temple was amazing as always & the drive home was way long. BUT it was still an amazing day all around.

On Christmas Eve, we got fed breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We went to this family the Pulley's house for lunch, & they fed us clam chowder & we got to play pool with them (& I won of course) and then we headed off to dinner at the Elwell's home! President Elwell is the stake president of our stake & he's in one of our wards & he's AWESOME. 

For Christmas, it was a little crazy! We had breakfast at a member in our neighborhood's house, Avon ward Church, Lunch at a members house, Canton ward church, Dinner at the Eberly's & Skyping home! It was good to talk to my family! 

Anyways, that's about it. It was a great week & this week we find out if I'm getting transferred!!! I really, really, really would rather not. Anyways, have a good new years! 

1. Our district

2. Our Zone

3. Us with the Pulleys!

 

1. Sushi

2. Return & Report

3. Christmas Eve

4. Fog & Snow (I LOVE FOG)

Snow & Christmas

I guess you could say it's going to be a white Christmas here in Connecticut. But you could also say it's going to be a cold one. It was so cold ALL week. The wind chill was at one point -20 (yeah no thanks ct) BUT it was great, because we picked up a new investigator this week! All our tracting has payed off because we found someone to teach! WAHOO! 

This week we also had Christmas conference (wow this week was so fast I can't believe that was this week) and one of the AP's (Elder Nixon) gave a talk on the Atonement and how it is the center of Christmas. It was a pretty good talk, and at the end he challenged all of us to make the atonement a more central part of our studies, and so I did, and WOW you feel so much closer to Christ the more you study about him and what he did for us. We also had a huge testimony meeting with half the mission, and if there is one thing I know, it's that it doesn't matter what we are going through, Christ has been through it all. Then we all got to go to the temple!

I can't believe how much it snowed this week, but I DROVE IN IT AND WE DIDN'T DIE. God is real guys. 

But really, He is real. And he loves us. And because of Jesus Christ, we can all live with him again. And I'm SO grateful for that. Always remember that THAT is the reason for Christmas. 

Love you all! Merry Christmas!!! 

Snow again

So in case you couldn't guess...IT'S SNOWING.

This week we did a lot of contacting, with not a ton of success. And if there is something I've learned about missionary work, is that no matter what, it isn't easy. It wasn't easy for Christ, it wasn't easy for his 12 Apostles, and it certainly won't be easy for us. The point is (and this stands with all things) that we do our best, and no matter what happens, or what the outcome is, we know we did the Lord's will. It's like Abinidi, how he could have easily thought that his efforts were a waste, and that there was no point, but we all know that Alma was touched by his words, and because of him, a whole nation was brought back into belief. We never know the full extent of the impact we have on peoples lives, so always do your best to leave people better than you found them.

1. Sister Behrmann & I at the Hartford Temple

2. Pondering life by our lil' Christmas Tree

3. Trying to study #davethecat

Just a week, but so close to Christmas!

To be 100% honest I do not have much to say about this week. Not that it was a bad week, it was just a week, ya know? I hope all of you got a chance to watch the Christmas video online! It's probably my favorite one that they've made so far. 

This week I was thinking a lot about Christmas and how cool it would have been to be at Christ's birth, and then I thought, you know what? I probably was there. We were probably all watching from heaven, shouting praises to God, and for all mankind, because Christ was born. Yesterday at the Christmas Devotional, one of the speakers (forgive me, I don't remember which one) said that if there was no Easter, there would be no Christmas. Which is so true! If Jesus Christ hadn't come and accomplished the thing he came on earth to do, there would be no reason to celebrate his birth. In fact, there would be no reason to celebrate anything at all, because there would be no hope, and all would be lost. I'm so grateful for this season to reflect upon His birth and all the He has done for us. He truly is the way we can all return and live with our families forever.

-Sister Morley

Oh & it's snowing.