Email veinticuatro: the week of consecration

January 30, 2017  

(This is my email from last week that I wasn't able to finish before 6 pm!)
Howdy y'all ;)  This was a very demanding, but very good week.

On Monday Elder Toomer bought a brand new mountain bike, so we decided to go test it out. We found an old ATV trail by our apartment. I was very quickly reminded of how bad I am at mountain biking. At 6 foot 3 I felt like a praying mantis trying to ride a tricycle. I made it out alive though.
Tuesday we started BIKE WEEK. The day started off well, the weather was absolutely perfect, low 70s, nice breeze, lots of people outside to talk to. A comment on Arkansas weather: many people in Utah complain that the weather is bipolar. Arkansas is sooooooo much worse. One day is in the 30s, the next in the 70s, then there's a torrential downpour the next. Stop complaining people of Utah. Anyway Tuesday we found a couple different Hispanics outside to talk to that told us to come back (just about 98% of the people we talk to tell us to come back "un otro día" which I thought meant another day in Spanish but apparently to the Hispanics here it means “never” (hope you caught the hint of sarcasm there).

At the end of Tuesday we were close by our apartments

because we had a couple of appointments. Everything fell through. We tried a few other Hispanic doors close by, still nothing. 8 o'clock came and we had no clue what to do. So we prayed. We decided to try some apartments down the hill from our apartment. We knocked every door, and got rejected by everyone. It was still 8:15, so we tried a couple other houses, we could hear people inside, but no one answered. So we decided to try this Honduran lady that lives across the street from our apartment. If you want to now what this lady is like, she is a Baptist black lady who speaks Spanish. Her accent is soooooo funny. There are a lot of people with African descent from Honduras. Her 10 chihuahuas went nuts, we woke her up, and she came out looking not very happy. She told us to come back un otro día. We tried some other people, then ended up trying our next door neighbor just for kicks because we were completely out of ideas.
We were super frustrated and ended up going inside the apartment at 8:45 because we had prayed and couldn't think of anything else.

Then we had to confront my worst enemy: nightly planning I prayed for an answer to how we could
improve planning. This story has a happy ending: on Wednesday we as a zone drove down to North Little Rock. And the church leadership council changed the missionary schedule. From now on, we will be doing daily planning in the morning. I wept tears of joy. This was a momentous moment. Prayers are answered.

Saturday we had a devotional with Elder Neal L. Anderson and it changed my mission but I don't have time to write about it. Sunday I decided to fast all day, and break my fast at 9 o'clock. I have never gone that long without food before. I'm amazed that some people suffer going days without food, my heart truly goes out to the hungry and needy. When I broke my fast a ravenous hunger overtook me. I raided the pantry. I ate things I didn't know we had, or how long they had been there. Well I must have done something wrong, because I'm sick today.

Anyways I'm out of time but I love y'all.

Email veintitrés: Sweet is the work

January 23, 2017 

Howdy folks! Let's start off with weekly shout-outs! Shout out BEN VANCE (Vance refrigeration™) for getting his mission call to TAIWAN! What a champ! (Soon to be Elder Vance is the one who got me saying 'champ' all the time). Shout out to my bestie Elder Stalling for baptizing last week!  And by the way, he was best man at his investigators wedding, getting in some practice for when he's best man at MY wedding. Shout-out to my wonderful amazing beautiful mother for being awesome and toughing out a fractured spine! #mymomistougherthanme. Shout-out to my big Sister Jenn for turning 29 for the third time! What a champ! Shout-out to ABIGAIL for writing me two weeks in a row! She is the cutest! Thanks for reminding me to work out!  

Speaking of which, I forgot to mention this but we actually have weights at our apartment! We have a bench press and barbells and dumbbells and all that good stuff! I've actually put on 15 pounds of muscle since I arrived in the field! My goal is to put on 15 more in the next 6 months! I'm right around 175 right now, still super skinny, but I'm getting there, I'll have that Chris Evans body in no time! When I left on the mission I looked like Steve Rogers, I'm hoping by the time I get home I'll look more like Captain America.  

Elder Toomer by the way, is BUFF. He played football in high school, probably could've played college but he ruined his knees. He is super strong. Every morning when we lift he puts me to shame. It's funny because he always talks about how he wishes he was tall like me. This week!

Tuesday we had Zone Conference. Funny Story. I assumed it would be in Conway, just like it always has, but our District Leader Elder Janes thought it was at the mission office Stake Center in North Little Rock. Conway is about halfway between North Little Rock and Russellville. We passed Conway and I thought to myself: "...huh...guess it's not in Conway" without saying a word to anyone else. We got to the mission office...uh yup...it was in Conway. We walked into Zone Conference, our entire District, 30 minutes late, with the eyes of President and Sister Wakolo, the APs, the English Zone Leaders, the Spanish Zone Leaders, and everyone else on us. I learned I should probably speak up next time something like that happens. Oops.

After Zone Conference ended, we had exchanges with the Spanish Zone Leaders. Elder Toomer went with Elder Jorgensen in Little Rock, and I got Elder Sweeten! Elder Sweeten is incredible. If you've ever read be the fourth missionary, Elder Sweeten is the fourth missionary. He served in English for about a year and a half, and he switched to Spanish just a couple transfers ago, so his Spanish is pretty rough, haha. But it doesn't even matter. I watched him talk to Hispanics and say super silly stuff, that hardly made any sense, things I felt tempted to laugh at, and what he said made that person feel the Spirit. That's the difference between him and me. He is more powerful with his broken Spanish because he truly understands how the Spirit works. That's truly what the gift of tongues is. He also really helped me with planning, that was my weakness. 

Tuesday night I took Elder Sweeten to go see S&T. Such a powerful lesson! We finally figured out why they were so scared about baptism. They basically thought they had to be perfect after baptism and never make big mistakes again. So we taught what really is the purpose of baptism, and how repentance works. Elder Sweeten really knows his Book of Mormon. We committed them to be baptized February 4, which is super soon and they still need to get married. T was going to propose this last Saturday but he wanted to do it in the Church but the English Ward had an activity going on.
Pray for them.

Elder Toomer and I in total set 4 baptismal dates. The others were L and J. L&Ir are the couple we found who let us in on the spot and fed us. Ir didn't want to accept a date but she said she would be baptized. J is our age and graduated last year too. He is super open and very prepared.
Sunday S&T came to church! This week was a super good week numbers wise, we taught about 15 lessons in total and set a new record for member present lessons: 3! It's not much but we are going upward!

There have been a couple times this week where I've just smiled to myself and been grateful to been here, grateful to be experiencing all of this. I know this truly is precious time and I can feel my attitude changing little by little. I know this mission is the greatest thing that could ever happen to me.

The Church is true, Book is blue, sweet is the work, and there's a lot of it to do! 
Love y'all!

Email veintidós: dulce es la obra

January 16, 2017 

Howdy folks! I always feel like I should put an introduction sentence or two here, but lately it's been getting difficult so I'll just talk about each day.

Monday: we had a lesson with a member who has not come to church in over two months. He’s been having some doubts about the Book of Mormon so we have been trying to help him. We will teach him again tonight.

Tuesday: we had a lesson with S&T. They are back together now...living together again. S told us some stuff about her past life that we probably shouldn't know, but also helped us understand why everything has been so difficult for her. We talked to T about the ring after the lesson, and his face lit up! He said he wanted to propose to her the next day! We told him to think about it and pray about it.

Wednesday: don't remember. Thursday: don't remember. Friday: we had weekly planning.

Sunday: we went out teaching with Hermano B. We taught a couple from Guerrero Mexico, most people here are from there or El Salvador, and they speak so fast holy cow! And they yell at that same time, it was everything I could muster to follow the conversation, at times Elder Toomer and I looked at each other and laughed because we literally understood nothing. I miss Elder Sotomarino's perfect Peruvian Spanish. I think we've gotten on Hermano B's good side! We had dinner with them afterwards and it was so much fun! They told us a bunch of jokes in Spanish. Then we visited the G family, Hermano G has gone inactive because he says we weren't friendly enough to him, so we are trying to fix that. We went over and talked to him about sports. He's mad because the Cowboys lost last week or something.

Chocolate chip Oreo Nutella cookie, oh my!

SPEAKING OF SPORTS MAJOR SHOUTOUT TO CLEMSON FOR BEATING ALABAMA. HALALUJEH (how do you spell hallalujeh) OH MY GOSH LIFE IS JUST (unless Dad just told me that so I wouldn't get depressed). I am so happy. Nothing is better than an Alabama loss. Except the Gospel. And my family. 

So if this email sucks, Elder Larrain came to the chapel to hang out with us for P day day, so it was hard to focus. We finally got to meet each other, after having talked to each other a bunch of times on the phone, and he is the coolest! He is from Chile, we totally hit it off! So basically I got super distracted talking to him the whole time. Sorry everyone.

Overall: things are really well. I'm learning how to roll with the punches and enjoy the mission at this point, so that's awesome. Love it. 
Thanks for the prayers.

Email veintiuno: First week of transfer 3

January 9, 2017 

First and foremost I want to thank my parents and siblings that sent me emails of encouragement, maybe my email last week was pretty concerning, but I want to y'all to know that I am much better now, and you guys are a big reason why.

a "sketchy" shack we often pass by

Monday after saying goodbye to Elder Sotomarino in North Little Rock, I spent the majority of the rest of the day playing basketball. There were about 25 other Elders there so we had plenty of people to play with. I had completely forgotten to bring P day clothes so played in missionary attire. The first game we played full court. The white handbook explicitly says if you play basketball, only play half court. They asked me to join so I took off my tie and name tag and jumped in, thinking it would be half court. Then the game started and I quickly found out that all 10 of us on the court were not being obedient. I tried to raise my voice and say something, but everyone just kept playing so I just went with it and kept playing. I should have just walked off the court. I don't want to be an exception missionary, I want to be a rule missionary. That day I promised myself I will never again play another full court game on my mission, even if everyone else chooses to ignore that rule.

We got snow! Yep that's our car ... very funny

At around 4:30 Elder Toomer arrived. I have to say, he's made quite the first impression on me. I love this guy! He has been out for 6 months, only one transfer more than I, making us one of the younger companionships in the mission, and keeping the Russellville District tradition of being the greenest in the mission. Elder Toomer is from Cokeville Wyoming, population 500! And people think Herriman is small! And yes that is the same Cokeville as portrayed in the movie Cokeville miracle. He is a small-town, hard working, and very funny guy. He is EXTREMELY obedient. I absolutely love that, it's hard to find some times in this mission. If there is a question if something is obedient, he doesn't even question it. He also loves country music as well, so you already know we get along great.

Brother Walter Smith (Russellville Ward mission leader) gave us a ride back in his famous missionary transport van. Monday night we drove all the way out THE STICKS to have dinner with the Carnathans, who have a 47 acre ranch up in the mountains. Wouldn't mind living there.

Tuesday we got out contacting. Elder Toomer is crazy. When he knocks doors he POUNDS on the door, then if they don't answer after 15 seconds, he pounds on the window and the side of the house or jumps up and down on the porch. I was just glad no one called the cops! We had a ton of fun and set a bunch of return appointments and found some pretty awesome people as well.

an area we tracted

 Friday we had an awesome lesson! We went to this lady's trailer named S (Spanish speaking). Her mom comes out and starts talking to us about how much she loves the missionaries. Then we get into teaching the Restoration and the mother begins explaining the Restoration to S, and we're thinking: holy cow she knows a lot! Then out of nowhere the mom says: "by the way...(English paraphrase) I was baptized in your church. WHAT?! She was a member! She was baptized years ago in California, then went inactive and moved here. We had an amazing lesson, probably taught the Restoration as clearly as I have ever taught it, and S seems super golden!

S and T update: so Saturday we were planning on giving the wedding ring to T, we waited for a solid hour for him to get home but he never did, and S never opened the door when we knocked. Then Sunday morning T texts that he never slept the night before, and needs to talk to us. We arrive at the apartment, knock about 10 times, HARD. Finally I screamed "¡T estamos aquí!" That woke him up and he answered the door and invited us in. We enter an the apartment is a complete disaster, trash and food and all kinds of things all over the floor. Then through tears he told us that he and S got in a huge fight and he had found out some pretty dark stuff, and she had left for her Mom's house. He told me this literally as I had the ring in the pocket of my coat. I'm heartbroken for the guy.

and the awesome letter I got
from my niece Abbie

He still ended up coming to church yesterday, after a sleepless night, but had to leave before Sacrament meeting because he had work at 1pm until 1am. What a champ. Pray for him please.

On a happier note I think I figured out what I want to do with my life when I get home. Elder Toomer told me that I was a really good writer, and I thought about how much I enjoyed writing and Literature classes in high school, what the heck, I'll be an author! I've always had a passion for writing, but I always told myself it's not stable enough, but I'm not gonna let money stop my dreams folks. I don't know the first thing about being author so we'll see how it works out. The highlight of my week was a letter from Dad. It was in response to last weeks letter, and made me cry pretty good.

 Well I'm outta time folks, but now I am doing 1000x better and this was probably the best week yet because of all I have learned! Church is true, Book is blue, Dad you're a champ, and Mom you are too

Email veinte: Transfers and Miracles

January 2, 2017

This week was pretty interesting.

Feliz año nuevo!

Tuesday: we had Zone Conference in Conway. At the beginning of the conference I was holding back tears. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, what it means to have faith. I felt so bad, because I realized that in the past few weeks I have had very little faith as a missionary. I have been so pessimistic and negative in my thinking, I really had lacked the faith to believe that I could have a good mission, and that things would work out, and that I could find success. Every returned missionary I talk to, including Dad, Joel, Erinn, and McKay, tell me that they miss the mission and would do anything to go back. I feel super guilty because I feel far too often that the mission is simply a trial that I have to pass through, a two year prison sentence for the reward of blessings afterward. I asked myself many times "How am I going to make it through the next 20 months?" But I don't want to simply "make it through" my mission. I want to enjoy it. I want it to change me. I desperately need it to change me.

My old DL, Elder Hooker is going home!

After Zone Conference we went and ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. It was really strange because I heard a ton of songs from back home, worldly music, and on the tvs they had 3 different college football bowl games on, as well as a replay of the Cavs Warriors game on Christmas Day. I couldn't keep my eyes off the tvs, jaja. The English Elders did an exchange with the Zone Leaders, so on the drive back to Russellville I told our Zone Leader Elder Johnson how I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through the rest of my mission. He told me he remembers feeling the same way.

So is Elder Carter!

When we got back to my apartment. I found a package from Grandma and Grandpa Erb. I felt so discouraged I went upstairs and vented everything out that I was feeling in an open ended prayer to Heavenly Father. "I'm struggling right now. I don't know how I'm gonna do this. I miss my Dad. I wish I could talk to him. Talking with him always really helped me out. He tells me he's proud of me, but I feel like I have done nothing to make him proud. I feel like everything that's wrong with the area here in Russellville is my fault, that the church isn't growing here because of me. I'm too scared, too ashamed, too awkward, and too weak to talk to people. I'm too weak to help the work progress. It's because of me that nothing is happening here. It's my fault. Sometimes I feel like I don't deserve to be happy." I cried and I cried and I cried.

 When finally got myself together, I went downstairs and opened the package from Grandma and Grandpa: cookie brownies (they were delicious). At the top was a note from Erinn. She told me she loved me and was proud of me, and at the end, she said: "You can do this." Then I cried and cried again, but for a different reason this time. I felt such a powerful outpouring of love, I knew that was an answered prayer. And it kept me going.

They made him a cake!

Thursday we did an exchange with the English Elders. I went with Elder Barnes. It was really funny because we are both greenies and still being trained (well...I was still being trained at that point). I tried to be super silly and animated and excited. Elder Barnes is a great guy, and fun to be around, but when he starts teaching the Gospel, he gets very timid and speaks quietly and forgets to smile. So I was trying to force this principle very firmly in him, and I exaggerated the smiling and the enthusiasm to do so. Well what did all this enthusiasm yield? Two Book of Mormons passed out and two teenagers yelling "Hail Satan" at us. Even though every appointment fell through, we still enjoyed it. I've learned the sucky experiences are just as valuable as the good experiences.

The goodbye this morning

Saturday we had dinner with S and T, and celebrated the New Year. They really are the best. Then we got the transfer news: Elder Sotomarino will be going to speak English in Blyville, Arkansas, and I will be staying here in Russellville with...Elder Toomer. I really was shocked, and to be honest, a bit disappointed. I really thought I had at least another transfer with Elder Sotomarino. We really got close, we were like best friends. I'm really going to miss having a native speaker as a companion. It has been so helpful, and got us in a lot of doors. I'm really going to miss him.

The good thing is that I've already met Elder Toomer, I met him at my training meeting. I'm excited to start working with him. He should get here in about 20 minutes. (I'm writing this from North Little Rock). When Selina and Tomás found out Elder Sotomarino was leaving they invited us over for dinner again last night. I want to say that they are the best again. And they came to church yesterday.

The Church is true, Book is blue, I'm now done with transfer two.

 Love y'all!

Email diecinueve: Last Email of the Year

December 26, 2016

So since 2016 is coming to a close let's take a look at the year:

• January: I started my mission papers
• February: I got accepted into BYU!!!
• March: we were witnesses to the greatest march madness in college basketball history #Villanova clutch
• April: I became legal and FINALLY sent in my mission papers
• May: I received my mission call......TO THE GREATEST MISSION IN THE WORLD
• June: I graduated high school and I started COLLEGE at BYU for Summer Term!
• July: I said goodbye to Elder Stallings, Elder Duval, Elder Tillman, and other departing missionaries and basically lost all my friends from Herriman...
• August: Summer term ended, moved back home for 3 weeks, worked at the temple, and set off for my greatest adventure of my life
• September: enjoyed my time and made amazing friends at the MTC in good ole Provo Utah USA
• October: I entered...THE FIELD.
• November: I completed my first transfer and said goodbye to Elder Anaya and our family of three, and celebrated my second straight Thanksgiving eating tacos 
• December: Elder Sotomarino and I continue to strengthen the area here in Russellville as best we can, and hope for our first baptism and celebrate our first Christmas away from home

 

I got Camo for Christmas!

All in all 2016 wasn't a bad year, some pretty awesome stuff happened, along with some not so awesome stuff, I sincerely hope that 2017 is an even better year...  Now that we've talked about the past year, let's talk about the past week.  Monday we basically did absolutely nothing for P day but sit on our butts in the Church building, that's basically been every P day this transfer...super lame that night we had a dinner with a member who was super strong in the Gospel but out of nowhere just stopped going to church about 6 weeks ago. We don't know what's going on but he said he should be able to come this next Sunday so we shall see.

Tuesday we had District meeting, and talked about our 7 baptismal dates that fell through... WE GOTTA GET PEOPLE TO CHURCH. The English Elders felt super sick after District meeting so we took them back to our apartment, fed them, and let them sleep while we finished studies. I even gave Elder Janes my delicious leftover spaghetti and tucked him in. And what did I receive in turn for this kind deed? Well I won't go into details, but it was pretty crappy ... those two hooligans got me sick.

When you haven't eaten in days,
a simple bowl of cereal simply
is not enough!

So we had to spend all of Wednesday of most of Thursday in the apartment...I got to catch up on sleep... but I drove me nuts being stuck in the apartment. Friday was Glorious because I finally got to eat again. Food glorious food. Fun fact, the 23rd is also Joseph Smith's birthday. I'm so glad for the life of the Prophet Joseph, for all the sacrifices he made so we could enjoy the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Saturday was of course Christmas Eve. We got to have a few lessons and give Christmas cards to a bunch of our investigators. We had dinner with David Bunton and his dad, and watched Meet Me in Saint Louis. Don't worry, we covered our eyes during the kissing scene. After we had ANOTHER dinner, this time with S and T. Long story short, after our lesson with them on Monday, they are still unsure about the whole marriage thing, pray for them please.

But dinner with them was amazing. Our bellies were about ready to explode, we didn't tell them we had just come from another dinner. S cooked a super spicy sopa, which was good but hard to eat on a full stomach. We love them lots.

Yesterday (CHRISTMAS!) was amazing, we spent all day with the English Elders, I love those guys to death. Elder Barnes has really come to be a great friend of mine. I thought when I first met him that he was just super quiet and shy and kinda nerdy, but I've gotten to know him, and he is the coolest. He is super funny and so kind. He has an amazing Spirit with him.

We opened presents together at our apartment Christmas morning. That was so much fun, I really got so cool gifts, thanks to my wonderful family! They are an even better gift though.

Church was good, we went to both the English and Sacrament hours, but S and T never came to church... we drove over to their apartment and knocked and we saw someone look through the blinds but no one ever answered us it was a bummer, so their baptismal date is toast for sure now... We will continue to do our best to bring them to the waters of baptism and the true church of Jesus Christ.

AND now the biggie: SKYPE WITH THE FAM That was such a tender mercy to speak with my family and hear their voices and see their faces. I treasured every second of it, I couldn't stop smiling. I love them soooooo much and the knowledge that I get to be with them forever is my motivation for everything. The awesomeness of my family itself is a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel.

Also while we were waiting for Elder Barnes to finish his call I happened to find some anti-Mormon literature lying around in the office (we Skyped in the Bishops law office). It was this super old book written by this Baptist dude who had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. It was hilarious. I had a good laugh reading that crap. It ended up building my testimony of the reality of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it happened, and it doesn't matter what lies others say in attempt to disprove or belittle the truth, it doesn't make it cease to be truth.

The Church is True, the Book is Blue, I know it, and so can you too ;)

Email dieciocho: Ready for a Christmas Miracle

December 19, 2016

Howdy folks!

Monday we went back to our apartment and finished weekly planning, which is what we will be doing tonight as well haha. We never have time on Fridays, they are the busiest days.

Wednesday we had the Christmas Zone Conference. All three Zones in Arkansas were there, I had seen that many missionaries since the MTC jaja. The first part of Zone Conference was basically the actual Zone Conference, we heard from President Wakolo and Sister Wakolo, as well as an area Seventy named Elder Behesti. Elder Behesti gave a talk and compared missionaries to Navy Seals.

In order to become a Seal, you have to pass through training. Only about 4 of every hundred applicants pass through training and go on to become Navy Seals. The hardest part to pass is not a physical or mental test, the hardest part is the bed and uniform inspection. Many soldiers are turned away because they don't know how to make their bed or present their uniform properly.

Santa!!! (I swear I do not have my
thumb in Elder Janes' nose)

Many potential Seals, even after having done everything properly, are told that they failed, and that they have to go jump in the ocean or roll in the sand, making them what they call "a sugar cookie". Many soldiers have their pride so hurt by this that they choose to drop out. Elder Behesti said to be successful missionaries, we have to get over being a sugar cookie.

Then afterwards we had a talent show, which was really fun, a few missionaries got up and did dances. Two Elders got up and danced to Christmas Trap music, which was pretty awesome. Then we had a minute to win it challenge and we had a bunch of fun activities. Then to finish we had an activity where they showed pictures of every missionary in all three zones. That was a bunch of fun.

Then President Wakolo got up and and talked about how his heart hurt that we had to be away from home for the Holidays, so of course that made me cry. He said he loves us so much for the sacrifice we make to be here, and he is grateful for the work we have done, that makes me want to work even harder.

Friday we had interviews with President. That man is called of God, I'm a witness to that. He is so spiritual, and what's so impressive is that he's a convert. He was Christian before he joined the Church, his knowledge of the Old Testament is really impressive.

Saturday we cleaned the apartment for 3 hours because of a challenge from the Zone Leaders, that was soooooo needed. The apartment looks immaculate. It's so nice to live in a clean place. I really have come to love our apartment. Being on a mission has made me want to live off campus when I get back to BYU.

We have a very own tree!

THEN THE BIG NEWS AND THE ACTUALLY EXCITING PART OF THIS EMAIL, I SKIPPED ALL THE OTHER BORING PARTS OF THIS WEEK BECAUSE I COULDNT WAIT: We had a lesson with S and T about the law of Chastity....and...THEY WANNA GET HITCHED FOLKS

 Here's the catch: T leaves to join the Marines in January, and they want to have a nice wedding and don't have they money for a ring....BUT THE LORD PROVIDES MY FRIENDS We had dinner with Sister McMullin last night, and I felt a prompting to start telling her about S and T....so she goes into her room ... comes back WITH A WEDDING RING AND SAYS: "You can have this it's from my first marriage." I almost cried. THEY GON GET HITCHED FOLKS.

We are going to visit T tonight and talk to him about planning a wedding and proposing to S....PRAY FOR US PEEPS WE NEED THEM PRAYERS. We are really praying hard it all works out ... I'm fasting today, I BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS MIRACLES.

Let's talk about Christmas: This will be my first Christmas away from home, but I'll be home if only in my dreams I'm okay jaja I promise ;) I hope all y'all forget yourself this Christmas, forget about what you want, think about what your Father in Heaven wants from you, what your Savior wants from you, and I invite you to pray for strength to align your will with Theirs and repent

That's my counsel for Christmas, I promise it will be the best Christmas yet. Say a prayer of gratitude for your family, especially if you're lucky enough to be with em this year.

Love y'all. Church is true, Book is blue, #LIGHTtheWORLD with everything that you do!