Christmas Devotional

It was an amazing week. So much happened I hope I can remember it all and get it all down so you can know how amazing it really was! aye aye aye. Here we go. I made notes so I wouldn't forget anything :)

MEAGHAN: on Tuesday we asked Meaghan why she wanted to be baptized...she said "because I love my Heavenly Father." it was amazing. She has grown so much in the past couple weeks it's really really neat to see her progress and see the light in her eyes. she came to the devotional last night (amazing by the way) she was so so so so excited to see the prophet and to hear him. I don't think I’ve ever seen anyone so anxious to listen to the prophet. It was a wonderful example to me about how excited we should be because it really is a neat opportunity. Well as president Monson came on the screen, I watched her face...it was GLOWING. She was smiling from ear to eat and was captivated. She started to cry and then she looked down at her arms which had goose bumps then back at me. Then back at the screen and was so amazed. Afterward she said she had never felt like that before and it was the most incredible experience of her life. It was so wonderful. The spirit really does teach and touch those who will let him in.

RICARDO: on Thursday we were just about to start ward choir and the church phone rang so our ward mission leader went out to answer the phone...he came in and said sisters someone wants to talk to a missionary. THAT'S LIKE GOLD TO A MISSIONARY. So we went out and I answered and said hello this is sister smith. The voice on the other end was a SUPER thick spanish accent and super happy. He said, Seester Smeeth? I chuckled and said...yes?! Ha-ha. He told us his name and said I will be at the church in 10 minutes. Will you be there? We said yes!!! not knowing who this person was. So 10 minutes later this man walks in so we go out and shake his hand. He said oh Seeeeester Smeeeth. Hiii Seeester Roper. He asked us where we were from. When I said Idaho he said oh the birth place of president hunter. Uhm...yes. So I asked him how he heard about the church. And he giggled and said ooooh Seeeester Smeeeth I a member. ha-ha. We all laughed at it and then he came in and joined our ward choir. He said we are his family now and he is here to support us!!! It was so great. He is wonderful. He just moved here to Saskatoon for work. He will be a wonderful member and he will be a huge help to our new investigators...it was a fun experience.

ANTONIO&LINA: Antonio and Lina are the miracles I wrote about last week. They are AMAZING. We met with them this week. We took a member from El Salvador over with us so he could help us with the Spanish. The member walked in introduced himself then basically gave the first lesson just visiting with them. He told them all about his conversion and his life story. We couldn’t really tell all that he was eying but the spirit hit all of like a brick wall! It was soooo powerful. About a half hour later he turned to us and said ok they are ready. So we just looked at him and were like uhhh ok? So we started to teach the first lesson and he said no no I told them all of that already. I told them all about the apostasy and Joseph Smith and the true church. They know. ooh oooook :) so we watched the Restoration in Spanish and invited them to read the Book of Mormon. They were so excited and so humbled. They told us it was such a blessing that we knocked on their door and they are excited to know for themselves. They couldn't come to church on Sunday because their little boy was sick, but we are seeing them again tonight.

CHICHI: we had an appointment with a member on Saturday night but she cancelled...but that always just means that there is someone else that needs to see us. Sooo we went to our back up plan. the first door we knocked on this girl answered and said well come in. so we walked in not knowing if she just was letting us in out of the cold for a minute or what but then she said I’m just cooking so can you share your message with me in the kitchen? So we went to the kitchen...naturally...and talked to her a bit about prophets. We asked her what it would mean to her if there was a living prophet on the earth and she said that would change everything. That would prove that God loves us and is trying to guide us. That would show us exactly what we need to do. We told her that there is a prophet on the earth and she said who?!?!?! How can I know?!?! GOLDEN QUESTION!! So we are going to see her later this week. It was amazing. It really showed that the Lord does put us where He knows people are prepared and are ready to hear the message of His gospel.

DEVOTIONAL: the devotional was amazing!! The spirit was so strong. On Sunday in sacrament meeting someone was talking about the gifts that we are planning on giving Christ...which was reiterated in the devotional. It really made me think. We always plan plan plan on the gifts we will get everyone else in our life...which is so great and nothing wrong with that at all...but very rarely in my life have I thought...what will I do for Christ? It’s something I’ve thought a lot about since yesterday. What can I give...what will I give...what do I need to give? I’ve thought a lot about pure heart and clean hands...I’ve thought about forgiveness to others...I've thought about repentance...I've thought about service...so many thoughts have run through my mind. He gave us everything. What will we give Him in return?!

Anyyyyways. An amazing week for sure. I feel so blessed. We have so much happening right now and have seen so many miracles lately. I love seeing the Lords hand in this work. I know He is aware of each of His children and loves each one of us so much. There is no doubt about that in my mind. The church is true.

I hope you all had a great week and have a great week! Love you all. Be good. Remember who you are. Live it. Love it.