CHRISTMAS 2014

Wow wow wow. 

Just finished Skyping with my AMAZING wonderful family. I love you all so much. Wow That was literally the best Christmas present EVER. It was kinda weird seeing you right there and not being able to reach out and hug you! It was really really wonderful. And I was a little bit worried that I would be kinda homesick... But really right now I feel just.. On cloud nine. That was such a huge blessing. Thank you so much Heavenly Father. I can't thank Him enough. Please be sure to thank Him for me in your prayers. 

Family. It was so good to hear from all of you. I am glad that all of you are doing well. And are hanging in there. I hope you know how special you all are to me! 

To Zurie, Lyncoln, Noah, Savannah, & Reagan: You all are SO big!! And grown up!! It was fun to see how much your smiles have changed. And how much your sweet personalities have grown. I love you all. 

It was so fun to meet Charlie. She is perfect. <3 Eleven fingers and all. :)

To Anny: What in the heck girl!! YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL! That smile!! Seriously. Ah. I seriously couldn't imagine what you looked like with out braces and can't still without looking at pictures!! You are so beautiful. Ah I love you. I am so glad and thankful for all the memories and laughs we have made. It seriously so fun to be able to try an explain all of our weirdness to my companions. And they all LOVE you. Not as much as I do though. :) But yes. I am so grateful that we have so many memories and laughs.. It's really been such a comfort and a blessing to be able to talk and remember! I am excited to make more memories. I love you.

Mell & Nick: Whoa! SO fun to see you! I thought you were going to Iowa!? Or maybe that was supposed to be for Thanksgiving? I have a terrible memory :P Email me and I'll tell you better stories :P I love you both! I am so glad you are both doing well. You looked so happy :) Love you!

Britt & Ry: Well first I kinda didn't really get to talk to Ry. BUT I saw ya a bunch :) Thanks for making faces at me! I love love you both. Britt you are beautiful as always. I am so thankful for your support in all things! I am thankful for both of your examples. It was SO fun to see you! And so fun to see Savannah in underwear!? I guess that was bound to happen one of these days. I think of you both everyday and am praying for you too. I know you would LOVE Thailand. 

Steff: Oh my steffy. I love and miss you. It is fun telling my companions about how my sister is a body builder and drop dead GORGEOUS. And way fun showing them how we talk in weird voice to each other hahaha. :) I love ya. I know that life at the moment feels a little bleck... But I want you to know that I love you so much and am praying for you everyday. I don't ever have to feel alone because HF is always with us.. Waiting for us to talk with him and ask for help. As soon as we do- he will! Sister Jackson sent me this poem in a letter last week and it helped me so much.... 

Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger wind, the stronger trees.

The further sky, the greater length.

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.⁸

May we ever strive to be close to our Heavenly Father. To do so, we must pray to Him and listen to Him every day. We truly need Him every hour, whether they be hours of sunshine or of rain. May His promise ever be our watchword: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”¹⁰

With all the strength of my soul, I testify that God lives and loves us, that His Only Begotten Son lived and died for us, and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is that penetrating light which shines through the darkness of our lives. May it ever be so, I pray in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-President Thomas S. Monson

You are some good timber Steff. Heavenly Father wants you to be the best. I love you. I miss you. But I will be seeing you real soon. :)

Teed & Ben: Oh I love you both. I am glad your Christmas in a broad day light is going good. I was so comforted and just seriously overjoyed to see your smiles and beautiful faces and to see you still have your wonderful sense of humor. Zurie and Charlie are seriously beautiful. You two made some beautiful children! :) I love you both. Thank you for your support. And thank you for taking the time to write me a little gratitude card a while back from thanksgiving! That was way fun to read. :) Love you.

Kirstin and Chels: Wow! I was so surprised and happy to see you two! I felt so special that both came and took the time out of your Christmas Eve to be with me! Ah. I love you both. Thank you for your love and support. I love love love receiving your weekly updates and all the pictures you send.  I love you both and consider you family! Thank you. Love and miss you. <3

To my Parents: I already told you in our Skype messaging... But I feel like I can never tell you enough. I love you both so much and am so thankful for everything you have done for me. You continually give me Christmas gifts throughout the year and have done so all my life through your examples.. Through your patience... Through the memories we have created together. Through the many special traditions and legacies you have passed on. I love you I love you I love you. I am so grateful for you both. You are both so special to me. There is no way to describe it.

This upcoming Pday I will give you the low down on the past two weeks and the miracles and fun things. Just because I can't remember everything that happened! So I will write a list down and share everything then. BUT some of the big miracles of this past week... Were truly truly miracles and wonderful. I will explain more in detail on Monday.. But... Here some are:

-Our investigator Taste. Is getting baptized FOR SURE this SUNDAY! Ah.. She is so special... SO so special. We were nervous that we would lose her because a little run in she had with a weird homeless guy that came to the church that kept asking everyone for money.. But.. We taught her about fast offerings and tithing.. And she is excited and ready. Every time we teach her about Jesus Christ.. And his atonement. She cries. She knows what we teach is the truth. She is so special.

-Our investigator Shark. Is going to be baptized in 3 weeks because his son will be coming back from vacation at that time... He said that if he could he would be baptized that day (christmas eve) but he wants his son to see him baptized... I cannot even tell you how awesome this man is.. He is so special. For so many reasons. One because I got to teach him with Sister JAckson. Two because I literally got to see him change into an entirely new person. He went from someone who was so stressed and so unhappy EVERYSINGLEDAY to someone.. Who doesnt feel the need to be stressed.. And feels that he is loved. And knows that there is a God. He listens to everything we say and is so patient. He accepts each part of the gospel. He promised us that he would quit smoking. And he said that he was serious about keeping that promise. Ah.,.. I could go on and on. He is so cool. And so funny. I feel so blessed to have played a small part in helping him change his life. God is real.

-Inviting this past week has been fun.. Fun to ask people what they are doing for CHristmas and if they know the meaning behind Christmas... Few do.. So being able to tell them that Jesus CHrist was born on that day.. And then inviting them to learn more about him.. And more about what we believe... Really was and still is such a special experience. We met a lot of people by contacting this way.. And are so excited to teach them this weekend! Christmas miracles are so real. 

It has been wonderful to share Christmas with Sister Brown and the Thai people. I have never felt closer to my Savior.. Never been able to feel the spirit of Christmas quite like this. I hope that all of you are able to feel that spirit.. Please remember to keep Christ in your hearts always but especially at this time. Without Christ there would be no Christmas. He is the way. The reason for the season. He knows us and loves more than we can comprehend. He is the reason that families are forever. The reason that second, third and fourth chances are possible. And so so so much more. 

I love you all. I love you.

I love being a missionary. 

I love Christmas.

I love Christ.

I love Thailand.

I love my family. 

God is real.

Merry Christmas!