The Joy of Christmas!

On Tuesday, we taught Felipe and his housemate, Miguel. We watched the Christ Child, talked about it for a little bit, answered their questions and ended up talking about the Plan of Salvation, answered more of their questions and then talked about the Restoration! Needless to say, it was a bit of a crazy lesson and they both have a lot of questions, but we promised them that if they'll read the Book of Mormon, they'll find all of the answers to their questions!

On Wednesday, Jorge texted us and told us he didn't think we could meet anymore because his wife doesn't like the missionaries very much - we asked if we could come by when his wife would also be home so we could share a Christmas message with their whole family! We went by and met his wife (Tanya) and read Luke 2 with them! Jose and Genesis (their 2 kids) came home from school and joined us! Tanya seemed really engaged and even said "amen" to something that Hermana Shumway said at one point! We hope Tanya will be able to see how our message will bless their family!

We also had a good lesson with Benjamin (one of the many referrals from our amazing member Pablo!) - he had read 3 Nephi 11, so we decided to teach the Restoration, mostly using references from that chapter - it went really well and the Spirit was really strong! We invited him to keep reading the Book of Mormon so that he can come to know the truth and follow Christ!

Sunday was amazing! Xochitl, Evalet, and Jennyvive all got confirmed at Sacrament Meeting and we were SO happy for them! (Chantal was out of town, so she'll be confirmed next Sunday!) Afterwards, Xochitl told us, "I just feel SO good! I just feel SO warm and happy!" Fabiola also came to church and was able to see the light that was shining out of Xochitl, so she's pretty excited for her baptism and confirmation too! (her date is January 8th!)

On Monday, we went and visited Sister Raygoza! Brother Raygoza has been out of town (in Arizona actually!) so Sister Raygoza has been a little overwhelmed with new foster kids, including a 1-month-old baby named "Nene" (SO CUTE!!!) We sang Primary songs in Spanish and she shared a tender story of inspiration she had received years ago that finally came to pass! It was such a beautiful story - she is such an amazing woman!

Personal Study Excerpt of the week!:

D&C 93:33-34 - "For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy."

--elements = our physical bodies - we were happy in the pre-mortal life, but we couldn't receive a FULNESS of joy - we'll be happy in spirit paradise, but we'll receive a FULNESS of joy when the Resurrection happens!

--hard things happen in this life, and sometimes it's hard to see how a "fulness of joy" is even possible...but it IS! The Lord has promised us that if we keep His commandments and our covenants, we'll receive that FULNESS of joy in exaltation! Don't give up on joy!

Love you all and have a joy-filled week! Merry Christmas!

- Hermana DeWitt

 

Amanda and Johnalyn's cute Christmas living room!

Christmas lights at Jorge's house!

My Christmas Chocolate Orange (arrived in my package from home!)