Huge shoutout to the Frances for the amazing package! Also shoutout to the Spurgeons for the awesome cookies! Also Bishop for the Christmas card! Really appreciate it and it truly brightened my week up! Also thanks to those who have sent the e-Christmas cards from my blog letter. Well flip little miracle today. I went to go grocery shopping and I realized I had forgotten my wallet! Ahhhhh bummer. So my comp was going to spot me and we were about to check out and a kind lady handed both of us 20 bucks! It was awesome! #blessed. Earlier this week we went to an older couples house we are working with and made cookies as a district! It was awesome! Then we went Caroling to families in each of our areas! A lady in our area did our laundry for us last p-day and flip she worked magic and all my whites are super white! We found a person in our area with an homemade ice rink in their yard so my companion from Canada was super happy! The other Elders in our district got UNO so now that's the go to game we play and it gets crazy! Haha I have gotten pretty good!
Dang well this week was awesome! We finally got in contact with Christian! Ahhh only took like a month haha. We were able to play basketball with him on Friday because most Fridays we ball up with the youth! We had a lot of fun then scheduled to meet the next day for a lesson! It was way good! Got to get to know him better and found some of his concerns! Then taught the first discussion! All of our baptisms for this month are going to have to be moved to January due to Christmas time so that was kind of a bummer but that just means January is going to be crazy! The lessons this week have been awesome. We have been working on incorporating scriptures more and asking more questions and wow it can make such a big difference!
Congrats to my Bro Kaleb for his marriage to my new Sister Sarah ion the Payson Temple. Their reception was in AF, only about 10 minutes me. I couldn't go but was there as a picture.
When we taught mission prep this week we asked basic questions that most people have asked. Then they split into 2 groups and had them find scriptures to answer them. It was way fun and I was reminded of an awesome scripture in 2 Nephi 2:11
"11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility."
Why does God allow bad things to happen? Why do we have trials? Would life be fun or joyful if it was only good? No! You cannot truly be happy unless you know what it is like to be truly sad. Trials help us in so many ways and as a missionary I have started to truly be able to see that! I am grateful for the opportunities I receive with trials I have to learn, grow, strengthen my relationship with my Heavenly Father, and work on my weaknesses. I am grateful for a Father in Heaven that loves us enough to give us trials and the bad times so that we can enjoy the good times so much more!
I love you all and hope for the best this week!
Elder Lawless