Happy New Year!!

Monday, December 31, 2012 (email)

Hello Everyone!

Happy New Year!! I'm sure all of you have really fun plans for this evening..."but as for me and my house"...we are serving the Lord and all of our days are alike. Holidays really don't mean much. I have 2 poppers left from a package mom and dad sent me last year, and we will use those...and that will be the excitement of our New Years. woot...

Coming home at the end of this transfer didn't seem real until I talked to everyone on Skype last week. I was in denial that it was actually happening, until I was told all of the plans when I get home. Its a weird mental place to be in, because I am excited for all of the new experiences, but I am LOVING MY LIFE RIGHT NOW!!!! I love being in Blanding with Sister Maynez!

Oh, did I get to tell you that is my new companion? I can't remember. I am training sister Edith Maynez. Born in Mazatlan, Mexico and raised in the United States. She is INCREDIBLE. I adore her....plus it helps that she is a great missionary, and the most beautiful sister missionary I have ever seen! I love working with her. We are both really upset that I am only here for 7 weeks. But she is excited, because she is going to inherit a TON of my stuff, because I don't need it when I go home.

These last 2 weeks have been totally crazy and disorganized. We got to town and had absolutely NOTHING to work with. When we finally got some teaching records, they were not organized in any way, shape or form, and the information on those few sheets, was very scant (and in chicken scratch). It took forever and a day to get things put together. We were bustling around constantly that we didn't even have time to think about Christmas. We didn't really register that we should slow down and really think about the meaning of Christmas.

We had 3 dinners planned for Christmas Eve. We were mostly thinking about trying to eat all of the food. We are very tiny girls, and we didn't want to offend any of them. We got through the first dinner, and we were glad to get out...it was a quiet and slightly awkward extended family dinner. Sister Maynez leaned over and said: "Are all white families like this? I don' think I can handle 2 more of these tonight. My family is Latin! We are loud, and this is sooo boring."

I just giggled and promised her that there are loud white people....(that was the 3rd dinner). We made our way to house number 2, the Pehrson's. Sister Pehrson had planned to invite one of the investigator families over to eat with her young family...but they couldn't come, so it was us, her family with 5 young children, and her parents. We thought it was just going to be any other dinner, but it actually changed our lives.

Her home was not a castle, you could tell children lived there, and the Christmas tree had lost some its magic from the children removing all the ornaments but the 3 on the very top. And yet her home was the ABSOLUTE BEST PLACE TO BE ON CHRISTMAS EVE!!! because she created the perfect evening. It was a simple dinner: soup and bread, but it was homemade and delicious. Not too heavy but very healthy and filling. The dinner conversation was really pleasant and happy. Sister Pehrson reminded me soooooo much of Maddy McHale Walker. I could have listened to Sister P all night.

The life changing moment came after dinner. Sister P gathered all of her cute red headed children into the family room. She sat on the floor with a baby crawling all over her. Us adults sat on the couches that had been obviously loved and played on. Sister P began to read her children the story of the nativity. The book she had was the Luke 2 words, but the paintings were done by the LDS artist Joseph Brickey (He has the painting of Joseph guiding the donkey, with Mary looking at the shepherd boy who is tending his sheep along the path). She paraphrased the story because she knew her children would not be able to hold still. As she read, some of the children sat still, while others be-bopped around. She would ask the moving child a question and they would pause, step closer, answer sweetly and correctly, and then sit at her feet.

The room was filled to the brim with the Spirit. It was the most tender and beautiful Christmas Eve I have EVER experienced. It was the perfect Christmas eve. Here was a righteous mother in Zion, who actively teaches her children the gospel. And she taught the way the Savior would: with love and patience. Her children had testimonies and they knew of their mother's love. That was a home where the spirit resides. It was the best experience I have ever had. I was moved to tears as I observed and watched and treasured the moment.

anyways...
Yesterday we had to give 2 talks. One 20 minutes long in a ward we DON'T serve in...and another 10 minute talk in the one we live in. We were totally pooped. The coolest moment of the day was when Brother and Sister Brown from Encinitas/Olivenhein walked in with their daughter who lives in our ward! SOO COOL.

Wow, that was a really long email.

I love you! got to go!
Sister Wilkins