Dear Family, Monday,
December 30, 2013 at 11:52 (EST)
This past week was pretty
fantastic.
On Monday we taught a Family
Home Evening lesson. That went very well. We taught them a Christmas message. I
drew a Nativity Scene and then put together the different parts. I was gonna
take a picture of it but I lost it.
Tuesday we had our district
meeting. We then worked in Gorham for a little while. We drove all the way to
the Maine border. That was pretty fun. Then we went to Randolph and went to a
small community church there where they do a nice Christmas Eve program and
sing carols. A few of the members go there for a tradition. After that we went
to a family for dinner. After that we pretty much just walked around
on the streets in Berlin.
Wednesday we got up and opened
presents and then it was pretty much a regular day. We went to Lancaster and
visited a few people. We taught them all the Christmas lesson. One family gave
us a huge bagful of food and treats. Another family fed us a late lunch that was
huge. I stuffed myself. I forgot that we had another dinner until we got to the
next house. She fed us a huge dinner as well. She just loaded our plates. I
could not believe that we ate it all. When I left on my mission I weighed 180
lbs. I weighed in Christmas night at 195 lbs. But now I am back down to 190. I
just need to figure out how to work off 10 lbs before I get home. :) After that
dinner we went to another family's house to Skype home. That was a lot of fun.
Way better than just the phone call. I loved being able to see everyone.
Thursday we did some service on
the Dairy Farm in Milan. Everyone heats with oil (diesel, or kerosene) up here.
Oil is really expensive right now and everyones heat bills are going through
the roof. At the farm they are putting a wood boiler in and they are connecting
the hot water system with their oil boiler to reduce their cost. So we helped
them put in some copper piping from the wood boiler to the oil boiler. After
that we taught a lesson at Lu's house. It was pretty good . We talked about how
our faith is like a tree and we have to water it with a few things, in
specific for this lesson, prayer. So we talked about prayer.
Friday we had our weekly planning
and then we taught a lady. We had an excellent lesson there about Christmas.
After that we read the Children's Book of Mormon. We stopped by the a families
house as well and read the Children's Book of Mormon with their child.
Saturday we went by an older
couple. They really like company. We dont really teach anything over there. We
just stop by and talk with them. It is a lot of fun. Thats something I miss
doing back home is visiting all of the older folks. I really enjoy doing that.
After that we taught a lady and her friend. It was a pretty good lesson. He claims
that he is a strict Catholic and he likes to argue with us whenever we try to
teach something. So instead we let his friend lead the discussion and we read a
lot of inspirational Bible verses with them. After that we watched a movie at a
lady's house. We watched Mountain of the Lord, which talks about how the Salt
Lake Temple was built. I really like that movie. I used to watch it at home all
the time too. After that we went to a less active member and is living with his
girlfriend. She is a little interested in learning but we havent started
teaching her yet.
Sunday we went to church. We
taught the 3rd hour combined lesson. We taught about missionary work. It went
really well. We showed a few videos from the Hastening the Work of Salvation
website.
Click this link for a video on Hastening The Work
Click this link for a video on Hastening The Work
After that we gave the
sacrament to a lady in the Branch that is going through Cancer and isn't strong
enough to come to church. After that we taught another lesson. She brought a friend to church that joined us
in on the lesson. She is in 4th grade and her friend is in 5th grade. We have
to get permission from her parents if she wants to learn more about the church.
After that we went to teach another lesson to at a lady's house again and
taught about families. It was a very good week.