So, I'm super sad! One of my roommates, Sister White, got her visa yesterday so she's leaving in an hour to go to Brazil :( I love her! It just won't be the same, but I guess that's what this whole mission is about, growing to love people just to say good-bye in six weeks lol. Christmas was pretty awesome. Elder NElson came to speak to us. He talked for an hour which one of the MTC presidency members told me NEVER happens. He spoke all about the Savior and we went on a huge scripture chase that I'm going to have to go through again when I have the time. . . (I'm forgetting what spare time is :) ) It was a really good experience and my entire zone - all of the Italians - were on the fourth row! His wife spoke as well and she told us all of the ways we need to prepare as missionaries.
I received a lot of Christmas cards from the Ward which was really nice and unexpected. It meant a lot that they took the time out of this Christmas season to write to me :) Yep Seth, your letter from the Priest Quorum was definitely my favorite! In all honesty! I loved what you said "You find happiness in everything!" I brag about you to everyone and tell them how my little brother is such a stud! The Ward's were super nice to send me a gift as well. I got a scarf :) I love scarves, and I'm probably going to come home with about ten more from Italy . . . For real though, I probably will, haha.
Christmas Eve our zone did an activity where we had carolers and we practiced contacting each other. I usually get nervous, which I don't know why, but this last time it finally hit me what a privilege it is to share the message of this restored gospel, and my testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ! It's incredible how much joy that can bring you and it completely casts away all fear! I loved that activity because I just hopped up to one of the Anziani and began teaching them in Italian without a second thought! Christ truly lvoes His missionaries, and if you ask for help, you WILL receive it!
In relief society on Sunday, we had Sister Wendy Nelson (Elder Nelson's wife) speak to us again. She is such an amazing speaker and a wonderful example of the type of woman we should all desire to be. She even has her doctorate and has been a professor for over 20 years! She shared her testimony of the importance of personal revelation and temple attendance. But my favorite part of her lesson was about the scriptures. She gave us an assignment with a promise. She said every single day we need to pray to our Heavenly Father, thank Him for the scriptures, and then ask the most important question we have for that day. Anything we desire to know, anything at all. She told us that if we do that and just open up the scriptures anywhere and read, we WILL always find an answer. I did that yesterday and Sunday and wow, she was right. I received quite specific answers to both of the questions I asked. The scriptures are truly a gift. I can't believe I never realized before now how much the Lord has blessed us. We have prayer, literal communication with our Father in Heaven as well as constant access to His words in the scriptures. I pray every night that I will remember the importance prayer and scripture study are to me now because I REFUSE to lose that when I get home. Four hours of study isn't enough now, I don't know how I'll survive when I get home!
Due to the Holidays the TRC was closed yesterday so we had no volunteers. But our teachers felt it was important that we not miss an opportunity to teach. We went into the TRC anyways and taught our teachers. It was such a day of learning because not only did we get to teach, but we were able to watch the newer districts on the cameras and then evaluate with them on their lesson after. I'm pretty sure I learned more than they did. It's interesting how much you learn from watching and that you recognize things you need to improve upon as well. The lesson we taught was also my favorite lesson so far. We taught Sorella Swenson who, by the way, is an absolute doll! I love her. The situation was that her brother had recently died and though she knew her Savior loved her, she didn't understand why He would take her brother from her. We were supposed to teach her the Plan of Salvation, but instead we just taught her the Atonement. We all shared important scripture that mean a lot to us, personal stories, as well as our testimonies of the love that Savior has for us. The Spirit was SO strong! All of us were in tears by the end, as crazy as that is to believe. One of the newer missionaries watched our lesson and we talked with him afterward. I was surprise by what He told us. He was in a separate room, listening to us on headphones, we were speaking in Italian, something he doesn't fully understand yet, but he told us he could feel the spirit anyways. He said he knew the words we said were true though he didn't understand most of what we'd said.
The Spirit really is key. Something Sister Nelson taught in the Christmas Devotional is that the Spirit is literally "one size fits all" because He caters and adjusts everything to us personally. The same words can mean 2000 different things to 2000 different people because the spirit speaks to our hearts. The Italian doesn't matter. It's whether or not we are willing to invite the Spirit in and testify with the love we have for all of our brothers and sisters and share the love our Father in Heaven has for each of us individually. I can't believe how much I have changed in the last couple of weeks. I feel like a different person and I can't wait to see who I will be when I get home. I can't even comprehend how much more I will have learned by that point! Everything I have experience, everyone I have met has been a blessing from my Dear Heavenly Father and I know he will continue to bless me if I only ask!
Love you all SO MUCH! Vi Amo!
Sorella LeCates
