Hey everyone!
MERRY CHRISTMAS for Thursday!
I can't believe how fast the time has gone and it is just around the corner that we have the opportunity to celebrate our Lord and Saviors birth.
What a wonderful time of year it is, having Christmas as a missionary has definitely changed the way I see a lot of things, I have learnt so much about Christmas in the last few weeks and it has been an incredible thing to be able to ponder about everything and really think about what Christmas means to me and how I can make it more Christ centered. Something that has really stood out to me this Christmas is knowing that without what Jesus Christ did in His life and ministry and what he did on Calvary, we would not have had the record of Bethlehem.
I have had the most Christ centered Christmas of my life and I am so grateful for that! Yes, we have helped decorate trees, eaten gingerbread (though it was no where near as good as my Mum's), and all those things, but I have also sung a lot of Christmas Hymns, thought about the shepherds and about Mary and Joseph and about my Savior, trying to imagine it and envision it as if I were there. To ponder about how I would act if I saw the Savior as a baby or even a child, then what it would be like for him to minister to me, to talk with me the way he did others and in doing that pondering about what I can do to apply those things into my every day life, especially as a missionary. As we teach, contact, invite, serve... to do it the way the Savior would have.
This week Sister Martin and I had some incredible experiences. All centered on not knowing what to do, then consulting the Lord in everything, having faith that we would receive the answer and acting immediately on the promptings given. Thursdaynight we went contacting and it wasn't raining (for the first time in forever) and so we contacted! then it just poured down! We had no idea what to do, everyone was in a hurry, wanting to get out of the rain and no one would listen to us. We decided to pray right there and then, we didn't care who saw us, we prayed our hearts out to the Lord and we felt prompted to go back to the car and look at the binder and so we did, we felt prompted to go to 2 peoples homes, we went to the first, we went and then once we got there we got the feeling to leave! We were so confused ... why were we lead here if we were only told to leave again by the Spirit? we prayed and felt so strongly to go to the next place where a guy name Frankie lived. We got there and an elderly lady answered the door, we asked if Frankie was there and he was and actually sounded delighted to have us! We walk in and are offered cookies and we got talking, he was blessed as a baby but never baptized, he doesn't know anything about the church but was willing to learn more. As we talked we then discovered that he doesn't even live there anymore and was actually just visiting his Grandma for dinner! We left with cheerful hearts full of joy, we had just witnessed an absolute miracle because we followed the promptings of the Spirit. Though he is out of our area and we can not teach him... we found him and it was because the Lord is aware and the Lord also knew what we needed to cheer up our hearts. All we we had people cancel, bail, drop us and it was a rough week, but because of promptings that we have followed we have been able to help a lot of people and found new potentials that will hopefully become new investigators prepared by the Lord to receive the gospel at this time.
The last couple of transfers I have really been able to learn how I personally receive revelation and what a joyous thing that is and something that will bless me throughout the rest of my life! It has been amazing and Sister Martin and I have really grown individually and as a companionship this past week, it has been amazing.
I love this work and I love Jesus Christ, I love Christmas and everything it really means, not the fake materialistic stuff, but those things that tie us together and bring us closer to our Savior. I love knowing that the Lord is aware of everything and everyone, everyone's circumstances, even when they are visiting Grandma for dinner and making it rain so the missionaries can find them when the missionaries have had a hard week, the tiniest things that lead to eternal progression. To find people going to the book store and recommending to them the Book of Mormon and teaching them the Restoration on the street. This life is so detailed and beautiful, it is incredible to witness the majesty of all that has been created so that we can live the life we love.
Thank-you all for everything. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.
Please do not forget the Savior this Christmas and remember Him always.
He is the Gift and He is the reason we have it in the first place.
Love, Sister Ryan xx
