Dec. 19, 2011

Isn't it just a wonderful time of year? I'm glad school is wrapping up well! I should be able to Skype home around 4pm. We will be going to a member's home in Hudson Wisconsin--which is about a 45 minute drive. Sister Cook is going to Skype around 3ish. If anything changes I'll let you know--somehow. I'm super excited to see and talk to you all! I really hope you get to enjoy a magical Christmas this year! :D I'm sure Santa will pull everything through and everyone will have the gifts they have ordered. I think I decided that when I get to start making Christmas traditions I'm going to try to do some sort of service something-special for the Christmas season. Service is good year round, of course. :) I hope you all enjoy your vacation from school and work!

Tell Jimmy congrats! Is she gonna be moving here? Weddings are so exciting :)

Well, for the usual update... *Jenny is doing well! She went to Chicago this weekend to a concert with her sister and some friends. She got home last night and leaves today to go be with her family. We will miss her. She made us cute little presents for Christmas, I will attach a picture :D She's awesome. 

Last Sunday one of our members brought her friend, *Jessica, (I think I'm drawn to J names or something?) so we taught her the Restoration, and she was pretty open. So we went to the Job Core and taught her again on Tuesday. It was a super good lesson, the spirit was strong and our member pointed it out to Jessica. Jessica recognized it as the same feeling she had felt while praying that morning. We invited her to be baptized on Jan. 21st and she accepted. So, on Saturday we drove to her family's home (she's home for the holidays now) and gave her a Joy to the World and met her parents--they were super nice. It was good. Hopefully we can continue to teach her over break. 

Friday was an amazing day. We were eating at our weekly Friday Lunch Devotional when Brother Miller came and told us someone was here to meet us. So, we went out into the hallway and Brother Macdonald introduced us to *Stewart. Stewart had walked into the institute building to learn more about what we believed. He was raised and confirmed Catholic but soon realized that he didn't believe in the pope, so he couldn't be Catholic anymore. Then, he started going to a Protestant Bible Study, but didn't feel that that was right either. He'd passed the Institute building several times and just felt compelled to come in and learn more. So, we taught him the Restoration and he came to church on Sunday. And the lesson for Priesthood/Relief Society was Exaltation and they talked about becoming gods. That's always a good lesson for an investigators first Sunday... We taught him afterward and started teaching him the Plan of Salvation. He was super calm and was willing to listen, and wasn't freaking out about it. It's amazing how much the Spirit can teach people. He had also told Sister Cook after Sunday School that he had read 3 Nephi 11 like we'd asked and that it was all new and different but he felt very calm while reading it. The Lord is preparing people to receive His gospel, it's amazing. 

Also, our member that brought Jessica brought her friend Jarrell to church and he was very skeptical and asked lots of questions, but he kept realizing that everything made sense! I'm not sure how open he is, but he was a nice kid :)

Last night the Mission put on a Musical Celebration of Christmas. We got to go to that, it was cool. At the end the missionaries sung "He Sent His Son", it was cool. Then, Sister Cook and I got to stand at the tables in one of the foyers and hand out Joy to the World DVD's, copies of the Book of Mormon, and other materials. We had some really cool conversations with nonmembers and I was surprised at how many nonmembers there were present! It was cool :)

We have definitely stayed busy this past week. This week we are going Christmas caroling, at least once, we will be having our Christmas Conference as a mission on Tuesday morning at 7:30am (why soooooo early!?), Thursday we will be teaching our first class about who God is. We still don't have a name for it, and we don't know if anyone is coming, but we are certainly going to try. Finals week is difficult with students, and everyone is going out of town. So, for the month of winter break we are going to probably spend a lot of time tracting and giving referrals to family ward missionaries. Thankfully it's been pretty warm! It's been surprising. The coldest it's really been is 25. Yesterday evening around 9 it was 42 degrees! It was so warm! :D Best. Winter. Ever. 

But, that kind of takes care of what's been going on. It's been a good week and we are excited for Christmas! :D I love this time of year! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas with family! I love you lots and I look forward to talking to you on Christmas day!

Love, 

Sister Randall

pic 1= Jenny's gift to us, she made them!

pic 2= Sis. Cook and I ready to go talk to people :D