Week 53: IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

Monday, Dec 5th 2016

Well folks it's December which means it is officially Christmastime! It really is my favorite time of the year and the absolute best time to be a missionary!!

This week was full of service! On Tuesday mornings we normally go to Julia's to help her with some yard work. We got there and she was in the car leaving for a doctors appointment. So we decided to do some random acts of kindness! We had borrowed some rakes and wanted to put them to good use. So we found a house with lots of leaves and started raking. We knocked on the door but no one answered so we figured it was fine and kept cleaning up the yard. We were about halfway done when a woman came outside. She was so happy and grateful for our help! We asked if we could come back and share the Christmas video with her and she said yes!! We are really excited about her!

We decided to go caroling at the nursing home!! They LOVED it! And we loved it too! We had a mix of popular hits and hymns. You could definitely feel the spirit as we testified of Christ through music! We will probably do it a few more times before Christmas comes.

Wednesday we took some time to have a little photo shoot so that we could have pictures for Christmas cards! We went to an abandoned rice factory with these old super cool silos! It was a blast!

Thursday was MLC and of course it was spiritually exhausting but also very needed! We talked about light and what light is and how we can be a light to others! We discussed goals and how we are going to accomplish them! I love the Christmas initiative. I know that Jesus Christ is the light and life of the world. I know that when we follow His example, we bring more light in to our lives. I LOVE in Helaman 14:3-5 in the Book of Mormon it takes about the sign that is given in the Americas of the Savior. The sign was no darkness for an entire day-like 24 hours with nothing but light! A new star also arose. Jesus Christ, truly did bring light to the world, and if we let Him, He will bring it into our individual lives.

East coast missionaries

Friday we did service for Mary, which is usually helping her bake things and watering plants- at least those were my jobs! Then we went to "downtown" Biggs and set up Christmas town! They are in the process of turning an abandoned hotel into shops and a venue for weddings and parties!! Northern California is chalk full of abandoned things!! Oh my heck I just love it!

Saturday was so good! I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Sister B...! We didn't have a full day but we had a blast. We went to my area to help me prepare to take over. We got to see a lot of people, have some lessons, eat really good cheeseburgers and talk about goals! I love goals!! I learned so much from her! Sister B... is a Spanish sister in our area. She radiates love!! She loves the Savior and is always prepared to testify of Him. I so grateful to know her!

Overall we had a really good week! I am really coming to love it here. I've said I loved it before, but I realized that maybe I'm not over my past area. I really loved Auburn and was not ready to leave. But the longer I'm here the more I love it!

Be the light and share your light!

Love you all!!

Sister Emily Gore