MERRY CHRISTMAS, FAMILIA!! or should i say, Feliz Navidad!
Suprise! I many not be able to call you guys on christmas, but i can email you. i hope you guys are enjoying today. hooray! did alabama get another white christmas? hahaha that twould be amazing.
oh man. so let me tell all of you about how yesterday and today went for me. holllla!
okay, so last night the whole mtc got together for a special christmas eve fireside. a random group of missionaries were chosen to act out the nativity (i imagined the familia was probabbly doing about the same thing around the same time?). I think it was supposed to be 'spiritual'? but it is really hard to take these 19 year old boys dressed in bath robes with towels around their heads, serioulsy. hahah some were really happpy to be on stage, but then there were those who looked like they were embarrassed out of their gords ( where did that figure of speech come from? "out of their gords? mom? weird.) and of course there was one missionary who took his part as a wiseman carrying his "gold" EXTREMEMELY seriously. yikes. or, good for him? ahaha i have a hard time not making fun of those who take themselves too seriously.
we also sang "the 12 days of christmas" --missionary style-- yikes. yikes. yikes. i will spare you from the lyrics.
but then after we watched this old version of A christmas Carol which i loved! it really made me get in the christmas spirit.
and then one of the hna.'s in my room had a copy of this story that her family always reads on christmas eve, so i was selected to read that out loud to all of us in my room. yippeee!
and then for today. oh, it has been quite wonderful! they do a really great job of keeping us busy today so that we don't have too much time to miss our families to the point to going crazy. which is actually quite good for me. but man, christmas in the mtc -- rick, you know how it is, right? the spirit is so strong. haha i loved it!
this is the first christmas that i have woken up and had to get ready for the day right away. and it is the first christmas where i haven't woken up earlier than normal (actually, scratch that. hahah i did wake up earlier than normal. compared to other christmases, that is. however, it has become quite normal since i have been at the mtc. ha)
i had a donut and milk for breakfast. yipee!
and then after breakfast me and the hermanas went back to our room and we filmed each other with our cameras opening up our gifts. haha it was quite funnny to open my wrapped up panty hose i got from mom and pops. none of them really knew how to react hahahahah soooo funny. but i loved them! thanks parentals, by the way, for sending me my wonderful package!
one of my roommate's parents sent her a little christmas tree so we all sat next to it and opened our gifts. so cute! i will be sending pictures and the videos soon :)
so, as you all know, at the mtc on christmas, all of the missionaries are privileged to hear from a general authority. but i've decided that at the mtc at christmas time, an apostle coming to speak is supposed to be like santa clause bringing gifts: you don't know who/what you're going to get until christmas morning. hahaha serioulsy, the excitement was crazy. also, when an apostle is coming to the mtc, it is very similar to waiting outside the doors of a major concert, justin beibs, perhaps? only everyone is wearing suits and dresses. . . and the crowd is a lot older (hopefully). whenever those doors opened, everyone was pushing to get to the seats closest to the pulpit. toooo intense. hahah mannn it was nuts. also, i don't know why i chose to compare it to a justin beiber cocncert. sacrelig!! haha oh dear.
So anyway, the apostle that came was David A. Bednar!! isn't that so great?? he's soooo cooooool--we donn't really get to see apostles' "cool" sides in general conference. but seriously, this guy is really cool. and he never is going to look older than 30. hahaha.
but in his talk he talked about the savior. he talked about the character of Christ. Character is moral qualiteies. if christ hadn't had perfect moral qualities, he couldn't have suffered what he suffered. we all have the natural man within us, so when we are going through something hard--wheteher it be atemptaion, or a tradgedy or anything-- we tend to turn inward, and to think of ourselves and about OUR needs. but the savior does the COMPLETE opposite. an example he gave us (which i will summarize quite briefly) is in Matt. 4 when Christ is being tempted by Satan. What is christ being tempted with during this time? most would say to turn stone to bread, or to rule this world or the others that satan says. but that REAL temptation. the primary tempatation in these verses is when satan says, "if thou art the son of god." The primary temptaion was to deny who He was and turn inward to satisfy the ttemporal things he was missing at the time. and then when the angel's minstered to him, in the joseph smith translation of vers 11, i believe, it says that he sent the angels away to see John in Prison. He turned outward. I know i didn't convey this to you like Elder Bednar did, but it made me want to always turn outward. especially as a missionary. this mission isn't for me at all. and i'm still learning that.
anyway, that is my spiritual thought for all of you.
okay, so this is soooo crazy. i'm going to PERU on wednesday!! AHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe it!! t
tomorrow i get to email you guys again, and write letters and what not. and then on wednesday, i am leaving the mtc at 4 in the morning and will probs be at my gate around 5 ish in the morning. and then once i am at my gate, guess what?? i can CALL HOME!! yipee!!! i am going to buy a calling card at the bookstore on tuesday so that i can chatty pants with peeps. i want to talk to ALL of you guys. i wonder if i can make that happen. . . i don't know. 7 siblings. yikes. hahaha i also have a lay over in atlanta (so close to home, yet soooo far way. haha) but i don't know how long it lasts, so mabes i will be able to call you guys then, too.
man, i just love all you guys so much. i miss all of you today. but Heavenly Father is helping me not be too sad. truth be told, YES--i've cried. hahaha but no worries! if i didn't cry, then that would mean that you guys suck as a family. hahaha suck isn't a very appro pro missionary word. oh well.
it is time for our Christmas feast! so this is where i sign off (like in our family home videos. hahaha oh man. . .) i love you allll sooo much! i am learning spanish, believe it or not, and i WILL be able to communicate to the people of peru eventually.
thanks for all of your love and letters and your great examples. you guys are da best.
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Jill Frances Fleming
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