Well, first off,
ONLY 23 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS! Whoop Whoop!! I love the Christmas season, and all
that it entails! Today for part of our preparation day, we went to Walmart and
got decorations and started Christmas shopping for our families, and boy- is it
fun! I love seeing all the Christmasy stuff and hearing the music and seeing
all the joy that comes from it.
One thing that I
really want to focus on though, is keeping the "Christ" in
"Christmas"! It is so easy to get caught up in all the necessities
and "to-do's" before the big day, and so that is what makes it that
much more necessary to remember Him at this time of year especially. I'm so
thankful for this time that we have to celebrate His birth, because it is only
through Him that everything is possible!
Something that I
have loved doing is watching a new video that the Church published: "The
Christ Child". We have been using that in our lessons with members and
they have loved it! It truly brings the Christmas spirit as we watch this new
rendition of the nativity scene, and specifically about the more accurate
timeline of the wise men and their role in the nativity! It brought me to tears
the first time I watched it!
I had a wonderful
Thanksgiving! We spent our day with several members, and guess what...I GOT TO
PLAY SOCCER!!
For those of you who
know me, I used to play soccer for years when I was younger, but I haven't
played in almost 3 years! So when we got together with members and missionaries
in the area to play, I was so beyond excited! We had enough people to have 2
full teams and we played the full field for almost an hour and a half...MAN, am
I out of shape!! It was crazy because my brain naturally wanted to go all out
and do everything that I wanted to do, but my body was screaming at me not to.
So...I just did it, and even a couple days afterward, my body punished me for
it. Needless to say, I was very sore...but no regrets!
On Friday, Sister
Morgan and I were given an assignment and had to leave our area for a little
bit, because of the craziness of transfers...and I got to see my Sister Leifson
again coincidentally! Boy oh boy was that fun! I love her so much!
On Saturday, we had
our zone service project and it was so fun!! We met with the whole zone (7
companionships of elders and 4 companionships of sisters) got together and
spent pretty much all of Saturday setting up Albany's annual Christmas
Storybook Land!
So basically what we
did was we unloaded huge trailers full of stuff, separated them to the sets
they needed to go, and then set up each of them! There were Disney sets,
children's book sets, even a Bear Country, etc. etc. etc.! It took a long time
and it was insanely cold, but so fun! I really enjoyed it and we were wiped by
the time we left!
Spiritual message of
the week..another excerpt from my journal!
"This morning
we had Thanksgiving breakfast with some members in another ward. At the end,
they shared a spiritual thought with us that brought me to tears! I've been
struggling recently as I approach the end of my mission; I'm not mentally
ready, but I'm also super tired! It's a daily struggle, really.
They showed us an
excerpt from "Facing the Giants" where one football player had to
bear-crawl as far as he could with a person on his back, and also blindfolded.
The farther he went, the harder it got and the more his coach encouraged him,
even to the point of shouting. Not only did the player exceed the expectation,
but he made it all the way to the endzone.
It was amazing to me
how much that scenario related to being on a mission. We are literally
blind-folded because the prospect of home never seems like a reality, no matter
how close you actually get.
What I loved most
though, was how the player struggled more and more the farther he went along,
at some points doubting his ability to press forward, even though the weight on
his back stayed the same. I've really seen that recently. I'm here right now, doing
the same work that I've been doing for almost 18 months now...but it only gets
increasingly harder! Thankfully, and hopefully, I get stronger too, but it is
still painful!
I also loved how
involved the coach was, by the end on his hands and knees, imploring the player
to go just a little bit father. My coach is my Father in Heaven. He is always
at the sidelines, giving us encouragement and counsel. He will never forsake
us!"
As much as I know
that this video related to me and impacted my life, I know that it can relate
to each and every one of us and the things we are going through in our
individual lives. Heavenly Father is always there, cheering us on the
sidelines, imploring us to take one more step in faith! We are blind in this
world, to His Plan and His will and timing. But we can take that step of faith
despite not knowing, and we can see blessings from it!
I love this work and
I love my Savior! I'm so thankful for the strength He gives to me when I don't
think I have any left. I am thankful for the constant companionship of the
Spirit and the opportunity I have every day to spread the joy of the
everlasting gospel to those who don't know about it!
I love you all!
Sister McCown
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