Yeah Mom, fortunately as a missionary there are only so many things one can want for Christmas, and in terms of food and massive amounts of chocolate the members here certainly had me covered. Now there's a question I've been pondering my whole mission, Lisa. At this point I'd be happy at least being in the same zone as Elder Peatross, but somehow we always seem to end up being in opposite corners of the mission. Being companions with him would be pretty stinking awesome though. In terms of videos, unless you plan on sending me scream-o music or the new star wars movie, sending videos is allowed. Yeah Dad, I'll make sure to talk to President Fingerle about getting an endorsement, though I am starting to lean more and more toward just waiting for Winter semester and not having to go home a transfer earlier.
Well it's certainly crazy how Christmas just came and went. Sadly this week 4 (out of 5 total, haha) of our investigators were feeling under the weather and weren't able to meet, but fortunately we were able to keep ourselves pretty busy. Going door to door is discouraged during the 24th-26th of December, so we grabbed a huge stack of 500ish Christmas cards that were left over from last year and stuck them in mailboxes. We also prepared Christmas presents for less active members and investigators; perhaps not too surprisingly, up to this point our efforts in making Christmas presents have yielded far more results than putting cards in mailboxes, haha.
Nothing too crazy happened this Christmas, we sadly didn't see any manifestations like last year, when the "Angel Gabriel" (a.k.a. a random dude who walked into the church who smelled like smoke and said he was the Angel Gabriel) appeared to us. But we had some awesome appointments with some awesome members.
So I've been thinking somewhat lately about the transforming power of the Atonement and just how real this power truly is. I've thought back on the beginning of my mission where I felt like my foundation was somewhat fragile and that every new whirlwind of missionary trials threatened to overwhelm me. I constantly would seek out General Conference talks that could perhaps offer me the key to success and joy as a missionary, but things didn't seem to change at the rate that I hoped. Now I look back and see the impact that my efforts back then, as imperfect as they were, have had on making me who I am now, a year later. Obviously I'm still unbelievable far from perfect and still make mistakes with every passing day, yet I've been able to feel a part of the joy that comes to the "penitent and humble seeker of happiness," and have a greater understanding of what it means to repent and to change, a power that is made possible only by and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, who took our sins and weaknesses upon himself so that he could allow us to experience true joy in this life and for eternity.
I'm grateful for the time we've had to celebrate the birth of our Savior and I'm grateful for you all and the influence you have had on me. Love you, have an awesome week!
Elder Larsen
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