Indeed it is! I'm excited! I had the opportunity to co-teach Gospel Principles class at church yesterday and we talked all about Christmas. We read from Luke 2 and shared what we learned from our mission president, about how God is in the details of our lives. Let me reference you to verse 7:
7 And she brought forth her son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the .
Have you ever thought about WHY Christ was never born in an inn? As told from President Riggs, the inn in those days was dirty and messy and loud and crowded. Think about if Christ had been born in a place like this! It would not have been as sacred and precious and HUMBLE. I personally can't imagine Christ being born in such a noisy and irreverent environment - it just wouldn't make sense. This proves to me that God does have a plan for EVERYTHING!
This week was wonderful! We were able to teach Chad before he left out of town for the holidays. We knew we had to address his hostility and confusion towards the Church and its organization. So we went back to the basics: The Book of Mormon! We read from Alma 32 and committed him to participate in an EXPERIMENT - read the Book of Mormon EVERY day for two weeks, with an open heart and sincere prayer, and to let us know how he feels afterwards. Sister Anderson and I have been praying hard that his eyes will be opened and his heart softened to the blessings of the gospel. We will meet with him next week when he returns!
Brother Garlock is doing better! However, we knew we had to teach him a little bit more about repentance and humility. We used the talk by Elder Ulisses Soares about meekness and my favorite line is this:
"I believe, brothers and sisters, that ONLY those who are humble are able to acknowledge AND [then] understand the Lord’s answers to their prayers." (Emphasis added by me)
Brother Garlock concluded for himself that he is only "half humble", meaning he acknowledges answers but doesn't understand them. We continued to bear our testimonies that as he continues to try and put God first in his life, he will grow more humble. And then, and ONLY then, will he be able to truly understand answers to his prayers.
We did get to go to the Temple Visitor Center with Marvin and his sweet mother, Marta! (photo above) It was fabulous, despite the 1.5 hours it took us to get up there because of traffic. We were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and give ourselves a little tour of the center. Then we watched the show, which featured the Britton Family, a family full of instrumentalists. It was awesome! My favorite was the violin player - I swear that I will learn how to play ONE DAY!!!
I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas and that despite the business and chaos the holidays may bring, that you are able to enjoy the true Spirit of Christ. Get out there and serve your fellow-man! Make someone feel lighter and happier! Pray to know how to find these opportunities! Because they're there... I know they are.
LOVES,
Sister Hansen
PICTURES:
1) Us and Marta and Marvin!
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