MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I love Christmas so much! It really is the best time of the year to spread the good news that Christ was born and that he still lives today. Everyone's heart is a little bit softer as people come to focus on Christ and as many people realize that they haven't really thought about him throughout the year. We've been seeing so many miracles, especially in the Visitor's Center. It is kind of sad to be away from all of the people at home that I really love, but I have been too busy to think about it as I have tried to do everything possible to take advantage of this prime time to teach about Christ. The other day when I was in the grocery store there was a huge line and only one check stand open, so we went through the whole line inviting people to come to the Christmas concerts at the Visitor's Center. I've never been able to be that bold and fearless in that type of situation to just talk to a crowd full of strangers waiting there grumpily in a grocery store line, but it's Christmas, so it changes everything. People listened and were happy to hear about it because they saw that what we were offering was good, free, and was something they wanted. If only they could see that the gospel and salvation are the best and most important things they could receive in their life! We would spend a lot more time just teaching instead of trying to get out there finding people and showing them that this is important and valuable. That is why as members it is so important to show people the happiness that you have and how it comes from living the gospel so that they'll want a piece of it. It is through your example that they can see of how it could change their lives.
We had our ward party on Saturday and the bishop invited his neighbors that aren't members. They are an adorable British family with two young kids. They loved the party and felt at home with all of the young families and young kids. We are hoping they will be open to having us teach them, but we are trying not to pressure them or scare them away. The ward is really afraid that as missionaries we are going to be too intense and scare their friends away, so we are working on building that trust and showing them that we are able to follow the spirit and do this work God's way, and that if their friends are open they will feel and know that this is true, no matter what we do or say. I make mistakes all the time, so I'm really glad that this work isn't dependent on my efforts alone, its all about letting the spirit work through us and he's the one that gets the job done and converts these people. We are just the messengers, like the shepherds and the angels that announced the birth of Christ, all we do is invite people to exercise their faith to come and see, and to come to know that Christ is their Savior.
The other day, right before the Visitor's Center was about to close and we were telling people to leave, I walked up to a couple and was about to tell them that we were closing when I noticed that he was explaining to her the pictures of inside the temple, so I asked if she was getting ready to go to the temple and he told me that she wasn't a member, so I talked to her for about two minutes and told her about the Book of Mormon and she told me that he really wanted to read it, so I invited her to have the missionaries go over to teach her and she accepted. It was an amazing miracle and another testimony to me that when someone is ready to accept the gospel they will feel the spirit and we won't really have to do anything, we just have to invite them! I barely did anything to help her, because I literally only talked to her for two minutes, but she had been prepared by the spirit and was ready. There are so many people around us that are ready to come to Christ and change their lives, and we just have to invite them. Remember, "It is better to invite them and have them say no then to not invite them when they would have said yes!"
I hope that you are all thinking a little bit this season about how you can share the gospel and be like the shepherds and the angels in the story of Christ's birth, because that is where the truest and purest joy will come from, as we see the joy on our friends' faces as they change their lives for the better. I know because I have felt it so many times on my mission, and I want you all to feel it too! I love you so much and am grateful for the wonderful examples you are to me, and the ways that you remind me and help me to be a better person just by being you. I have the most wonderful family and friends in the world, and I sincerely love you all. I don't know what I would do without your love and support.
Have a very merry Christmas!
Love,
Sister Dansie
(cont. from 12/28/2010 post)
7. Marquez and Reyna family!
8. Marquez family- they gave me a stocking and a scarf :)
9. Me and Sister Dickson
10. Sister Salazar- she is going home this week :(
11. Me and Scott Anderson- Angela's institute teacher- I forgot to tell you in the letter that I saw his on his way to New Zealand, he stopped by the VC
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