Merry Christmas!
We get some time to email today since it is the Mother of all Holidays and obviously no one calls home on Christmas here. A lot has happened, but I'm kind of still shell shocked to make much sense of it here.most of you know I like to process for a while before I say what anything.
We get some time to email today since it is the Mother of all Holidays and obviously no one calls home on Christmas here. A lot has happened, but I'm kind of still shell shocked to make much sense of it here.most of you know I like to process for a while before I say what anything.
But! Considering the circumstances, I will try.
First of all, today we had church with none other than David A. Bednar. Yes, folks. Elder Bednar. My district and I were lucky enough to not only land seats all together, but to be all of 7 rows away from the pulpit. The meeting was phenomenal. How blessed we are to have a living prophet and apostles on the earth to help lead and guide us! I was crying (yes, me) for most of the last hour. Elder Bednar basically talked about the character of Christ, and how when we get hurt or go through afflictions we look in and focus on ourselves, while Christ always looked out. In the midst of pain and hardship, he healed one of the soldiers who came to arrest him. He asked the Father to forgive the guards who "knew not" what they were doing. When in our lives do we really have cause to feel sorry for ourselves? When is it right to demand special treatment because of circumstance or entitlement? Never! In those times when we are most hurt, there will be other people to help. Only when we are so focused on the needs of others will we find peace and become more like our Savior. Elder Bednar told us a story of a woman he helped once while he was a stake president whose only child- a daughter- died in an accident. The other two girls in the accident were badly injured, and the woman was primarily concerned with alerting the other mothers and taking care of other people who would be affected. Was she heartbroken? Of course! And she had every right to be. Such a tragedy is unfathomable to me. But there are other people out there. Elder Bednar said that on the way to her daughter's funeral, the woman took dinner to a woman in the ward with a cold who had complained that no one had stopped in to check on her yet. The contrast between these two women astounds me, and as Elder Bednar put it, such a selfless and compassionate woman carries the countenance of the Savior.
I want to be more like that. Yes, things are always going wrong in life. All of us carry burden and pain and we just want someone to come to us and say, "Are you hurting? Let me drop everything and help you. My problems don't matter." But expecting and feeling entitled to that kind of coddling from other people is not the way to go! Would Christ ever have complained about being spat on or mocked or even not being taken seriously? The thought of Jesus having a pity party is almost comical it's so bizarre. I realize that I've subjected many to my own "depths of despair" (that one is for you, dad) and I apologize for that- it's frankly embarrassing. From now on I'm going to focus on others and getting over myself. I'm here (both on the mission and on Earth) to uplift and encourage others. I'll find myself along the way.
So! With all that said, I would like to make clear that so far this Christmas has been one of the most memorable ever. Last night we watched a Christmas Carol (not the Albert Finney version. A travesty!) And with 2100 missionaries all in the same room, it was the largest audience I think I'll ever be a part of for a movie. For some reason I was especially contemplative, and wrote down a bunch of ideas that I'd like to do with my future family for Christmas. To be straight up that made me miss Austin (and the Dressman clan) a whole lot, but last week someone told us that we shouldn't feel that missing people is so bad. We were even encouraged to just let that sentiment work its way through us sometimes. Missing someone is just being fully aware of how much you care for them and how much they care for you. So let it be written that there are a lot of people I miss. Not enough to deter or be intensely sad, but enough to feel love and loved.
Christmas is so beautiful! I hope everyone has had a marvelous one so far. I am blessed to be spending this Christmas learning ow to better spread the message of the Savior's birth! Remember the angels who spread the message of "good tidings of great joy" to the shepards? Just consider them missionaries, my friends. We're all doing the same thing: improving the lives of everyone who will listen with tidings of Christ and His atoning sacrifice.
Quickly before I go, I just want to thank the Dressmans, Kenneth Raines & Co, My own dear family, the Benders, and Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw. Thank you for putting presents under the tree I drew :) I really am so blessed that I am cared about so much. Love love love.
Also it occurred to me that some of you might want an idea of what to send if you are so inclined. Absolutely no pressure because I have everything I need here, but if you just feel like sending something, stickers, stamps, pictures, comics, real letters, and obviously any appropriate mission clothes/accessories are appreciated. ESPECIALLY pictures and letters. I have given a lot of my heart to many people in my life. If you're reading this, you're likely one of them. Hearing from you all and seeing pictures is worth more than gold. If you get a minute, it would make my day!
Once again, I love you all. Have the best Christmas yet, ok?
Until Thursday,
Hermana Ray
First of all, today we had church with none other than David A. Bednar. Yes, folks. Elder Bednar. My district and I were lucky enough to not only land seats all together, but to be all of 7 rows away from the pulpit. The meeting was phenomenal. How blessed we are to have a living prophet and apostles on the earth to help lead and guide us! I was crying (yes, me) for most of the last hour. Elder Bednar basically talked about the character of Christ, and how when we get hurt or go through afflictions we look in and focus on ourselves, while Christ always looked out. In the midst of pain and hardship, he healed one of the soldiers who came to arrest him. He asked the Father to forgive the guards who "knew not" what they were doing. When in our lives do we really have cause to feel sorry for ourselves? When is it right to demand special treatment because of circumstance or entitlement? Never! In those times when we are most hurt, there will be other people to help. Only when we are so focused on the needs of others will we find peace and become more like our Savior. Elder Bednar told us a story of a woman he helped once while he was a stake president whose only child- a daughter- died in an accident. The other two girls in the accident were badly injured, and the woman was primarily concerned with alerting the other mothers and taking care of other people who would be affected. Was she heartbroken? Of course! And she had every right to be. Such a tragedy is unfathomable to me. But there are other people out there. Elder Bednar said that on the way to her daughter's funeral, the woman took dinner to a woman in the ward with a cold who had complained that no one had stopped in to check on her yet. The contrast between these two women astounds me, and as Elder Bednar put it, such a selfless and compassionate woman carries the countenance of the Savior.
I want to be more like that. Yes, things are always going wrong in life. All of us carry burden and pain and we just want someone to come to us and say, "Are you hurting? Let me drop everything and help you. My problems don't matter." But expecting and feeling entitled to that kind of coddling from other people is not the way to go! Would Christ ever have complained about being spat on or mocked or even not being taken seriously? The thought of Jesus having a pity party is almost comical it's so bizarre. I realize that I've subjected many to my own "depths of despair" (that one is for you, dad) and I apologize for that- it's frankly embarrassing. From now on I'm going to focus on others and getting over myself. I'm here (both on the mission and on Earth) to uplift and encourage others. I'll find myself along the way.
So! With all that said, I would like to make clear that so far this Christmas has been one of the most memorable ever. Last night we watched a Christmas Carol (not the Albert Finney version. A travesty!) And with 2100 missionaries all in the same room, it was the largest audience I think I'll ever be a part of for a movie. For some reason I was especially contemplative, and wrote down a bunch of ideas that I'd like to do with my future family for Christmas. To be straight up that made me miss Austin (and the Dressman clan) a whole lot, but last week someone told us that we shouldn't feel that missing people is so bad. We were even encouraged to just let that sentiment work its way through us sometimes. Missing someone is just being fully aware of how much you care for them and how much they care for you. So let it be written that there are a lot of people I miss. Not enough to deter or be intensely sad, but enough to feel love and loved.
Christmas is so beautiful! I hope everyone has had a marvelous one so far. I am blessed to be spending this Christmas learning ow to better spread the message of the Savior's birth! Remember the angels who spread the message of "good tidings of great joy" to the shepards? Just consider them missionaries, my friends. We're all doing the same thing: improving the lives of everyone who will listen with tidings of Christ and His atoning sacrifice.
Quickly before I go, I just want to thank the Dressmans, Kenneth Raines & Co, My own dear family, the Benders, and Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw. Thank you for putting presents under the tree I drew :) I really am so blessed that I am cared about so much. Love love love.
Also it occurred to me that some of you might want an idea of what to send if you are so inclined. Absolutely no pressure because I have everything I need here, but if you just feel like sending something, stickers, stamps, pictures, comics, real letters, and obviously any appropriate mission clothes/accessories are appreciated. ESPECIALLY pictures and letters. I have given a lot of my heart to many people in my life. If you're reading this, you're likely one of them. Hearing from you all and seeing pictures is worth more than gold. If you get a minute, it would make my day!
Once again, I love you all. Have the best Christmas yet, ok?
Until Thursday,
Hermana Ray
No comments:
Post a Comment