email from December 19, 2022
Hey everyone!
Crazy busy week, so once again it just flew by!! It has been super cool though!! So much colder than I remember last year, thats for sure!!
Last Monday we had a super chill PDay. We have housing inspections, so we ended up doing a pretty deep clean of our apartment. We had a lesson with Danielle and Lauren before they left for a Christmas trip and that pretty much sums up Monday.
Tuesday, we had district council and interviews with our mission president! Those are always super good, so it was definitely a good boost to the week! We had a couple lessons in the evening and the rest of it was finding (we had quite a bit of finding time this week!!)
Wednesday, we got to go back to help at the food pantry again! Sadly we won’t be able to go back until 2023 because the next two weeks we have meetings on Wednesday, but it was nice to be able to go back and help them out. Instead of taking food out to cars, they had a huge donation, so we helped sort all of their cans. I was somewhat grateful because that means we were inside and it was cold outside, so that was a good thing! The rest of Wednesday was full of lessons and then English class to top off the night :).
Thursday, we had a really good weekly planning session! I’ve created a step by step document on how to effectively plan the week, and I have coined the term “pickle papers” so that is always fun to pull those out ?. Our lesson Thursday evening unfortunately canceled, but we had a good dinner at the Noel’s house :).
Friday was super busy with finding!! We had a breakfast with one of our friends who previously got taught at Waffle House, so that was good! Then we were able to find a bunch of cool people while knocking in this neighborhood we’ve never been to. We had a good dinner at the Beard’s house, and it was a successful day!
Saturday was very similar to Friday! We were able to see so many miracles that came from us being out and about! There were some really cool people that we were able to meet and have lessons with! We even put one of our friends on Date for baptism!! ? By the end of the day, we both smelled of cigarette smoke, but it was a solid day’s work!!
Sunday, we had a super good church services :). None of our friends (even the ones who said for sure that they would be there) were able to make it. That is always tough, but unfortunately, not a super uncommon occurrence. We were able to do some more door knocking and there was this guy who came out to talk to us and he is super cool! He shared his life story of how he found Jesus Christ, and then we explained what we do as missionaries and he said he wants to learn more!! We are super excited to meet with him again and see how he progresses :).
That leaves us to today, where we got together as a district this week! We have a Christmas devotional on Wednesday, and for that we have to create a centerpiece for our table. What our district decided to do is take a Santa suit and stuff it with pillows and towels, and then we put a balloon as the head ?. It is pretty hilarious, so even if it doesn’t win, it is definitely worth it!!
For a spiritual thought, I’m really not sure what to say today. This week, we have studied the life of both Joseph, Mary, and the Shepherds (and Baby Jesus of course), and it has been really cool to see all of their perspectives! If you were to put yourself in Mary’s shoes, you can imagine all of the sudden having a child and being told it is the Son of God. And then Joseph, to have the faith to trust Mary and still take care of her. They are super good examples of faith and diligence as they accepted their responsibilities and trusted in the Lord. Then after Jesus was Born, the Shepherds, who left their flocks and the deep Symbolism that is in Baby Jesus being in the Manger in Swaddling clothes. We learned this week that they did that with lambs who were without blemish and they were the ones who were going to get sacrificed. And for the Savior to make the ultimate sacrifice, I thought that was a cool thing to learn. I know this is getting a little long (I suppose I’ve had longer ?) but I hope that everyone has a Very Merry Christmas!! Next time I write, it will be after Christmas! I know that as you focus on the Savior this Christmas Season, you will be able to feel the true spirit of Christmas and I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
I love you all and again, hope that you have a Very Merry Christmas!!! -Elder Claussen 🙂
