Ice skating ducks and pigs

Whitney and Sister Bee at the ward Christmas party

Maine has been so cold!  Last night was 6 degrees and right now (10:30 am) it is only 9 degrees.  Recently it snowed, then it rained and got slushy and then it froze again.  Everything is like an ice rink.  You can literally stand still on the ice and automatically start to slide.

Sometimes when we have been tracting for a while with no success and come to a house where no one is home we will spend a few minutes sliding around on the ice (on purpose).  But I am kind of uncoordinated on the ice...

I am so grateful for my early Christmas present! (warming mattress pad)  We used it to stay warm during the storms when we had to stay in our apartment.  Sister Bee wants one now. 

Also, thank you for the advent calendar.  Sister Bee and I to it together every day.  I love the scriptures, quotes and pictures.  I really love the notes I get to read each day. (this is the same advent I post on my facebook daily so we can study the same scriptures and messages from General Authorities that Whitney is)

We had our ward Christmas party on Saturday.  It was really fun.  We ended up sitting with the Elders and a family.  For dinner we had roast beef, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, beans and corn. You would think I had inspired the carb overload part!  It is food I totally would have picked except for the peas that were in the mac and cheese.  Yeah, everyone laughed as I picked them out.  I have gotten to the point that I can eat them if I have to… I didn’t have to.   There was one member there with her 3 week old baby.  He was soooo cute and tiny.  While we were at the party a little boy in a minion jacket came up to me and said, “I know who you are! You are a missionary!”  He stayed with me the rest of the night just talking away.

I miss our ward parties and stealing babies.  I love stealing babies!. . . At church… HAHA! Remember when we would sit in church and I would be looking around and you would ask what I was doing and I would say I was looking for a baby to steal? HAHA I can’t believe our Moonbeams (nursery class renamed by Ellie)are graduating to Sunbeams!!!

The other day we pulled up to a house in the middle of nowhere trying to contact a less active member.  Right as we pulled up a car parked right behind us.  They got out and asked what we were doing and we said we were trying to come see so-and-so.  Well that person wasn’t who we were looking for and they didn’t live at the house.  I guess the people were watching her kids.  Anyways, she stayed parked behind us and we soon realized that we were at the wrong house and blocked in and couldn’t move.  Now another car was waiting to pull in too but no one was letting us out and we were stuck in the middle of a baby exchange. 

While we were waiting to be able to leave we were suddenly surrounded by a bunch of ducks and a pig.  We watched as the ducks kept slipping on the ice.  We were there for a good 20 minutes.  We were laughing so hard, especially when the pig came out.  When we were finally able to leave and go to the right house, the lady wasn’t even home.

The other day we met a lady and she said she would like to read the Book of Mormon.  Then we went tracting and met this sweet lady and she let us in to share a message.  We shared the “He is the Gift” video and Alma 7:10-13.  She loved it and is going to send it to her sister!  She also wants to meet with us again and read the Book of Mormon!!!

My most spiritual moment this week was our lesson with E.  We couldn’t figure out what to teach him.  We kept going back to the talk by Pres. Uchtdorf, The hope of God’s Light.  We didn’t think that he needed that but we felt strongly impressed that we needed to go over it.  We told the member going with us that we were going to go over that talk and she brought something to share about it.  We read through it together and would stop and discuss it.  It was going really well and the spirit was really strong.  About halfway through the lesson, when we finished the section about Jane, one of E’s cats got stuck in a bag in the other room and he had to go free it.  When he left the room, the sister who was with us looked at us and said, “I just realized something,” With tears in her eyes she said, “I am Jane.”  From that moment we realized that this lesson was for her.  It turned from being focused on E to being focused on both of them.  I prayed in my heart that Heavenly Father would help direct my words.  We stopped reading the talk and just bore testimony of God’s love and His light.  We shared Jacob 3:1-2 and then we shared the Mormon message, “The hope of God’s Light.”  The spirit was even stronger than before and both of them shared their testimonies.  It was amazing!

Oh, may I request scrabble (chex mix) and peanut butter bars????

Tell everyone thank you for the letters.  I am excited to get the letters Chel has ready to send and would LOVE letters from anyone willing to send them.
Chel asked what she does on a typical P-day:  We do emails, go shopping, visit Subway where a member gives us free food each week and then we go hang out at the church.  The past few weeks we have been having nerf gun wars. :)  It is super fun!  We will have to go on a group date when I get home and have a nerf gun war!  Imagine having a nerf war at Disneyland!

Random Whitney Ramblings:

We had a lesson in McDonald’s.

I had a dream the other night that I was at Disneyland and I saw Chelsea but she didn’t see me because of the crowd so I grabbed her arm and when she turned and saw me she got so excited and we gave each other a huge hug and we were crying because we were so happy and then we talked and went on rides but couldn’t go on Pirates for some reason and then we got mints and we wanted to buy Disneyland t-shirts. 

Scriptures, messages and scriptures shared by Whitney:
 Pres. Uchtdorf, The Hope of God's Light (click link)
Jacob 3: 1-2 
1- But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart.  Look unto Got with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction.
2- O all ye that are pure in heart, lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God and feast upon his love; for ye may, if your minds are firm, forever.
Alma 7: 10-13 

10 And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God. 

 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

Mormon Message: The Hope of God's Light

Still living up to her nickname, Little Bit!