Dear Family and Friends,
Christmas holidays does make it hard to get the days of the week straight. I find as a missionary, days of the week are SO hard to get. Sunday is the only thing that helps me remember, cause we do the same sorts of things every day and then we go to church on Sunday, so I remember what day it is. haha.
I think everyone has times where they just struggle, and as a new convert it can be really hard, especially if you feel alone. I have noticed that a lot with the recent converts we visit. The most important thing to remember is that our Saviour is there for us and understands how we feel and what we are going through. There are points of time where I have felt like I don't feel 100% committed to the gospel. That is because Satan tells us that we don't really know, that we didn't really feel anything, and that God isn't there to hear us. But that is ALL false. Satan is called the Father of Lies for good reason, because he is. When you feel that way, just remember that EVERYONE has felt that way at one point. I have, and because Jesus feels all that we have felt, He has felt it to.
Something that has helped me when I feel alone, is to really have a conversation with God. One thing I have done, on my mission and before as well, is when I pray before reading my scriptures (because starting study with prayer is SO important!) that I just leave the connection to God open. So pray, but don't close the prayer. Then start reading, and just talk to God as you read. Ask questions about what you are studying, and have a journal and pen nearby, and I can promise you that you will feels gods love and get answers! It is amazing. Sometimes it takes time, but having those kind of conversations with God can really strengthen us. As we give him time to respond during our prayers, we can really just have a conversation with him in our own way. That is just an idea though :) Alma 5:26 - "If ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?" - you can feel it if you pray and ask for it. Just talk to God. He is ALWAYS there for us! Never forget that.
On Monday we went shopping with Vicki, and then went into town and got secret Santa gifts for our district. There were SO MANY PEOPLE IN TOWN. Christmas shopping is insane. We then went to the Bernards for dinner, and after we played Christmas charades with them, which was SO fun! Ffion is so good at guessing charades..and I am horrible at it! Monday was good though :)
We had a district meeting on Tuesday and gave eachother our gifts!! Sister Gaffney had drawn Elder Jones name, and I had Elder Wilson - so naturally we got them children's toys haha. They LOVED them. Elder Wilson got some toy guns cause he is from texas, and I think he probably is driving Elder Kent insane with them... I got a disco ball from Elder Winterton, and Sister Gaffney got a wooden flute from Elder Kent...it was pretty fun! We then went to a lesson...but got flogged (which means they didn't come :( ) Christmas is wonderful, but Christmas week is really hard to teach people in, cause no one wants to see us till after New Years. So that has been hard. But its ok!
On Wednesday we got to see Rosemary! We also got to meet her granddaughter and great granddaughter, they were at her house to pick up some packages, and it was so good to meet them! Her great granddaughter is the cutest little ginger child ever. We then had a lovely dinner with the Pettersons, and they gave us a Christmas gift as well, which was SO sweet! We were so spoiled by the ward. SO spoiled.
Thursday - CHRISTMAS EVE!! We had a giant Christmas Eve zone meeting, which involved a zone Christmas competition, and Rhiwbina won 2nd place, so we did pretty good! There were lots of random challenges, and also we had to do a skit which was VERY entertaining. zone meeting went long, so from there we went to the Webbs and had a lovely Christmas eve with them. We played a fun board game, and just had fun. I love the Webbs!
Friday - CHRISTMAS DAY!! Christmas was absolutely wonderful! We went to a Christmas Day service at the chapel, and then went to the Holcombes and had a GIANT DINNER. Oh my goodness. I don't think I have ever eaten so much food in my life. We also played with some lightsabers, and some funny face things, and had a lot of fun! Sister Gaffney got to Skype home, which was wonderful for her. She has a GIANT family (7 siblings and a brother in law now!). We then went from there to the Maizeys, and just played some board games with the kids. We didn't even eat cause we were sO FULL from the Holcombes, but it was so fun! I got to Skype my family, which was wonderful! It was SO good to see everyones faces and hear their voices, and just such a wonderful day in general. Christmas is a wonderful day :)
Saturday we had our extra Pday which was weird, but it was fun! We emailed a tiny bit, uploaded a load of pictures to our flash drives so we had more space on our cameras and ipads, and then went to Sister Pembertons house for lunch, and had a lovely lunch there! I swear I have never eaten as much food as I have in the past few days...we ate so much...and then we went into town for boxing day stuff with the Elders in Cardiff and the Rhiwbina elders (who all bought new suits!) and we missed the bus home so we walked....we walked over 12 kilometeres in total this day. It was insane. And my feet hurt just a bit. BUT it is ok, we got some planning done and it was good!
Sunday - We went to church, and we were SO ill. I haven't felt so ill for a long time, and when we came home we just crashed...the Maizeys picked us up for our DA (dinner appointment), but we just got some medicine from sister Maizey and played a couple board games once the medicine kicked in....the medicine helped SO much! we are so blessed to have such a wonderful ward who takes care of us. Church was amazing though, we had some wonderful talks about missionary work and about how every family can be missionary minded, and it was just such a good way to end the year!
spiritual thought and CHALLENGE!
So my thought this week is just that the new year is coming! I looked at my planner this week and realized it was soon going to be 2016. For me, I have a whole 366 days of missionary work. A whole year (plus a day, cause I am pretty sure it is a leap year next year) full of missionary work. So my challenge is to focus on just one thing you want to accomplish this year, whether it be in your year full of university, your year full of high school, middle school, elementary school, your year full of being a mom, or whatever it may be. Everyone has a year full of SOMETHING. And everyone can accomplish something amazing in that year. I want to work my hardest every day to brighten at least ONE persons day. That is my goal for 2016. I want every day to be able to make someone happy, and to help at least one person. It is a good goal, a goal that will push ME to be happy every day, and to look for service, and a goal that will help others as well. So make a goal for yourself, that will push you to be better in one way, and that will help those around you!
I love you all so much!
Sister Emma Beazer
send real mail to:
Sister Emma Beazer
44E Heol Llanishen Fach
Cardiff, Wales
CF14 6LE
United Kingdom
or the Mission Home Address:
Sister Emma Beazer
England Birmingham Mission
187 Penns Lane
Sutton Coldfield
West Midlands
United Kingdom
B76 1JU
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| The attached picture is me shaking Elder Ballards hand. :) |
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| Multi zone Conference Picture - Crazy! |
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| Multi zone Conference Picture - Respectable... |
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| My planner for Christmas Day! |
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| Our amazing Christmas Dinner with the Holcombes! |
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| Christmas Dinner |
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| Sister Gaffney! |
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| Crazy Christmas Dinner with the Holcombes! |
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| Our POSH dessert! The gold bar was like.. filled with chocolate mousse and caramel and the gold was just coloured chocolate.... it was SO GOOD. |
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| Christmas at the Maizey's!! Sister Beazer skyped on Christmas Day from the Maizey's home. Thank you Maizey Family!! This is her Bishop and his family. The Bishop's wife is her doctor! |
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| MTC District kinda reunited... Elder Clayton was at the chapel today so we took a picture! He is serving in Cardiff as well - he was in my MTC district |
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