December 22 - Have a holly, jolly, Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope that this week has been positively wonderful and FESTIVE! I hope you've each had some spiritual moments as you've taken time to remember what Christmas is all about. :) I'm truly humbled to know that my Savior--our Savior--was born in a stable, in a manger, and came into the world to do whatever it took to save each of us.

We had a wonderful week here in Belmont, Mass! Our teaching pool is building, our faith is strengthening, and our experiences are indescribable! There's so much to cover, so I think I'll be more brief and try to hit all the topics!

The famous Clayton Christensen, author of The Power of Everyday Missionaries and 1st councilor in my mission presidency, had us over on Monday night with Ajit! Ajit is the Indian potential we rake leaves for. He's awesome! And he's so in awe of President Christensen. All three of us were really humbled to be in his home for a lesson. It was a neat experience! The Christensens are a brilliant, wonderful family. I'm so blessed to have them in my ward!

Farah! Oh my goodness! So much has happened with her! She's our investigator from Iran. It's a crazy story. She grew up Muslim, had a vision of Christ, and became Christian. She fled her country, leaving behind her children to come here to America and escape the consequences of her actions. She doesn't know English very well, so she speaks Farsi. She feels as though she has been brought by God to our church, and she has faith to move mountains! This woman is amazing. She set her own baptismal date for the 27th. But there's a couple of problems. First of all, we have no idea how much of the lessons she truly understands. We have a translator who has a tendency to filter. Also, we have to make sure she's cleared to be baptized by our mission presidency, due to her unusual circumstances. AND there's a crazy, overly dramatic problem about it between the two wards (1st and 2nd) because they both want her baptized into their ward. Of course there's a clear boundary line, but she's moving and fellowshippers (friends) are more concentrated in one ward and there's this silly rivalry. . . Huh. This is the work of salvation. We all have the same goal. Let's just work together, shall we?

So anyway, that's been fun. And intense. And hectic. :) :) :)

We did service at Beech Street (the old folks' place) during their Christmas lunch. Holy moly! Lots and lots of people! And we wore Santa hats and frantically served all of these sweet old people for a couple hours. Thankfully we had help from the local high school. They made me feel old. . .

Suzanne and Jess made me this marvelous belated birthday dinner! Breakfast for dinner, my favorite! Jess makes the best Eggs Benedict!

FRIDAY was the BEST day of them all!!!!! We had our Christmas Conference! Sister Standerfer and I had been in charge of decorating, because everyone came up to our chapel. It was GORGEOUS! Gold tablecloths, red pointsettas, tea lights. . . I'll have to just show you the pictures. We were proud of us. :) Half of our mission was assigned to Friday. We started off the day by going to the temple right above our chapel. Absolutely beautiful. And amazing! After that and a break for lunch, we headed in for the Conference itself!

I wish I could explain how amazing it was! The Packards spoke and inspired us again! President Christensen got up and talked for nearly an hour, and he touched our hearts, too! Then amazingly talented missionaries performed song after song for us. The program was phenomenal. Sister Hyoung, world-renowned pianist, played for us. We had a soprano sax and an organist and some violins and flutes and a few killer voices. The spirit was so strong.

After, we had the BEST dinner, and every zone played the video of their Christmas skit. It's a tradition. ;) It was SO funny! Ours was epic; I'll have to send it home at some point. :D They put together a video with our pictures in it, and we all got key chains and packages from home. . .! It was so amazing. Best Christmas ever. And somehow the unity and the closeness with Christ made all the difference.

For me, the best part was getting to reconnect with a bunch of people I have come to love! The Tanners were there (the senior couple from Central Falls) and we got to catch up. Sister Chadwick and Sister Slater were there, along with Elder Garrido and Elder Fish. . . ! These missionaries have inspired me and helped shape my entire mission experience. It was so good to see them again.

Quick jump to Sunday--probably the most hectic day I've had in Belmont. You try handling two overlapping wards, two ward councils, 8 stob-bys, two investigators to see, and two dinners. That is all.

This is getting long, so I'll just end by telling you that this was a wonderful week, and I'm looking forward to a wonderful Christmas! I love you all. Don't forget why all of this matters. The gospel has blessed my life in countless ways--I wouldn't be anywhere near what I am today without it.

Love,
Sister Merkley
MBM Missionary