December?

Is it really December? It certainly doesn't feel like it here. Although, we had to wear a sweater one day because it got down to 63. Sad day, I've already become a wuss for the cold weather.

Anyway, HELLO EVERYBODY!!! I hope you are all having a wonderful December so far.

We've seen some Christmas lights up and there are still Tree lots here, because that is the only way to get a tree. No cutting down trees from the cemetery or from the canyon. The guardian of the canyon doesn't like that anyway.

So transfers were last week. Sister Barnes went to Hollywood (which is an area here in Florida) and SIster Spjut came here. She is from Cincinnati, Ohio and was called to the Orlando Florida mission, but since she happened to be in the Stuart Stake when it got moved into our mission. So she was just up in Sebastion. She is pretty short and has been out for about 5 months, but she is an amazing missionary. Very obedient and dedicated.

We went to PepBoys last Tuesday to get out windshield wipers replaced. It was a huge ordeal because the Office has to pay, but while we waited, we met this man, who has a son that plays for Wake Forest Football (Looney). He said we had a glow about us! It was super sweet. We got all his information so we could come and bless his home, but he's in a different district, so we sent on the information to the zone leaders. Hopefully they will see him soon because it was a great experience talking to him. Just thought I'd share.

I went to the dentist on Thursday. That was interesting (we got a little lost getting there) but the dentist was really nice and she said I don't have to worry about my broken tooth until I get home. Yay!

We helped this incredibly sweet lady in our ward unpack on Wednesday and then helped the most wonderful Sister Gerard tie her quilt on Saturday. Both of them fed us lunch! And told us some great stories. Sis. Gerard has a crazy cat named Jenny who will attack you unprovoked. I still love service. You should try it some time.

We ended up having some really great lessons this week. One we had just last night. We had already been to several places and no one had been home, so we decided to meet a woman that we had blessed a few days earlier. We had stopped by before, but she wasn't home. On the plus side, there were about 10 tiny kittens at her house that we played with for a while. They were so cute! Even my animal-hating Companion played with them! Fortunately for us, Sheere was home last night and had time to talk to us. We sat outside and discussed the entire Restoration lesson with her even though we hadn't planned on seeing her. It turned out really well. As we were able to testify of the Book of Mormon (as we practiced in District Training last week and in our companion trainings this week) she really had a change of heart and was very happy to accept the book and read it. She has been studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses and mentioned before we finished that the things we were talking about were similar, but then she became very enthusiastic about seeing us again when we gave her the Book of Mormon. And then she committed to baptism at the end of the month! It was so wonderful. It has been a long time since we've had an investigator commit to a date and she did it with no objections. We were able to explain what needed to happen so she could reach that date and she agreed to read and pray. It was almost too easy!

Working hard, waking people up by going to their house, and quality planning really make a big difference. We had 5 investigators at church this week!! It was so cool! Actually, it was almost too many because we couldn't give each of them the attention they wanted.

Those who came to church were very blessed by it.

-Laverne received the Holy Ghost!! (unfortunately, Anthony wasn't confirmed because he went to work. Sad sad sad.)

-Patricia could only stay for Sacrament meeting, but she was touched by the sweet testimony of another Latin sister and a 10 yr old girl. She showed us her artwork before she left to an art show.

-Ardena and her daughter finally made it (after 6 weeks) and there were lots of members who were excited to see her there and really helped her feel welcome. She commented in Sunday School and said she wasn't ready to share her testimony. . . yet! She already knows it is true, but she can't act on that knowledge for some reason. But she'll come around soon.

-The biggest joy of all for me came from Scott. He came last week and mentioned that he felt such a strong spirit it took his breath away during Sacrament meeting last week. Then right after Gospel Principles class this week he pulled me aside and said "it happened again." I was so excited for him. He didn't really know what to make of it, but he is making so much progress! He is beginning to recognize the Spirit better! He even came to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional (thanks to a wonderful member who picked him up!) and was so blown away by it that he didn't know what to say (which is pretty unusual for him). Sister Hawkes mentioned how she loves how the First Presidency is filled with the spirit, and Scott said "obviously!"! Yay! He has changed so much since we met him and I know that he was definitely prepared to meet us. Because he is very logical and questions everything, he has not yet been ready to set a date for baptism but mentioned that he would like to be ready by the end of the month. We are going to watch the Restoration Movie with him tonight at a member's home and then commit him to a specific date. He'll say yes, I know it.

The members that have been meeting with him are the Dengg family. They are actually from Utah and their son still lives there. Sister Dengg says he lives in Canyon Rim, but I don't know him. Do you? They are coming out to Utah for Christmas in a few weeks, maybe you can say hi.

So, in answer to your question, "Yes, I got to see the Devotional." And I am so glad I did. It was AMAZING. For all of those who chose not to see it, go repent and watch it now. It was that important. There were only about 15-20 people including the 4 sister missionaries that came to the ward building to watch it last night, which made me very sad. I'm going to assume that most of the ward has some way to watch it at home so they didn't miss it. Christ really is the center of our existence so He should be the center of our lives. I love what President Eyring said about the spirit giving us so much knowledge and truth. I also love How President Monson said "Because HE came, we can reach out to others, we will live again, we can gain eternal life, and we gather and celebrate to honor Him."

I hope you all make Christ the center of your lives, not only for Christmas time, but for always. Remember His love for you and how it has blessed you, then share that love with others. Not everyone knows about the power of His love, so you should go tell them. Now would be a great time.

Love,

Sister Anna Sheffield