Sunday, January 6, 2019

The Week After Christmas

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

I hope everyone will have a fun time celebrating the new year. A time where we like to take a moment and observe how once again, the earth seems to have successfully made it around the Sun.
Now, I have something I'd like to say about New Year's resolutions. First of all I think they're a great idea. What better time to decide to make changes than at the start of a new year? That's wonderful. However, many people see a year and think, "it's a whole year, of course I'll have time to make changes to my life." The problem is that it is very easy to set long term goals because you are tricked into thinking that it'll magically happen at some point during the year, without actually doing the things that cause the goals to be met. I'm sure many people have had an idea in your mind, a vision of the future you. You think, "oh well of course by then I'll be better at this thing." Except soon "then" comes and future you is still in the future. The thing is that future you will always be future you unless present you starts immediately trying to become future you. It's just really important to remember that if you ever want to change, you have to start right now. Unless of course your resolution is to eat healthier, then you can start after you enjoy whatever treats you have at your New Year's Eve party. 

Also, on an unrelated note, there is a song known as "Ring out Wild Bells" in the Hymn book that we for some reason like to sing at New years time. Probably because it is the one New Years themed song in the Hymn book. Now, I don't know who wrote the music for it. But I have some questions for them. One of them is, why? My theory is that the composer got his songs mixed up. He thought he was writing music for a funeral when actually he was writing music for a song that is supposed to be uplifting and optimistic about the new year. Cause I don't know if you've heard that song before, but it sounds so sad, and it doesn't fit the words. 

Well this last week was good. Christmas was fun. I got to video call my family which was really nice. 

So Dee, the lady we've been teaching, was baptized this last weekend. It was an incredible experience. I don't really know what else to say about that. It was just powerful. 

Also, cool story from this week. We got a phone call from a lady, and she said that she and her family wanted to go to church and she asked what she should do. And we asked if she wanted us to teach her missionary lessons. And she said yes. So we already had one teaching visit with her and her family and it was really cool. Her husband is actually a member of the Church but he hasn't gone to meetings or anything for a few years, since before he was married. He doesn't work on Sundays now though and so as a family they've decided they want to make church a really central part of their lives because they said feel like they've been really missing something from their lives. So they came to church yesterday and we've got an appointment with them tomorrow as well. They're just this super cool family who seems to be really ready to receive and commit to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Well I don't have any crazy or funny stories this week I don't think.
I'll just end by giving everyone who reads this a suggestion for a New Year's Resolution. I would invite all of you to take a look at your personal faith in Jesus Christ, and see where you can improve. Because everyone's faith has room to grow. That's what life is all about. It's developing and strengthening our faith in Christ throughout our whole lives. And I promise you that if you truly want to make your faith in the Savior your number one priority, every single day, your faith will grow, you will find so much peace and so much happiness, and you will feel how much He loves you. 

Well, that's all for today. Talk to you next year!
~Elder Oswald

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