A Trycy? Quick, fold yourself in the middle! (12/9/12)

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope that someone who understands the quote that is the title reads this letter. This week was great. We started teaching a new investigator this week, I. He is the nephew of one of the members of the ward who was baptized a few years ago and he is super excited about the Gospel. He is only 11, but he loves to read the Book of Mormon. When we first gave him one I wasn't sure if he would ever let go of it. He read all that we asked him to read and a little more between our lessons. We are going to invite him to be baptized this week. He attended Church with his uncle on Sunday. Our other investigators are doing well also. M and L are both getting ready for baptism, but neither was at church on Sunday. We have a few other investigators that we are hoping to commit to baptism by the end of the week. We invited one of our other investigators, S, on Thursday, but he is still unsure about the church and is afraid of what others in his church will say if he is baptized.

Did you all get to see the First Presidency Christmas Devotional? It was awesome wasn't it. If you didn't I encourage you to watch it on lds.org. I miss seeing Temple Square at Christmas time, but I'll have plenty of chances to see it is future years. I loved all three of the talks. I especially liked President Utchdorf's talk about being a gracious receiver. I have never really thought about that. We always get caught up in giving that I don't think we often consider how we receive the gifts that we are given, both from others here on Earth and from our Father in Heaven. I encourage all of you to take some time this season to think about that. And always remember what President Monson said about giving of ourselves. When we give of ourselves we give more than if we were to give anything else. That is what our Savior did for us. He gave of Himself completely and became the greatest Gift that Heavenly Father can offer us.

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope that you are all having a wonderful Christmas season and remember to think about the true meaning of Christmas. I may sound cliche in saying that, but it is true. Christ is the center of Christmas and the message of the Gospel and He should be at the center of our lives. I'll probably say something like this in every letter for the next few weeks. I really love this time of year, when everyone feels the Spirit of Christ greater and I pray that we can all carry that with us till next Christmas, Thank you for all your prayers and love. Mahal kita!

ElderRWood