Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

The past few days, especially today, have been a mix of emotions. This morning was hard without my family and I may have shed a tear or two, but the knowledge that I am doing something so important and sharing the Gospel always makes any sadness I feel disappear.  

We had a White Elephant exchange last P-Day and I got a dinosaur oven mitt.  Sister Briggs is a dinosaur and Sister Palmer received a dinosaur.

The secretary's husband brought this cool dinosaur to our mission office!! Sooo awesome!

On Christmas Eve, we had dinner provided by Cafe Rio (soo good) and then we watched the Nativity.  I could feel the Spirit throughout the film and felt the overwhelming joy and happiness that always comes when I think about our Savior Jesus Christ.  We then went around to the different buildings (they were closed to the public) and we "met" Isaiah (Elder Frost), the three wise women (the AP's), two angels (the Temple Square Coordinators), two soldiers (President Seppi and Elder Curtis), and three wives of shepherds (Sister Frost, Sister Curtis, and Sister Curtis' sister).  It was so great!  And we sang carols at each place after they talked to us.  It was a nice Christmas Eve and a great way to feel the Spirit and remember the true reason we celebrate.

President Seppi and Elder Curtis (the two soldiers). They are our mission's knight's in shining armor :)

Some Christmas funnies:

I slipped on a patch of ice and landed in the stance of a track runner. What? Haha

There was this little kid and his family in the Tabernacle last week and we started chatting with them. The mother mentioned how her husband served his mission in Hawaii and the little boy who was about 3 yrs old said, "I know how to dance like they do in Hawaii!" Me- "Yeah? Well, I think you need to show me!"  Then he jumped off his bench with his big, puffy jacket and starting dancing the hula. He was pretty good too!

Last Thursday we had a snow day for the second half of our day. It was snowing a ton and for liability reasons they closed the Square. I honestly wasn't sure what to do with myself and what to do to occupy my time.  We weren't allowed to write letters, so I just wrote in my journal, took a 2 hour nap (ha!), and then we got 4 companionships together and made a snow sister missionary! We had a snowball fight afterwards and I may or may have not tackled a few people into the snow.  My brothers taught me well.  But it was such a nice day to relax and just have fun for a few hours. Christmastime here is pretty stressful and probably one of the most exhausting times of the year for us, so I was grateful for that tender blessing! 

Our HUGE snowball! Jokes, it was actually the bottom of our snowman. Haha.

The other day, Sister Palmer and I were walking by an older man in the basement of the North Visitor's Center.  As we walked by, we exchanged the normal "Hello? How are you?" and we continued to walk, but then I had the feeling that I needed to continue to talk to him. So I turned around and asked him where he was from and from that a conversation stemmed.  We eventually started talking about his family and how his grandson was really struggling and wasn't sure if he wanted to go on a mission or not.  The man then pointed out his grandson sitting on a couch at the end of the hallway.  We asked him if it would be alright if we went ahead and talked to him and the man was more than pleased by that response! We went over to the couch area and introduced ourselves and starting talking. It was perfect because Sister Palmer went to BYU-I and so did the grandson, so they talked about that and the blessings of having "devotional" each week and getting to hear leaders of the church talk to the student body. I then shared my testimony about Christ, what he means to me, and invited them to do something that would bring them closer to our Savior this Christmas season.  They agreed and we wished each other a Merry Christmas.

As we walked away, Sister Palmer said, "There aren't many times when I have a companion who testifies and I don't feel the need to say anything else after, but that was one of those times".  I know that it was Heavenly Father putting words in my mouth that night and I am grateful that He trusts me enough to do so.  I'm not sure if we helped that young man or not that night, but I know that Sister Palmer and I did our part by inviting him to come closer to Christ.

I'm grateful to be serving as a missionary this Christmas season and I feel so blessed to wear Christ's name on my name tag!  I know that I am being molded into who I am supposed to be by doing His will and I know that if we all try working a little harder to be a better disciple of Christ and follow His example, we will be blessed!

I love you all SO much!! Family, it was the best getting to talk to you today!!

Merry Christmas! :)

Sister Asay