It's 70 degrees outside and super sunny. We're going hiking and eating carne asada quesadillas for our district activity today. It totally doesn't feel like Christmas Eve Eve. Last year in Castro Valley was at least cold, but I went out talking to people on the templegrounds last night and I didn't even wear a coat. Just a sweater. So weird. "White Christmas" has been stuck in my head all week. I'll just have to make sure I get one next year :)
I forgot my planner today so I'm not really sure what happened last week. The Visitors' Center has been super crazy the past two nights - we've had over 2000 people come in both nights. So....it's been crazy. We only had four lessons because we were in the VC so much. All of our investigators are making some progress, but it's slow. But we're just being patient and waiting on the blessings. They're about to come to this area and it's about time. The Sanchez family all came to the ward Christmas dinner even though we weren't there, and they're spending Christmas with their member neighbors! The Romero family finally have questions, and they're ABOUT to make it to church. This week is the week. And the Ramirez family was super out of touch so they're not getting baptized this Sunday. But it will happen, even if it's not right now.
I've been studying humility and patience all month. They pretty much go hand in hand. I've had to be very patient with my investigators and I haven't seen the success I wanted to see. One of the best examples of both patience and humility in the Book of Mormon is Enos. He asked the Lord to change the hearts of the Lamanites, and God pretty much told him that it wasn't time for that. Instead of being frustrated because God wouldn't give him what he wanted, he was in tune with the Spirit to understand the will of God and accept it. And he had to be really patient because God's promise wasn't fulfilled for hundreds of years. He wasn't even alive to see it. It's a lot like how we have to be as missionaries. We won't always see the fruits of our efforts, but we have to be humble enough to accept the Lord's plan and trust that these people will have another chance to hear the gospel when they are ready to accept it. It takes a lot of patience, but all the promises of God will be fulfilled. We just have to do all we can do, and then pray.
Ammon was also a great example of patience and humility. His only desire was to serve King Lamoni. He wasn't looking for anything in return - he wasn't even expecting the conversion of the Lamanites. He just wanted to serve them whether or not they accepted the gospel. He was willing to humble himself and serve the king without expecting anything in return. Our bishop shared this thought in ward council yesterday and it helped Sister Ayala and I deal with the fact that none of our investigators came to church.
Anyways.....it's not a very "Christmas-y" message today. But it all comes down to love, and that's why our Savior came into the world. Just something to think about this Christmas season. As we love and serve God and others, we'll be able to patiently and humbly deal with our circumstances and share the love of Christ with others.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Hermana Hunsaker
