Can you believe it? Christmas is already here again. It's so weird just how fast time flies. It's kind of creeping me out. To be honest, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all! They have us working all day today and then pretty much all day tomorrow so nothing is really changing. Which is totally okay because what better way to spend Christmas than to talk about our Savior, Jesus Christ. Haha - I wasn't always this happy but I will explain more in my email about everything. The mission is going great! Heavenly Father is teaching me so much right now. Well, he is ALWAYS teaching me something but he taught me A LOT this week about sacrificing things we love and value. So I think that's where I want to start off with this week.
Sacrifice:
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| Napping during 2013 family summer trip |
You know there are a lot of things that I really love in life. One of them is my naps. If you know me you know my nap time is sacred time. Being here on Temple Square, and a mission in general, you are just beyond busy. So every moment of down time or sleep is just priceless. What I used to do is during lunch time I would spend part of my time taking a 30 minute nap because I was just beyond exhausted. A lot of us sisters were doing that because we are all so tired and we rarely get to sit because we are constantly needing to be out walking around the Square or taking tours or being at our desk assignments, etc. We had Zone Conference last week and the AP's mentioned that, in a nutshell, naps were out of a question. Now during the day if you're sick then you are to go to the loft. Other than that you have no reason really to sleep because 8 hours every night is more than enough sleep. At first I wasn't too happy because I do get 8 hours every night, I work out in the morning and then I'm still super tired about half way through the day so I was like "great how in the world am I going to survive without a 30 minute nap everyday?" But I was like "exact obedience". In order to achieve exact obedience and blessings in general we need to be willing to sacrifice things we love. We may not necessarily understand why but that's how faith is. It's just like the end of Ether 12:6 "Wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." Heavenly Father was definitely testing me on this one. But I love it because I think about how busy I will be when I get older and have a family and how exhausted I will be. When I have those moments when I'm just so tired and I need a nap I will be able to remember these days and remember how tired I was physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I will then remember how I was able to just get down on my knees and rely on the atonement. If I can do it now then I most definitely can do it then. So far I haven't taken a nap now since Zone Conference. I have definitely had moments though where I wanted to just rest my head and take a nap. Oh so a quick side note - you know how I gave up gum back in the MTC? Well guess what? I haven't had a piece of gum still to this day. It isn't that bad. When I see people chewing it now I'm like "Ahh I used to be like you chewing it ALL the time". Now I just love Tic Tacs! :)
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| Blanket knitted by my mom - one of my Christmas gifts! |
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| Cuddling with my blanket from my mom |
For Christmas they first were going to let us have Christmas Eve off and then keep us off the Square till 4pm on Christmas day. But then we received notice that we are still working till 10 pm Christmas Eve, just like every other missionary would, and then Christmas day we need to be on the Square at 1:00 and will have a devotional till 3:00 and then it's back to work for all of us. At first I wasn't a happy camper I was like "Heavenly Father, I have had to sacrifice all of this so far....can we please just have Christmas time? But then as we got closer it was brought to my attention that what better way to spend Christmas than to be talking about Christ all day on Temple Square. I was so used to what I used to do around this time. All of our Christmas eve and day traditions and I was always so focused on the worldly aspect than that one aspect that truly matters. So I'm grateful for this opportunity to be humbled and to have this time to really Celebrate Christmas.
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| My Christmas stocking from home that I've had since I was a little girl! |
Several other things happened this week, just little things and it has made me so much happier. When we sacrifice things we love or desire we are blessed in more ways than we can think of. Ahh I just love this Gospel sooo much! Sacrifice is hard but hey if Christ can sacrifice his own life for each of us then why can't we sacrifice simple things like this. If he can sacrifice his life for me then why can't I sacrifice taking little naps throughout the day. In the long run it will help me be so much better prepared for my future.
Christmas Dinners:
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| The family we had Christmas dinner with |
I mentioned last week that we were going to families home's for a Christmas Dinner since we aren't in wards here where we can go to members home's for dinner. We went to a families home up in Emigration Canyon. Such a sweet family! It felt so surreal being in a members home let alone a home in general. I didn't want to leave. It reminded me so much of being back at home. It was a little weird having someone cook for me since I'm always cooking for myself. We had a super moist ham, potato casserole, roasted vegetables, huge rolls, fruit salad, and pumpkin pie. So good!! They were such a nice family! Their daughter had just recently gotten back from her mission to Berlin, Germany so it was super fun talking with her about mission life.
The Weather:
Okay, so I live in Utah, its December 24th and how much snow do I see on the ground? Wait, snow exists?? I thought that was just an Idaho thing. Yah, we have no snow!! It's kind of annoying. Rumor has it we are supposed to get snow TOMORROW for CHRISTMAS! So I'm crossing my fingers that's true. But I won't believe it till I see that white fluffy stuff actually sticking to the ground and until I can actually go build a snowman or make a snow angel. I'm pretty sure you have thousands of little kids who are praying right now for a white Christmas. I'm pretty sure I will cry if I see a white Christmas tomorrow. It's always been something I have wanted. I think it would be really neat to go from absolutely no snow today to several inches tomorrow morning. Maybe if all of the missionaries prayed for it plus all the little kids praying for it that it would actually happen??? Haha.
JULIO:
You will never guess who I talked with the other day!!! JULIO!! Haha he is so funny. I called him the other day and the reason I hadn't been able to get a hold of him was because he was super sick. There is a really bad illness going around right now that EVERYONE is getting. I started getting it but thankfully it didn't get as bad. A lot of the sisters have been getting it here. Anyways, so Julio had it and has been down not being able to do much for the past couple of weeks. But nothing really has changed. He is still the same good old Julio I know him to be. I can't wait to meet him someday. He is so funny.
I had an appointment with him on Monday so I called him and he says, "Oh hey, the Elders are here to say hi." I was like, "Julio, I will go then if the elders are there. I want you to talk with them." He is like, "You're on speaker phone. They can hear you say Hi." I was like, "Hi elders. Julio, I'm going to go." He tells me, loud and clear for the Elders to hear, "She always just talks a lot but now when you're here she gets all shy and doesn't want to talk." It was so embarrassing. Haha. He is always joking around with me like that. I should have known he would pull something like that with the elders right there next to the phone. In a nutshell Julio is doing well.
What A Small World:
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| Jennifer and Josh - Now - Sister Skaggs and Elder Atkinson |
Okay so the other day I gave a tour through the Beehive House with this family and a couple. At the start we always introduce ourselves and where we are from. I didn't think anything of it. At the end of the tour the couple stayed back and asked me a question and then the wife said, "You mentioned you were from Southern California. We used to live there. Where are you from?" I mentioned I was from Temecula and then she mentioned they used to live in the San Diego area. I asked them where in the San Diego area did they live. She mentioned I think it was Mira Mesa and then Encinitas. I was like, "Oh, my boyfriend's family is from Encinitas." They were like, "Wait. Really? What are their names?" I was like, "Atkinson's". Haha - her jaw just dropped. She says, "Josh?" I said, "Yah. He is my boyfriend." Apparently they used to be in the same ward. She asked, "How did you two meet if you're from Temecula and he is from Encinitas?" I went on to explain how we met. We talked about various things for a couple of minutes and then she says, "I'm going to have to Facebook his mom and tell her we meet you." I walked away and was like "did that really just happen?" I didn't think she was going to tell his mom. Well I opened my email today and one of the first things Josh said to me was "I heard from my mom that you bumped into this family." I was like "haha - I guess she did tell her."
Moral of the story I better watch what I do here because I never know who I'm going to bump into. Haha. I just thought that was funny. This definitely is a small world. Never thought in a million years that would ever happen. I guess I was wrong.
Seeing the Highams:
So Mykelin (one of my best friends from home) had mentioned to me several weeks ago that she would be coming to the Square on Thursday but I didn't think much of it. We were walking home and I was just talking with another sister and I said, "Uhhh, my friend was supposed to come today and I didn't see her." Then I look over and see this car and I'm like, "Uhhh, that's her car. Are you kidding me? I didn't get to see her and she is here right now." I'm thinking, "There is no way that is her car." But you have to understand, her car is a car that isn't like a typical car. So I was like "That is her car. It just has to be." I was pretty frustrated that I didn't see her. NO JOKE - not even one minute later I look up and see this lady open her arms and just start running to me. I'm thinking "Crud. Who is running to me?" I realized it was sister Higham!!!! I'm like "no way. Heavenly father. This really can't be happening." Here I'm just talking about how I wont see her and then I look up and her mom is right in front of me. They called Mykelin and she came running down from the hotel. It was so good seeing them both!! It totally made my day!! I can't wait for the day until the whole group is reunited again!!
(To Mykelin) I hope you are all doing well! Is was so good seeing you and your mom! When Kelsey gets home you will definitely have to come to Temple Square if I'm not outbound then and see me!! :)
Well this email is already beyond long so I'm going to get off now. I love you all so much! I feel so blessed to have each of you in my life. I definitely can feel everyone's prayers. Oh and FYI, for those who have sent me your family Christmas cards thank you so much. It meant the world reading how you are all doing! I feel so blessed to have such amazing people in my life!
I hope each of you have an AMAZING CHRISTMAS!!
Family I love you and guess what? We get to talk tomorrow!!! I will be calling you at around 10 am your time.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Until next week, I love you all,
Sister Skaggs
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