blairs‏

So I thought the Christmas card that Rachael and Brandon made was pretty funny. I liked the subtle use of laser cats. Our family has really good taste. I haven't made my Christmas card yet, but we're trying to get it made sometime. Or at least we think about it time to time.

 

So this week I got the opportunity to help out at church on sunday with administering the sacrament. That was a pretty decent experience, but I couldn't really figure out why I felt so good/grateful to be something that I have done a million times and I have never really thought about that much. Then people were going up and bearing testimony of what they know/feel/believe during the meeting and that lady that came back to church last week went up and bore testimony for the first time in her life even though she was baptised 3 years ago. And it was simple/awesome. She was just like, "I, for the first time, feel like I can really say that I know the church is true and that God loves me" and then said some other stuff. But me and my companion were talking about it later, and really we didn't do anything other than feel some small feelings and walk to her house. We just basically did what the Lord asked us to do, and that was pretty much nothing. But even so, it had a pretty big influence in her life. That makes me see why service can be so rewarding. Not because you can take credit for pretty much anything, but because you can see the Lord starting to trust you with essential parts of important things. Like, it was and is obviously him that is changing this lady's life and making her feel happy and loved, but he trusted us enough to incorperate us into his plan for her. That is when I realized why I felt so grateful for being able to pass the sacrament. It is the same thing. Him letting us try to show our love for him through simple service.

 

It is like Elder Uchtdorf's talk from last conference about how we are important to God. He just taught that when we love the savior and focus our hearts on him, we'll feel happy and loved in any circumstance. It is also like the translation of this chirldren's him in portuguese that goes more or less like this: "The love of the savior I feel in every part. I feel it's warmth wherever I go. He knows that I'll follow him, I'll give my life to him, because I love the savior and I know that he loves me."

 

Like, obviously we'll never be perfect at following him or giving him everything we've got, or even loving him sadly because we're all pretty lame sometimes, but when you have little moments where things just click and you do do those things it is a pretty good feeling. Significantly better and more fulfilling than anything else that I have ever felt.

 

But other than that not much is going on. The members here found out that I have been out on my mission for a while and they are trying to make me feel trunky by going on my facebook and looking at pictures of my friends and trying to print them off and make me look at them. The sad thing is that they really do get to me sometimes, so help me out and pray for me to have amnesia or something and not remember that one day I'll have a normal life again. Whenever I think about that I feel this terrible clenching feeling in my stomach and it makes it hard for me to focus on anything worthwhile.

 

But I love you all. I really don't have much to say anymore. It is all the same wonderful stuff. All I can say is that the best thing that can happen to anyone is for them to realize how lame they are and start asking God for help. It has been good for me the few times that I have started doing that and way good for the people we teach.

 

So on that note, later.