3 DAYS!!!!!!!

Hey Family and Friends!!!!! 

So background to the 3 days thing is that well it is 3 days til Christmas but also our mission basically has like a theme CD and basically everyone in the mission knows that songs and if you don't you will soon get to know them because that is basically what everyone in the mission listens to! It is called "Lamb of God" best thing in the world! 

Monday: We went to Santa House!!! It was totally legit because we were able to go when Santa wasn't there and it was supposed to be closed but the lady let us in! Santa House is this house in town that is all decorated and stuff like that and it has moving puppets and it snowed bubbles and crazy awesome things like that!!! It was totally wicked! Also we laughed like crazy!!! It turns out that I'm a lot more funnier then I thought or missionaries just laugh at anything.... either way it was great! 

Tuesday: We had dinner with the Duncans who are some of my favorite members. They fed us steak and sweet potatoes! It was so great! We also got to see this video with David Archuleta in the biggest live nativity ever! I recommend watching that if you haven't seen it! It is wonderful and brings the spirit very strongly! The only thing bad about this whole entire thing is that this was the last time that I would see them! They are going back home for Christmas and won't be back til I'm gone! These are the problems I deal with when I leave so close to the holiday season! It was a great night though! 

Wednesday: We had interviews!!!!!! My interview basically consisted of "why are we even having this interview" haha! Let's just say it was short! Oh, we were able to watch Meet the Mormons again though! That was totally awesome!!!! That movie is top notch for sure! Also that day I went on trade-offs to Mt. Pleasant! It is always strange to go back to where you were trained. I got to see Robert Bronson, the person I first taught! It was awesome! It was also funny to see the growth that has taken place in me and the confidence that I have built up in teaching. Experience really does add a lot! Awww I just love everything about missions! It's the greatest!!! 

Thursday: So we had dinner with a family in our ward and we were invited to play the chimes with them at our Christmas party and so we practiced with them and it was super funny! Bro. Carn is hilarious and kept making us practice over and over again. It was really funny and we had a lot of laughs just trying to practice our song. 

Friday: Oh this was really great! We were door knocking and we were able to talk to this man for a while. He works with a lot of LDS members and they have really impacted him a great way. He asked us a few questions and he told us that he had read half the Book of Mormon which surprisingly happens more then you would think. He also told us that us talking to him will probably have some sort of impact on him in his life, maybe not today or tomorrow but someday it probably will. That was pretty sweet! He really wasn't interested in learning more at this time but hey it was still great! See, members are legit! 

Saturday: Our Christmas party!!!!! It was a lot of fun! There was a TON of ham and cheesy potatoes and lots of green beans...... typical. Haha! We performed our chimes and it actually turned out pretty well! I' d say that it was a success for sure! Oh also a member went door knocking with me and she said that we had guts for doing what we do! Haha it's funny because door knocking has become second nature to me, it's basically part of my daily routine now. Oh also we met this women named Kim, at a different time then with the member, and she told us that she had prayed to have someone come and talk to her and show her what she needed to do. It was awesome! I don't think I've ever really had that on my mission so I am grateful for that! 

Sunday: It's Christmas Sunday!!!!! I learned a lot in gospel principles which was totally great! I loved it! I love being able to learn new things and always growing in the gospel. I think that shows how much Heavenly Father loves us because we can always learn and progress! We also were blessed to have a really great lesson with Penny and Don McCormick! It was on church and I am just so grateful for the spirit and how much it helps me do the things that I need to do! I also love the scriptures and I know that they are the words of Christ and they speak to the soul so much better then I ever could. I love it so much! 

Spiritual Thought: I want to share my testimony about our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He lives! I know that He was born for a purpose and that He came to earth to do the Father's will because He loves us. I know that His love never changes and that it is always there for us to partake of. We never have to feel alone or forgotten because the Savior has descended lower then us all and we are not greater then He. I know that it was because of our Heavenly Father's love for us that He sent His Only Begotten Son and because of Him we can be forever changed. I know that the Book of Mormon testifies of our Savior and will bring us closer to Him then any other book. Let us all remember the true spirit of Christmas which is the Spirit of Christ! In the name of Jesus the Christ, amen. 

Love Always and have a Very Merry Christmas, 

Sister Smith