Well it was nice to talk on Sunday. Sorry for like the 8 missed phone calls you had Alisa. Hopefully you got the voicemail I left you. Haha. Bueno. Christmas was good. I think last year was more fun though. But I whatever, it was still good. My pencion loved the ties they got, thanks Mom and Alisa. Thats what all of them wore to Church on sunday.
Well on Thursday we had the Christmas Conference. It was SOOO good. I loved it. We talked a lot about the things we as a mission have achieved this year and what we want to achieve next year. I actually thought a lot about The Christmas of 2009. Lets take a little walk into the history.
In december of 2009 I was working at the Gaylord Texan with ICE. Therefore I couldn't go to Idaho with Mom and Dad, nor Mexico with Dave and Ale, and because I had to work Christmas morning and Dallas was getting its "Christmas Blizzard" I didn't go to McKinney with Alisa and the Kids. In other words I was going to be alone on Christmas Eve. So that December 24th, I got home from work at like 7:00 ish. Thanks to Sister Walton I had Shepherd's pie for dinner (Yum!) and then later on that night, Roderick (the dog) and I took a walk in the snow. After our walk in the snow, Roderick and I returned home. There we had our little Christmas Eve. We read the scriptural accounts of the savior's birth. We even read in Third Nephi of the events that happened surrounding his birth in the ancient americas. I remember, as reading those words, I didn't feel alone. Quite the opposite in fact. I think a lot about that night. That was in the middle of a time of questions in my life. I was having doubts about whether or not I was going to serve a mission. Lots of things were going through my mind. But I remember feeling the love of my savior very clearly that night. It was same feeling I had a couple weekends ago as we (as a Zone) sang as the choir backing up the youth as they portrayed the nativity in a stake activity. As I look back two years later I think about how much I have changed. I am so blessed. I have recieved so many blessings from my Heavenly Father. The Gospel really does bless our lives. Even when things are hard, God continues to blesses us. Life is about change, progression. God gives us tests and obstacles so that we can progress. So that we can learn. I have learned a lot and changed a lot since that snowy Christmas Eve in 2009.
I cannot believe 2012 is right around the corner. It always seemed so far away. One of my favorite quotes from conference this past october was, "Time flies on the wings of lightning and we cannot call it back" Enjoy this last week of 2011 and look forward at 2012 with excitement and optimism. I hope you all have a wonderful day. I love you all!
Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Don't forget to Look Up towards the Savior. And remember that, everyone goes home together. This life is a lot harder without the help of others.
Elder Hyer
PS- Alisa, thanks for the package, It was perfect. I especially liked the little south america cut-outs and soccer stadium with the Chilean flag. haha.
