Merry Christmas! (Part Two)

Hey! I didn't get to a chance to finish emailing yesterday so I will just finish the email today. Did you guess who came yet? Well I will tell you in a bit but first I wanted to tell you about Christmas Eve. We had a fireside were missionaries acted out the Nativity scene. It was rather funny! I know it shouldn't have been but it just was. I think it was because it was a bunch of 19 year olds dressed up in costumes you would see in a family setting except this time it wasn't little children but Elders and Sisters our own age. It was really good though. They did a wonderful job! We have some incredible talent here in these MTC walls. Right before the program we sung a song it went to the 12 days of christmas but instead it was called "12 things a missionary needs" This is the line up- A copy of the Book of Mormon, Two Heavy bags, Three Meals a day, Four Referral Calls, Five Golden Contacts, Six Bowls of Ice Cream, Seven Sessions Planning, Eight Teachers teaching, Nine Sisters Singing, Ten Prayers for blessing, Eleven Elders Preaching, Twelve Apostles Speaking. It was pretty great. We also got to sing Jingle Bells which was really fun!

 

Okay so are you ready--this is who came! It was Elder Bednar. It was amazing. We had been right in our guess to my friend. He really knows how to have the spirit and give powerful talks that speak right to your soul! He spoke on the Character of Christ, which was such a different look on Christ for me then I had heard before. He reminded us of a few situations when Christ turned out when the natural man would have turned in. He said the best thing he could compare the natual man to was the cookie monster. He even spoke like him a couple of times which was really awesome. Elder Bednar could be the voice of Cookie Monster if he really wanted to. Haha! But it is a good reminder. The Cookie Monster will say things like "Me want cookie" then when he gets the cookie he doesn't just eat it but he competely destroys it. Elder Bednar said this was a good comparison to the natural man especially in missionary work. Sometimes missionaries will think "I didn't get to baptize someone" or "I am not getting this experience". When really missionary work should be all about the Savior's work and nothing dealing with the word "I" unless used in the term "I want to do what the Lord wants me to do." 

 

It was an amazing talk. I will give you the same challenege he gave us. Go find the scriptures stories of Jesus Christ when he turns out instead of turning in. I will give you an example he gave us. The night Christ was in Gethsemane he asked his apostles to wait with him. However they fell asleep a few times instead of staying awake while he suffered the pain and agogny of our sins. Then when it was finished he comes out only to be betrayed by one of his apostles. Next instead of saying "Woe is me" or anything that would turn into the natural man, Christ continues to serve again after doing so much already. He heals the guards ear when the natural man would have done nothing. 

 

He counseled us to be converted 100% to the Lord. He talked about the differenece of having a testimony of Christ and having a testimony and being converted to Christ. He shared with us a scripture in Alma 23:5-6 which backs up his point. If you look at the scripture, there is a period which stops the sentence before it continues. You will have to look at it because I don't have my scriptures in front of me but it basically talks about those that are converted in Alma never fall away.

I am really going to try hard and work on my turning out instead of in. I know the natural man drives us away from turning out. I am going to work hard on being converted to the Lord and not just living on testimony only. I encourage all of you to re-read stories of Christ and look at his character, especially ways he turned out to serve us. I love you all! I hope you had a Merry Christmas and be sure you celebrate extra hard for me this New Years! I have been waiting for 2012! Now it is here and I can't think of a better place to be then serving my Heavenly Father!

 

Love you much!

 

Hermana Fish