Okay, first of all, Christmas was AMAZING. and I LOVED it. This e-mail is a visual reprsentation of my love and appreciation of what I just experienced on my FIRST MISSION CHRISTMAS. I'm so happy I get two :)
Alright, here are the descriptions:
Sis Jones and I posing in front of the seat in the small theater in which A SMALL CHILD VOMITED IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR TOUR. It was hilarious. "Moments that Matter" has never gotten quite that physical of a reaction before, you know what I'm sayin?
Sis Jones, rockin' her shades and our brand spankin' new GPS. (Thanks, mom and dad! You have literally saved souls in Malibu with that Christmas gift. And it's just so pretty...)
Our brand spankin' new GPS.
The day I finally thought to bring my camera on our morning run, and could therefore capture the sunrise that literally changes my heart everyday of my life here.
Creepy stalker pic of a man with a bird on his shoulder in the Visitors' Center. I have the best job ever. (p.s. I never got a pic of this, but did I ever tell you that I saw Aaron Eckert (sp???) in the VC a few weeks back? It was pretty cool. I felt guilty having the desire to go talk to him and therefore avoided him...but we made Sister Hara, a Japanese sister who had no idea who he was, go and give him a tour. Apparently he was way nice. Cool, huh? Just hangin' w/ the celebs in the LAVC...it was bound to happen, right???)
Sis Jones and I in our Christmas PJ's. Ain't we cute?
Sis Jones and I in our festive Christmas get-up.
Elder Shakespeare, the incredible, reserved-but-with-that-
and then we all came back and ate...
Kringle. Aka The most amazing danish I've ever eaten in my life. Courtesy of Sister Shakespeare, who sort of took the role of Mrs. Clause through all of the festivities. Wonderful people taking care of us here in the Visitors' Center. We're outrageously spoiled, almost to the point of discomfort.
Okay, second set of photos:
Christmas dinner at our investigators' house. Gotta love Malibu. Note the sunset...
Me, Christmas socks, all my gifts. Once again, outrageously spoiled.
Sis Cole, my fireball friend who went to Spain with me, carrying me back to the VC after the Hello Kitty pinata showdown. FYI: She's like 6 or more inches shorter than me.
All of us!
A traditional Christmas breakfast: Quiche (courtesy of Trader Joe's frozen food section, but so delicious) and cinnamon bites (courtesy of the dollar store)
....And my time is up.
But I so hope your Christmas was wonderful. I love you all dearly. I'm sorry I've got nothin spiritual. Here's a copy and paste of my letter to pres (may or may not be blog-appropriate, I dunno...), which'll give you the dets of my actual work. I'm just in love with where I'm at right now.
You're in my prayers!
Love,
Sister Wells/Abbs
Hello President Baker,
This week has been a little all over the place with the busy holiday times in the Visitors' Center and all other festivities. However, it has also been one of the most rewarding and full weeks I have ever experienced. I loved Christmas on the mission.
Sister Jones and I are warmed up and ready. We've spent the last few weeks doing some extensive transfer planning, "Cleaning up and out" our Area books, etc. Malibu will get a baptism soon. I have complete faith in that. And maybe I won't see it happen during my time there (though I have all hope that I will), but I refuse to do anything less than everything in my power to make it happen. This transfer seems to be a lesson on faith, and Sister Jones is a phenomenal teacher in that regard. It's fun to be "on fire" together.
Our new plans aren't anything fantastically original...just tweaking old ideas and making them fit the uniquely wonderful Malibu. We're focusing on finding in one section of our area right now. We updated our giant area map with labels for all potentials, formers, active, and less-active members...and then we began "pounding it out." Our area board is filling up and diversifying, and it feels SO GOOD. And we just started!
The ward is sparking up. The new bishop has just come up with a fantastic new ward mission plan and the new ward mission leader is on board with us. He likes our ideas and he has been nothing but helpful. I feel trusted relationships forming. We're starting to get more referrals, and the bishop is urging us to work more with various part-member families.
Our work with less-active members is progressing and diversifying. We have a few more families that we hope to start working with soon, and we seem to be on a brink of a break-through with one that we have been working with.
Do you see what I mean? The stage is set! We're just faithing it out now.
I have also reached a few really wonderfully fulfilled moments in the Visitors' Center. I still have a lot of improving to do, but it's the hopeful kind.
Things we still need to work on: getting caught up on 12-week program and working on our lesson plans...things we hope to have more time to focus on now that the holiday season is waning.
This week has been a little all over the place with the busy holiday times in the Visitors' Center and all other festivities. However, it has also been one of the most rewarding and full weeks I have ever experienced. I loved Christmas on the mission.
Sister Jones and I are warmed up and ready. We've spent the last few weeks doing some extensive transfer planning, "Cleaning up and out" our Area books, etc. Malibu will get a baptism soon. I have complete faith in that. And maybe I won't see it happen during my time there (though I have all hope that I will), but I refuse to do anything less than everything in my power to make it happen. This transfer seems to be a lesson on faith, and Sister Jones is a phenomenal teacher in that regard. It's fun to be "on fire" together.
Our new plans aren't anything fantastically original...just tweaking old ideas and making them fit the uniquely wonderful Malibu. We're focusing on finding in one section of our area right now. We updated our giant area map with labels for all potentials, formers, active, and less-active members...and then we began "pounding it out." Our area board is filling up and diversifying, and it feels SO GOOD. And we just started!
The ward is sparking up. The new bishop has just come up with a fantastic new ward mission plan and the new ward mission leader is on board with us. He likes our ideas and he has been nothing but helpful. I feel trusted relationships forming. We're starting to get more referrals, and the bishop is urging us to work more with various part-member families.
Our work with less-active members is progressing and diversifying. We have a few more families that we hope to start working with soon, and we seem to be on a brink of a break-through with one that we have been working with.
Do you see what I mean? The stage is set! We're just faithing it out now.
I have also reached a few really wonderfully fulfilled moments in the Visitors' Center. I still have a lot of improving to do, but it's the hopeful kind.
Things we still need to work on: getting caught up on 12-week program and working on our lesson plans...things we hope to have more time to focus on now that the holiday season is waning.
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