Merry Christmas, one and all, and a Happy New Year too! This is Elder
Z.S.Weber, reporting in to y'all from the Mariana Butte Ward in the
Colorado Fort Collins Mission. We're here again with another quick
update on how this past week in the mission field has gone, as well as
another inspiring message that I hope will touch the lives of those
who read it. And what a week we have to share today! Last Friday was
Christmas Day—the day we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. The day before Christmas—Christmas Eve—also marked the
beginning of the last full week of 2015, and all the memories that
came with it. Not only were these days momentous, but even the days
leading up to them were filled with wonderful and hilarious memories.
So, with all that being said—let's get started!
To start the week off, we actually have moved from our humble home at
the Andersen's. Because of the holiday season flourishing around us,
the Andersen's were going to have their daughter over for Christmas
and New Years. And, because most of their entertainment options are in
the basement, where we formerly lived, we had to move. After much
trouble grappling for a new host family, we finally found a couple
that was willing to house us for the holidays—Brother and Sister
Demke, a nice couple that are actually working on refurbishing their
basement into a missionary dorm. Until then, we're living in their
upstairs guest bedrooms, which are very nice and accommodating. Not
only that, but it turns out that the Demke's are related to a young
family I knew down in the Coal Creek Ward—the Prices! What a
coincidence!
Tuesday was also a day we planned to be filled with much hard work and
labor in the Lord's vineyard. After finishing our service at Hearts
and Horses Ranch (which consisted of moving several large tables from
one end of the ranch to the other), we went out and sought out some of
the less-active members the Bishop had assigned us for that week. We
had some rough time getting around because of how iced up the roads
were, but we eagerly went about our task, and then stopped off at the
Church to plan out our lesson with Billie (I believe I mentioned
Billie in the past), which we finally were going to get around to.
Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen circumstances, we had to hold
off on the lesson until next week, after the holidays had finished
rolling through. Sigh...
Wednesday was an interesting day. Wednesday, we were out doing some of
the runs, trying to check in on some of the less active members and
try and set up appointments for Christmas Day to fill our time. Well,
we decided to head out into the boondocks of the area, back in the
less-traveled roads, and ended up on this one road that was covered in
ice. Feeling that it was a bad idea to keep going on the road, I drove
the car up to this turn-around area and made to go back the way we
came. As we got out of the turn, however, the wheels lost all traction
and we ended up rolling off the side of the road. It's okay, we're
alright! We almost hit a tree, and we almost fell into the stream, so
we were lucky. We just had to call some other elders to come push our
car back onto the road, and we were good to go!
Thursday was a rather bad day for us, though. Sad to say, but both
Elder NeVille and I were hit pretty bad by sickness. We think, because
we were working on pushing the car out of the snow, he got a cold. As
for me, I don't know what happened to me, but I just was bad all day
long. However, the sickness left us on Christmas Day, and that was
what was important! Christmas this year was great! We had monkey bread
for breakfast and watched 17 Miracles with our host family, the
Demke's.
Then, that afternoon, we got to the highlight of my week—the
Christmas Skype home! Oh, it was so wonderful talking with my family
again! I got to see their smiling faces, and I got to hear their
laughter. It was almost as great as being there in person. Almost.
So, yeah, that was my Christmas! So, now is the time for the message
for the week!
...Sadly, I don't have much time here. We've got a lot of things that
need to be done today, so I'm going to have to keep this short! My
message for all y'all today is very simple. As a missionary, I'm
hoping to gain a lot of life experience and growth from my mission.
With this being the last week of the year, I've looked back over the
past year and thought over the many exciting things that have gone on
in my life. I can tell that I've grown a lot from the young man that I
was at the beginning of my mission. I stand a little taller, speak a
little stronger, and have more confidence in myself and my own
abilities. So, the message I want to leave you with today is—what have
you learned about yourself over this past year? How have you grown
from the person you were last year? And how do you want to grow by
this time next year?
Sorry it's a bit rushed, I wish I had more time, but I got a lot of
things going on, and not a lot of time to do them all! Thanks for all
the support you give us missionaries, we really couldn't last out here
without you! Stay Epic, My Friends!
—Elder Z.S.Weber
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