Monday, December 21, 2015

The Merriest of Christmas Greetings


Hey Everyone!

I went to Washington, DC for the last time as a missionary today:( It will be very hard to leave this city. 

The weeks are going by so fast. It's always funny how, whenever I don't want weeks to go by fast, they always do. We had a very eventful week. Many meetings, two exchanges, a whole mission Christmas conference, and we went to the temple visitors' center on Saturday night. It's really busy, but...I'm glad that it is. I only get 90 minutes to email on my Preparation Day. We had some neat experiences this week that made me feel like a missionary at Christmas time. By the way...feeling like it's Christmas is a miracle in it of itself because it has been so warm, here and there is no snow :( 

A few weeks ago, the Elders in our Ward told us to check on this girl who is less-active in Montclair (40 min south). They met her through their recent convert. Yesterday morning, I had this prompting to check in on her. I felt that she needed to be our last visit of the day. So off Sister Mooore and I went. So many miles. We started to get a little discouraged because it was already 8:15pm and we had to be home by 9pm. We got to her house and she was there with her family (she lives at home....pretty much all of the members in the Braddock Ward live with their parents.) Her family invited us inside and they were so kind. The parents immediately offered us drinks and then invited us over for Christmas Day!  Their home was BEAUTIFUL. They live on a lake. We found out that the daughter we were visiting and her other siblings left the church. But, the parents are very active and they are BYU-I Pathway Program missionaries. We sat down and shared an excerpt from Elder Christofferson's amazing article, "Be at Peace".  Her parents were so touched by the fact that we came. I could just feel this dad's sad soul being lifted for just a moment as his daughter mentioned that she liked the message and that she would love to meet with us again. 

Sister Moore and I walked away feeling that we weren't just following a prompting, but answering a mother and father's prayer. 

Then, earlier this week, I was on an exchange (worked with another sister missionary) in Old Town Alexandria and I had a promoting to check on someone who used to be interested in the church. We  knocked on the door. The girl we came to visit was in the shower but her roommate (or maybe her sister...cousin...friend?) answered the door. She wasn't too interested but I asked if we could show her a "little Christmas video" (He is the Gift) and she surprisingly let us in and we watched it. Well, long story short, we had the most amazing hour long conversation with her and her teenage son. I was near tears, the spirit was so strong. We all taught each other. It was incredible!  We read the scriptures with them and they loved it. THEN, she practically rejoiced when we asked if we could come back and teach her! But, I think my favorite part was when we were showing her "He is the Gift", her son came down the stairs to see what was going on and soon, found himself watching it...and he was smiling the whole time. Ahhh teenagers are the best! It was just the greatest.

I also got to drive down King Street at night with all the Christmas lights which was phenomenal.

It's moments like these when I don't want to leave my mission. Ever. 

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! Love you all so much!

Sister Kelly









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