Elder Scoresby: Week #73

Hey Mom!

I'm so excited to skype with you guys too! I miss the family so much! Way less than last year though. Christmas last year was a little bit rough, but this year I feel like I'm kind of over the fact that I'm away from home. I obviously would much rather be in Arizona with the family if I wasn't on a mission. I definitely wouldn't be as happy as I am now if I were at home.

I'm glad to hear that Nana is doing better! I bet she's more than happy to be home! Hopefully she can keep improving. Glad you're back home too! Things are never the same when Mom isn't home.

I did get all the Christmas decorations which are AWESOME! We had this little crappy Christmas tree we found in the apartment but the one you sent is probably 34 times better than that one! I decorated the Christmas tree the day after I got it and hung the lights up around the apartment the night I got the packages! I almost forgot how much I love Christmas! I'm so pumped!

Today we're going up to Kirtland to meet up with other missionaries and make gingerbread houses! I'll send you pictures next week of the master piece Elder Christiansen and I create!

This week we got some gnarly snow! Kirtland, which is 30 minutes from where we live, got over 30 inches of snow! We got maybe a total of 6 in a couple of days. I'm not terrible at driving in snow, considering that the first time I did was a year ago! I think I took a picture of the snow, so I'll send that to you.

Our Core 4 investigators are still doing awesome! We weren't able to meet with Anthony because he had to go out of town randomly. Still not entirely sure where he went, but we're planning to see him later this week.

Yvette is doing great! We read the Book of Mormon this week with her and she is just eating it up! She usually closes our meetings with prayer and every time she does, she says that she believes what she's reading is true! She wasn't able to come to church this week. We're trying to get her there so that we can show her the baptismal font and then really focus in on getting her a baptismal date!

Franks doing well. We're still got some kinks to work out. He just doesn't understand some things that we've taught him and we want to be sure he's got a solid understanding before we baptize him. He's really got some interesting ideas that don't necessarily coincide with the gospel but he's got an amazing testimony of the Book of Mormon. The strength of his testimony is amazing!

Lauren is really doing great! She's understanding the gospel so well! We talked to her about church this week and she said she loved it! The relief society president in our ward is awesome! She got up and bore a powerful testimony last sunday. Lauren was impressed with her testimony and how open people are. She also loved Sunday school! She loves the participation! It made me grateful for all the years I've been in Sunday School and the knowledge that has come from that.

One answer to prayer that I received lately was just to know how to find love for the people we teach and talk to each day. As I read in Preach My Gospel this morning, in chapter 9, it says that we're all part of God's family. As I sat and pondered on this etenal truth that has been taught to me ever since I was born, I felt an over whelming amount of love for all of God's children. I applied the thought of how grateful I am to be sealed to my family and want more than anything to live with them for eternity. I should feel that same way towards all my distant brothers and sisters. I love the comfort and power that comes from knowing and living the gospel. Such a blessing to know these truths!

We do have a Christmas conference every year but it will take forever to tell you about over email so remind me when we skype to tell you about it! It's super cool!

I love you so much Mom! Hope this week is amazing! Miss you and can't wait to talk to you in 13 days! (I've been counting down for the last 2 months...)

Love,

Jack