When we focus on God's will for us, we become more like our Savior.

    
 I had a very frustrating, challenging, but still really great week. It has been so hard to try and schedule lessons with people from the other stake that we are now covering. (A stake is an intermediate level in the organizational hierarchy of the LDS Church. The lowest level, consisting of a single congregation, is known as a ward or branch. Stakes are organized from a group of contiguous wards or branches.) It has been hard to try and get a hold of the people who were being taught but I have seen how the Lord has helped Elder Muse and I to accomplish His will for us. I love the Lord and love serving Him. We spent many hours this week walking
from house to house trying to contact these people and with some we had no luck but with others we were able to actually set up some lessons and teach which was awesome. 
     A little about Elder Muse! He is from Houston, Texas and he is a super quiet guy but he is awesome. I love him so much. He is a super hard worker which is always nice to have as a companion. Something really cool about him is that he was only baptized 2 years ago so he really doesn't know very much about our beliefs and the scriptures and it has been extremely humbling to see how even though he has such little gospel knowledge he has been able to truly help others feel the love Heavenly Father has for them through Elder Muse. He's a great guy. 
     Anyways  on Thursday our district leader asked if Elder Muse and I would be willing to do exchanges so we did. Basically we just switch companions for a day and so I spent Thursday night to Friday night with Elder B. Elder B was definitely a challenge. He is super super ADHD. I started my day off Thursday just praying and asking for patience and wow does the Lord really answer prayers. It was actually a really good day and we had a bunch of lessons and they went really well for the most part even if he struggled to stay on topic at times. The Spirit was so strong and I never really got annoyed with him. Even when we were walking through a super cold windy snow storm and all he did was complain for an hour and a half. God definitely answers prayers.
     Jennie and Jose finally made it back from California and we got to visit with them again. Jose has almost quit smoking which is amazing and I'm so excited for the progress they are making even if they couldn't get married yet. He is such an awesome dude. But definitely the highlight of the week was going to Temple Square with Devin and his family who we have been teaching for a while. Wow was it just absolutely gorgeous!  The Christmas lights were beautiful and even
though it was like 20 degrees outside I never really was too cold. The Spirit filled my body with warmth walking on those sacred grounds. It was truly amazing. 
     The coolest part was getting to see the Hales, a family that I knew from Seymour! They went to my church the whole time I lived there and I babysat their three kids for like three years. I love that family so much. I had a really special relationship with their son, Henry who has special needs and it was so cool to be able to see him again. (Henry's mom, Robyn sent me a text of this picture and it completely made our day too.  What a special Christmas blessing for them to meet up!)

We had a really good Sunday too running back and forth from one ward to another but I'm really excited to see how this transfer turns out. Probably the coolest thing I learned this week was the difference between a prayer and a prayer of faith. Why even pray if we don't have the faith that it will be answered. It is a commandment to not take the Lord's name in vain and also not to offer vain repetitious prayers. So in that sense if we are just offering a prayer because that's what we are supposed to do and there is no meaning behind it then we are technically taking the Lord's name in vain. I thought that was very interesting so I'm definitely trying to make my prayers more meaningful. Another really cool thing was that a lot of times we just focus on the fact that Jesus Christ was perfect. But he didn't have to be. He could have sinned and he could have chose to not suffer and die for us but he loves us so much he chose to do that. It was HIS choice. Nobody forced Him to do it. That's why God's plan works. That's why we can be forgiven of our short comings and have our weaknesses turned into strengths through Him. It's because Christ had that choice and He chose us over Himself. But the scripture of the week that really stood out to me is from John 6:38 which says:  "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." Jesus Christ accomplished Heavenly Father's will for Him. Heavenly Father has a will for us to. We may not be perfect like Jesus Christ but we can still accomplish that will and become better and better every day. That's what I'm trying to do. When we focus on God's will for us, we become more like our Savior. That's it for this week! Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!