Hope!

Hello Everyone! 

I hope you had a good week! This week was good! We made a friend and had a friend come to church which was really exciting! We did some service which included singing Christmas Carol's at a Senior Center which was fun, and sorting through moldy oranges at the Food Bank and scooping poop at the Horse Farm which was not as fun haha. 

Something I've been studying a lot about this week is hope. In Hebrews 11 it talks about faith and gives multiple examples of different people in the Bible who demonstrated faith. In verse 13 it says, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off." I loved this verse because it teaches that there is always hope. Heavenly Father always keeps His promises. All things will work out in the end. There's a quote by Elder Holland that says, "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come." I love that! I can promise you that there is always hope, and that hope is found in Christ and as you turn to Him you will find the peace, joy, and hope that you desire.

Have a great week and Christmas! Love you all! 

Sister Carlson

Pictures: 

-Our presents under our Christmas tree 

-A nativity scene drawn in a lesson by a family in our ward 

Sorting toys on exchanges

The real gift of Christmas

Hello Everyone! 

I hope your week was great! This week we found two new friends!, had exchanges (so I had a different companion for a day), and had our ward Christmas party which was a lot of fun! It was polar expressed themed so it was super cute! Sister Snowder and I are finally at the point where we can name all the members in the ward! It's taken us a transfer and a half after being white washed haha but we were proud of ourselves :) 

This week has been a rough one, but I can say that without a doubt Heavenly Father is aware of each of us and our situations. Although this week has been hard, I have been blessed with an increased amount of the comfort of the Spirit. I know that Christ is always there for us and willing to run to our aid the minute we reach out to Him. I loved when they said last night in the Christmas Devotional how Christ is the perfect gift that keeps on giving, He is always always reaching out to us, we just need to reach back. They shared John 3: 16 which says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." That first Christmas God gave us the gift of His son Jesus Christ. He was given because He loves each of us and wants us to be able to return and live with Him. I encourage each of you this season to try and remember the true gift of Christmas, our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I love you all! 

Sister Carlson 

Light the World!

Hello Everyone! 

I hope your week has been amazing! My week has been great! It was a fun week! We did some service and talked to lots of people as usual :) We also did a lot of baking because we made 4 pies for Thanksgiving which was fun! 

Something that I loved from this week is we had a lesson with a family in our ward and we watched the new Christ Child video with them. Before we started the video we invited each of them to choose a person to watch and try to imagine how they were feeling during Christ's birth. As we watched I thought about how I would feel if I were at Christ's birth. As I thought about this I came up with three things: joy, gratitude, and hope. Joy because Heavenly Father and Christ's greatest desire is for us to have joy in this life and Christ was sent to earth to make it possible for us to have joy. Gratitude because Christ suffered so much and endured so much FOR US; for you and me and each of us. Because He loves us. And hope because through Christ all things are possible. He is the reason that we are able to change and improve and eventually return to live with our Heavenly Father again. I encourage each of you to watch the new Christ Child video and to strive to remember Christ this season by serving those around you through participating in Light the World! Something I love about service and helping others is the joy we receive from doing it! 

Love you all! 

Sister Carlson 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

This week has been good! It was transfers on Wednesday, but both Sister Snowder and I are staying in Woodscreek for at least one more transfer, so it felt like just another normal week for us. We talked to a lot of people and did a lot of service! 

This week we taught a lot of lessons on patience. This weeks Come Follow Me in James talks about patience in chapter 1 verses 2-4. In verse 2 & 3 it says, "2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." Something that we talked about is having joy in trials. I love verse two and how it talks about having joy when you fall into divers temptations or many afflictions. Part of having patience isn't just waiting, it is actively waiting, meaning that you continue to pray, read scriptures, and keep the commandments as you wait for your trials to pass. There are times in our lives when we will need to have patience in the Lord and His timing, but I know that His timing is perfect and He always hears and will always answer our prayers. I know that as we keep our focus on Jesus Christ and His gospel we will be able to have joy in any and all circumstances, in the good and the bad. Heavenly Father is our perfect Father and Christ is our perfect Brother and we can trust them both perfectly. I encourage each of you to think of how you can have more patience, whether that be patience with yourself, with others, or with Heavenly Father. 

Last, as I'm sure a lot of you know the church is encouraging everyone to think of people they can invite to a special Sunday sacrament meeting on December 22 this year. This is an amazing missionary opportunity *wink wink* and an opportunity to invite people to come and see what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is all about! It will only be one hour and it will be centered on Christ and Christmas! I invite each of you to be prayerfully thinking of people that you could reach out to and invite to this special Sunday sacrament meeting! Also make sure to start Lighting the World December first! 

I hope you all have an amazing week and an amazing Thanksgiving! Eat a lot! And Give Thanks! Love you all!

Sister Carlson