Santa Claus is Coming to Town

On Tuesday, December 27, 2016 3:59 PM, Dustin Thelander <dustin.thelander@myldsmail.net> wrote:

I was about to say Merry Christmas, but that day has passed. I would say, though, that a new goal of mine is to not let the Christmas spirit pass. People, in my opinion, have been a lot happier recently. Well, I wish for that to continue. So, please commit yourself to carry on that Christmas cheer and that spirit of service as taught by the "Light the World" campaign every day.

Tuesday of last week we had our big zone meeting. The time leading up to this was a bit stressful as Elder Ludwig and I had to plan and carry out the whole three and a half hour meeting. It was awesome though. The thing that stuck out to me the most was a training on how the mission prepares you for eternity. For instance, here we learn to study the scriptures for an hour each day. Though that may not be always possible, the eternal principal I will bring home with me is that I need to read from the scriptures every day for the rest of my life. I have been promised by an apostle of the Lord that if I do so, I will never go astray. After that great meeting, we, in the evening, had two dinners. A member of the YSA ward recently returned from his mission and is the only member of the church in his family. His mother was very supportive of him, and she had us for dinner. She just loves to do things for the missionaries. Then, we ate with Cheyenne (member) and Kimberly (investigator) over at Cheyenne's house. After we ate there we had a great lesson with Kimberly. She has read The Book of Mormon!!! She highlighted some passages and even came prepared with some questions. It was great to see her progress a bit, and I know that the Lord helped us answer her questions.

Wednesday was super cool. A member of our ward made some cookies for us, and we passed them out to a ton of people that we visited. It was nice to see how people reacted to us giving them some goodies. Some were so thankful, and some looked at us like we were trying to poison them. But, at each door we were able to testify that we know Christ lives and that Christmas is all about celebrating His birth. We taught Jose in the afternoon with Chaz (our YSA ward mission leader), and we ended up talking on prayer. It went really well and Jose confirmed again that he wants to be baptized on the 14th. Following that visit, Elder Ludwig and I went on a hunt for the ugliest sweater possible. We, after some searching, found them...in the women's section of Walmart. Elder Ludwig got the better of them, but mine was no beauty either. I somehow failed to get a picture of us in them which I now commit to do soon!! The sweaters were worn to the YSA ward Christmas party.

Thursday we had to make a trip to Rancho Cucamonga to pick up supplies (one of our Zone Leader responsibilities). We arrived to find a mountain of packages for our zone of missionaries. It took every ounce of my tetris skills to fit them all in our small Corolla. Then we took all of those things to the church where we had the other missionaries meet us to pick them up. Elder Ludwig and I took advantage of some Santa suits we came across and dressed up as the big jolly man so the missionaries could get a visit from Santa (photo below). Friday we had to make another trip to Rancho to take another elder to a doctor's appointment. In the evening, despite some rain, we went caroling in the Diamond Bar area. It was great to see the faces of each person light up as we sang to them. There were also some great voices involved, so it sounded dang good.

Saturday, Christmas Eve, we attended a baptism in the morning for the Spanish Ward. It was so cool and the spirit was so strong. I didn't understand a vast majority of the words spoken, but I knew that the Lord was there, and that He was so pleased another one of his children made that first step in coming closer to Him. Then we visited some people and eventually ended up at Paul and Paula's home. We had a great dinner with them and then we shared a simple message on Christ with them after we concluded. It is really amazing how they have taken us in after only knowing us for a few weeks. Sunday, the Sabbath day, was a wonderful Christmas. We opened some small presents in the morning and then headed for church. Update, Paul and Paula came to church, and it was amazing. The talk given was by a former stake president and future mission president. He did a wonderful job at displaying the importance of the birth of Christ and the restoration of the church through the Prophet Joseph Smith and hit on the first vision. So cool, and the perfect message for Paul and Paula. Then we went to the Zavalas and skyped home. It was so wonderful to see the family. I loved every minute of it!!! Then we went to the Broburg's for dinner. They had the whole family over which included a lot of loud grand-kids. I felt right at home :). Yesterday for P-day we went bowling for a couple of hours, hit the batting cages, and then played some soccer. It was awesome, though I currently sit at the computer partially paralyzed due to soreness.

I love you all so much. I pray you may be able to feel peace in your life.

Scripture of the week is from Alma, chapter 37, verse 37, "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and He will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that He may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

Love,

Elder Thelander