Letters From a Mother and Daughter -- Nov. 26

For the first time, I am posting my letter to Macey and her letter to me so they can both be printed in her blog book at the end.

Happy Thanksgiving Macey!!!

I know this is your favorite holiday and they don't even celebrate it there. I'm sure they have some kind of equivalent holiday to give thanks there so that will have to be your new favorite holiday for a while. Anyway, I think you can still celebrate by being thankful no matter what. I thought I'd change up my email this week in honor of this being your favorite holiday and tell you all the things I'm thankful for! Here goes:

1. My family, both immediate and extended. They make my world go around and give me so much happiness (and stress sometimes, if I'm being honest!) and fulfilment as a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter etc. I love them all so much!

2. My marriage. It is the single best decision I've ever made in my life to increase my happiness and joy. He is so loving, kind, thoughtful, patient, sharing, sweet, spiritual, funny, and the list could go on and on! His Dad jokes make me laugh even when they are not funny!

3. My testimony. I know that Heavenly Father lives and knows me personally, he loves me and wants me to find my way back to Him. I love to read the words of our prophets and especially Thomas S. Monson. He is a man of God and I know that I can follow him. I know that Joseph Smith restored the gospel according to the word and will of the Father. I know that the scriptures are true and that I can read them for comfort, peace and answers to prayer.

4. Prayer. I know that Heavenly Father answers my prayers and that they are always heard. He wants to bless me and to communicate with me, but only if I am being receptive enough to bow my head and cry out to Him. There are often times when I feel that He will even answer my unasked prayer. I know that sounds kind of weird, but I feel like there are times when I receive something so wonderful and unexpected that I never even asked for, but learned that it was exactly what I needed.

5. Our Home. I love to be here, it's warm and cozy and welcoming. It has so many good memories within its walls and I love our cozy couches and beds, everything is so comfortable!

6. My friendship with Grandma. You know what I always say, "Friends come and go but family is forever!" It is true that friends come and go, even when we don't think they ever will. Over the years, I have been close to several people and they come and go, but Grandma has always been there for me. She knows me so well, she can sense when I need her or a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen. I love that I am now old enough to be that listening ear and shoulder to lean on for her too! She will always be my mother first, but second to that she is my best friend!

7. Books. I absolutely love to read, and I feel like the world is full of endless possibilities when I hop inside a book. I love the smell of them and the feel of them and I love tucking one under my arm or into my purse for later. I tend to get lost in their pages and they take me away to new places all the time.

8. My creativity. I love making things and decorating and taking pictures and sewing and crocheting and writing and so much more. I feel like my creativity is truly a gift from God. It's hard to think of it that way, but it is and it's not just to make crafty things either. I love finding new ways to do things and new ways of thinking. I feel like there is so much more in me that I haven't even tapped into yet! I love when I get a new idea or inspiration and I love running with it and seeing my ideas come to life!

9. My health. There was a pretty long period of time where I wasn't doing so well in the health department. I was having the worst chest pains and internal pains and it went on frequently for a few years where I thought that this was just how my life was going to be. I also had that other issue that was horrendous and seemingly never-ending. Both of those things were very miserable to live with and I tried my hardest to not complain and deal with it the best I could, but it was so hard, and it took a lot out of me to have so much chronic discomfort. (I still deal with the problem of a burning tongue and roof of mouth and it’s pretty bad, but one out of three ain't bad, right? And I have hope that someday that can be healed too.) I am just so grateful that they finally figured out what was wrong with me and were able to help in both cases. I feel so much better and I feel like I have my life back again!

10. Dad's job. He is so much happier there with the new changes! He seems to actually enjoy his job and it is so nice to see him come home happy again. I knew that he wasn't happy there and I could see it in him all the time, I just hadn't realized how bad it had become until this big change. He has a spring in his step again and smiles a lot more now when he comes home from work. I'm also grateful that it pays the bills and keeps us living comfortably with enough to save, to spare and to share. 

11. Missions. I miss you kids like crazy when you go off on missions, but I also love what it gives to you and teaches you. I love the immersion into the gospel for 18 months- 2 years hoping to strengthen your testimonies and give you a strong foundation for the future. I also don't worry about you kids as much when you are away as when you are here. I know that you are in the Lord's hands for that period of time and that is better than anything I could do for you! You missionaries are special to Him and He watches out for you. Nothing can make my mother's heart lighter than not having to worry about my kids.

12. Sun and Snow. I love the sun and the brightness it brings. I love to wake up to a sun shiny day and it seems that all cares are lighter in the presence of the sun. I also love the snow and its tremendous beauty. I love the first snowfalls of the year when the snow covers even the tiniest branches on a tree and it looks like a magical winter wonderland everywhere you look. Oh, and I want to add that I am so thankful for the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen in the past 3-4 days around here. So many colors - orange, red, yellow, blue and purple have been massively  streaking the sky and it has been a wonder to behold! I love living in a place that is flat enough to be able to see them too!

13. Water. I love to drink it, I love to bathe in it, I love to swim in it, I love to be able to flush it, and I love to clean with it! It's the best!

14. Being able to travel. I've been to some pretty amazing places! Utah, Washington, Oregon, California, lots of other states, Bahamas, St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Spain, Netherlands, and Hawaii! There is so much beauty all around and it is breathtaking all that the Father created for us!

15. Netflix and Hulu! I don't want this to be all spiritual and holy and make you think that I don't have anything frivolous! I love to be able to watch movies and tv shows on the internet and be able to skip all the commercials! It's seriously awesome!

16. Mondays!!!! I love getting long emails, group emails and tons of pictures from my favorite missionary right now! I never used to think Mondays were that big of a deal but they sure are now! They end up being one of the best parts of every week and I love to reread the messages and look at the pictures over and over all week. I love to show my newest pictures to everyone and to post everything on the blog! I love it all!!!

I could go on and on and on but you don't have that much time and I want you to have plenty of time to write back! I hope you had a wonderful week and that you feel the spirit of this holiday even when you are far from home!

I want to say this to you now before the month of December even hits...I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY AND NOT BE HOMESICK FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!! I feel like if you are aware of this now, you will be able to prepare yourself so that it won't be an issue for you. I realize that you love us and that you miss us and that's okay, but I want you to still be HAPPY! This is a choice you made and we supported you so we knew this was a part of the deal when you got the call. It is only ONE Christmas out of a lifetime of them so we will all be okay! Use this time to prepare for the future, you may not always be able to be home for Christmas. Let our spirits be in your heart wherever you are. We are a tightly knit bonded family and that will not change no matter the distance. I did everything I could to make sure this one would be special for you, through tons of cards from loved ones and a fun package of goodies, also you should be getting 3 other packages in the near future as well. Also, we will get to Skype and that is such a blessing!!! I look forward to it so much and I can't wait to see that happy girl I know and love! I promise I will be cheerful and happy too, all while missing you. I can do it and you can too! I give you permission to not be sad and to put all your energy into being where you are, with who you are, doing what you are supposed to be doing! Just remember, it's just one Christmas. Okay? Besides, who gets to spend Christmas in FREAKIN' GERMANY?????!!!!! How lucky are you? It is like the Christmas Capital of the WORLD!!!!!

Random thoughts:

Remember when I bought you the booties with the cutout sides and the chains on top? Now they are super mega popular and you were a trendsetter! Just sayin'!

Christy Holt had her baby the day after Thanksgiving! So, technically they have a Black Friday baby! Her name is Genevieve Faith Holt. 

Will you let me know when you get any of the packages please?

Are you writing in your journal? Do you need any others?

I am sorry this is so long, I just started typing and it all came out!

I love you a million of all my favorite things because none of it even slightly compares to YOU!!!!!

Love, MOM

MOMMY!!!!

First of all, that was like, the sweetest email EVER! You are dang right; I love Thanksgiving, and this was just the cherry on top of a great Thanksgiving! You are so sweet and real, I loved hearing what you are thankful for! I'd love to send you a really cool list of things I’m thankful for, but that list would take absolutely forever, and I just don’t have that time!! Maybe I will send a letter with those things, we'll see :) I hope you know that I am very, very grateful for you and Dad, the boys, and all the rest of my family and friends that support me out here. It's not always easy (but by no means too hard!), and it really comforts me knowing that someone is praying for me or thinking of me. I pray lots and lots for you, that you have a happy busy week and don’t miss me too much (good thing you have 5 other kids!)

Before I forget, yes, I finally got your package of letters! EEK! I'm so excited to start opening them on Friday! They start on December 2nd though, is that correct? I was kind of laughing thinking that the customs guy took number one out of the stack or something! But even so, I am just amazed that you got all of that put together! Kudos to you and know that I can hardly wait to open the first one!

Nah, I don't think I will be homesick. I wrote this in my journal a couple days ago, but the remedy to homesickness (or to avoid it in the first place) is to be 100% obedient and to work hard! I remember the only pday I really felt homesick, the next day was a crazy busy day and I didn’t even get a chance to think about it, and it totally made it go away! But by now, I think I'll be able to handle it, don't worry about me at all! I'm 100% taken care of in this ward (I’ll explain in the next paragraph) and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have the best Christmas possible without my family itself. Plus, it sounds like I have a couple treats coming in the mail, so I’m pretty excited for those! The next day that I will be able to get mail (and where we will all get our Christmas packages) is on December 13th. My package is in the mission home right now! For fun if you want to see them, you can go look at Mark Rockwood's Facebook Video(he’s one of our office elders) and he posted a funny video of the storage room with all of our packages.

So, I have a good story to tell! Along with being unbelievably busy this week (miracles on miracles, we had so many lessons and good contacts!), I had the best Thanksgiving I could possibly ask for out here! One of the really big families in the ward are the Müllers. They remind me SO much of our family, they even have 4 boys and a girl! But they have a tradition that started in the 80's of inviting the mission president (back when the mission home was in Hamburg) over along with the missionaries and they had a good American Thanksgiving dinner! I feel honored that I got to be a part of the Müller Thanksgiving, it was really special! Just how I like it, tons of people and family, cute little kids that break something in the house and everyone just happy, laughing and thankful together. It felt like Heavenly Father was looking out for me and knew how much it meant to me. I am so grateful for Him and how closely He watches over His children.

You sent me a random little email about transfers, and to clarify that means that it’s just a shorter transfer period. President is sending the returning missionaries home 2 weeks early so that they can be home for Christmas, so that just means people will transfer earlier! I will most likely be staying here; he tends to keep missionaries in an area for about 4 transfers. So, I’m all unpacked not ready to leave until February or March but I guess anything can happen!

Other than that, nothing extremely special this week! We had interviews with president and those went really well! I love that man, he has wonderful counsel and gives his all to further the work in Germany. We also had Stake Conference and that was great too! On Saturday I sat with his daughter, Annie and taught her how to write in cursive (I promise I was paying attention!). She’s super cute and I’m excited for her to go on her mission. My goodness, we had a lot of lessons this week and somehow by the grace of Heavenly Father, we accomplished them, and they went well. I love these investigators and I’m so excited to work more with them this week! Sister Decker and I really prayerfully considered when Joseph could be ready for baptism and making that goal. We have a date that we feel really good about, we have a lesson with him on Wednesday and we hope that he will also feel that same spirit!

I love you a million Thanksgiving parties! Can you even believe that I will be home for next Thanksgiving? Time flies when you're on the Lords errand!

Have a happy week, and I hope you use your creativity for something really special!

Sister Macey Ingalls

PS. Whoops! I forgot to answer your questions like normal...
Oh JK there actually aren't that many!
Yes, I faithfully write in my journal! I've kind of caught a bit of a clod the past two days so I've been going to bed a bit earlier and haven't written.
How are you doing on your fitness?! Don't let the holidays eat you! We can do this together!