Oh, my heart is just so full of love for you! Thank you for the positive thoughts and messages, I really enjoyed them this week! My week has been a bit of a roller coaster, but hey, those are always a thrill, right?
I love
that you brought Teri dinner one night. That just always brings me back to
those scenarios where someone listened to the quiet promptings of the spirit,
only to know way later down the road what a difference that it made. Yes, you
have had your ups and downs together, just like we do with our relationship
with Heavenly Father! But remember he always is reaching out to us no matter
what, and we should always do the same to Him and others! I always explain it
to people with the story of you always sitting on that stool in my room to talk
to me, regardless of how I reacted. You always reached out to me as our Father
reaches out to His children. Man, I’m sorry I’m getting preachy in my older
missionary age, it’s just that everything relates back to the principles of the
gospel!!
EEEKK I
GET THE PACKAGE TOMORROW! Oh man I’m excited. Oh yes, for zone konferenz too! I
will definitely take lots and lots of pictures! I’m excited about the dress
that you made me! Let’s see... For cards this week I opened Melanie's, Gma
Susie’s, Mahoney's, Buchanan's, Moore's, Sara and Co (Do I say the Marrott's or
the Alexander's?) and then today from MATT! Those were such fun surprises, I
loved opening them every day. I still cannot believe you organized all of those
together. And even getting one from Matt?! That was a shocker! And the adorable
colored picture from Scarlett, man that little girl knows how to melt my heart.
I love these people so much, and I am so incredibly grateful for all of the
people that I know in my life! There isn't one person that doesn’t add sunshine
to my life! I just love all of them and fast and pray and think about them some
more, hoping that life is leading them down the road of happiness!
P.S. I’m
typing this on Sister Decker’s Bluetooth keyboard. Its super cool... I should
have thought of this... birthday present?!:))))))))
As for
this week, man it was so good! Uplifting and full of work and miracles! And
believe me, I will not forget to mention, CHRISTMAS! My goodness, Christmas is
so amazing here! I think I talked about it quite a bit last week, but it’s just
becoming a bigger and bigger thing!
The big
major thing to talk about is that one of our investigators is on BAPTISMAL
DATE!!! I’m so excited! He’s so humble and so ready, we just need to give him
all that we have to help him become ready for his baptism on January 6th! We
just had an awesome lesson on Saturday about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I
made this cute little cut out diagram of it as a road. I love teaching, it’s
one of my favorite missionary things naturally (okay, pretty much all of them
are my favorite, let’s be honest here.) One of the reasons that I love teaching,
so much is that it strengthens my own testimony! As I was describing baptism as
a door, leading to the rest of the path to eternal life (Holy Ghost, receiving
the priesthood for men, the temple and enduring to the end), I just felt the
Spirit confirm to me the truth in what I was saying, and I felt the power in those
words. It is a beautiful testimony of the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ when I am allowed the chance to share it with others.
We had
the Ward Christmas party right afterward and it was a huge success! We invited
everyone that we talked to that week, and there were so many more than we even
expected! I just kicked myself afterward for not getting a video walk through
like I wanted to... It was seriously the coolest thing ever, and I will just
attempt to share the details. We had a stand right by the door where we
welcomed people and were also wrapping Book of Mormons as presents for the
guests to take, and members to give to their friends! Straight across from us,
there was a stand that had a tv in it, and played 3 Christmas videos on repeat,
and some of the young men talked about the Christmas initiative! Next to us
(but in between was a real tree that a member cut down to put in there and
string lights on- he cut down like 8 trees in his backyard for this!) was Sister
Muller (a.k.a. the baker of the ward) running a chocolate fountain and making
schmalzkuchen! Oh man those are so good. I sent a picture of those last week! I
will definitely bring that tradition home, I asked Sch. Muller to show me how
to make them! Next to that was a stand where people could give and receive
services from each other (for example, a cake or free babysitting or a night of
playing FIFA together). It was a cute idea! Some of the other stands were a genealogy
stand, and the two cutest old guys ran that. They had arts and crafts and
bunches of tables and chairs for the primary kids, and I think they made
gingerbread houses and stuff like that. Then of course there was the dessert
stand where the relief society all served cake and drinks and just a bunch of
traditional Christmas stuff. I actually took the time to write this so that I
can remember this for an idea in the future! It seriously went perfectly, and I
know that all of the guests felt extremely welcomed! Oh, and right outside the
gym was the ward mission leader’s wife who takes pictures, and she took
professional photos for everyone! I’m excited to send you those! One of my
favorite things about the whole night was Brother Siems, one of the counselors,
and is very musical, kept organizing little groups of people to sing Christmas
songs with! I think mine might be on FB, and I’ll share it for you to see, but
needless to say, a very very very fun night! It truly felt like a Christmas
party, and all of the work that everyone put into it paid off well.
Sunday was also so amazing! I mentioned Brother Siems and how much he loves to sing. Well, he also loves missionary work! He told us about a week ago that he had some neighbors that he just kept feeling that he needed to befriend and share the gospel with. So, he told us he wanted to invite them over for a night of caroling and getting to know each other. Well, like good missionaries, we followed up on Tuesday and he thanked us for the gentle kick (;)) and called us back later to tell uswe were invited Sunday night for singing and a good little party with these friends of theirs! We were so proud of him, he said it wasn’t very easy to work up the courage, but he is just an awesome missionary! We had such a good time, and I think that the neighbors that came definitely felt something too. They were so sweet. We weren't being pushy missionaries or anything, we just got to know them, and it was good to connect with them! We also invited over one of the Mullers sons and his nonmember girlfriend, and we've been making really good friends with her too! Things just seem to be working out, and the Lord is really blessing this area! I hope that He continues to allow us to be a mouthpiece and help His children hear the gospel!!
Random
little moment, we had 5 investigators at church on Sunday! That really might
not 'seem like a lot, but for me, that is the most I have ever had! It is not
easy to get investigators to church, but it is just such a blessing for them!
The spiritual nourishment there can be much more than what we provide in
lessons.
Oh, my
goodness, speaking of fitness... I pray I survive this Christmas season. I’ve
never had so many sweets in my life. I think that may have just been a
coincidence this weekend, but I don’t feel like I had real food. What I said
was true, this is the time to gather as a family and talk, laugh and eat
SWEETS! I'm conscious of it, and I've been going on a bit longer of runs in the
morning, but I definitely don’t feel as muscly... It’s weird and I miss it, but
I know I can get back into weight lifting soon enough! I bought lots of fruits
and veggies for the week today, so that made me feel better! Good job with you,
you are rocking it! Fight hard!
You
never told me how you feel about Dad’s new calling! Are you nervous? How are
you feeling? You will be an awesome bishop’s wife, you have been preparing for
this for a while! You can do this!
Again,
thank you for the positive jokes and stories, you can totally keep those up if
you want to! :) I know that there will be hard times, but I know who’s side I’m
on and that's what matters. No matter how battered up I get, or difficult
things happen, I know I am on the "winning team" so to say. That is
enough to keep on fighting. I love this work with all of my heart. I know that
my Savior is there for me. He loves me, and knows how we feel. I'm incredibly
grateful for the scriptures and the peace that it brings. I know this is the
truth, and what Heavenly Father wants me to do. I know my wonderful family can
be together forever through His divine plan of happiness. What more could I
want?
I love
you a million sunshine-y days! I really really do! I pray that Heavenly Father
will take care of you while I'm gone! Know I am happy, and EXTREMELY excited to
talk to you in a few short weeks!
P.S. Peek
at Dad’s email, I put a little information on Skyping there. Let me know when
you want to do it!
Alles liebe und Frohliche Weihnachtszeit! Sister Macey Ingalls
[Note from MOM]
Sunday, Dad was called to be the Bishop of our ward
and we didn't want Macey to find out from anyone else, so I sent her an email
after sacrament and in the subject line I wrote, "Dad
is the new Bishop!" so she would see it right away before she read
anyone else's emails. The plan was to send her more detailed messages when we got home from church. Well, here was her immediate response, "WHAT. YOU CAN'T JUST PUT THAT AS A SUBJECT LINE
AND NOT EXPLAIN OH MY GOODNESS WHAT!! We had a good laugh over that one!
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