Group picture at Thanksgiving (don't mind the holiday love that's accumulating around the middle).
Ninja!
A real neat move.
Loot from Korean Thanksgiving.
Foods from Korean Thanksgiving.
Family!
I just love you guys! And thanks so much, Mother Dear, for the packages! I been needin' some tights, because mine are very torn. And we love our turkeys--thank you! And the cd's! We just feel so hip! And the recipes--I'm so excited to make those! I love curling up in my quilt, too. I found one of your hairs on it mom, and it took me a while to throw away. In fact, I don't know if I have yet!
This week has been chalk full! First we met a man with a huge mug full of wine, who told us about how tough Mormons are. He saw some in a gang area of town, just talking to people with their smiling faces. He was very impressed and wants to learn more. So he handed me his wine (which he said Jesus drank a lot of) and flipped through the Book of Mormon, saying, "Very nice!"
Also, Thanksgiving happened. And I didn't get a leg, but maybe next year. We had a pancake breakfast with a couple of zones, and then the Elders played football, while the Sisters played Ninja and charades (I came up with charades, and I tell you, acting out a dolphin with no noise is rough). It was a lot of fun. Then Sister Barrett and I went to Korean Thanksgiving. Lots of spicy Korean foods, but tasty. And some not so tasty mystery items... Then we played games, which were all spoken in Korean, so we mostly smiled and laughed when they would laugh. Then if we won, we'd take a prize from this huge pile, and hand it to someone in the group. Very much a "community" type of spirit. We came home with quite a loot, including: Fancy metal chopsticks, a bag of onions, a gallon of apple cider, spicy top ramen, fancy expensive top ramen, 2 bath towels, 2 body washes, gum, 2 pairs of gloves, 4 rolls of blue, scented, toilet paper with dolphins on it, salad mix, blackberry jam, 2 packs of goldfish crackers, Korean dessert sesame crackers, mayonnaise, rice balls, and rice cakes. Woof!
We also had the mission Christmas Devotional this Sunday. It was great, and I saw people from my old ward and an investigator from my old area. Sister Barrett did a dramatic poem reading for it, and I chose to speak about Light at Christmas. One, I love lights! On houses, on trees. In our houses, and on our trees. It's whimsical, like having stars and the heavens down amongst us! Leading up to the Savior's birth, there were many lights in the heavens, and light for 2 days and a night, and the star (in Helaman when Samuel is telling the signs of His coming). It's so appropriate that there was that much light leading up to His birth, since He's known as the Light and the Life of the World. When Joseph Smith saw Him for the first time, he said, "I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, descending gradually until it fell upon me. When the light rested upon me, I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description." I don't know if that's the exact quote, but it works. Light literally radiated from the Savior! That is so neat! In the hymn, Silent Night, it says, "Son of God, loves pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face." So the light that comes from Him is love. And He died for us because He knows us and loves us. He knew us before this life and knew what we had the potential to become. We each have the light of Christ inside us, and because of what He did, our light can one day radiate from us as brightly as His does from Him. We have that potential! Goodness!
Well, I love you guys! Keep safe and don't get too cold. Drink hot cocoa and such (I have, and it's tasty--thanks again Moimers!)
Bestest,
Sister Mistipher
P.S. If you want to know what's going on in the mission you can go to njmm.org .
