Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! What a great week here in Modesto. First off, I would love to say how amazing it was to be here on my
mission to celebrate Christmas. I am just so overwhelmed at the love I
have for Jesus Christ. I was opening presents with my companion, and we
were so happy to see all the wonderful things we had received. But I had
a thought, and I know that the greatest gift we have is our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. I just felt the spirit so much and I know that he
lived and died for all of us here. I know that he lived a perfect life,
and we can all strive to live one. We are not perfect, but we can sure
try!! Christmas Day was really special: After a beautiful Church Service, we were able to talk to our families for 45 minutes and that was so wonderful to see them and feel of their love and support. I am so thankful for my family and all their support. We also went to two different
hospitals (one was a medical center, the other was a nursing facility). We visited a cute elderly couple that had no where to go for Christmas and
we got to see our less active members. They were all so happy and during
all of the visits we all got teary eyed from reading about the Savior's
birth in the book of Luke. I will never forget that day. I felt the
spirit so strong just testify to me of my Savior. And how much our
Heavenly Father loves each of us, that H
e sent His son.(John 3:16-17) I
hope you all have a wonderful week! Don't forget that we can have the
spirit of Christmas with us ALWAYS!
Love,
Sister Guilott
We went to the McHenry Mansion last week! It was beautiful and reminded me of Dowton Abby!
This is such a wonderful time of year! And I am soooo excited to be spending it here in Modesto!!
This week was a great week! Attitude makes a HUGE difference :D
This past week, it got down to the low 40's (yes.... I am now acclimated) and I thought it was FREEZING!! Hahaha! I am not a Utah girl anymore! But it was an adventure biking in the cold!
This past week I have seen so many miracles around me that I would love to share!
One was we were going to go get a bit to eat, we were deciding whether or not to go. But we decided to go! And then some kind man paid for our food! It made our day! Then we saw some homeless people, they asked if we had left overs... WE DID! And we gave it to them. It's so sad to see people suffer here; that is why I am so grateful for service!
Another story: We (Sister Bell and and I) were biking in the rain and some kind man rolled down his window and gave us a topical guide of scriptures from the internet! We were so grateful... Until we read it..... IT WAS ANTI-MORMON LITERATURE. Me and Sister Bell were shocked! I was just shocked how people would do that... But it made me think. The man was probably thinking we were so confused and wanted to try to help us! Well, I guess that is sweet of him... BUT!! I KNOW THAT THIS GOSPEL IS TRUE :) And that we are not confused!! :D And that was just really scary but funny at the same time someone would do that!
Another story from this week was that we (after an appointment fell through at 7pm) started knocking on doors. We then were walking on the sidewalk when we heard someone singing. It turned out to be some of our AWESOME members in our ward! We waved to them and they told us to come with them and sing! SO WE DID!! It was so fun and that just made me so happy. These members were just doing it to random houses too, giving away yummy treats they had made. Yep. That was super awesome.
But. This is the time in the season to be doing this: to serve. But, it makes me realize how we can be doing this ALL YEAR LONG!!! :D And I just want to be a missionary for the rest of my life. I seriously LOVE IT. I know I say this a lot, it is hard. BUT IT IS SO WORTH IT.
I love you all so much!! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season! Remember, this time is to remember our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for His birth, and for Him to be able to deliver us. God loves you all so much!
What a crazy week! We actually had our lovely Sister Gibbons
transfer. She will do well in her new area and I enjoyed the time we got to spend together, even though it was short and sweet. One thing certain on a mission: lots of change always. :)
This week, it was a great week! We have been teaching our
investigator Michael and he is getting more and more interested! But he is slow to commit ... Patience is a virtue, and we are showing
him why it is important to do things like pray, read the Book of
Mormon, and go to church. A wonderful family from our ward invited
him over to their house for a lesson, and it was AMAZING. I am just
SOOOO grateful for people being so willing and open to helping out
missionaries and doing what the Lord wants them to do!
I want to share a story from this week with a lot of honesty: After a long week on Saturday, while
biking in the rain, I got really down. Its hard to stay positive at times when you are cold, wet, riding a bike and no one seems to want to listen. I started thinking about my
decisions of being on a mission and my purpose in being here, with all I had given up. We had gotten into no homes the whole day, we were
soaking wet, it was very windy and cold, and I was miserable. I started to get VERY down on myself. When we
got home, I was close to tears. I thought to myself :"Why am I here? What am I doing that is
helping anyone? Is this really what I am supposed to be doing?" Then, I had the prompting to
pray. So, started to pray. I felt a comfort
come over me, but I was still feeling down. I went to sleep that night. The next
day, we went to church. AND OH BOY. I received so many answers that
day. And so many people came up to us saying how grateful they were for
us. And we were even mentioned in a lesson in Relief Society. I knew
then that God was telling me that everything is going to be okay. I
learned that humility is a HUGE part of this work. And that we need to keep on pushing and moving forward.
I don't know why I had to share that. But all I know is that, yes: missions are hard. They make you uncomfortable. They make you feel like
the whole world is out to get you. You will want to give up. But this will NEVER compare to what Our Savior Jesus Christ had to go
through. He bore ALL of our sins, pains, weaknesses, short comings, and
so much more. But He did it because He loved us, He understood the plan
of happiness, and He knew it was his Father's will and He loved his
Heavenly Father SO MUCH, He did that. So He completed the Atonement, and
died for us. Look at the result now. So, when you are wanting to give up
or you think no one notices you or anything, just remember that Jesus
Christ knows exactly what you are going through. Know that this is
supposed to be hard, because God wants you to learn and grow. "He takes
us as we are and makes us more than we ever imagined." And this is what the season is all about. He is here with us always to "Light the World."
I am so grateful to be here. I know I am suppose to be here. Satan
is real, but we have the power to stop him from anything. I can know when to get on my knees and pray. I am so
grateful for this gospel. I know that it is true. I know it, and I can
not EVER deny it. I love my Savior so much, He is the light and life of
my world. And the light and the life in our world today. I know that
things will get better, we have to have faith and hope for good things
to come.
I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. Enjoy the Christmas weather!
This week went by so quickly that I gasped when I saw it was
another Preparation Day today! We have a lot to do today, so I apologize my post will be short. But here is a miracle from this week that was
REALLY NEAT! :)
My companions and I were walking down the road, after having an
investigator tell us she wasn't interested anymore. So we were a little
down. We were walking and all of the sudden we walk by this man. We
decided to talk to him, and so we did! We shared the "Light The World" church message and he loved it and asked if we had more. Right then, my awesome
companion told about the restoration in under a minute. The man was
stunned and asked:"Okay. I need to learn more. Right now! Here! There is a park
over here. I want to learn more!" So we all walked together, with him asking
about life and religion and we taught him the restoration. He was very
interested and insisted we came the next day to teach him more. SO WE
DID! He is loving the message, is understanding it and believes it.
God
has a plan for all of us. Even if you are going through a rough place,
there is ALWAYS something better around the corner. I know that is true.
And I know that the power of the Holy Ghost is real, and that opening
your mouth REALLY does make a difference in someone's life. I invite you
all to open your mouths, because you could be
helping someone, and you are always a touch point in someone's life.
LOVE YOU ALL!! God loves you :)
Sister Guilott
My cute companions and I eating YUMMY pupusa's at a sweet restaurant!!
AND my companions are ADORABLE and SOOO POWERFUL :)
