What is Happening to March?

Diana is coming home that's what!!
She comes home on March 26th.  Her homecoming talk will be April 19th @ 9:00 am  Preston Building, Mesa.

News from Diana:
I feel as if it was just the new year, but I suppose it is not anymore.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This week I saw some interesting animals in someone's front room. Basically everyone here hunts and has dead animals everywhere, so you just kind of get used to them. But occasionally you'll see some that are particularly interesting. This bear was shot with an AK-47 held together by wire and duct tape, in Siberia. It also almost killed the man before he killed it. Pretty intense. 

 

The most exciting thing that happened this week was that I got to see a family I loved be united for eternity in the temple. I know that Heavenly Father's plan for each of us is to be with our families forever and that this is possible only by the priesthood authority of God. I am so happy for this family and for all of God's children who take the steps to make back to our Father in Heaven.

Sister MacGregor, Sister Loveless, Sister ?, Diana

How Are You Liking Mortality So Far?

Mortality is great isn't it? It's all about finding joy in the trials and doing what Heavenly Father wants for us, even when it is hard. I definitely have gotten that the past few weeks.

The last little while in rewind:

A couple weeks ago I was walking down the street having a completely normal evening, when my skirt decided it was done being worn. Right there on the street my skirt just fell off. Luckily there was no one on the street but my companion and I. We had a good laugh and went on with our evening.

This week, These are some things that happened:

I got my first jury summons! Unfortunately, I will be on my mission still, so I'll have to pass on that civic duty. But it made for an exciting way to start off the week as I pondered the possibility of spending my last weeks on a mission in jail for not showing up. Luckily that was all taken care of and I will be fine. 

On Thursday I had an interview with my amazing mission president, President Chambers, and we discussed the last little bit of my mission. It is really not okay that my mission ends with this month. What am I supposed to be doing when I'm not preaching the gospel every day. I guess I'll figure it out one day. 

The next day we went to go talk to someone we're teaching. Unfortunately she wasn't available so we went on our way down the street. It was getting a little bit chillier, so I decided to put my coat on. The name tag that I keep on my coat has a very weak pin and has cause me trouble my whole mission. Well, as I was putting my coat on I saw my name tag detach itself, and tumble through the air as if in slow motion until it plopped into...

A storm drain...

My companion and I both grabbed long sticks and proceeded to poke and prod and pull at it until... We got it out! Success! After some hand sanitizer and kleenex, it was as good as new! Well, maybe not as good. But good enough.

This week, there were lots of trials, but more blessings. I am loving every day and finding joy in every moment. This week it even snowed again! What is there to complain about?

Diana and Sister Loveless

Utah Weather: does anyone get used to it?

Sorry that I haven't been sending too much home recently. Some week in the near future I am sure that I'll have time to right down all the awesome things that have happened and the things I've learned in the past few weeks. Alas, that day is not today. So....

The weather was weird this week, so extraordinary that I had to document it. Unfortunately I realized too late that the video was set on black and white, which makes it harder to see the snow. We all make mistakes.  Have a great week!

Final Transfer!!

Oh, I did start my final transfer this week: lucky #13. I am staying in Riverton! and my companion is Sister Loveless from Ravensdale, WA.

Diana will be coming home March 26th!!
4 1/2 weeks!!

2015?!

I can't believe 2014 is almost over. This year has just flown by with miracles, heartache, love, laughter, tears, and faith. I have seen the hand of the Lord so many times this year. Even in my darkest times when things have not been going the way I wanted them to, I know He has never left me and He has never stopped loving me. The same is true for every one of us. Heavenly Father hears your prayers. He is always reaching out to you. It is up to you to take hold of His hand and let Him lift you to something higher and better, even when it is difficult.

Here are a few pictures to wrap up my week:

Sister Gull and I made a ginger bread house with a family

We had a Christmas miracle and it FINALLY snowed. All day on Christmas

Someone cut down their tree for the winter and they did it in a very creative way

Well, right around the corner is 2015. Everybody is setting goals and hoping that maybe this year they can accomplish just one of their yearly resolutions. So, here's one that I will suggest to you that I promise you can not only complete but it will change your life if you let it.

When a new missionary enters the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission, it's a whirlwind day of emotions and change. Everything about your life changes that day, whether you are expecting it or not. You meet President Chambers and he tells you a little bit about the mission, the expectations for what you will do while you are serving here, and he issues you a challenge. It's the Book of Mormon 12 week challenge. This is a challenge I completed in 2013 when I got here. It is that we will read the Book of Mormon in the first twelve weeks of our mission.

I now have twelve weeks left of my mission, and I decided to do that challenge again. I invite every one of you to make this a new year's resolution. read the Book of Mormon with me. The great thing about this is that you will be done with it in March. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It testifies of our Savior and helps us come to know Him better. I promise that if you will read it and pray to know that it is true (whether it's your first time, send time or one hundred and second time) the Holy Ghost will testify to you that it is true. 

The Challenge

-Circle or highlight every reference to Christ. make a list of different names and titles for Christ.

-Underline the spoken words of Christ

-Indicate where the Doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, endure to the end) is being taught or referred to

Reading Schedule

Week 1 - through page 46

Week 2 - through page 88

Week 3 - through page 132

Week 4 - through page 178

Week 5 - through page 223

Week 6 - through page 266

Week 7 - through page 309

Week 8 - through page 354

Week 9 - through page 400

Week 10 - through page 442

Week 11 - through page 487

Week 12 - through the end

This is seven pages a day

Have a Very Merry Christmas!

With Christmas being this week, I've had a lot of different thoughts going through my head. Most of them have had to do with the fact that it doesn't really feel like Christmas when you are away from family in a place that snows, but still has no snow.

Being in different places, even just Utah, you get to see the different cultures of Christmas. Everybody celebrates it a little bit differently. The Dumas family for instance decorates their home but just adding bows and hats to their normal decorations. Brother Dumas used to be a big hunter, so their normal decorations happen to be a bunch of different dead/stuffed animal carcasses. This makes it Sister Dumas' favorite time of year, because it's the only time she's even a little okay with having the animals in the house.

These animals are getting pretty festive for the holiday season. What can we do to get a little more into the holiday spirit?

Christmas lights are going up everywhere, and there's an added number of lights that are a little bit different this year. I'm told they're LED lights, but I don't know anything about lights and I won't pretend to, but maybe you know what ones I am talking about. They're very colorful and the colors themselves are bright, but he don't shed light on anything. This has given me something to think about as we knock doors at night in the cold. There are two different kinds of lights in general: the normal kind that are bright and light up the whole house, and this newer kind, that are very pretty but the house still looks dark when you look at it. 

The first kind is just your average strand of Christmas lights. You look at them and they're nothing special, just another light, like the thousands you've seen before. Their glow brightens up the whole house and just looking at them you are almost filled with the warmth that surrounds thoughts of Christmas: memories of past Christmases, time with family and loved ones, traditions, comfort, happiness. They may be ordinary, but with them come feelings of love and joy.

Now let's think of the second type of lights: unique, interesting, new. You look at them and you're eyes naturally pass by. But then you look back because you realize those lights weren't what you were expecting. They're more exciting than the average lights; you realize you've been looking at the lights for a couple minutes, kind of struck with the strange beauty of the different colored lights. But then you look around the lights and realize that while they themselves are bright, they light up nothing around them. The yard is still dark and cold, and the house lacks the Christmas magic that comes with your average Christmas lights. 

So, what does that mean for us? Both of these lights are bright and beautiful, but only one of them shares the beauty they possess and makes everything around them beautiful as well. the other selfishly hoards its beauty and shares nothing with its surroundings. We are all like these Christmas lights. We have unique traits, talents and our own inner beauty. And we each have a choice. We can either share, making the world around us a more beautiful, happy, and cheerful almost magical place, or we can keep our talents to ourselves, using them to bless only ourselves and no one around us.

Jesus Christ would have us share those talents with others.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

“Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:14–16.)

This Christmas season, let your light shine. Recognize your own worth and your individual talents. God has blessed you with many. You are magnificent, you were created by a loving God who cannot make mistakes. Find ways to share your talents with others and as a gift to the world, make it a better, brighter place.

Merry Christmas!

Holidays

Thanksgiving was pretty fun this year. I got to spend it with some great people, and some families I have really grown to love. Even so, holidays are always a little it weird serving a mission and being away from family. It doesn't feel quite like a holiday, just a good day with more food than normal, and decorations.

We found an awesome gargoyle on a mailbox this week. He's pretty festive for Thanksgiving.

At one of our Thanksgiving meals, they had made super cute table decorations. Some people are just very crafty. They also had their butter carved into a turkey which I wish I had taken a picture of, but it melted too quickly. By the end of the meal it just looked like a lump of butter with a turkey's head. 

And, the Christmas decorations have started going up. This is a terrible picture, but you get the idea. It's the best Christmas decoration I have seen so far. Simple and funny. A classy decoration.

In the midst of the holidays and hustle and bustle of our lives, let's all remember the reasons we truly are grateful and the reason we have Christmas. Let us not become so overwhelmed with the commercial aspects that we forget what we have been given that can't be bought or sold.

The most important gift that has ever been or will ever be given was from our Father.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

He is the Gift