December 19, 2011

My dear family-

Well, I am in Iowa! It is so exciting to be here. I have a new companion, her name is Hermana Rials. We are serving in Des Moines in the 5th Branch- which is ALL SPANISH! (and this area is one of two that is all Spanish and i am very blessed) The weather is gorgeous here right now! There is no snow, and yesterday it was 50 degrees! SOOO NICE! I do feel that the weather will be changing soon... :-/ Anyways, thank you all so much for all the cards and letters that you have sent me, they have meant a lot!

I am absolutely loving our little branch here. They are all so very nice to be and most of them speak English (but that does not mean that i speak to them in English all the time- I ask them: Como se dice_____en espanol? and they help me then i repeat it back) There are a lot of members in our little branch that are inactive so a lot of our time is spent helping activate our members again and getting them strong. A lot of the effort is helping activate, which I am very excited to do. I am so very happy that I am out here in Iowa serving the Lord! :) Hermana Rials and I have been sharing a scripture in Alma 7:11-12 that talks about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and about all the many things He did for us. I would like to invite all of you to read that scripture and ponder in your hearts what the Savior has done for you and then, in return, to think about something you can give back to Him. It really can be anything- it can be as simple as smiling and saying Hi to everyone you see or it could be one day a month going and volunteering your time to serve others or it could be not just doing but being a great home or visiting teacher... it doesn't really matter what it is, just do it and give it to Him.

I would like to share something that I have been thinking about a lot lately... and that is listening to the Holy Ghost. H. Rials and I went to have dinner with one of our active members and I realized something that I haven't really given a lot of thought to. The world is very loud and it is very hard to hear ourselves think sometimes because of the pressures that come from every other way, but the Holy Ghost is a still small voice. I feel such an added amount of power when i listen to that Still Small Voice. I hope we all strive to listen to the still small voice. :)

I am so very thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we get to celebrate His birth and His life. He really is a Light in this World and I love Him! He is my Friend! :) And hope that this year that you will strengthen your relationship with Him as well. I love you all!

Merry Christmas!

XOXOXO

Love you, always, forever,

Hermana Deborah Faye Wadsworth