Ever-lovin' in the Evergreen State: Chapter 22: Miracle! Kind of:)

Hello Everyone!

Did you all have a very Merry Christmas?!? I know I certainly did :) Talking with the family was certainly the highlight of my week :). It's amazing how being away for so long really makes you so grateful for your family. I love my family with all my heart and even though we have been apart this holiday season, there is no where else I'd rather be. I know that this small sacrifice I'm making now is hardly anything in comparison to the great sacrifice that HE made for me. I am more than happy to give this time now to help others to be with HIM forever. Can I just say that I love being a missionary?

So here's a cool story! We finished skyping our families and then we headed over to the Jenkins home for Christmas dinner. All went well and afterwords we headed out to the car. All the sudden Sister Johns realized that she didn't have the phone anymore. We headed back to the Clifford's to try and find it ( wasn't there), then back to the Jenkins ( wasn't there), and then back to the Clifford's to see if it fell in their driveway. Sister Johns pulls out her little her little flashlight and starts shinning it on the street. I call out to her to stop and I point to the sewage grate. It had managed to get wedged in one of the holes! After some careful maneuvering we were able to get it out, no hard to the phone :). You could say that was a huge tender mercy for us! Awesome way to end the evening :) When we got home we popped in a church movie into our tiny, portable DVD player and made balloon animals ( that's right, we are the coolest missionaries ever now. Thank you Sister Michaelis!)

We got to go caroling at Guardian Angel nursing home this week and it was such a neat experience. Many of these little old people suffer from Alzheimer's or Dementia but to watch the looks on their faces as 20 missionaries walked in the door to sing to them and to talk with each of them, it was priceless. One lady even cried and said that it was just too good :). I love being able to serve Gods children everyday. The young ones as well as the old ones :)

Lets see..... What else... We have been trying to work with a few less actives which has been awesome! One of them said a few weeks ago that she wanted a break from the missionaries but we decided that she could probably use a visit, especially because of the holidays. We were in the perfect place at the perfect time. We think we may be able to start working with her soon! I love it when the spirit prompts us to go somewhere we usually wouldn't. It always ends up just fantastic.

Well.... That's my week for ya! We are turning into a tripan this week so I will have plenty of news next week! I already know Sister Cox but it will be interesting to have two companions!

Now for my weekly inspirational thought :). I was reading a talk this morning from this last General Conference. I wish I could remember his name but it escapes me right now. In his talk he told a story about how when he was a child his mother would read from the Book of Mormon every day at breakfast. One day he asked his mom why she read to them every day and he said something along the lines of " Well I'm not listening!". She said that President Romney gave a promise that if our families read from the Book of Mormon every day together then no one would be lost and that she wouldn't loose him. That really struck me today. Sure, I don't have children of my own ( maybe someday) but I think this can be applied to each of us. Are we nourishing ourselves with the good word of daily, or are we risking getting lost? I know that as I have studied from the Book of Mormon daily, my testimony has deepened and I have found lasting joy. If anyone is seeking happiness, they will be able to find it within those pages. I promise :)

I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Sister Tobler