What a wonderful week it's been! Sorry I didn't get an email out last week. Because of that, I will share TWO more favorite holiday traditions/memories!
First- Like I'm sure many families do, we always do Secret Santas every year for Christmas! One of my most favorite things we would do is just a week or so before Christmas, our family would all pile into our massive van and go to the Washington square mall to pick out our gifts for who we had for Secret Santas. Listening to Christmas music on the way over at 6:00 pm ( already dark outside with it being winter ) and enjoying the feeling of Christmas was always really special. My mom always needed to know who had who so she could pair the right people up to go shopping. Then it was always really awkward running into a pair or two when we were in the same stores... The Washington square mall is quite large so it usually takes a while to get everyone back together. We always made a plan, looking at the map, to meet somewhere at a certain time but that never works out perfectly haha. Then after a while of shopping, we all go to the upper floor at the food court to get food and pick out from a variety of restaurants. Then afterwards we just hang out and check out more of the different stores and Christmas decorations.
Second- Christmas Eve had always been something to really look forward to! One tradition we did had to do with all my brothers and sisters. When we lived in Banks, we had a bonus room that my brothers and sisters and I would always stay in on Christmas Eve. That was always so fun because some of us literally didn't sleep and just stayed up talking or watching movies and enjoying the wonderful smell of the Christmas breakfast that my parents were preparing for the following morning. It was the time spent with my siblings that meant the most, and at the time, being one of the youngest, it was always comforting and enjoyable to have all my older brothers and sisters there. ( Really quick note-- Having many brothers and sisters, especially older ones, has been something I really enjoy and appreciate because I realize that there are many who don't have this blessing). And being a kid, it was so exciting for me to see the floor and beds covered with our pillows and blankets, knowing that this was going to be the best Christmas ever, each year. Of course we set alarms in case we all fell asleep, some of us did on occasion but that's okay. But at around 5 to 6 am, we would all rush into our parents' room to wake them up and get ready to go open the presents!
The end of the year is the best time of year!
So this week was so great! The next baptism we have coming up is for Maria! It will be a week from this Saturday. I'm sorry I couldn't send pictures of Elvia's baptism from last week! It's such a wonderful blessing to see these investigators get so excited for their baptism. Especially this time of year when it's full of love and charity! This last Sunday being fast Sunday was great! We, again, had pancakes for the sacrament. I really hope this is some sort of tradition or something haha. But the week before, I gave a talk in sacrament meeting so that was fun! It went great! My trainer said that my grammar was about 90 percent correct so I guess I'm improving haha. The language is still of course difficult, but I get better with it each week through the blessings. I'm not by any means advanced with the language, but I'm not falling behind either. So I'm quite comfortable where I'm at. Lessons are great and full of the spirit! It's really interesting to see and feel how comfortable we get with teaching the people when we come to a better understanding about how the spirit works through the missionaries. Being missionaries, we are entitled to the special guidance of what to say and when to say it. The Holy Ghost is the real teacher! And the language of the Spirit is far stronger than Spanish or English so as long as us missionaries strive to have the spirit with us as we work and teach, everything will work out according to God's plan. It's simply about forgetting and letting go of 'how many numbers we want' and focus more on the salvation of others. Heavenly Father has a plan for each person, including us, and He put us in this mission and knows who many people we will baptize and confirm. So we are better able to accomplish this plan when we focus on the guidance of the Holy Ghost and acquire a greater desire for the salvation of the people in our mission. This is charity! The pure love of Christ! I enjoy this characteristic very much and I greatly respect and admire those who have this characteristic. My challenge to all of you this Christmas season is to find ways to express your charity for others! It will bring a peace to your heart that will make you want to continue sharing your charity with others!
I will try to share some pics but it seems like some of them are hard to get through so I will send as many as I can!
-Elder Markham
Pics- Us at the temple for the Christmas lights! Also us with the stake patriarch, who is in our ward, at his home! He loves Christmas just as much as me! But he is also such a sweet man, and him and his wife now always have Christmas programs and music going on when they invite us over for meals and Sunday nights!
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| Blake's tan line from his CTR (Choose the Right) Ring |
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