Christmas Season on Temple Square

CRAZY week. I guess I should start with Thursday which was Thanksgiving. We only worked half of the day and then the whole mission went to a really big party-rent-out place nearby. It had a huge reception hall (probably where they would have a wedding reception) where we had Thanksgiving dinner, a theater with big comfy chairs, a wallyball court, and a game room. I did about everything there was to do there. I even played wallyball for a little bit, and I usually don't really like to play wallyball / volleyball because it hurts my wrists and it hurt this time too, but it was fun. It still doesn't compare to a Thanksgiving with your family, though.

 

I'm trying to remember what I did this past week because we've just been so busy. A lot of our time has been spent working out the Christmas schedule. Since the Christmas lights have turned on here at Temple Square there are tens of thousands of people that come here every night so we've had to adjust our schedules to meet the change. Sister Moore and I have had some quality excel spreed sheet bonding time trying to get everything right. We have some assignments during the Christmas season: opening movies, being at the desk, or running God's Plan for His Family. Sister Moore and I had to make those assignments for the North 1 zone. One of the new changes since Christmas is that we go home at 9:45pm instead of 8:45pm. That means that we have a lot more finding time in the evening. The schedule has been quite complicated to get all worked out, but I think that we've got it. The difficult part about being a missionary during the Christmas lights is that there are just SO MANY people here that it is difficult to invite the Spirit into contacts with people. It's something that I'm trying to figure out how to do.

 

It has been a little slow this week in terms of missionary work because we've spent so much time trying to figure out how the mission should adjust to the Christmas lights. Something that President is emphasizing is contacting and inviting with the Spirit. I'm excited for that emphasis because there are just so many people here and a lot of them really don't want to talk with us. So, it's something that I'm trying to improve on. Easier said than done.

 

Sister Moore and I went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir yesterday and it was their first Christmas concert. I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, they're pretty much amazing. Speaking of Christmas, I started out Black Friday by reading Luke 2. Don't worry, we didn't go shopping after that, but it was a great way to start off the season. As I was reading verses 13 and 14 caught my attention:

 

13.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14.  Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

I would like to think that we were a part of those heavenly hosts that were praising God. I'm sure that we knew just how important it was for the Savior to come to the earth to perform the Atonement. Without Him the entire plan would be frustrated. I've become more and more grateful for my Savior on my mission. He is my purpose for being here. It's a great time to reflect on exactly why we celebrate Christmas.