MERRY CHRISTMAS, SUZZIE, MY LITTLE GINGERSNAP!!

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(Note from Mom:  Camille has five layers of "down" jackets/coats with her.  In the picture below, I notice that she has at least two of them on. Her warm days must be coming to an end.)     Hello beautiful family and friends!! Tis the Season to be Jolly, because it's CHRISTMAS!! "It's snowing! (WHAM!)" [(This is from Hook, one of the all-time best movies)].. and this happened this week. Haha!  Ok, so you know how there is a commercial where this little kid is in bed, and he runs to his parents room because he is "too excited to sleep" because they are going to Disneyland? Yeah, well, this is me, right about now. I AM TOOO EXCITED TO SLEEP, BECAUSE IT'S CHRISTMAS!!  How truly grateful I am for the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I was reading in Luke this morning about His life, and something that has touched me recently is that Christ is the Prince of Peace. In the moments after his suffering in the garden, He then turned to heal the guard. As Christ literally just descended below all things, his attitude is one of peace. He isn't frustrated, or angry, or lashing out at other. He sees that someone else is hurting, and His peaceful attitude is to help someone else. I am evermore increasingly impressed with how AMAZING Christ is, and how much I want to be like Him!  I know the Savior lives. I know it. How grateful I am to be one of His representatives, and to help others come unto Him. Yesterday for the third hour of Church, the primary put on a nativity. As I looked around the room, I realized how many people in this ward have gone out of their way to serve me. I looked around and saw so many people who have had me in their homes, and how real a WARD Family is. This Christmas will definitely be one to remember, as I will be away from my family. I am so grateful though, for those who have made me feel welcome here. I am beginning to recognize people by their voices, and am finding shortcuts to people's homes. My only worry is that because I feel like I kind of know what I'm doing, I will be leaving soon!  I love my Savior, and I honestly love being on a mission. We visited the Alzheimer's facility again this week, and it was SO funny!! Haha!! I love fun people!!   I love you all!! Can't wait to talk on Christmas!! I'll talk to you in a few days!! Hopefully Santa comes! Love ya!! Here is Sister Collins :) Xoxo Sister Ensign

IIT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE......

     Before this letter commences, ladies and gentlemen-boys and girls! If you have not yet seen the Christmas video on Christmas.mormon.org called "A Savior is Born", close this e-mail right now, put down the handful of trail mix, and go WATCH IT!!! It is soo good! How blessed are we to know that the Literal Son of God, Jesus Christ, came into this world for US. Not only so we could be saved from our sins, but so we can change and use the Atonement to become LIKE Him. And all that He asks is that we keep His commandments and endure until the end. Seriously?!? That is so cool! What a blessing it is to live in this day and age where we have the fullness of the gospel, where we have a living Prophet, and where we are able to have the Book of Mormon at our very fingertips. Being a member of the Church is so cool it blows my mind! AH!

     So Merry Christmas everyone! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....except for outside! It is nice and WARM Here!!! Wait...what? Did I just write WARM in the middle of Michigan in December? You heard it right, folks, it will be 60 today! Boom baby!! Man, life is so good. Due to the warm weather, and the change of scenery, Christmas this year is "somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction" (quote from Tower of Terror in Disneyland:) ) We are doing all we can to bring the Christmas Spirit. It's definitely a lot different and easier as a missionary, and I love telling people Merry Christmas because it forces them to be nice in a sort of way. #tistheseason This week, we had quiet a few cancelations, so I took some of my Dad's mission advice and did what? Went to the hospital to carol! OH MY GOSH IT WAS SO MUCH FUNN!!!! We ended up singing in the Alzheimer's Center, and it was one of the funniest and most memorable evenings!! There is a lady, named L., who is in our ward, who DOESN'T have Alzheimers, even though she is in the center. So why is she in there? I don't know! She sees me and says, "HEY! I KNOW YOU!!!!" Haha!! After a while, I figure out who she was and that she actually knew what she was talking about, and we had so much fun. There was an older lady who had huge dentures in, and she had her hair done and her nails done, and was in a matching pink pajama outfit, and she was so happy! It made me sad to think she can't remember things, and that she wouldn't remember us if we come back, but I loved seeing her all fancied up. It made me realize how important it is to establish yourself when you are young, because even when your memory is gone, you still like the same things. It makes me want to learn all I can about the gospel that so that later, no matter what happens, I'll still know that the gospel is true.

     We were ranted at by quiet a few people this week, which was quiet hilarious. We were in one neighborhood, and I said, "What I would give to have my parent's watch me do this right now!. It's amazing the different kind of reactions we get! But I know that the Lord is mindful of us, and that when we can walk away with a smile, we never lose. We met a guy this week who offered us Pizza after he turned us down.  He said he wasn't interested, but because it was cold, asked if we wanted food. He said, "This might sound really weird, but do you want some Pizza?" I laughed so hard! We said no, but it was so cool. Then we saw him again the next day! We were walking and he pulled over and said, "Hey! It's me again!! I don't have any food, but can I do anything for you?" People are soo nice.

     We also had transfer calls this week! AAANNNDD.......I'm staying in Mt. Pleasant to finish Sister W.'s training!! Wahoo!!! This is no surprise as training is two transfers, but I did get a little nervous that we might get another sister to train. When I found out that it would just be us again, we definitely partied hard.

     Well, I know that this week was great, and I know there were many miracles! Calie was baptized this week, so that was a really neat experience!! She has been on baptismal date for over a year, and she has been waiting because she wanted to be baptized on her 20th birthday! And she was! It was great! I love it here, and am so happy!! I hope all of you have a great week, and SERIOUSLY.....go watch that video.

Love you all! Thanks for all you do! I can't wait to TALK TO YOU NEXT WEEK!!!!

Xoxo

Sister Ensign

 

Hello Beautiful Family

Hello beautiful family and everyone else!!  I hope you are all doing well, and I hope you know that you are loved!!! This week was a really good week! I can't remember too much of what happened, but I do know that the Lord helped us in every phase of it!! We have been teaching Gary, who is so cool!! He has had some challenges with being able to afford tithing, so it has been a bit of a struggle. We talked with the Bishop yesterday, and I learned how impressive adults are. Man, I love being able to turn to adults who know what they are doing and to be able to be helped!  We saw many miracles this week, including a man who said, "Hey, do you have an extra Mormon bible on you?" After talking, we came to find that this man has been taught before, and he said, "How can I be a male missionary? I hope my life leads me to this becuase...Wahoo! Go mormons!" So that was pretty exciting!!! There are so many good people here who help us all of the time! Sorry this letter is short, I am running out of time, but know that this week was great, and I am learning how much the Lord is mindful of all of us! Watching the Christmas devotional last night was super fun, even though it is kinda weird to see Salt lake city and not be there!! I hope you are all enjoying the Christmas lights! Mt. pleasant is so fun, and I am loving Christmas time here! Have a wonderful week! Love you all!! Xoxo Sister Ensign The picture is for Huntie Baby :)