In the Christmas Spirit!

This cookie accidently turned out to have a sad face.

We have had a lot of snow up here. Look closely to see if you can spot the road and the temple!

Today has been a really good Sunday. Before church my roommates and I did "Christmas." We exchanged gifts with eachother.

Then we had church. It was really good. One speaker in Sacrament meeting talked about "The gifts the Lord has given us this year." I thought about that in my own life. I truly have been blessed by Him this year. In many ways it's been a hard year, but there are always blessings as well. I thought about just the fact that he has led me to where I need to be this whole year. I know I write about that all the time, but it is true. Just recently, I saw an ad for a job opening as a counter clerk at a drycleaner's here in Rexburg. As many of you know, I worked doing the same thing in Provo for a year and a half. So, I got kind of excited. I mean, I have "experience" doing this, so they'd probably hire me, right? I fixed up my resume and all, and I could hardly sleep the night before I was going to drop it off. All the while, however, I had these thoughts and feelings in the back of my mind that this was not right. I wondered if it was just me doubting myself. So, the next morning I woke up early. Since I have no car, I had to walk to the place. But, I could not find it. I searched and searched. I can't explain it, but I pretty much just knew this was not right. I have received the confirmation that I am supposed to move home and that's what I'm supposed to do.

I cannot tell you how many times I start going for something that would seem like a good thing for me in my life, and I want it really bad, but it turns out that's not what the Lord has in store.

In Relief Society we talked about the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph Smith. Towards the end of the lesson the teacher started talking about his mission in life. She then talked about ours- how we can discover it, etc. My patriarchal blessing actually spells mine out for me pretty clearly. But, the thing is, it is not currently happening in my life and it's something I really can't control too much. I got thinking though, and I thought about what I can do. I can prepare for what is to come in my life. This is something I am going to explore a bit more. I heard a quote by a general authority that I really liked. It says, "When the day of performance arrives, the day of preparation has passed." I guess I should feel blessed that my life mission is not unfolding just yet. I have more time to get ready.

After church we made sugar cookies as a Relief Society presidency. It was really fun. We then caroled and delivered them to the sisters in our society. I was really wanting to do something like this and am glad the thought popped in my head last week(even though it meant sacrificing a much needed sunday afternoon nap).

I then went to a "hot cocoa" party at a friend's place. It was nice to have something social going on. We then went caroling with some people from her ward. We went to some elderly people's homes. It was great.

So, anyway, I love doing "Christmasy" things. It's just really hard with school and all, but I'm glad I've been able to do a bit this season.