From what it sounds, weather in Utah is too warm for winter. It is the same here! I am upset! Minnesota missionaries are supposed to be tough. But it's too warm to be tough! Ha ha. I just really want snow. Even Elder Shrestha who hates cold said that he really wants there to be lots of snow. So lets hope things change and we get a lot of snow!
This week has been great! We had a lot of really awesome stuff happen. I saw the boxes of coats that mom sent to the Baxters and it was great to see a lot of that stuff go to the people who needed it. It was crazy though because I saw MJ's old coat and one of Dad's suepr old coats. ha ha! We got a picture of me wearing Dad's old coat and Mom's scarf. I thought it was really funny. But believe me, the items were put to good use! There are a lot of people in need here. But if the winter stays the way it has been going we wont need coats! I am excited to give out the little gift bags that you sent too. Thanks again!
We have a really big group of people that we are teaching and I want to tell you about each one of them because they all have a unique story but there isn't the time! I need faster fingers. One of the awesome events this week was we taught a really awesome family about the temple. It was actually the people that had us over for the festival that put the Tika on our heads. We taught them about it and then took them to go see the temple on Saturday. It was really nice. There is a member of our ward who is a temple sealer and he used to be the temple president and he helped to show this family around the temple and help explain about it. They loved it. This family is so special! I just wish they would get baptized! I hate patience.
Everyone has family concerns! This week we invited another lady to be baptized and of course she said that her parents forbid her to do it. Even though these people are grown and have families of their own, they still refuse to go against the things their parents tell them. It is a good thing but also can be a bad thing too. Most of these people aren't willing to choose baptism over family. Or they are just patient enough to wait until their parents pass away. The family values of the Nepali are amazing and the strong force it has is really good. But it holds up a lot of people when it comes to converting.
The Christmas Devotional was excellent. I enjoyed it a lot. We took the Adam's family to watch it at the stake center. This will be a lot of families first Christmas in America, including the Adam's. So we want to help all of them have a wonderful experience. I am also really excited to teach people about the true meaning of Christmas, because I don't think that they understand it at all. That will be really fun! December is the best!
We are teaching this one young fellow. He is about 20. His story is so sad! His parents birthed him and then seperated and each got remarried. So he was raised by his grandparents. Well now he and his Grandparents are here and his Grandparents are super old so he is their caretaker. He is so busy with that that he can't go to school or get a job or anything. And he just feels alone. His parents abandoned him and he has no siblings. The only close family are his grandparents. So he opened up to us this week and talked about how lonely he feels. Isn't it amazing how the Gospel helps anything? We were able to testify of God's love and the peace the gospel brings. He's got plenty of sad trials to endure but he can do it. I hope we can be a help. He has latched on to Elder Shrestha. Everyone has. They all love him! I'm just kinda the white kid who follows him around and eats food. Ha ha. It's great.
Well Merry December! I look forward to telling you more of our Christmas adventures.
Love,
Elder Ruesch
