It's a Christmas Miracle!

Spiritual: Christmas is a time for Miracles. I have learned this Christmas that the Lord lives. He Loves us and wants to give us miracles, especially when we can do nothing to change the situation and we have given everything to the Lord and trust in Him. The moment He intervenes and changes something for us that we cannot do for ourselves that moment is a miracle. About one month ago I had gone down to Monterey for P day. President decided to give the Pleasanton elders a chance to go down to the beach for a change. When we got down there we had a great time playing in the sand and enjoying the ocean. It was a great day! When we went to go back to Pleasanton, I walked over to my bag to find it empty. My heart stopped. I had left my journal of three months of my mission in there. It was awful. I had faithfully recorded every single day an entry of what I had learned or some miracle that had happened and now it was gone. Three months of my life had vanished. Stolen. Never to return. I was distraught. I definitely didn’t want my parents to worry or have anyone else feel bad for me so I didn’t mention it in any letters home or anything like that. I was just going to rely on the Lord and His infinite goodness for comfort. When we got in the car after looking around for a long time for it I was sure it was burning in some trash can somewhere. We left and while we were driving away I said a prayer to Heavenly Father, not asking Him to find my journal for me or to have vengeance on the person who stole it, but to use it as a tool to further his work. After that, it was amazing the feeling of comfort i received. It was like having an umbrella placed over me. I knew I should be really sad about what had happened, but i really didn’t feel that bad at all! It was so strange. Time passed and on Christmas day, while skyping my family, they said they had one extra Christmas gift for me. They reached around and pulled out a journal that looked exactly similar to mine. It was my Journal!! It had come a few days before in an unmarked envelope with my name and address on it. The Lord loves us immensely. I have no idea if that thief read what I wrote, or what the circumstances were where he would risk returning a stolen item, but I know that the Lord Loves me. He is so kind to us and wants to bless us. I felt so comforted and blessed to receive that great of a miracle. If you do not know that Heavenly Father loves you, I would invite you to kneel down and ask Him. If you listen with your feelings, the Holy Ghost will speak in a language that is just for you and He will tell you. 

Funny: We were talking to a family about what the Holy Ghost feels like and we described it as a warm feeling coming over you. The little boy around 5 years old said that he wanted to share something. We obliged and he proceeded to tell us about this time he was swimming in the hot tub and he felt a warm feeling come over him. We were laughing so hard. Just for the record, the Holy Ghost can feel SIMILAR to peeing in the hot tub, but not exactly like it. It was really funny and very obvious that he had just let go in the tub. His parents were embarrassed. It was very funny. 

Where I am at: More Christmas miracles are happening in Pleasanton! Robert was baptized on Saturday and it was amazing! He is definitely not fitting the Pleasanton 2nd ward stereotype but he is integrating okay. It’s so cool. It’s kinda a fun problem to have to have no investigators left because you have baptized them all. I like it. haha I love you all and wish you have a wonderful time of year and remember the Savior in all that you do.

I love you all!