Before I say anything else, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Kammi and Brock on the 20th!!!! (I think?) Can you believe that you have already been married for a year?! Congratulations!
Well, I have officially been in Virginia for one month already. I can't believe it. Just when I start thinking that a day is getting long, it's already next week. It seems like there is never enough time to do everything that we need to. We have transfers coming up next week and I'm probably going to have to leave my area. It makes me pretty sad because there are so many people here that I love. They're like my family now. It's going to be really hard, but I'm sure that I'll fall in love with the people in my next area just as quickly.
In two days we have the event that I've been waiting for. We get to go to the capitol building and eat a Christmas dinner with all of the Washington D.C. South missionaries. There will be several Senators and other very influential people there. It has been rumored that we are going to be seeing Senators Reid and Hatch. It'll be interesting to see what they have to say to us since we aren't allowed to talk politics. Basically, I'm SUPER EXCITED! Then we get a mission tour of the capitol. Wow! I guess it pays off to have stake presidents and other members of the church who work for the government. They must have pulled some serious strings for us to be able to do this. I'm also excited that we get to ride the good ole' Metro. My trainer has never ridden it so it looks like I'll be training for a day. Hehehe...
We set 2 baptismal dates for a mother and daughter. It isn't really set in stone yet, but I know they are going to get baptized eventually. It's just a matter of which day. The daughter is 12 years old and was already living basically everything in the For the Strength of Youth Pamphlet when we met her. We gave her a copy to read and she really liked it and was happy to find out that there were other people her age that had the same standards as she does. She absolutely loves going to the young women's activities and it is so wonderful that we can count on the young women in our branch to just take the reigns from there. There really is nothing better than the members fellowshipping our investigators. That's your assignment for the week. Find someone that you aren't super aqcuainted with and get to know them. It works wonders for the strength of the ward and it makes our lives a whole lot easier. Missionaries can't do the work without the help of the members! Sorry, I'll stop preaching to the choir now.
I hope everyone is happy and well and that you are enjoying the Christmas season. I never really understood how much happiness we really have until I came here and saw so many people that are without it. God really is so merciful to provide a way for us to return with Him by sending His son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to celebrate His life and the wonderful example that He gave us. Don't let it pass by without learning something from it.
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
All my love,Hermana Heather Larsen
P.S. In case you are wondering about the weather, there isn't much snow here and the temperatures haven't gotten as cold as it sounds like yours have. We only had one big snow storm and the rest of the time it's been pretty sunny. The grass is still green. It rains every once in a while and we had some thick fog the past couple of nights. It's pretty nice. Except the wind feels like it's going to bite your nose off sometimes. That's really the only time I get super cold. I think it will get a lot worse in January and February. At least that's what I've been told.