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| Baptism in Loomis Area |
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| Christmas Display in Loomis Area |
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| Ward Party in Loomis Area, real baby Jesus |
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| Sister Ripplinger's District at Christmas near Loomis |
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| Baptism near Loomis |
My Dear Friends and Family,
This is the season...beloved of the year! Sing a rhyme, Christmas time...soon will be here!!!!!! This week was packed full of wonderful Christmas experiences and I absolutely LOVED it!!!!!!
The stake and ward provided so many opportunities for our investigators and friends to enjoy Christmas! They had a huge Nativity scene exhibit, an incredible ward Christmas party, and a stake Christmas choir concert. All events were spectacular and the Spirit was so strong!!!!! At the ward Christmas party we had TWENTY THREE investigators!!! We were so excited that so many of them made the effort to come and then they all LOVED the program.
I have to brag about the ward's Christmas party a little bit. It was incredible. The Relief Society was in charge of it, so of course, it was wonderful! We all had dinner in the gym to start with. The youth served the meal and were glowing with smiling faces. Then we all went into the chapel for the beginning of the program. Several ward members were asked to help be the "characters" from the Christmas story. In the chapel, the angel appeared to Mary and told her that she would be the mother of Christ. There was a beautiful musical number, and then we all divided into groups to rotate through the smaller rooms. One room was the shepherds hearing of His birth. Sister Nelson played the bassoon with two other ward members and their instruments in that room and it was wonderful! Another room had the wise men and Harrod. Another was Samuel the Lamanite standing on a wall and all of the little children got to come up to the front and throw paper arrows up at him. hahaha That part was hilarious! Especially for the investigators that have no idea what is going on in that room because it is from a part of the Book of Mormon that they haven't read yet...so I had a lot to explain. Since Sister Nelson was playing the bassoon all night, I had asked two women in the ward to be my companions and protect me. =) haha They clung close by me the whole night! Thank you Sister McCready and Sister Alsten!!! After we rotated through the different rooms, we all went back into the gym and sang "Away in a Manger". All of the characters came out onto the stage and baby Jesus was played by a REAL baby that was quietly kicking his feet. Having a real baby lying in the manger made it so special. Several people were in tears, including Mama Rose (the woman we live with). It was simply beautiful! I loved it!!!! I am so incredibly grateful for all of the work and preparation that was made for the party.
We took Jacqueline to the Nativity exhibit and we all LOVED it! They had over 500 different nativities set up. Several of them were the olive woods sets from Israel. That took me home a little and it made me smile. I could just imagine my mom's set that I got in Israel set up in our house. Awww... I love nativities! They also had a special bell choir play and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Since Jaqueline lived in Germany for several years, and her husband is German, she LOVED the German sets. She is sooooo excited to be baptized!!!!!
So one of the ladies that we have been teaching over the last month just wasn't making progress. We didn't want to drop her, but I really felt like we needed to. Sister Nelson and I went into the last lesson, knowing that we had to make a decision. We walked out and on the way to the car, I said something like, "We need to have faith that if we drop her, the Lord will bless us with someone else to teach that is prepared." Literally, a few seconds later, we hopped into the car and had received a message on the phone. It was a referral from two elders in another zone that had someone for us to teach that lives in our area. We called Tracy that night and she asked us if we could have someone give her a ride to church on Sunday. Then she went on to say that she was reading the Book of Mormon and LOVED, loved, loved it. She could totally connect with the people and their experiences. At times like that, I just have to bow my head and say a prayer of gratitude. What a miracle!!!!!
We have two new elders from the MTC in our zone this transfer, and there were already two others being trained. I love them because they are so full of faith and ready to work!!!! There was one area that hasn't taught a single lesson in SIX weeks. The elders hated each other and it was just really rough for them. One of the elders got transferred out and the other was made our district leader. He got a "greenie" from the MTC and the first night, our DL wanted to go home early because it had been a long day. The greenie said, "Come on, Elder! Let's have faith and tract for half an hour! Please???" They went tracting at 8:30 pm and knocked on TWO doors. Both residences agreed to have the missionaries back to start teaching them about Christ!!!! Now that companionship is totally fired up and they have people to teach. It is SO exciting to see people catch the fire of the Spirit and get into being a missionary. I just think about the small sacrifices we can make to be obedient and faithful and then see how the Lord blesses us beyond measure. To feel the Spirit, alone, is enough. Then to have people to teach is an added blessing. AH! This is the Lord's work and I LOVE it!!!!!!!! =)
Veronica came to one of the baptisms this weekend and she had a really spiritual experience. After the baptism, Sister Nelson and I went to her house to talk. All week, I've been thinking about Veronica and I've felt the Spirit really strongly. I feel like she is one of the Lord's elect and I know that she has important work to do in building His kingdom. Right now the situation is kind of stuck, but I feel like it won't be for long. She shared something with me that gave me a really powerful spiritual impression and I am sooo excited to see what happens with her!!!! She is incredible.
The Alder twins were baptized this weekend and I absolutely LOVED it!!!!! Their grandparents are serving as missionaries in South Africa right now and wanted to be part of the baptism still. They were able to watch on Skype and then bear their testimonies to the family. It was sooooo cool. Even though they were clear out in South Africa, they could be part of the baptism and share the experience. They had sent the boys their own scripture cases from Africa. The Spirit was soooo strong!!!! I just LOVE being a missionary and I'm so grateful for all of the people that the Lord has blessed us with. He continues to prepare people. Every time we pray as a companionship in the morning, at night, etc. we pray for all of our investigators by name. I feel so much love for them and I am so grateful to be serving here. So many things are happening that I don't have time to explain all of them right now, but I love these people and I'm so excited to see what happens this transfer!!! Miracles are happening!!!!!
I also feel so incredibly blessed because the ward members are SO good to us. Even if someone else invited us to dinner, another will come over right after and say, "Hey! Do you want THREE dinners on Christmas?!?!" They offer to let us call home on Christmas from their computers, they feed us every night of the week, they give us mandarins all the time, and I just am overwhelmed by how well they treat us. We are spoiled rotten, or as my mother would say, "Well loved." =) I am soooo grateful.
Have a wonderful week!!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Heather Ripplinger
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