Happy New Year 2013!

I can hardly believe that it is already a new year!  "Time flies on wings of lightening; we cannot call it back" is so true!  As a family, we would always gather around the table and set new year's goals and resolutions every fast Sunday in January of the new year.  Some of our children would post their lists in a conspicuous place in their bedrooms to remind them of their goals and resolutions all through the year, and I loved reading them when I was in their rooms because it always inspired me to see what they were seeking to do and become.  I wanted to add some of the things on their lists to my own list!

This week as some of the missionaries have come to the office I have asked them if they had made resolutions, and most of them said that they had.  Some of them even shared a few of their resolutions and I was touched by them.  One said, "To be the best missionary I can be by using my time here wisely", and another said, "To be more like the Savior," and another said, "To love my family back home more."  

I read again the wonderful Oct. 2012 conference address by Dieter F. Uchtdorf and loved what he said: : 

“One day we will take that unavoidable step and cross from this mortal sphere into the next estate. One day we will  look back at our lives and wonder if we could have been better, made better decisions, or used our time more wisely. To avoid some of the deepest regrets of life, it would be wise to make some resolutions today. Therefore, let us:

• Resolve to spend more time with those we love.

• Resolve to strive more earnestly to become the person God wants us to be.

• Resolve to find happiness, regardless of our circumstances."

 I thought that what the missionaries shared with me was really in line with what President Uchtdorf had said.

I also loved what Joe J. Christensen said in the Ensign of Dec. 1994:   “We must not overlook the power that making good resolutions can have in helping make our lives happier and more successful—regardless of our past performance."  I was encouraged by that to make resolutions and goals this year while I am a missionary in spite of my sometimes disappointing efforts to keep resolutions in the past.  There are so many ways to improve!

We have been working hard to prepare for our next transfer in 2 weeks.  This week I was able to get 8 of the 9 zones on the transfer board finished as well as the transfer cards for the 24 new missionaries that are coming.  I also finished the four file folders for each missionary (a huge task) and nearly finished getting their  guidebooks ready.  There are three 18 year old elders that are coming in this transfer.  Then we learned on Friday that we will be receiving 30 more missionaries for our February transfer!!! We nearly died!  There will be only five weeks to prepare for this transfer since the MTC time will be shortened to two weeks (actually 12 days) starting in February.  After the February transfer the usual time between transfers will be six weeks again, thankfully.  This will certainly be our hardest transfer to date, and as I have talked to secretaries in other missions, it is the same for them.  We will surely need the Lord's help in preparing for these transfers because there will be so much to do.  As we were told in October after the announcement to "prepare for the tsunami", it is coming!  It's actually pretty exciting to be on the shores of the tsunami and watch it all unfold!  The missionfield is a pretty exciting place to be right now!

  

We were invited to a New Year's Eve party by our friends, Travis and Teresa Wilhelmson.  Our friends, Blair and Diane Christensen and Dave and Joni Robison were also there.  We had SO much fun talking and playing games with them!  We usually go to bed on New Year's Eve before midnight, but we were just having too much fun.  We also did a white elephant gift exchange and we really scored by getting a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory! 

Teresa had all these flavors to make Italian sodas--so yummy and fun!  We had a lot of fun treats.  My New Year's resolution to lose weight would have to start tomorrow.

On New Year's Day we had signed up for the elders serving in our ward, Elder Findlay and Elder Alford, to have dinner with us.  They are such awesome elders.  We made toasts to the new year, and after talking to them for awhile, they told us that it was a non-proselyting day for them, so we played "Mormon Mouthful" (the Mormon version of Madgab) with them.  It was so fun!

It has been a very busy week, and sadly I fell victim to the sickness that is going around and got a cold.  I prayed so hard that I would be able to continue to work, and the Lord really blessed me, as I was able to work every day.  I would come home exhausted and have to rest, but hopefully the worst is over and I will feel better this week.  The work goes on!  Hurrah for Israel!