'Tis the Season to be a Missionary

Missionary life is wonderful. Probably the best thing ever, actually. And getting together with a bunch of other missionaries is the best feeling in the world! On Tuesday, we had the annual Mission Christmas Conference, and it was amazing! We started the day by going to the temple. It was cool because our ENTIRE session was filled with only missionaries. There were, I think, 3 zones that were in my session, and the spirit was SOOOO strong! Stronger than I've ever felt. I mean, I've felt it spiritually super strong before, but this time I could feel an actual physical pressure in my chest. It was the coolest thing ever! I don't think I've ever been able to feel the spirit so physically like that, and it was amazing how tangible it was this time... And it didn't go away for the whole session! When we were in the Celestial room and all the missionaries were in there praying and taking time to be close to God, the pressure in my chest increased, and I had some incredibly powerful answers to my prayers. My Heavenly Father loves me, and I am so grateful I got to feel more of His presence this week.

"Sister Burraston's companion rode in a different car,
so she joined our companionship for a temple picture. :) "

After the temple, we all met up at the Vancouver Stake Center for the rest of the conference. We had a program of sorts, were we sang songs and recited some little memorized scripts to invite the spirit and help us remember the true meaning of Christmas: that HE IS THE GIFT!!!! It was lovely. :) We ate dinner together and mingled for quite a while too, and I got to see ALL of my past companions (except for Sister Kearl because she is home now)!!! The only ones I didn't take pictures with were Sister Maughan (my MTC companion) and Sister Borchardt. But here's all the rest of them!

Sister Major

Sister Rasmussen

Sister Duff

Sister Cone

Sister Lammi

Aren't they cute??? I love each of those Sisters so so much! It's weird how fast time flies... Spending time with each of those Sisters on Tuesday reminded me of the feelings I had when I was serving with them in my previous areas. It was a good feeling! But such different feelings for each one of them. I'm so grateful for the time I had with those wonderful Sisters. I have definitely learned much from each of them. :)

There are two really great experiences I wanted to share with you from this week. On Wednesday, we had tried to contact a referral that we had received of a man who was living in the VA named Brother Long. We knew nothing about him, but we gathered that if he lives in the VA he is most likely old and frail. When we found his room, he wasn't there, so we left a note with our number on it and went on our merry way. Later that night, we were checking our phone and we had a voicemail from him! It was the cutest message in the world. It started with a nurse saying, "Now you can leave your message," and then the sweetest old man voice ever saying something like, "This is Brother Long. I am here at the... the..." then the nurse, "The VA," and Brother Long, "The VA." etc. etc. He told us to come visit him whenever we had time. It was seriously adorable. So the next day we went back to the VA to try again. When we walked into the room, he was sleeping so we sat there trying to decide if we wake him up or just come back another day, and he must have heard us because he opened his eyes and lifted his head with the BIGGEST and gummiest smile I have ever seen as he exclaimed, "The Missionaries!!!!" He was so so sweet! He asked us to stay and talk with him a while because he doesn't ever have visitors, so of course we made ourselves comfy and stayed for at least a good hour. We hardly talked because he had so much to say, and we could only understand about every 20th word, but we smiled and nodded and it just made him SO happy! It was the best experience!

On Friday, we had another miracle lesson with Annalee. We were planning on teaching her the rest of the Plan of Salvation and then going on into the Gospel of Christ, starting with the 3 kingdoms of glory. RIGHT before we started teaching, she said this: "I have a question for you guys before we start. Do you believe that there are multiple places in Heaven for us to live according to our individual comfort? I mean, we are all so different!" Our jaws dropped. We taught her about the 3 kingdoms and then asked her how she came to know this already and she said, "The Spirit taught me a long time ago." It was amazing! She has been so prepared for us to teach her the fullness of Christ's gospel! But wait, there's more! As we were teaching her the Gospel of Christ, she asked us if we could always walk in the spirit. We didn't really understand her question because there was more to it and we weren't sure which direction to take it, but as we continued to teach the lesson, we came to the gift of the Holy Ghost she stopped us. She said, "So people DO walk around with the that spirit today?" And we were like, yes! She told us that is something she only felt once in her life and she has longed to feel it again, but she wasn't sure if it was possible until Christ came back to the earth. It was amazing! We told her that she could have that constant companionship of the Holy Ghost after baptism by the proper authority, and we invited her to pray about it. Hopefully, we will be able to set a date when we see her this week. It was so cool! God is preparing His children all over the world, and it is our responsibility to find them and bring them this knowledge! Annalee has known all along that this is truth, but she didn't realize that it was actual doctrine that Christ taught when He was on the earth. Most of the people who are ready for the Gospel simply don't know where to find it!

"For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it—" 

- Doctrine and Covenants 123:12

Being able to spend so much time with all the other missionaries in the mission, and then having these experiences, I know that there are people everywhere who are waiting for the light and happiness that this Gospel brings them. I challenge each of you to get out there and find ONE person this Christmas season who needs to know the fullness of this Gospel. Find a way to share the gift of Christ. He is what the Holidays are all about! I love you! Talk to you next week!

Love Always,

Sister Nicole Guilott

P.S. More Pictures!

"Our whole zone plus the Stake Presidency at a zone breakfast.  There are a lot of us!"

Elder and Sister McCurdy are some of the office missionaries that finished their mission the day after the Christmas Conference... They are sorely missed, but I am so grateful for their friendship and the amazing spirit they share.

The BEST food of the Holidays! Pecan Tartlets!