Heart, Might, Mind, & Strength : "It's Easier to Shovel Sunshine Than Snow." --Grandma Rhees

Hey everyone!

Sorry I didn't get an email out last week! I hope you enjoyed the pictures-- Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! I hope you all had a wonderful month (and enjoyed the Last Jedi...grr). The Last Few weeks have been interesting and we've gotten a lot of new people to teach due to the temple Christmas lights. So here's the goods...

Sunday (Christmas Eve) was a pretty special day. We woke up and prepared for church that day. Just like most of you up there in Idaho; church was only an hour long. That night, all the missionaries in the valley came together for a mission devotional. President shared some amazing videos with us about our Savior and spoke about remembering Him not just now, but always.

Monday was Christmas Day! Feliz Navidad! Calling home was one of the greatest moments of my life! I'm sure many of you who have had missionaries know how it feels. Dinner at Jack in the Box. We didn't have time to watch It's a Wonderful Life, we moved that to next Monday (today).

Tuesday we got back to work. Shopped in the morning and then studied. We had a family invite us over for dessert. After, one of there little guys asked me to bend down... and then he kissed my cheek. Haha! Great kids. We went out with Bro Felix and visited Brother Scott. I had the idea last week to give him a topic and then he would teach us. The topic he chose was baptism. The lesson was awesome! He talked about how in his biker club, you would join and get your badges/marks (covenants/Christ's name) and then he explained Enduring to the End.

Wednesday morning I woke up sick. I felt so weak, I had a hard time opening a water bottle. I rested and was able to make it to district meeting-- where I gave the spiritual thought. I enjoyed the trainings that were given, especially one where we talked about the doctrine of Christ. We then had dinner and I ran into one of my pops old coworkers. How crazy is that? We shared a message about baptism with them. We had a few lessons that night and one of our less active members sent us home with a crate full of meat and waffles. Hmm...

Thursday, I woke up sick again. There's been something going around down here. We went to burrito express and the papago elders pulled up in their car at the exact same time! We then went to the sketchiest place in our area, and the kids wanted us to pick lemons for them. A cop came around the corner and they all booked it-- not before they stole one of Elder Bird's bike lights however. Had an 80 minute lesson with an investigator named Stephen. Committed him to coming to church and promised him a free tie if he showed up.

Friday I woke up sick again! It's the weirdest thing, I haven't had breakfast the last three days. The only thing that my stomach's in the mood for is chocolate. We weekly planned and visited one of our investigators. Her man was home and told us she was busy, he wouldn't stop winking at us. I think it was how he handled nervousness. A little awkward.

Saturday was exchange day! I got to go with Elder Kasparian into his area. We taught two lessons and visited a lot of people. I got to meet a really cool guy named Zach and he invited us in to share a message. I focused really hard on teaching and it was my job to share Joseph Smith's story with him. After I had explained it to him, Zach told us he's been waiting for two years for missionaries to knock on his door to hear and see the passion in our eyes as we rehearsed the First Vision to him. I will probably never see him again, but I hope he can continue to keep his heart open.

Sunday was a regular day.

And... today (Monday)! It's been a crazy day. We woke up and cleaned super quick, showered, changed, and ran to the church. There we started "It's a Wonderful Life" while we waited for our nerfing crew to show up. We had so many people there, including 9 other elders! It was a blast. Then we shopped and right now we are finishing the movie. It was a good day.

I hope you all stay safe this next week! To end I'll share with you a scripture I came across. It's found in Doctrine and Covenants 50:40-42...

40 Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all things now; ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.

41 Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me;

42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost.

When I read this, it brought peace to my heart and reminded me that I am in my Savior's care. He's been given a charge over me. I've felt His love again and again since I've been out in the mission field. All the cruelty and sadness I see in a day can never last for long, because at the end of the day I always have a friend to turn to. He has walked beside me, He has picked me up and carried me on His shoulders when I fall. Stay strong each of you and always remember Him. Those are the times I've been most happy-- when I keep Him near. Let me know if I can do anything for any of you!

Love Elder DeGraw
6265 N 82nd St
Scottsdale, AZ 85250