the Adventures of Sister Russell: December 23, 2013

OH MY GOSH IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!! nooo it's gonna go by TOO FAST! haha we had an awesome mission christmas party on the beach and it was SO FUN! it was sad though cause it was only half the mission that day, and so i didn't get to see hna despain :( oh and TWIST TO THE STORY! her and HNA MILLER my MTC comp are now together in my old area!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT??????? crazy... I KNOW. i'm psyched, i love those people so much.

ANYWAY. i saw Hna Judd and it was SO WEIRD. we both just felt like it was a dream, and i think that's how it's gonna be when i go home and see you all! cause you picture stuff in your head and write letters but when it's real it's just like this isn't real.... WHAT. haha but i love her, SO WEIRD that that was SO LONG AGO that she trained the wee little me coming into the field.

ALSO! I am so proud of my little brother and big sister who are in the MTC TOGETHER. just a little jealous... but SO HAPPY. haha it's awesome to see pictures of them, FAMILY. IS IT NOT ABOUT TIME????? it is i do declare it IS! and i can't wait to spend eternity with you guys! haha

anyway, this week was really good but I can't remember what happened.... I have short term memory loss i'm pretty sure...

but let's seeeeeeee heeeeeeere......

oh my GOSH! okay here's the best story ever.

SO we get a call from my old district leader in tampa who used to serve in the area i'm in now! and he referred us to a family he had taught a year earlier, who he said he had known they were gonna get baptized and he wanted us to check up on them. SO we did! we set something up, it was way awesome, they're incredible! did i already tell this story........? can't remember.... ANYWAY. the son had been taught anti mormon stuff a ton in some other churches, WHICH SHOCKED ME cause apparently lots of people actually TEACH anti mormon stuff in church.................................................................... ANYWAY. hahaha it's just weird, BUT we had a lesson with the mom and daughter the other night, her husband and son couldn't make it, and it was AMAZING cause we started talking about prophets and she was like wait wait, how do you become a prophet?? and we started explaining the priesthood and what it is and how you give it, and we showed a picture of Christ laying his hands on an apostles head and she stopped us and was like okay... um... okay... and stopped and just looked at the picture, and we were like.... what...? and she said, I have goosebumps, I wish my husband was seeing this right now, this is right. this is it, my husband has said his whole life God is calling him to something, and this... this is it. when i see that picture, I just, it's just right.

WHAT. i'm just like........ UH YEAH IT IS WILL YOU BE BAPTIZED TOMORROW???????????? hahaha no just kidding but we DID commit them to baptism!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!!!!! they're awesome. I love them.

ANYWAY. WAvaney is still amazing, the baptism got moved a couple weeks cause we're teaching her son now BUT IT WILL HAPPEN and i cannot wait. i am SO GRATEFUL to know her and teach her, what a blessing. she invited us over for Christmas dinner with her family, none are members................ :) WOOOO. hahaha anyway i'm juuuust like WHAT did we do to deserve the blessings we've been receiving... NOTHING. haha it makes me motivated to work harder to make sure I don't mess it up! ha! no but seriously, I'm so grateful... There are hard times, and it's up and down sometimes, people reject you and you get shaken every once in a while, but GOSH the feeling you get, when you help one person, or you get to see ONE person change their life. it is just... i CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT. it is worth it. and those moments in life where you realize wow... THIS is worth it, the GOSPEL. not just for missionaries but everyone, when you get that moment where you're like yeah... this is the feeling, this is the life, this is IT. it's worth it, WRITE IT DOWN. because hard times will come again, and to be able to look back and read and remember WHY you are living through the rough times? and pushing on? Guys that is needed. REMEMBER, just remember. and look forward, it's time to trust God, and bear the burdens with a smile, and cheerfully. You can do this, we weren't made to be average. Stop limiting yourself in whatever aspect of your life it is, just... keep going.

I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH. my heart as grown a TON, just like the grinch :) and it's so much bigger, I really do love you all. and i'm grateful to be a part of this work, I would NEVER change that decision. what I have gotten out of this could never be replaced with anything else in the world.

EVERYONE HUG MY MOM FOR ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my fire spinning without fire and doing it with all them doing cool stuff too so i felt really cool like part of an act in the circus or something hahaha

BACK TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!! this was the mission christmas party we had, oh my gosh i miss these people SO BAD!!!!!!! it was the BEST DAY EVER to see some of the greatest friends i've made, i love them.