Week 39 (Week 22 in Michigan)

 

Our 4-foot Christmas tree 😀

Merry Christmas everyone!!! I can't believe it's finally that time of the year, full of love, nativities, gifts and fun. Even away from home, it still feels like the Christmas I know and love, and for that I am extremely grateful.

One thing this week that has made our Christmas just that much more special was thanks to our Secret Santa. On Tuesday night we heard a knock at our door, and upon opening the door we found a big box of gifts, and heard the front door to our apartment building close. We ran to the window to try and catch the culprit, but they were already long gone. They got us 12 gifts for the last 12 days of Christmas and prefaced them with some poetry. It was so sweet, and brightened our week as we opened the gifts each day. We have some suspicions of who it might have been, but no solid conclusions yet. But nonetheless we are very thankful.
Festive socks from secret Santa.

We also have been gathering some gifts from our members for one of our dear friends named Daisy and her kids. Yesterday, we wrapped them all up and delivered them to her, also meeting her in person for the first time. She is very kind, and thanked us many times for the gifts, and especially for the Book of Mormon and pamphlets we gave her. I guess she had been looking to come back to church, and upon meeting us on Facebook saw it as an answer to her prayers. Over the last couple weeks even though she has been extremely busy, she has made reading the Book of Mormon part of her daily routine, and we are just so glad to hear it. But it has been awesome to brighten her and her family's Christmas.

Bringing gifts to our friend Daisy.

We also had a fun tradeoff with our zone leaders this week, this time in our area. We talked for a little while and then Elder Stone and I went to the church and had a good talk. We also had a short lesson with one of their members, a very sweet disabled man. Elder Stone had an impromptu idea to sing to this man, so we sang Silent Night to him, and boy was he happy. After he admitted that he used to sing a lot when he was younger, and was even in a band once. Then he sang a little bit of "Amazing Grace"  for us, and he sounded really good. But it was a sweet experience for us and for him.

Saying goodbye to Elder Sherman.

At our sacrament meeting this week we had a little special Christmas program in which one member, sister Hicks, narrated the story of the saviors birth, and every few minutes there was a virtual musical number played from various members of our branch. One of those performances Elder Bradford and I did in which we sang "Angels We Have Heard on High". It was honestly a really great meeting, filled to the brim with the Spirit.

This has also been a super mild winter here in Michigan. Besides one big snow day a couple of weeks ago, we have barely had any snow, and it hasn't been extremely cold either. I'm just praying we can have a white Christmas, since we never have white Christmas's in Oregon. 

But overall this has been an amazing week, full of fun experiences, and great progress in the work here in Bad Axe. I'm just so thankful to be in God's service right here, right now, and there really isn't anywhere else I would rather be than right here in Michigan. I love you all, and I pray that you can have an amazing Christmas, and to remember what Christmas is truly about, which is Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords, King of Kings, the Prince of Peace. 

~Elder Kasey Lightheart

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