Week 40 (Week 23 in Michigan)

Sledding on our white Christmas!

Merry Belated Christmas everyone! Boy was it a fun and crazy week, full of fun, presents, and lots of snow. 

At the start of this week we had our zone conference for the transfer which was super fun! It began with a video a missionary made of a collage of photos missionaries sent in from their missions, both in the MLM and other original assignments. The opening scene was a rendition of the Marvel movie opening, with the Avengers theme in the background. It was sooooo well done, I was blown away. It was super cool too because I sent in several photos and I think all of them were used. They did a super good job of including everyone, which was amazing. Then, at the end of the conference we had a little white elephant gift exchange in our zone, which was super fun. I ended up with a giant slinky, a stretch armstrong toy and some candy. My comp got some penguin slippers and a super long elf hat. I think the funniest present there was a little cheetah fanny pack that came with a Christmas tree hat. The elder that got it was looking stylish with that gear on. But overall it was an amazing zone conference.

Zone Conference White Elephant

This Christmas season we have been getting way too many sweets. Like we are 2 young men and we were given hundreds of cookies and chocolates! If I put on a couple of extra pounds this winter, then you know why. We might just have to throw out some treats at this point. But the members in Bad Axe are just so kind and thoughtful. Sister June and Sister Richards even got us some things from Bronner's, the largest Christmas store in the world. They got personalized Michigan ornaments, some Michigan Wolverines socks, and keychains, and nativity sets. Although, it's a little late to put up nativities... but we were thrilled nonetheless. I also received some Christmas pajamas from my family, which has become part of our tradition. They were very funny and a nice piece of home. 

Our family 2020 Christmas PJs

We also ended up with a white Christmas! This wasn't technically my first one since I had a white Christmas last year in the MTC, but it was Elder Bradford's first ever since we NEVER have white Christmas's in (western) Oregon. Christmas day we ended up going sledding with a couple of other elders down this man-made hill near our apartment. It was super fun, except for the occasional sneaky gopher holes hiding under the snow. Let's just say, Elder Seeley hit a huge one and got a nice bruise on his back. Actually when we showed up we had a bunch of make shift sleds (bin lids) that didn't work very well, so this other family there gave us a sled and said we could keep it. They are the real MVPs. 

Christmas night we had a wonderful dinner delivered to us by our senior missionary couple, the Sommers, with green beans, yams, chicken and fruit salad. It was delicious, and we thanked the Sommers greatly for making our Christmas that much more special. 

Overall this was a wonderful week filled with fun, and more importantly, focused on Christ. It's been so wonderful to read and learn about the Savior this year more than ever before, and I challenge you all to keep that same Christmas spirit and religious fervor that many of us feel during this season, throughout the whole year. God bless you all!

~Elder Kasey Lightheart

Tradeoffs with the zone leaders!





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