I should have saved this subject line for a season finale, like Aaron Sorkin would want, but it felt right to put here. And the answer to that question? Pretty good! And apparently it’s also eventful, because I’ve written 22 pages in my journal for it. That’s an average of 3 pages a day. Not bad at all.
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| After it snowed on Sunday in Utah, we started Monday's class bundled up for winter weather. Hermano Rivera changed his background to a sunny beach to join in. |
I'm sure everyone a) remembers me mentioning my district had a talent show, and b) was on the edge of their seats to know how it went. Thanks for asking! It was fabulous. Our district shared music, juggling, art, and magic with us, along with a variety of other things. And I shared a slam poem I wrote about figure skater Nathan Chen at the 2018 Winter Olympics. If you want to read it, I’d be happy to email it to you!
Speaking of talents, my beautiful companion, Hermana Volk, and I made a video of us singing “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” that I'm sure you’ll want to watch if you haven’t seen it yet! She’s lovely in it, and I’m not too shabby myself.
Also, if you wondered what I did to announce devotional assignments, here’s my favorite announcement video. As I made stuff this week, my mom asked me if I was the only one in my district who put so much production value into this stuff, and the answer to that question is a resounding yes. What can I say? I’m a theatre kid.
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| Hermano Rivera’s WiFi was bad, and he dropped the call. While we waited for him to return, the district introduced (some of) our siblings to each other! |
Gym is still my archenemy when it comes to the classes I’m taking at the online CCM. And I’m going to be very honest with you. Learning another language? Super hard. But it’s so rewarding. Every time I say a prayer that’s more coherent, or manage to make my way through a discussion practice, I feel so fulfilled, happy, and blessed. My teachers and fellow missionaries in my district make the experience so much better, and they truly do add so much to the experience, even if we aren’t doing this in person.
I was especially grateful for everyone yesterday, when Hermana McCauley and Hermana Draper led a Book of Mormon Read activity in our afternoon class. We focused on Moroni 7. We specifically discussed verses 45-48. Some of my favorite parts of this section include in verse 45, which opens with:
45 Charity suffereth long. …
As we know from the scriptures, “charity is the pure love of Christ,” and when you talk about that in a class full of people you love while you’re happy and peaceful, it’s very easy to say that you can have charity. But once you get out into the real world, you realize that having charity is hard. People will be unkind. They won’t act the way you want them to. Sometimes, you just don’t get along. But the point of having charity, and the point of being a good person in general, isn’t because it’s the easy thing to do. The reason you do it is because it’s the right thing, and because working toward that attribute is working toward being like Christ. In verse 48, it says:
48 … that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. …
The path to following Christ means learning and growing. As we draw closer to him, and we try our hardest to be like him, we will start to understand him better, and “we shall be like him.”
During our discussion about charity, I kept on thinking back to the April 2016 General Conference talk “The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness.” It’s such a good message, and I urge you to find the time to read it. I think we can all learn something from it.
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| My hair looked fantastic, and it needed to be documented. |
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| I decided to do pigtail braids on Tuesday, but since I put on a black dress, I realized I was low-key looking like Wednesday Addams. |
Just want to remind everybody on this list that you are spectacular people, and you are loved, even if you don’t feel that way right now! I hope that all of us can work toward seeing each other as people and loving those around us the way Christ would want us to. Which is super hard, but also super worth it.
— Clever Sign-Off,
Hermana Newton
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