White HOT Christmas

I is definitely not white as in snow here... but the sun does reflect quite bright off of a lot of white objects... ha But yes it is very warm here! It is nice! I love it. But no, it really does not feel like Christmas at all... haha except we put up the lights in the apartment and hung up the stalking I got in my package. And we found a mini tree in our closet! So yea... ha and the bag of nuts did make it seem a little bit more like Christmas! ha Christmas Conference was awesome! a lot of good stuff. we watched a movie called Ephraim’s rescue. apparently it is new. It is a story of a man and how he helped the pioneers cross the plains. it was awesome! I liked it. very spirit filled honestly. There was a quote in that really stuck out to me "You have to Lose your life in order to Find it!" That hit deep. I even wrote it down in my notes! haha. Christmas is interesting down under... ha it is a lot more like the 4th of July almost... everyone keeps inviting us over for lunch. I can call around 7 that should work. all the people sound fine. an hour is about the longest I can take probably. Things are progressing here work wise. We had 2 investigators at our ward party. and 1 at church last week and a different one this week. we should be picking up here soon! all is well! oh and this is crazy to think that that the Knudsen’s are moving! they are like the 1 family I never expected to move... but it makes sense once you think about it...

My core experience with God this week is I guess a lot of little things. A lot of little things started to become more clear. In my studying and because of the Temple trip we were blessed to take. The love of God & Christ was truly shown to me this week through personal revelation. There was no great or marvelous moment, but several little moments that cleared things up and made me understand more fully the gospel. Which in turn brings great joy to a missionary. It was quite the appropriate experience given the season!

  I have been doing better in my teaching I feel like. Me and Elder Tsai had a good companion study earlier in the week that helped me listen better. As I am becoming a better listener I am more able to teach according to their needs, rather than hitting all the points of the lesson. Before, I thought "What they NEED is to listen to the WHOLE lesson and stop interrupting!" Obviously I was in the wrong here. ha. I am starting to be able to better help the people we teach and apply the gospel to them as I tailor the lesson, even in mid-lesson. Continuing to try and better my teaching skills, onward and upward!""

   We visited a less active man with an active member in our branch. For a while I was trying to think of something to help this individual. When after he said some of his further concerns, my mouth opened and I asked a rather deep question inquiring about his feelings of the church in general. As I sat and watched him ponder I noticed his expression change a bit. It definitely was a testament to me on how listening and having the holy ghost with you can change EVERYTHING for the better in a lesson.

Love you all Merry CHRISTmas!

Love,

   Elder Ford

 "Come What May & Love It!"  - Joseph B. Wirthlin