One More Day!!

December 24, 2012

Dear Family,

One more day!!

It got one step closer to being officially Christmas last night. We made gingerbread houses! We stopped in to see a less active family in our ward, and the husband isn't a member. The wife invited us right in and they invited us to stay for dinner. It wasn't quite ready yet, so they asked if we would make gingerbread houses with their girls. I still can't decide if they were actually happy to have us do that with them. Who would want to give up the opportunity to make a gingerbread house? I hope the pictures that I sent turned out... After dinner we shared a message. We shared a quote from President Monson, "Before we can successfully undertake a personal search for Jesus, we must first prepare time for Hin in our lives and room for him in our hearts." We asked them what that meant. The husband explained it perfectly for his little girls. I had been under the impression that he wasn't really religious, so I was a little blown away with his response. Both of the girls prayed while we were there, which made me so happy to know that they have worked on that with them. Their eight year old wants to be baptized, hopefully that will also help the husband.

I have learned so much this Christmas season as we have prepared our Christmas message to share with the people we come in contact with. I have been humbled as I have been studying. I have read the Christmas story many times. The story is simple and the nativity scenes that are displayed all over tell the story in a blink of an eye. But this year I have come to a better understanding of how much more there is to Jesus Christ's birth. The shepherds who urgently followed the sign to find our Savior, humble setting of a stable, a manger for a bed, the inn that was full of people coming into town to pay their taxes. I have thought of how much love Mary must have had as she held the Baby Jesus in her arms that night. I love babies. And I haven't had one. I'm sure that a mother's love for her baby is even greater than my love for babies, especially when the baby is her own. I can hardly imagine the love Mary must have had for our Heavenly Father's Only Begotten Son, whom she just gave birth to. It must have been incredible.

I hope you have fun with the family tonight! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Scott

Balmy Christmas in Florida

December 17, 2012

Dear Family,

Thank you for your letters! They are definitely the highlight of my week!

It's pretty hot here in Florida. It has been rainy for the past week, but today it is pretty warm.

I didn't have Mr. Treglown for a teacher, but I know both of his sons. Aaron is my age and Ryan was in my ward at Utah State. It sounds like you all did really great on the run!

There is a little boy here at the house I'm doing e-mails. He has been singing a bunch of songs and he has most of " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" memorized and he is two! He is making me kind of miss preschool.

I get to talk for 30-40 minutes. I am planning on calling around 1 Florida time. ...so 11 your time? Is that okay? I will let you know for sure next week.

We have a drawer full of freshly picked oranges and lemons in our refridgerator.

I can't wait to get your package!

Sorry this e-mail is super lame, but I will send you a letter in the mail. :)

I am super super super excited to talk to you on Christmas! It is only 8 days away! I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Scott 

Merry Christmas!!

December 10, 2012

Dear Family,

CONGRATULATIONS, MOM!!! Guess what?! Saturday night we went out for dinner at a BBQ restaurant too! I was celebrating right along with you! *sigh* BBQs bring a family together even though they are thousands of miles apart. :)

Congratulations, Spencer! I haven't had much of a chance to sign. I did sign with a man with autism, but he would just sign the same signs back to me. We call ourselves Preach My Gospel missionaries if that says anything to you. So to answer your question: Yes, we use it quite a bit. :) Monsters' Inc -ha ha Smooth

It sounds like you all had a great week! I also had a great week! This week Sister Jensen was added to our companionship. So now I am once again part of a trio. And you know what? I like this trio. Not that I didn't like the one I was in at the MTC, but this one is just super! We have only been in this trio for a few days, but we seem to teach really well together.

I got to go up to St. Mary's again for another trade off, which will probably be the last one for a while. I got to see *****, who is that lady that I am always talking about. Her husband is really concerned about tithing and got offended that a single mom who spoke in Sacrament meeting was asked to pay her tithing. I guess they haven't been back to church. But ***** let us come over and she made hot chocolate for us. What was supposed to be a five minute visit (because she was tired) turned into a little over an hour. She said that she really wanted to see me. I shared a scripture with her -Alma 27:17, which talks about Ammon being so excited to see Alma he fainted. She said that she was almost that excited to see me. -which fit in perfectly because we wanted to talk to her about "likening" the scriptures. 1 Nephi 19:23

I did get the music. ...however, there wasn't a lot of room in the program and I wasn't sure when I would get the music, so I told Sister Sparks not to worry about putting me on. I have enjoyed playing it on Sister Pearce's keyboard though. So, Thank you! :)

And thank you for all the pictures! Lucy is SO cute! Tell Matt and Lindsay Congratulations!!

Sister Jensen said that I can use her coat that she has.

I can Skype or call. You pick. :)

I just can't wait to talk to you! Ah! 2 weeks and 1 day! :)

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Scott