Talihina-Week 4

Happy Choctaw Day everyone!!! It's true! TODAY of all days is Choctaw day. GO OUT AND CELEBRATE! But by all means don't try to get any errands done or any prescriptions filled haha....found that out the hard way. When your whole town is Choctaw they will not be found anywhere but home or parties. But alas! This week has been great! One of my investigators in Henryetta, Brian, GOT BAPTIZED AND I WAS ABLE TO GO BACK!!!!!! :D It was SO awesome. He asked me earlier in the week if I'd speak at his baptism on ...baptism haha and then wonderful Brother Baxter (henryetta ward mission leader) and Terryn (his niece) drove an hour and 45 minutes to come get me just to turn around and drive back to Henryetta, then drive me home then drive back to Henryetta AGAIN...HE IS FANTASTIC AND I LOVE HIM A LOT! :) It was so good to see Sister Fleck and our apartment again haha...which it turns out I left a TON of stuff and they had a bag waiting for me :) I really gotta downsize. I'll attach pictures but I was able to see the Flowers again and Dalton Baptized Brian and then I got to see Sister Alward and Sister Hanson..SO fun! After that Sister Burrows and I went to a Christmas party at the Veteran's colony in which we had a "dirty santa" game...I don't know WHY they call it that...it's a white elephant game thing...super uncomfortable name for it haha ANYWAY! It was fun. Sister Burrows brought a big bag of rolos and I wrapped a "Finding faith in Christ" dvd and popcorn tehe...IT WAS TERRIFYING! All of these old guys are grumpy and set in their ways and have different views on religion but I couldn't pass up the opportunity and in fact...it would have been wrong if I had passed it up SO!....My gift was literally the LAST one to be opened...I was FREAKING out because there was a whole big hall full of people watching as the guy called opened up my present...when he opened it up he looked right over at us and sighed. He said "really?" AHHH! Terrifying! He held it up and everyone laughed because he is an ATHEIST and very open about it to EVERYONE haha I could have died. BUT! His wife is a lady we're trying to work with and He came up to me later and told me that he actually had a sister that would appreciate it so....who knows haha. Gosh, those moments that define us haha they don't come easily all the time. Anyway, we also got to go see a stake performance of The Messiah yesterday! The Shaws drove us... SO fun! Haha I love them. :) We sang the whole way and guess who I saw at the performance???LIKE ALL OF GREENWOOD WARD!!! It was AWESOME!!!! I was running around hugging everyone! :) It was literally like a family reunion. AND! Some of those people I saw were the Palmer boys! I LOVE the Palmers and I hadn't seen them in almost a YEAR! They tried to give me a hug haha and so did BROTHER VENDEL...and so did Brother Goldsmith (my old mission leader :))  haha I had to remind them I'm STILL a missionary :) It was a BLAST! And this coming week we're having our Christmas party/nativity! We've invited like the whole town so hopefully they show up! I'll be singing "oh little town of Bethlehem" and this kid named Grant will be accompanying me on the guitar! :) PLUS The shaws and sister burrows and I will be playing hand bells for away in a manger :) I'm going to have a family hand bell choir when I grow up haha. I'll try to attach pictures. But don't forget the reason we celebrate this holiday. It's such a special time of year and the Christmas spirit, which is Christ's spirit, really radiates and touches all hearts. It provides SO many opportunities to share what you know and share Christ. He IS the Gift. I'm so grateful for my relationship with Christ. I have truly come to know him as I've turned to him for guidance and as I've seen and felt his influence in the lives of those I teach. I'm grateful for the Christmas season and the special spirit that comes into my heart AND I know that we can have that spirit with us ALL year long as we strive to BECOME like the Savior. If our hearts are turned to him and our hearts become like his heart...of course we'll feel his presence. :) 

Love you forever,

Sister Moreno