Sister Raquel Douglas: The Beautiful Christmas Season

I just LOVE being a missionary! What an incredible week it's been, full of miracles and joy:)

This past fast Sunday I was fasting that we would be able to find someone new to teach, someone that would be ready for the gospel. I prayed all day and the very next day we got a Church Headquarters referral! WOW can you say blessed! He was a student at the University and he had requested a Book of Mormon online! We went and delivered it, but his roommate answered and said that Blake was sleeping. His roommate asked if we had the Book of Mormon that Blake requested and we were pretty shocked that he knew about it! We gave it to him and then yesterday we texted Blake and asked if he got it. He thanked us and said he did. We asked if he had started reading it, and he said no, but that he had time to read it that day. We told him to call or text if he had any questions and he was so grateful! It was amazing:) I can't wait to see what happens!

I had my first lesson with our eternal investigator, Charlotte on Wednesday that went pretty well! We had a couple form the ward come to fellowship them and it was a perfect match up! They bore their powerful testimonies and talked about their conversion. It was really good for Charlotte to hear. I can't tell you how grateful I am for amazing members who are willing to go out of their comfort zone to come teach with us. It makes such a difference in how the lesson goes, and by the end they have another friend in the church!

Our stake president is putting together a live nativity and it's going to be so AWESOME!!! He bought llama's and sheep for it and everything... haha going all out! He wants all of the missionaries to be a part of it so we went over and the sisters sewed for a few hours while the elders were outside building a stable. It all looks really good and it was so much fun to be with the missionaries in my zone! We are having the nativity this upcoming week and I'm so excited! We have been going around inviting everyone! The other night we were tracting and inviting people and we ran into a family that knew this amazing family in our ward and they said they would come:)

Check out the sweet costumes we made and the manger the elders made!
We are so excited for this weekend! President Johnson is even coming!

I'm so grateful for this time I have to devote my everything in hastening the work. The Church is growing and hope is being spread to all who are willing to accept it!

I'm so excited for this Christmas season and I really wish it lasted longer! So many hearts are softened and ready for the gospel. Pray for and find ways to spread this great message that a Savior has been born. We can find joy in this crazy world, and there is hope!

After zone conference I went on exchanges with my STL Sister Sears, who is amazing. I just love the missionaries in the PPM:) I went to Hanover and it was just so much fun to work with Sister Sears, who is a Spanish speaking sister! We had a lesson that night with a couple who are both from Mexico and have the cutest little kids! Sister Sears is such an incredible missionary and had to do the lesson all by herself and then translated my testimony at the end. The spirit was so strong as we talked to this humble, so ready to learn, kind family! It's truly remarkable how the spirit is understood by all who are willing to listen.

The next day we were trying to decide on where exactly we needed to be that day, because we've all been trying to share the Christmas initiative like crazy. Sister Sears felt really impressed that we needed to see a man they had met previously on accident. He had just lost his wife and when we came to the door we asked if we could set up a time to talk about what we believed about the afterlife. He broke down and just started sobbing and said that he was heartbroken at the loss of his wife who he loved. We both felt impressed to talk about the power of temple sealing and how marriage can last for the eternities! The spirit was so strong and I was filled with so much love and compassion for this complete stranger, yet familiar brother in Christ!

Yesterday I gave a talk in church and it went pretty well! The spirit was so strong yesterday in church and Sister Jex and I both kept tearing up through out the day. This time of the year, when our thoughts are turned to Christ, it brings such a special spirit that truly is amazing. In my talk I focused a lot on the two articles form this Decembers Ensign. The first was A Savior is Born, by Elder Oaks, and the second was Be At Peace, by Elder Christopherson! If you haven't read them yet, I totally recommend you do! One quote I loved by Elder Christopherson was, "Take time to relax, be at peace, and see this little child in your mind. Do not be too concerned or overwhelmed with what is coming in His life or in yours. Instead, take a peaceful moment to contemplate perhaps the most serene moment in the history of the world—when all of heaven rejoiced with the message “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14)."

I love you all so very much and you are always in my prayers!

I hope you're enjoying this beautiful Christmas season:)

❤LOVE Sister Raquel Douglas