My Standard of Living

Happy Christmas everyone!!! 

I know it’s only December 21st but this whole month has been Christmas as we've shared the church’s Christmas videos in every message (almost, sometimes the spirit guides to talk of other things :) If you haven’t seen the Christmas videos yet, please sit down and enjoy! natal.mormon.org

Well it felt more like Christmas because we had our Christmas party as a mission! We journeyed to the churches huge activity site by bus...it was raining...but did that stop me from playing soccer, volleyball, soap soccer, and riding a mechanical bull???? nope. I enjoyed this day of switching clothes and getting dirty /sweaty like my life depended upon it :) A couple days before the sisters were trying to pick out my “Christmas outfit" which I agreed skirt wise but then they asked about jeans and such after we would switch clothes and I was thinking......but I already planned to wear my sweats!! (haha) They were a bit shocked...but they understood my reasoning once they saw me jogging around in the rain...slipping in the mud...juggling the soccer ball etc. Playing soccer with the other sisters was awesome! Wasn’t quite the same but I’ll have you know I played safe and fair :) and scored a goal. We performed our skits/videos as a mission and some were really funny…others we got to boo off the stage if it was boring or inappropriate. I sang a couple songs, ate popscicles, appetizer type treats and dinner. The other great surprise was receiving 5 letters and two packages! I’m so blessed! And I was so patient :) Let’s just say I really had to pay 'taxes" for one of the packages a couple of weeks ago. 

This week I learned that the Articles of Faith are amazing! They are so simple but they explain practically everything we teach as a missionary. Hey you primary kids (and everyone else) really, memorize these great articles of faith because they will help you remember the basics and cling to the faith in the future! Also, God is the ultimate Author! He has written so many stories, some with smooth starts and rough middles, others with rough beginnings and high hopes but thankfully we all have the same ending. Or He's hoping on having us choose such. Let’s start reading the pages before us and deciding which ending is for us. 

In church we talked about Christ being the perfect example and the perfect standard of living. Even though life brings heat, thirst, hunger, and pain, it also brings joy, satisfaction, success, and peace. Christ is the perfect example, and shows us how to get the most out of this life. Some thoughts of the week: 

1. "When everything is going wrong is when we need to choose to do right, feel right, and act right or the bad will drag us down and prevail" 

2."Christ is our best friend. Know Him better than you know yourself just as He knows you better than you know yourself" (that one was a bit confusing and repetitive) 

3. "The lower or more down we are only gives us more opportunity and room to show our strength and capacity to arise and lift ourselves out of the hole."

I don’t know if I already announced this but this past 15th of December was my 5 month mark!...I think the months and days are combining! It’s been a great week. I can’t believe I will talk face to face with my family this week! Know that I’m walking these hills, sweating like crazy, eating my fill, and serving my brothers and sisters. The gospel of Christ is my standard of living. Is it a way of life for you? Happy days await if you live as He did.

Love,

Sister Oldroyd, Christ’s Follower