Week 18 - Joyeux Noël!!!

Salut à tous!! Joyeux Noël!!! C'est fou que c'est Noël déjà!! Comment va la vie? Man vous me manquez beaucoup!!! 

This week was really good. Mark, a recent convert, who attends school at the University of Texas, Austin, but is from here, introduced us to 2 more of his friends when we all went out to lunch together.  We had a really good lesson with them on who we are as missionaries and what we do. They expressed interest in learning more so after the holidays and finals they want to meet with us and hear more!

On Saturday night we had our branch Christmas party.  We had 2 part member families, 2 investigators and almost all of our members come!! It was so awesome to have them all together eating and talking and creating friendships!! Since it was the week before Christmas it was harder to meet with people.

In a BYU Devotional talk by Elder Holland that I listened to recently he talks about Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. Elder Holland said, "...everyone, including (and perhaps especially) the righteous, will be called upon to face trying times. When that happens we can sometimes fear God has abandoned us, and we might be left, at least for a time, to wonder when our troubles will ever end. We identify with him when he cries from the depth and discouragement of his confinement:O God, where art thou? . . .
How long shall thy hand be stayed . . . ?
Yea, O Lord, how long shall [thy people] suffer . . . before . . . thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them? [D&C 121:1–3]
That is a painful, personal cry—a cry from the heart, a spiritual loneliness we may all have occasion to feel at some time in our lives."
When in these troubled times we must remember what Heavenly Father replied to Joseph,

My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. [D&C 121:7–8]

We will all face trials and pains and times where we may even question the existence of God. I pray that when we face these times that we will rely completely and fully on the Lord. The Lord will not forsake us.

I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. [D&C 84:88]

I love you all so much and am so grateful for everything each one of you has done for me!

Merry Christmas!! 

Love, 

Elder DiReda