But we know I recover fast because I just have to tell you that I love you and this gospel just makes me too dang happy to stay quiet for long. Ha ha. Cousin Tom's letter inspired me to write my Christmas in number form, so here you have it, Christmas week by the numbers.
Reasons I loved Christmas:
1. This is the first time I really appreciated Christmas for the gift it is, the gift of Christ to us, from our Father.
2. My moose (actually reindeer but they look like moose) ears. They brought Christmas miracles on the bus. We taught like triple the lessons and got to have an awesome experience with the nursing staff at the Lutheran home when she asked if we celebrated holidays. Clearly. I have moose ears on. Sister Pope wearing my wiggling Santa ears also helped and put her in this crazy awesome happy Christmas spirit.
3. I saw Cori and Chelsey and their walking babies! What the goodness, my babies walk. I can't describe the joy it was to see your faces. We've got a good looking family and I'm grateful for you. I'm a lucky daughter, sister, cousin, aunt and granddaughter. Oh and niece!
4. Seeing the family was so exciting it is going on twice. That was the fastest hour of my whole mission!
5. We got to start out Christmas with our President and all the other busing missionaries and a few others at the City Branch Building. (apparently it's all on the mission blog so if you want some pictures of us attempting to play chimes in sync, not the boy band, check it out there)
You know what, to heck with the numbers, I can only talk to in story format or first person essay. Now if only you could see my facial expressions, we could get some good stories told. It was a great Christmas though full, of fudge, dill pickle chips and even cilantro made by the Espinosas. They have a son named Samuel who is two. Whenever we go over for FHE they sing "Samule was a lamanite who stood upon the wall.." and then his siblings try to shoot him with fake arrows and he dodges them. Super funny. We got to tour Candy Cane Lane with our Bishops family and discover the Christmas dinosaur, we played with the Lofgrans, sang in the Christmas choir and I played Christmas music loud and proud and laughed with the world's nicest post man when mailing out packages. We reconnected with an awesome bus contact who was being released from his half way house program, and a few of my favorite bus friends.
But what made it the best was remembering why we celebrate this day and getting to share that message with those who have never heard it before. When we were at the bus stop, a young lady came up to us after talking on the phone to her mom and said, "I normally talk to her longer but I said there was two missionaries at the stop with me and she told me not to worry because I would be surrounded by two angels." I thought that was really sweet.
Today my favorite scriptures are Mathew 9:37-38 and Mathew 7:7-8.
This is the Armstrongs who are awesome.
This is a vain picture because holla look how long my hair is!
And we were eating cereal but I like that you can see our tree and my stocking.
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