It's Hard to Cry Repentance When You Don't Have a Voice

Dear family and friends,
The weather here is literally killing me. The cold rain has my allergies on the fritz which resulted in me losing my voice about half way through the week. Fortunately with the help of some salt water rinses, a whole bag of cough drops, a priesthood blessing, and some silence I had my voice back in time to call bingo at the retirement home and sing in Ward choir on Sunday. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Sister Pochop and I enjoyed not one, not two, but three delicious Thanksgiving dinners. They were spread out over two days so we didn't go into massive turkey comas like last year. It was wonderful to get to celebrate the holiday with members of the Ward. I loved getting to reflect with many people this week on the many blessings our Heavenly Father gives us.

This year I am especially grateful for the wonderful gift of getting to serve a mission for the past 18 months. I am so grateful for the amazing experiences I have had and the people I have been able to meet and be touched by. I am grateful that I have been able to come closer to my Savior and to understand just a little more about His atonement and how much He loves us. I am grateful that I have become a little more like Him. And I am so grateful that even after I take off my tag I can still continue to come closer to Him and become more like Him.

Yesterday the new Christmas initiative came out called "A Savior is Born"  It. Is. Awesome.  And the website is awesomer. If you have yet to see it I highly encourage you to. The whole idea behind it is that 2000 years ago a Savior was born- find out why. We shared this with a family yesterday and the girls immediately wanted to know the answer to why a savior was born. We told them the answer could be found in the Book of Mormon. Immediately they grabbed their copies of the Book of Mormon and wanted to know where to start reading so they could find the answer. Oh if everyone could have that type of enthusiasm!  This Christmas season I invite everyone to do a little study and a little reflection on why the Savior was born. A wonderful place to start is in the Book of Mormon.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Love
Sister Aase