The good stuff

This week passed by super fast! Sister Nascimento and I stayed with
Sister Fernandes in her area, Coronel Antonino, becuase she didn´t
have a companion (she was waiting for a part time companion to show up
but then the part timer got sick and couldnt serve anymore). But it
was so much fun!! Us three got along super well! We just laughed to
whole time. But we didnt work in our area so I dont have much updates..

This week we also had our Christmas Conference and it was so good! I
saw a lot of my friends that i hadnt seen in a long time!

OH also our investigator, Antônio, went to church yesterday!!! He is
progressing a ton and everytime we teach him he always has a notebook
filled with questions. I love seeing how the gospel gives people this
drive to learn, to know more, to continue growing. And I love even
more that the gospel doesnt have a limit of how much we can learn and
grow. Its the best thing ever.

Also yesterday in church I gave a talk about christmas and used this
talk by Uchtdorf. Its super good!!!! It talks about seeing Christ in
the things around us. Ill copy and paste the talk because its short
and i know hardly no one clicks on the links. hahaha

``Can We See the Christ?

One night a grandfather was reading a story to his four-year-old
granddaughter when she looked up and said, ?Grandpa, look at the
stars!? The older man smiled kindly and said, ?We?re indoors, honey.
There are no stars here.? But the child insisted, ?You have stars in
your room! Look!?

The grandfather looked up and, to his surprise, noticed that the
ceiling was peppered with a metallic glitter. It was invisible most of
the time, but when the light struck the glitter a certain way, it did
indeed look like a field of stars. It took the eyes of a child to see
them, but there they were. And from that moment on, when the
grandfather walked into this room and looked up, he could see what he
had not been able to see before.

We are entering another wonderful Christmas season filled with music
and lights, parties and presents. But of all people, we as members of
the church that bears the Savior?s name need to look beyond the façade
of the season and see the sublime truth and beauty of this time of year.

I wonder how many in Bethlehem knew that right there, close to them,
the Savior had been born? The Son of God, the long-awaited and
promised Messiah?He was in their midst!

Do you remember what the angel told the shepherds? ?Unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.?
And they said to themselves, ?Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and
see this thing which is come to pass? (Luke 2:11, 15).

Like the shepherds of old, we need to say in our hearts, ?Let us see
this thing which is come to pass.? We need to desire it in our hearts.
Let us see the Holy One of Israel in the manger, in the temple, on the
mount, and on the cross. Like the shepherds, let us glorify and praise
God for these tidings of great joy!

Sometimes the most difficult things to see are those that have been
right in front of us all along. Like the grandfather who failed to see
the stars on the ceiling, we sometimes cannot see that which is in
plain sight.

We who have heard the glorious message of the coming of the Son of
God, we who have taken upon us His name and have covenanted to walk in
His path as His disciples?we must not fail to open our hearts and
minds and truly see Him.

The Christmas season is wonderful in many ways. It is a season of
charitable acts of kindness and brotherly love. It is a season of
being more reflective about our own lives and about the many blessings
that are ours. It is a season of forgiving and being forgiven. It is a
season to enjoy the music and lights, parties and presents. But the
glitter of the season should never dim our sight and prevent us from
truly seeing the Prince of Peace in His majesty.

Let us all make this year?s Christmas season a time of rejoicing and
celebration, a time when we acknowledge the miracle that our Almighty
God sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem the world!```

Love you all!! Thanks for everything!

-Sis Lloyd