December 19, 2016 -- Merry Almost Christmas!

The snow continues to fall in Elmira. It's great because it actually feel like the Christmas season unlike last year where it was 65 degrees outside. It was so nice out that I skyped my family outside. I really am loving the Christmas season. It gives people all the more reason to listen to our message of Christ. Elder Crandall and I have been seeing a lot of great things happen this week but the one I want to share happened this past Saturday.

Elder Crandall and I went to go visit April. April is a member who has not been to church in a while. She wants to come back but, due to her depression and social anxiety, she has a hard time finding the motivation to come to church. We went to visit Saturday night and started off by following up on a commitment we left with her last time to read the Book of Mormon everyday. She began to tell us all the thing that had happened to her in the past week. She was hit by a car. No broken bones luckily. Lots of family drama has been going on and the list goes on. I noticed throughout the whole thing that, in spite of everything that happened to her, she always listed the positive things that came from these situations. The best part at the very end was when she said that she smiled at work for the first time in a long time. She told us how she was feeling joy again and it was all because she read only a few verses out of the Book of Mormon every day. It's amazing what blessings come from such a small change in someone's day to day life like reading the Book of Mormon. There is truly a power that comes from reading it and I am grateful that I can feel it daily when I read.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and remember to turn outward and serve others as the Savior would.

The sky is blue, the Church is true, and life is good.

 

Elder Carlile

 

Christmas Week Tracting with Elder Crandall