Farr Along The Road I Traveled: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Howdy Howdy Family and Friends!

It has been such a crazy week here in the TLM! It was 83 degrees in Monahans on Monday, and by Friday in Hobbs, it was a chill 19 outside!

Sister Plante thinks I'm funny, so she writes down things I say sometimes, and my favorite of her favorite quotes of the week was when we were knocking Friday night, trying to find someone's home and I said "I thought I was called to the Texas Lubbock Mission, not the Arctic Tundra Mission!" It was soooo burrrrrrrr outside!

But yeah, it was so crazy with my traveling! I went from Monahans to Lubbock on Tuesday, taught with the sisters in the YSA (Young Single Adults) Ward up there, and turned around and went back South to Hobbs on Wednesday with Sister Plante to open up a brand new area!

When we got here, we didn't know anything from where we were going to be living, to our phone number- really nothing. But we got a car (which we later found out used to belong to the Elders we share the ward with! ...poor Elders, have to walk/bike ALL the time now!) and a phone and keys and followed the zone leaders to our new home! Really, it's brand new- we were soooo surprised, we have tile on our kitchen floor, and a GARAGE! --garages are almost non-existent around these parts, namely because since everything is growing so fast with the oil business, most people are living in trailers. But, our phone didn't work, and we had to set up all our furniture (which wasn't much but it had to be put together). So by 5 o'clock, we had it all barely set up, and our front room was a mess of boxes, and suitcases.

We finally got a working phone, ran to Wal-Mart to grab some food and toilet paper for a couple days, and by 6 we were able to meet with our Elders (Johnson and Hogan), and were given some direction where to get started! We met the Bishop, and were introduced to 2 part-member families whose children we will be teaching, and we got to work trying to meet up with a few of the investigators who had been taught the past few weeks.

We met this amazing family- the Seamen's on Wednesday, and they invited us to dinner on Thursday night! It was so crazy, how warm the welcome has been from the ward, and how excited about missionary work they are! :D

We really hit the ground running-- or biking I guess, because Friday was bike day (because of some freezing rain on Thursday), and we went between 15-20 miles in the freezing cold! It was worth it though! A lot of members who saw us pointed out that we were "tough" on Sunday when they talked to us, so they know we're here to work hard!

It is weird to be in a big ward again, because Bishop asked us to introduce ourselves and bear our testimony on Sunday in front of everyone, and it felt as big as the ward in Virginia! It definitely feels like home here--the Christmas season is probably helping with that! :)

We've been working so hard the past few days, I've actually been able to sleep almost all the way through the night! haha, you know it's a good day when you're out by the time your head hits the pillow. We still aren't completely unpacked, but it will come. :) I'm excited to be here in Hobbs with Sister Plante and we are both looking forward to the amazing Christmas season that's coming up!

I'm just feeling very blessed to be a missionary here, and I'm so excited for how much there really is to do to serve the Lord, especially at this time of the year when we are able to set aside even more time to remember the gift He has given us of His son! I felt this incredible peace last night as we watched the Christmas devotional, and the Spirit really testified to me again, just how impoartant it is to remember the Spirit of Christ during Christmas, and remember this is a time to truly serve our brothers and sisters no matter where we are.

I love the Lord, and I love His gospel! I'm so glad to be here and have the opportunity to be set apart so I can testify with boldness to everyone I meet that Jesus is my Savior, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His church once again on the earth. :) Like it was said last night during the devotional, His life-His gift to us-neither began in Bethlehem, nor ended on Calvary, but His gift to us is eternal, and His hand is always stretched forth!

All my love,

Sister Heather Ann Lagrosa

Pictures:

1- bundling up for bike day!

2- winter wonderland!

3- Sunday mornings = the BEST!