"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." Ether 12:27

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Week of December One-EIGHT: Calls coming soon--LIFE is GREAT!

Elder D!

Subject: Well... I thought yesterday was Mother's Day!?!?! (should I be worried or flattered?!)

Hello Family,

I am not going to lie, I am SUPER excited to talk to you on Christmas and it will be a very nice treat!  Well, I have some news, I can call home and I can SKYPE!!  YEEEEEHA!  I am stoked so I will probably call before I go to church and I will also be able to Skype after Christmas!!!  I am really excited to do both and yes there is NO limit to how long we can talk!  President and Sister Y----- said its a present from them to us for our hard work.  But they did say not to abuse it.  And I don't plan on it.  So family I am excited to talk to you and I am hoping to see you all FACE to FACE soon!  Katie, I was given the OKAY to call you as well on Christmas too!

So I got my birthday presents!  I am wearing them right now!  I am in my slackes and in the sweater, I have the pen in my pocket and I slept with Dave (an UGLY DOLL Nicholas and I hand picked for him at the FAO Schwartz while we visited New York in August) for the the last two nights.  So yes, he has already demonstrated he is a born leader and how much you care for me!  I am not wearing the new white shirt because I am saving it for tomorrow.  Tomorrow I am going to the temple and I am very excited about it.  My birthday was an awesome day.  My companion, Elder B----- made me a cake and breakfast while I was getting ready.  And a ward family made me cupcakes and put candles and sang "Happy Birthday."  I thought it was very kind of them. 

We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders on Tuesday and I thought it was a very good experience though nothing major happened.  We did find two potential investigators. 

Well I am excited for Christmas!  I miss ya and I can say that the Spirit has been telling me constantly that you are doing very very well!!

Love!

Elder Christian James Delis
---------------------------
Hermana Kate Delis

Subject: WOO HOO PHONE CALLSS!!

Hello, fam! 

I'm really sorry that I scared you so bad about the lost birthday present.  It is found.  And my neighbors aren't wearing my clothes, haha.  It was so great--I can't believe how cool that banner is mom!  Also, MIJ (the UGLY DOLL Nicholas and I chose for Katie) is crazy!  I sleep with her all the time, and she always ends up in random spots when I wake up, like staring at my face when I open my eyes.  I try not to be creeped out, but you know, she is an UGLY DOLL.  Haha, she's crazy. :)  Thank you so much for all the love and effort you put into my package--it was really fun.

Well, phone calls:  I should be good on my time.  Two members have skype in my branch (one downloaded it last night so she could have us over, haha), and we should be able to come over and talk.  Either way, I'll call before hand to get your skype names--cannot remember!  But plan on a great call :) WOO!

Well, life is rocking out here in Carpentersville.  I'm jsut at such a cool point in my mission, and it blows me away daily--hourly it feels like these days.  It's incredible.  I feel like I'm living the moments of the mission people talk about all the time--the experiences with people that just change your life in profound ways. They're just incredible.

I had an experience at an appointment with my companion where I watched God answer so many prayers in the lesson.  Hna H----- (the investigator), Hna C----- (her companion) and mine.  It was so so neat.  This happened yesterday and I just felt like I lived and breathed the words of Ammon when he says I will boast in my God for His strength, I can do all things.  With all my heart I know that is true.  Family, I love to be a missionary.  In all that I am I love it because God lives and loves us so much.  He exists.  His promises are real, and if we just desire to know Him, we will come to that knowledge.  I know that.  I am so grateful for Christ.  He makes God's plan of happiness possible.  I will forever be changed by my opportunity to serve a mission.  I had no idea what He wanted to give me by being out here.  I go to bed knowing that I have walked where Christ would have today, I did what He would have today, I said what He would have today.  I am a representative of Him.  Can you believe He lets me do that? ...Most of the time I can't, haha.  Weird little Hna Delis.  But I hope those who meet me know that I will forever boast in Him because of the love He has freely given to me.  I pray that when people talk to me they see Him.

AH!  We're so blessed!  Haha, tell your friends!  Just tell them you love them!  Ah!  Just share it--share the ways you feel love. :)

Okay, I love you!  Talk to you soon :)

Hna Delis

Monday, December 19, 2011

Week of December One-One: All is well and we're back to postin' FUN!

Hello to one and all!

Life throws us unexpected adventures and as many of you know this is a common occurence at our home!  But fortunately we can bounce back and we are up and running again!  Due to some health issues, I have not been able to keep current on our missionary posts....Sorry :(  Now that I am healthy and to simplify things, I have decided to resume our blog by posting from last week's email forward. :) Please do not worry, all is well at our home base in Virginia and with both our missionaries.  Both were transferred right before Thanksgiving to new areas and are VERY happy.  The transfers were a timely move for both of them.  Kate and Christian enjoyed their Thanksgiving experience away from home and are looking forward to calling us on Christmas day.  

We wish each of you a wonderful Christmas season!  With our two missionaries away and my health, our family has simplified our lives quite a bit, making this Christmas season a special one.  It is amazing how much your life can be blessed when you let the busy-ness of the season go.  We hope that your homes are filled with the true meaning of Christmas.  And that you have the opportunity to reflect on Christ's birth and his atonement.

Love to each of you!
Tina

Below are portions of last week's emails:

Elder D!

Subject:  Wow ... Well it seems weird to say that I will be 20 ....

Well family this is Elder De-lis and I hope all is well this week!  We are going to be having a great month in January!  President Y---- wants the mission to have 100 baptisms in the month of January!  WOW!  I totally think that is possible.  I have to say I feel the spirit behind that and the most amazing thing is that he feels so strongly that it can happen. 

So we found 5 potential families in one day!  We were on exchanges with one of the traveling assistants to the President, Elder S------ and he is a great missionary and we planned to find 2 new investigator families.  That day we found FIVE!  Alright, so at 12 we prayed we would tract by a former member in the Area book and that we would be able to then have a family near by that would be interested in the message.  We knock on the house and no answer, then we went to one door over and we were in the car and we prayed and I had a prompting during the prayer to look to my right at a house and in the window I see a little girl.  So we went and knocked on this house's door to see if they might be interested in our message.  They were!  They said to come back on the 23rd of December.  So we are totally going to do that!  We knocked on the next door and the woman there was interested too!  We go one road up and we see a man riding a road bike and I talked to him a little bit about the gospel and we have an appointment for this Wednesday!  These examples are the ones I am most exicted about!  I thought that they were really cool!  I learned this week that if you have enough faith miracles can happen!

I hope this week goes well with each of you!!!

I love you!

Elder Christian James Delis

-------------------------------

Hermana Kate Delis

Subject: Hello again :)

Hi fam :)  Sorry again my email didn't get to you last week--I have no idea what happened.  Hopefully you got it this week.  Maybe it was a horrible email and you weren't suppose to get it...welp!  

Well, the work rocks.  I love being here.  I have had some of the coolest, strongest experiences on my mission this far over the past few weeks, and it's been so special.  I just learn every day that the Lord is so mindful of me.  It seems so so backwards that that is what I come away with--I spend all day trying to focus on the Lord and others, and the more I do, I just feel how close the Savior is to ME.  It blows me away.  I have no doubt that He lives, that He loves me so much.  It's neat, too, because I am learning how to better help other people recognize that in their lives.  That's always the struggle--I talked about it a lot in my last letter--I was just so flustered because I struggle to understand how to TRULY invite people to come unto Christ.  If I really love people, I direct them to Christ.  It's that simple.  Therefore, I have to know what Christ teaches, what His laws are, where to find answers, THEN how to teach it all.  What a struggle.  I stress about it a lot.  But everything all works out according ot heavenly's Father's plan.  But I just want to follow Him.  We are finding so many people that want the same things!

My companion: She's great!  It's Hna C-----, and she is such a powerful woman.  She REALLY understands the gospel and just wants to live it.  She's hysterical, so we have a ton a fun serving together.  I've told you before, companions are HUGE in the mission.  Just hugely important.  We strenghten each other--we have the potential to do so so much for each other because we are literally inseperable.  One thing I appreciate a tone:  I can tell she prays for me in lessons.  I can feel it when she does.  It makes a difference.  Prayers matter. :)

Okay, well I have to get going.  :)  I love to be a missionary, and I am grateful that you always support me.  I feel it so often!

Hna Delis