"Santaaaaaa!" - Buddy the Elf

(This email was sent on Dec. 29, 2013. Yes I'm a loser or a slacker or both. Honestly though, I read Emily's emails and then I forget to share them with all of you. I have like a year to get better at updating in a timely fashion. Cheers! Kristin)
 

This week was saaaahweeet.

So for those of you that don't own a calender, Christmas was this past week and it was killer. On Christmas Eve we had dinner at a members, Co Phuong's, house. It was a heap load of fun and her five year old grandson sang Feliz Navidad for like an hour for us. 

Christmas Eve at Co Phuong's house.



I felt like a chump though because I couldn't remember the words to the darn song. All of my not so hard work at Spanish is gone. Para Bailar La Bamba used to be my jam and now it's all gone. Back when I was at home people always mistook me for a Mexican and when they tried speaking Spanish to me I could at least sing Para Bailar La Bamba to them. Now when I get home and everyone thinks I'm a Mexican again what am I going to do?! The struggle. OH! Santa showed up at Co Phuong's house! You know in the movie Elf when Santa shows up at Gimble's and Buddy the Elf goes insane? Yeah, that was me when Santa showed up on his motorcycle.

 (Please reference the attached picture to understand my excitement.)

Santa, Vietnam style.

District One Christmas Lights.

Riding back home on Christmas Eve was a party and a half. The streets in District One were insane in the membrane so I took some sweet pics of the lights for you all------->

You're welcome.
 

Christmas Day we visited members and it was Chi Van's birthday too! Everyone threw a surprise party for her that included spring rolls, fruit and Dunkin' Donuts. It doesn't get any better than that. All in all I loved Christmas in Vietnam! Some of the members and investigators have told me that they read this blog, so shout out to all of you. Thank you for making Christmas awesome! :)
 

So yesterday I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting. For those of you that have heard me give talks before you know that I basically just stand up there and say whatever. It's not like I don't prepare a talk, but I just get up there and go with the flow. And typically going with the flow just ends up being a mess and I speak for like 5 minutes then the following speaker has to give a 40 minute talk....my farewell talk to be exact. Haha I spoke about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and it went fairly well.

Recently my new favorite scripture is Alma 7:12. It reads: "And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." I love this scripture because many of us know that Jesus Christ died for our sins. He willingly died so that we may all have the opportunity to repent and become better people each day. But he also went through all of that so He can know exactly how we feel in our experiences and trials. 
 

I relate the idea to a friend who cannot give us advice or counsel because they have never had experiences similar to us. Although they may sincerely want to help, they do not know what advice to give because they are not in our situation. Jesus Christ is the only one who knows exactly what we are feeling though. He clearly knows every emotion, every trial and every thought we have. He's the one who will counsel us. He knows how to "succor his people according to [our] infirmities." 

That is why the Atonement is so amazing. It's the opportunity for each of us to rid ourselves of sorrow and pain, become forgiven, receive the advice of the most perfect Person and become better and happier.
  

What a blessing it is to have a knowledge of the Restored Gospel! I just celebrated Christ's birth as a missionary - a servant of The Lord - and I'm in a mission that is perfect for me. I'm the luckiest girl in the world. 
 

I hope you all enjoyed Christmas and I hope you will always carry the Light of Christ with you. Share that Light with others and share the glad message. 
 

I love you all,

 

Sister Egelund

 

Matching ties and headbands for Christmas.

Fun fact: Out of 25 missions in Asia, the Cambodia, Phnom Penh mission is the fastest progressing mission!