O Come All Ye Faithful

Hello everyone! I hope you guys all had an amazing week!!!

Our was busy and exhausting as per usual. It has been a fun week with inviting so many people to participate in #LIGHTtheWorld. Beyond grateful for the opportunity to invite others to come unto Christ this Christmas season. We were able to watch the first presidency Christmas devotional last night. It was the greatest thing. A scripture they kept referring to was 2 Nephi 19:6 

 "6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God,The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

One of my favourite scriptures that sums up the Saviour. I know that a few months back I talked about the atonement and how Christ coming was all part of Gods plan. Yesterday as they were talking I was reflecting on Gods whole purpose and plan for us. That it began in the pre-existence. I truly know that there wouldn't be a Christmas without an Easter. I know Christ had to come to earth and had to suffer for us. Brother Holmes talked about giving and receiving gifts. Sometimes we just look at the gifts God gives us but then we never open them. We just leave them sitting under the Christmas tree to be admired. One of the best gifts he has given us is the Holy Ghost. He gave 3 ways that we can receive that gift.  I wont go over all of them (you can just watch the devotional) but one of them was increasing faith. He said

"Increased faith brings greater endowments of the Spirit into our lives. So how do we increase our faith in Christ?We feast on and obey His word. Elder D. Todd Christofferson taught, “The central purpose of all scripture is to fill our souls with faith in God the Father and in His Son, Jesus Christ.”²⁵ This truth is found throughout the Book of Mormon. King Benjamin, for example, taught his people the words he received from an angel, which helped them have “exceeding faith” in Jesus Christ, and because of that faith the Spirit wrought a mighty change in their hearts.²⁶

If we desire the Holy Ghost as our daily companion, we will feast on and obey the word of Christ received through the scriptures, living prophets, and the whisperings of the Spirit. This daily pursuit of light and truth will increase our faith in Christ, our desire to be like Him, and our capacity to receive the third member of the Godhead as our constant companion."

I am grateful for all the counsel we were able to receive yesterday and that we were reminded on the birth of our Saviour. I know that as we truly feast on and obey the word of God then we will be blessed with even more than we can imagine. I am grateful that Christmas will be on a Sunday this year and that we get to go to church and partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants. I am grateful for the gift of the holy ghost and the many other things our Father in Heaven has given to us. I hope you all look for the gifts you have been given and seek ways to use them to bless others.

Happy Holidays!

Sister Boiteux

Pictures!

 Trade-offs with the Manukau sisters. This is Sister Stapley. She totally went to Bingham my senior year!! Miners are taking over the mission one sister at a time :)

Had to treat ourselves to nandos (sorry I send so many food pictures)

Some cute Christmas decorations. All I get since we have nothing in our flat.

Trade off with our Chinese sisters (Sister Howell). Once again more food cause she was teaching me how to use chop sticks. We also found out that we both lived at University Villas at the same time before our missions haha