Happy 2009!

Dear friends and family,I hope all of you are well. I am in my 7th week at the MTC, and I'm finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My companion and I were adding it up and it looks as though we're going to end up being here for TEN and a half weeks. The transfer doesn't occur until the 28th, and we decided that we should've come in the day before Thanksgiving... but since no new missionaries came that day, they just had double come the week before. So lucky us... we get 2.5 extra weeks of MTC time. At first we were a little disappointed, but it'll be nice to have some extra practice and time to prep before we leave. I'm sure we'll need it.

Since I didn't have time last week to write about what Elder Holland talked about, I wanted to spend some time and talk about it this week. He was so inspiring.

He opened by having the grandchildren that had been able to come with him get up and sing a few primary songs (Away in a Manger, and I Am A Child of God). He called them "The Holland Family Singers". It was so cute because they ranged in age from probably 3 or 4 to about 10 or 11 and it was so fun to see they're faces as they sang. There was a little boy who was all dressed up with a fancy vest on and he had the biggest smile as he sang. After they sang, Elder Holland's wife got up and told us that the main reason that they had brought their grandkids was because they wanted us to have some little ones around to remind us of our own families. It was such a sweet gesture, and very appreciated, because we hardly EVER get to see little kids, and it's always fun when we do. Then, she said that SHE wanted to be here on Christmas morning to represent our mothers. She told us that if they were here, they'd tell us how proud they are of us, and how much they love us. She went on to talk about how we are all children of God, and as such, her grandchildren, in a way, could be seen as our little brothers and sisters. She told us that they look up to us, and thanked us for setting such a wonderful example for her grandchildren. I was so touched by her wish to sort of "simulate" our families being here, and then to make that connection for us.

Then Elder Holland got up. He is SO funny. The first thing he said when he got up was that the meeting had been so enriching up to that point that he didn't even need to speak. We had just had another musical number, a beautiful version of "Oh Holy Night" sung and accompanied by one of the missionaries. He mentioned how he couldn't sing, but he said, "I CAN pray... should I pray? We can close this up right now and go home." And then he realized what he'd just said to a bunch of missionaries, and said, "Well, not you... you can't go home. You're not going anywhere." He said it in such a joking tone... it was hilarious. Then he said, "There's nowhere on the face of the earth I'd rather be, than right here with you." I had written in my journal how I hoped that he knew how much we loved and appreciated him for being willing to be with us on Christmas, and when he said that I knew he did. He went on to discuss how "we get to count this as one of our little tokens of sacrifice" (being without our families on Christmas). "Think of those wimps sitting at home, around the fire, opening presents, being fed by their mothers." And with his fist in the air he said, "Way to sacrifice!". Haha... it was so so funny. Then he got a little more spiritual and began sort of painting with words the picture of the manger scene, before anyone else arrived. He talked about how important it was to remember that Christ was born without ANY material things... and this was likely so that he could relate to us. He talked about Joseph the carpenter and how he is one of the least known, most underappreciated people in scripture. Finally, he talked about 12 roles of the Savior. He gave us an assignment to do the same with the 12 days following Christmas... to choose one role that the Savior plays for each of those days and to study it.

UGH. I'm out of time. Again I hope you all are well, and to hear from you soon!

Love,Hermana Austin Hollenbaugh

ps. Melanie Monroe, I want your address!