What A Week!

Wow.

So I've been reading a lot of your e-mails to me and I cannot believe how blessed I am to be serving here in Sheboygan. Everybody has been talking about how cold it is where they are serving their missions or how cold it is back home.  For the past two days we have had a high of 45 degrees. It was absolutely beautiful! I actually wore one of my short-sleeved white shirts around and wasn't cold! I remember back home when I thought 60 degrees was cold! I know that this type of weather isn't typical, but it will change soon; this Saturday we are supposed to have a high of 10. Yikes!

Elder Cranney and I have had some pretty great lessons this week. Charlene is doing great reading the Book of Mormon and as is Marsha.  Brother Klunk has been invaluable at coming with us to lessons to help teach. He is such a wonderful man, and is preparing to go to the temple in January to receive his endowment! We will most likely be dropping Titus as an investigator because he's not willing to change at all, but he will be picked up by another set of missionaries later on down the road. We are going to be teaching the Plan of Salvation to Virginia and Rick today, so we'll see how that goes.

How was everyone's Thanksgiving? Elder Cranney and I had TWO Thanksgiving dinners. No wonder I'm getting fat! I am learning very quickly that it's hard to eat healthy when you are on a tight budget and when you don't have someone preparing healthy food for you (thanks Juli). All of our dinner appointments have been super unhealthy but amazingly delicious! Yesterday I tried "pho" (pronounceed 'fuh') for the first time. It's kind of like ramen noodles, but it's Vietnamese, and it's made with rice noodles (I think). It was pretty good, but the bowl it's served in is HUGE! I could hardly finish it! And Elder Cranney is being taught how to use chopsticks. He's doing pretty well for a beginner.  Oh! Along with the pho I had tripe! It actually wasn't too bad. Brother Klunk says he will cook me some blood sausage before I leave, but I'm not sure how well I'm going to take that, elder Cranney tells me to just try it, but I'm a bit nervous.

It is strange to be out here during the holidays and not really have to be so concerned with putting up a Christmas tree and having to go shopping sixteen different times for gifts and putting up Christmas lights on your own house.  All we are focused on is Christ and bringing the people of Sheboygan to Him.  I'm not looking through different ads and trying to decide what I want for Christmas this year; I'm looking through the area book to try to listen to the Spirit directing me to who is ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This time of year on a mission is awesome.  It really puts things into perspective on how easy it is to be caught up in the commercialism of Christmas, and what really doesn't matter.  What matters is that we remember Christ and His life. How He gave His life for us and what a miracle the Atonement is, if we are willing to accept Him. Salvation is free; we just need to take it.

I love you all, I think about you often (though not as much as my investigators), and I am so happy I am out here serving my King. May this week be filled with love, joy, and service towards one another, and may you feel the love Christ has for you.  May your family be watched over and protected. May God bless you that you might feel the peace He offers.

--Elder Riggs