#ChristmasDevo

Dear Everyone:

So my new companion is Sister Burton! Berg and Burton. We sound like a law firm. We're getting a long great though. She actually was just serving in Bedford, New Hampshire and her companions (she was in a trio) were Sister Aeschbacher and Sister Cloward! All my companions are now becoming companions with each other. It's a little weird.

Other than that, I don't really have much to report for this week.

We went to a member family's house for the 1st Presidency Christmas devotional this year and we even decorated cookies before. It was so much fun. A couple of the YSA's (young single adults) from the ward came as well, so it was a blast. Not to mention that the Christmas devotional was marvelous as well.

We aren't really teaching anyone at the moment. Kind of in a lull. We've been spending a lot of time trying to find people to teach, but we aren't having much luck. It gets dark at like 4:30 in the afternoon here and as soon as the sun goes down, people don't want to talk to you. We knocked on someone's door at about 6 and he chewed us out for being out so late. So it's a little frustrating, trying to figure out what to do.

One cool thing I learned this week - so there's a lot of symbolism in the story of Christ's birth. But one aspect especially that I thought was awesome was about the three gifts that the wise men brought. So the gifts they brought were gold, frankincense, and myrrh, right? Well here's a little more about each of those gifts and why they were brought specifically:

1) Gold. Gold is one of the most precious metals. It's pure, and it doesn't rust. So it symbolizes Christ's life - pure, precious, and unmarred.

2) Frankincense. It's super precious and was used in the incense for sacrifices. It's symbolic of Christ's death - the sacrifice of the Son of God.

3) Myrrh. It's very very rare and was used as a healing balm. It's symbolic of Christ's resurrection! That it is through Him that we are healed!

So, that's my cool gospel knowledge for the week. Yes, this time is all about celebrating Christ's birth, because that was a pretty essential part, but it's also about 'what happened next' (as Sister Wixom said). Don't forget about that!

Well, I love you all!

Love,

Sister Lindsey Berg