Sister Haley Knight: Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

This is our Spanish FHE (family home evening) group acting out the nativity! it was so much fun!

The newly weds Pablo and Lilia were Maria y Jose! Juliana was the angel that appeared to the sheperds!

Juliana is one of my favorite people here! She's a sister of one of the members who we have been teaching!

Buenas tardes! This week has been so great!

I had to say goodbye to Hermana Carrell on Tuesday which was really sad! She's back in Salt Lake City now enjoying her holidays with her cute family! I got to spend an hour with my mission BFF Hermana Knecht during transfer meeting so that was a dream come true! One of the Assistants told us afterwards that they ALMOST put us together as companions- I would go back to my first area but they didn't want to white wash Hoptown SP! I'm glad I'm still here though because I LOVE this area! I also love my new companion Hermana Stricklin, she is amazing! She's from Huntington Beach so it's nice to be with another California girl! She's super tall so it's really funny being companions. We have a lot in common and she's a great missionary. She's a lot of fun to be with and I'm so grateful Heavenly Father sent me someone that I could be friends with!

We've had such a lovely time this past week going from home to home sharing Christmas messages! I love talking about Christ's birth and singing Silent Night! This morning for companionship study, we practiced harmonizing ha ha. This morning we also took some time to read from Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage about Christ's birth and it was so eye opening. I love this paragraph he wrote explaining more about Mary's experience:

The trustful and unsophisticated keepers of sheep had not asked for sign or confirmation: their faith was in unison with the heavenly communication; nevertheless the angel had given then what he called a sign, to guide them in their search. They waited not, but went in haste, for in their hearts they believed, yea, more than believed, they knew, and this was the tenor of their resolve: "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us." They found the Babe in the manger, with the mother and Joseph nearby; and, having seen, they went out and testified to the truth concerning the Child. They returned to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

I love the example of the shepherds and how they went with HASTE when they received the news that they had received a Savior. I hope that we can follow this humble example of the keepers of sheep and go to our Savior with haste in all that we do and in all that happens in life. Also, I hope that we can recognize are blessings and have the same kind of glorifying and praising in our hearts for our Father in Heaven.

I am so grateful for this time of year that we have to truly feel of the Spirit of Christ and to feel the love from our families and our Heavenly Father.

I LOVE being a missionary. I love this gospel. I know that it is true and that everyone needs it. I love my family and am so grateful for them. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I will leave you with something that was said during our Christmas program yesterday:

"The greatest gift that we can give is our sins, weaknesses, and troubles to Jesus Christ and accept Him as our Savior."

I invite all of you this week to truly give yourself to the Savior and to be strengthened and supported by the power of His love and Atonement.

Happy Christmas!

Hermana Knight