He is the Gift

Hi! It's been another great, cold week here in Bemidji!
 

Sister Springer is still sick and is slowly getting better. But being inside more has given us lots of time to work on the Christmas musical fireside.  We did get a referral from church headquarters this week which was awesome.  A woman from here wanted a free bible so she went onto Mormon.org and while she was there she accidentally referred herself to the missionaries.  So we went to meet her and her husband.  They were very nice and were grateful for the bible but she made it clear that referring herself was an accident and she didn't need us to come back.  So we just continued to visit with her and got to know her a little and by the time our visit was over she asked us to come back and start teaching her and her husband.  Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways.  Next time you accidentally "mess up" and things don't go as planned, ask yourself if that was a mistake or if it was Heavenly Father steering you in a different direction.  Sometimes he has to throw us off of our intended path in order to take us down a better one.  We happily gave the couple a bible and at our next visit they will get so much more!
 

On Friday we had our zone training meeting in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was all centered on the "He is the Gift" initiative. I invite everyone to watch that video and to #ShareTheGift. It has a powerful message about the birth of our Savior. The first and best gift we ever received was from our Heavenly Father by sending His Son. In John 3:16 it says,

"For God so loved the world , that He gave His only begotten Son , that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

That is the real meaning behind Christmas. Find people you can share this with and I promise it will bless your life and their lives abundantly!
 

Planning the musical fireside has been a blessing and a learning experience for me.  Going into I thought I would learn about putting together a fireside and musical numbers since I have never done anything like this.  I am learning about that but it is a very small piece of what I am learning.  My testimony of the Savior and why we celebrate Christmas is what has grown the most!  One of my most favorite scriptures, especially right now is Isaiah 9:6 which says,

 "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, Counsellor , The mighty God , The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

This is a short scripture but it says so much! "the government shall be upon his shoulder" means that He will return to earth one day to govern the earth in righteousness.  All of the hate and evil that exists right now will end when the Savior returns to earth to take over.  Now that's a gift you can't wrap up!  And "his name shall be called Wonderful".  Think of all the Wonderful things He has done for the world but mostly for you as individuals!  As a "counsellor" He gives us guidance.  I love that He taught in parables to give us guidance we could relate to and understand.  He is "The Prince of Peace" and through Him and the atonement is the only way we can have real peace in our lives.  Presents make us happy, money makes us comfortable, family gives us company but only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring us true peace.  God's gift to us, His only begotten Son, is greater than the best Christmas gift we could ever hope to receive.  Jesus Christ is the reason we can be forgiven of our sins and live with God again.  Don't take this wonderful and sacred time of year for granted.  Discover the gift, embrace the gift, share the gift.

I love you all!

-Sister Kendall Park

Driving back to Minnesota after a zone conference in Grand Forks, ND

We ate at 5 guys in Grand Forks.  I had the water bottle, not the soda, but
Sister Springer put the soda in my picture to make it look legit.