Elder Beck and I are doing a musical number for the Christmas Devotional, so maybe we can send you a video of it or something. I can ask Elder Ferrin how he did it if nothing else. Our Ward Christmas Program on Sunday was fantastic though! It was mostly choral numbers, but there was also a duet by a young couple in our ward and a solo by a sister in our ward. I think she must have taken opera lessons because it was that style. We also had harp accompaniment and a harp solo because the Ward Music Director's daughter plays the harp and she came to help us out. I really enjoyed it, but I think Elder Walker just fell asleep for most of it. I have worn my Christmas tie a few times, but I just keep forgetting! I'll make the most of it these last few days I guess.
To focus on the Atonement, we've been sharing the videos from the Christmas Initiative. I personally enjoy the second animated one better, and it talks about the Atonement a bit more. Also, reading the New Testament has helped a lot. I'm trying to read the rest of it, not just the assigned portions. I also finished the Book of Mormon this week so I've been looking back at it trying to figure out some of my favorite parts, especially those that cover the Atonement and doctrine of Christ.
My favorite missionary experience from this week was probably on Saturday night. Our lesson with Cecilia fell through, unfortunately, so we were pretty bummed, and so we decided to stop by some members. So we went by the Shelton family, and we caught them right at the end of dinner. It was cool for several reasons. The first reason it was really awesome was because all of their kids had just recently gotten back from college (BYU, BYU-I, and SLCC) so it was really fun to meet their whole family. Also, because their son was home, they had to show off his Vocal Point stuff. He is the lead singer in the song Silent Night, so if you watch that video you'll see him. They also showed us their Carol of the Bells video called Sarajevo. Super Awesome! Then we shared the Christmas videos with them, which would have been just an average experience, but they had a friend over. It was a friend of their daughter's who attends Notre Dame and had only returned home for Christmas a few days earlier. S he's not a member, so getting her input was really cool, and a little bit different experience from what normally happens.
So that would have been cool enough, but to add to that, we talked to the Shelton's the next day and they told us that apparently every time they have Aislyn over, it seems like the missionaries show up to share a message, completely unprompted. So Brother Shelton felt like it was a visit led by the Spirit. We'd been texting them all this week and last week to try and set up with them, but it never seemed to work until that night we just decided to stop by without asking and it was perfect timing. So I guess it was a good idea we'd had to visit them, we just had to wait on the Lord's time.
Dylan was confirmed on Sunday, and he helped someone move on Saturday as well. He is really integrating into the ward, so I don't see him having any problems with that. He is one of those converts that I can hopefully go to the temple with a year from now.
This week we also went up to Riverside to see the lights. Apparently they are one of the top 10 light shows in the country, so President Mullen allowed us to go and see them with a member, if we were going to make up the time on some of our P-Days. So we decided to go and we've been making up the time. The main attraction in Riverside is the Mission Inn. It's this hotel that is super old, it was an old mission style hotel that this guy built, it started with just 12 rooms. But over the years he kept expanding it, and somehow it became really famous. Several Presidents, celebrities, etc. have stayed there and it is still a fully operational hotel. They have a lot of cool history, and a lot of the walls on the inside are painted with original paintings and stuff like that. You can look it up online for more details, we were mostly just there to see the lights and get cool pictures. They also had a little market so I got fudge and candied almonds and hot cocoa, so that was great.
I hope you guys have a Merry Christmas! I am looking forward to Skyping with you then.
See you soon,
Elder Cornaby