Advent

Date: Tuesay, Dec. 1, 2009

Hello Family!

I am sorry if I sounded a little depressed in my last email. But I do thank you all for the emails you sent me. They meant a lot. The love, strength, and testimony you send always inspire me. I was "cheered up."

I am still waiting to hear what surgery Chris had and how serious it is and everything. :) I assume its not too serious or I probably would have heard. How are you though Chris? OK?

It sounds like Thanksgiving was busy and fun. I would love to see Temple Square with all the lights. Germany does a pretty good job though. They really go all out for Christmas here. There are so many Christmas trees everywhere! And lights, and Weihnacht Markets. It´s awesome.

Anyway, this week has been good. I actually just got back from doing a split in Frankfurt. It was good to see Frankfurt again. It is also fun to be back in Mainz. This week we aquired a new English student. We were very excited about that. We hope our students will start inviting more friends. That will be awesome. Probably the most inspiring thing was the Sacrament meeting on Sunday. All the talks were on Family History, and we had an appointment with another member in Frankfurt that was really into Family History and it was so inspiring. They shared some really special experiences about finding ancestors and doing the work for them and I felt the spirit so strongly. As I heard them talk about it I could see the fire in their eyes. I could see and sense the spirit working through them and their love of the work. While we talked with them they just told us over and over how important and exciting it was. And as they said that I realized once again that the most important work is preaching the gospel. So that the people can return to their Father in Heaven and live with their family forever. I know this is Gods work. Talking with these older people about geneology and seeing their excitement and energy for what they were doing, inspired me to have the "fire in the bones" too. Also while we were in the temple today it hit me that we really are Gods children and that I think we have more in common than we realize. We are all at different levels in many different aspects of life, but we were all created for the same purpose, to have joy in becoming more like our Heavenly Father. We all have different talents, knowledge, capabilities, and opportunities, but we are all here to learn to become like Heavenly Father. I know that God is our Father. He is our Creator, but also our Father. He has a plan for each one of us to inherit the happiness He has prepared, if we are prepared to receive it. I know that He helps us in our lives. He leads, and guides, and is a part of our lives. I know that God can do all things, but in his wisdom He does not do all things for us. He is always there, and has all the answers. I love my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This time of year is so special. I know it is very commercialized and fun. That is also important to have fun, but I hope that especially during this month we focus on the Savior what His life really means to us individually and globaly and everything else. He is the Savior of the world. I have prepared a little Advent thing, I hope to get it off today, so you should be getting it soon. I hope you enjoy. Advent is huge here, so I wanted to share a piece of Germany with you.

I love you family.

Love,
Sister Melinda Fitzgerald