To The New Year!

Dear friends and family!!
It's been a pretty interesting week here in Lindon, Utah! As all of you know, it was Christmas this week!! I very much enjoyed the letters and gifts I received! I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to my parents on Christmas!! It was honestly the best hour of my life! They reminded me, yet again, that I only have 268 days left on my mission....sigh. We ate with a widow for dinner on Christmas and she prepared us a feast! There were 6 missionaries there in total and we ate turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes casserole, various gravies, rolls, pistachio pudding, and 6 pies! It was a pretty filling night and it's safe to say that a diet and a new workout routine is in my future! Christmas was very enjoyable though! However, the next day....dun,dun,dun... My companion contracted the flu. We spent the day at home trying to heal in which I watched every church movie possible, did as much as I could teaching online, and actually took a nap. The next day she seemed to be doing better and it was the day of president interviews (which I honestly get very excited for!!) I kind of asked for an extension to my mission but the mission is not allowed to hand out extensions anymore as there are too many missionaries out. So family and friends, you are safe! I did have a wonderful time talking with president and sharing what I have learned thus far on my mission! Fast forward to Saturday now... My companion is still sick! Poor thing! The flu has gotten the best of her and if you remember I have already watched every church video I can at this point. So what do I do now?? That's right!! I attempt a 500 piece puzzle! I figured, hey! That should keep me busy for awhile..... I was busy for 6 hours doing the puzzle! That's like a full time job. But lo and behold, my companion was awake to see me put in the finishing pieces! Pretty awesome right? I took picture evidence that it, in fact, did happen! I was so proud! That pride dissipated after a couple minutes when I moved on to take a nap (that felt a little more exciting). So then yesterday, we were asked a couple weeks ago to participate in 5th Sunday activities in which we were the speakers. Well, that morning, my companion wakes up and is now hacking and coughing and just sounding pretty cruddy, sadly. We go to church and she starts to feel a little imbalanced. Uh oh! We give our presentation about missionary work (surprise, surprise!) and we rush her home to get her to feel better. We did, actually, get some lessons in yesterday and it felt good, as for my companion, however, she is still recovering and is starting to do a lot better.
      I had a pretty spiritual experience yesterday. We were reading in the Book of Mormon with a man that has had trouble doing so, not because he didn't have the desire but for some other reasons. I usually use my iPad for lessons like this but for some reason I felt prompted to grab out my paper set. I have one of my name tags attached to the cover of my Book of Mormon. As it came time to bear my testimony, I looked down at my name tag, felt the leather bound Book of Mormon in my hands and bore a testimony full of heart and sincerity. I don't know why, but having my paper set of scriptures in my hands felt more spiritual than my iPad. I could feel the spirit that I held in my hands. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and therefore I know that Joseph smith is the prophet of the restoration! I know that Jesus Christ LIVES! It's so real! Everything! I wish you could feel what I feel every day!! It's amazing!!! I guess I never realized how much my mission impacted me until, as I was bearing my testimony, I felt the difference that has been made in my life, where I could be and what I could be doing. Man... This gospel is amazing!!!!!!
     Well, I just wanted to make sure y'all know that I love you so much and thank you for all the support you have given me! It means a lot to me to have people behind me helping me to feel loved and supported. Thank you so much!!!

Love,
Sister Maren Schultz