Merry
Christmas! I don’t know if you will get
this before Christmas because it is the 6th of December and I am
sending them today but I wanted you to have these little books. If you get them after Christmas then you
will just have something more to look at.
I thought these books will be good to take to Church or use them for
Family Home Evening. Even those that can’t read can look at the pictures. They are stories from the scriptures,
information about the Prophet and apostles and a little matching game (might be
better to do this one at home) where you match up the General Authority with a
card that shows the things they like to do or where they served a mission or
where they are from. It might be kind
of fun for family home evening to look up more information on each of them so
that you understand all the things on each of their individual cards.
I love you and I am so proud of each of you. I know that you love the Lord and your
families. I want you to know that I
love you all very much. I have a
testimony of the gospel. I know that
God lives. I know without a shadow of
doubt that he hears my prayers and he answers them. I know that he loves me and I know that he
loves each of you.
As I think of each of you, those that have married
into our family and those that have been born into our family, I realize that I
have been truly blessed to be a mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother. There is no greater blessing in my life. I can’t wait to hug and kiss each of you.
I really do know that the Lord must love Grandpa and
I very much to send us here to Germany.
What a wonderful place to be.
What wonderful friends we are making.
What great learning experiences we are having. I know the Lord is in charge and I know he
will not ask us to do anything that he is not willing to help us with and help
us succeed if we will turn to him for guidance and help.
I love seeing the people that are accepting the
gospel over here. I love hearing and
meeting those that are the first generation of members in their family and
learn the sacrifices they make to be a member but how strong they are.
I feel the Lord’s strength and protection every
day. I know that he is taking care of
each of you. That doesn’t mean things
are always easy but I know as you all work hard and try to follow him, he
blesses you.
How grateful I am that I am able to serve at this
time and especially grateful for Grandpa and his life. I don’t know what I would do without
him. He is my best friend, next to all
of you. We love being together and our
marriage is stronger because of this experience too.
May each of you love one another and see the tender
mercies of the Lord in your lives. May
you count your blessings and thank Heavenly Father for helping you when things
seem tough in school, with friends, at work or at home. Remember he wants you to succeed and he
wants to bless you. Live your life the
best you can every day and he will make up the difference.
We hope you have or had a wonderful Christmas. Ours may be a little different this year but
we can still spend some time with you all over Skype so it will be almost like
being home. May the Lord bless all of
us as we are separated by oceans because we will be together again this summer
and there will be lots of time to enjoy each other in person. I love you.
I wanted you to know at this Christmas time especially my love for you
and my love for my Savior. You are all
my little angels and instruments in the Lord’s hands because of the way you
reach out to others and your family members.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma Vickie (that’s for
MaKayla)
