Your 2014 Challenge!

Because Everyone Wants Missionary Lessons for Christmas. Right?

Dear Family,

Can you believe it is almost 2014?? It's going to be an exciting year! I'll probably leave my beloved Colfax this year (unless they keep me here my whole mission. Which would be weird), and I'll turn 20!!! And I'll have another North Carolina summer (oh no.) And I will... come home!! So crazy I will be finished with my mission this year. It makes me nervous, because I feel like there are still so many things I need to learn and experiences to have! Luckily, a lot can happen in 11 months, so I still have time to learn :) So with it being a new year and with me coming home this year, I have a challenge to present to you that I came up with after much prayer and thought....

READ THE BOOK OF MORMON BEFORE SISTER ADAMS COMES HOME CHALLENGE

It's kind of a long title for a challenge, but hey, it works ;) I just finished the Book of Mormon on Christmas Eve, but I wanted to start it again. Yesterday I typed up a reading schedule on my iPad (oohh, technological missionary) so that we can start and finish the Book of Mormon before I come home! As I made the schedule I realized this is going to be a piece of cake, because it's only like 11 pages a week. So there are no excuses for not finishing ;) But what we will do is together as a family (including me) we will start the Book of Mormon and be on the same schedule all year till I come home! That way we will all be reading the same things and can share what we are learning! Sounds like a great plan, right?? :) Here's the schedule

So the date is when you should have read through the chapter listed. So by the 12th of January, you will need to have finished 1 Nephi 12.

1/5  Introduction, Testimonies and Title Page, 1 Nephi 5

1/12  1 Nephi 12
1/19  1 Nephi 15
1/26  1 Nephi 19
2/2  2 Nephi 1
2/9 2 Nephi 5
2/16 2 Nephi 9
2/23 2 Nephi 18
3/2 2 Nephi 25
3/9 2 Nephi 29
3/16 Jacob 4
3/23 Enos 1
3/30 Mosiah 1
4/6 Mosiah 5
4/13 Mosiah 11
4/20 Mosiah 17
4/27 Mosiah 23
5/4 Mosiah 27
5/11 Alma 2
5/18 Alma 7
5/25 Alma 11
6/1 Alma 14
6/8 Alma 19
6/15 Alma 24
6/22 Alma 29
6/29 Alma 33
7/6 Alma 37
7/13 Alma 42
7/20 Alma 46
7/27 Alma 50
8/3 Alma 55
8/10 Alma 59
8/17 Helaman 1
8/24 Helaman 5
8/31  Helaman 10
9/7  Helaman 14
9/14  3 Ne 4
9/21 3 Ne 9
9/28  3 Ne 14
10/5  3 Ne 19
10/12  3 Ne 27
10/19  Mormon 2
10/26  Mormon 8
11/2 Ether 3
11/9  Ether 10
11/16 Ether 15
11/23  Moroni 10

So this will be great! We can learn a lot together, and strengthen our testimonies. I always am promising people that reading the Book of Mormon will bless them, so why wouldn't it bless our family?? :) And the further you get into the Book of Mormon, you can watch the pages get fewer and fewer and see the time getting shorter and shorter till I come home! But as you read, I want to hear what you have learned from your study that week and how are you going to try and apply what you learned :) I am so excited for this!! Thanks in advance for participating, dear family :) 



Ok, so anyway! I cannot believe Christmas is over!! I have thought about Christmas since like July, so it's strange that it's finished! My one and only on the mission! I am kind of sad! But it's ok :) I will always remember it!! How did you like the FaceTime call?? I realized that during my mission I have not really felt that far away from you all, with the technology we have with email, and with you being friends with the Tuckers :) But after the FaceTime call I kept thinking I could have done better!! We were with the Hamilton family on Thursday and their daughter is serving in California and they just talked a lot about how much they felt the Spirit talking to her and how mature she is and all that, and I was like "Aww man, I hope my family doesn't think I just do nothing on my mission!" Because I did tell you how much fun I have. Which is the truth. But I promise I do work hard!! But it was so good to talk to you all and most of all to see you!! So so great :) 

Yesterday we fasted with *Dorothy, so that she would receive an answer about baptism. It went well, and she just called us an hour ago and we were so excited because she wanted to talk about the fasting and how it went and she said that it helped her to know that this is the true church and she feels very confident. So then again we asked her about baptism and she still said she doesn't really know what she thinks about baptism yet. AHHH!! Haha. We don't know what else to do!! She knows it's true! She reads the Book of Mormon and prays and comes to church and loves all of it! So that's fun. The two other baptisms I have been a part of seem so easy in comparison to this. Both *Kameron and *Benjamin agreed to baptism right away and there were no problems. But every person is different :) I am just trying to figure out what it is that we need to do. Ahhh......

Apparently Sister Rendon and I have no concept of when someone is really interested in the gospel or just interested in... us. Haha. This guy started talking to us on the street as we were leaving an appointment and started telling us we should come visit him in Atlanta. NO THANKS!!!! We told him we were missionaries for the church and it did not seem to phase him.  Ugh. He was a weird guy. Our stomach was all in knots and I hand sanitized my hands and arms and the steering wheel. Haha.  



This week I was handed my first anti-mormon book. It's crazy how much people attack the church. It just amazes me! We aren't even bad people or do bad things! You'd think that people would spend their time speculating and talking about people who do bad things, but nope. It's the Mormons. Haha. Just goes to show how Satan does not want the truth to be known. But it was really sad. It was our baptist friend, Bob. He really wanted us to read it, and we said we couldn't and he was bothered. Oh well. It's not his time I guess. 



 

Our District Caroling on Christmas Eve



 Sorry I am backtracking a ton. Christmas Eve was great, but I think I already told you that! :) There were so many people we caroled to that got tears in their eyes and would say "Thank you, you made my whole Christmas!" If a bunch of Elders and Sisters between 18-21 can really make someone that happy by singing carols they have not really practiced, then doing more than that can make a huge difference in people's lives. I want to be so good at doing things for other people when I get home. And while on my mission of course. 



Well, it's back to normal missionary work this week! And we are so happy for it :) Looking forward to whatever faces us this week!! 

Love you all so much :)

Sister Adams