We are ONE! Christmas in the Italy Milan Mission

Zone Christmas Conference 2012 - Matching Scarves and Ties!

19 Dicembre 2012 (handwritten letter)

Mother and Father,

I know this won't get to you before Christmas, but I wanted to take this little moment to tell you how much I love you... especially this Christmas. I got the packages on the 17^th and I had THE best time opening them. You both spoiled me TOO much! I was on a “be grateful, not guilty” kick for a lil' bit as I was going through & marveling at how thoughtful you are! I shared the Twizzlers with my district as we were taking the train from the zone conference in Modena back to Firenze. (Side note: the train we took was SWEET. It was like the movies where you all have a seat, and there are 6 seats in a cabin with your own heat control AND curtain. The curtains came in handy when I got tired of waking up to 3 Indian men staring at me every time I opened my eyes from my “half” nap. You would think those people have never seen a blond American before! Haha, too funny! End side note) The brownie mixes & other goodies just hit the spot! My companion is SUPER grateful. We have some carrots we just haven't used, but now can't wait to eat them with RANCH DRESSING! YAY!!! You are the best. I can't explain how much you mean to me. Gosh, why are words so hard to put together... into pretty sentences. 

Anyway, so the other package was just as loved as the other! Maybe even a little more because of the pictures as ornaments, haha. The tree is BEAUTIFUL! I was putting out all the stuff for the decorations, & just couldn't help but cry. That is THE most thoughtful Christmas gift ever ever ever. I love every single picture. It is a missionary Christmas dream come true. I loved seeing your handwriting on the plastic. I loved seeing your names on the “from” part of the packages. I love each ornament shaped picture. I love the white and gold trimmings. The socks = Classic! You NAILED it. This is turning out to be such a great Christmas. I checked the DVD to see if it works, and you should be so proud I didn't give myself a little preview, haha. I only looked at the main menu, which is beautiful & works! (on our little DVD player). I love Christmas time. I find myself thinking of you all a lot. The holidays are so fun with the whole fam. 
We'll all be HOME... NEXT Christmas!!! Riiiight?!?! :) Hope so.

Anyway...

We had just a giant Christmas Zone Conference. The Wolfgramms asked me to be the director for the musical portion of the Christmas program, & I loved it. I led a bunch of missionaries in singing classic childhood Christmas songs.... actions and all. I wish you could have seen how involved all the missionaries got! They were singing & dancing, loved it. We did a live nativity & sang Silent Night. I really appreciate that the Wolfgramms try to make Christmas fun for us. For Christmas, they gave all the sis. Missionaries the same scarf, & all the Elders the same tie. Not only that... it is the same scarf & tie that the Rome Mission Presidents gave all their missionaries!! WE ARE ONE! How cool? Right?! They also got that tie for all Bishops & Branch Presidents in all of Italy. It was such a neat idea. I LOVE THIS MISSION!! Sometimes, it just hits me how cool and random that I got called HERE! Out of all the missions... :) small world. 

In the past I have worried that I'm not changing, but am starting to notice little things... It is definitely not easy and not always fun. But there is something super satisfying about looking back on the past months & realizing you worked HARD. You cried, you fell down, you got rained, actually poured on, you froze, you died of heat... and you saw countless miracles, nevertheless.

The Lord loves us so much. And I love Him. :) This Christmas, the best gift is knowing I am a part of your family FOREVER.

Merry Christmas! (beautifully written in cursive)

Love,

Sorella Katherine Beus