Turkey Time and Life Advice

(Written Tuesday, November 25, 2014)

HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY
From the warm and beautiful Mexico, how is everyone?!

I cannot believe it is almost Thanksgiving! Time flies and the days blend together and then it's a holiday you forgot about! Also, tomorrow marks my one month mark as a sister Missionary! How crazy is that? I feel like I haven't even had a chance to blink yet. I only get 17 more months of this and then I have to be a normal person again! I don't know what to think!

So I just have a few things for you this week! First of all, I got a very special and fabulous package from my sweet mother. This is the best gift any missionary could ever ask for and that is KRISPY KREME DONUTS. I ate so many of them and especially after getting over being sick and getting bored with the food here, delicious American pastries were such a treat! Just look how happy I am :)

We also had another tender mercy of American Food with hamburgers, french fries and ice cream for a lunch one afternoon! Made my day, but to see those pictures, you'll have to check out the blog :)

So really I am just thankful for a lot of things this week! I guess most of it has been food, but I also have a really great district of people to work with here, I have a really great family and a great group of friends who are a wonderful support system and I love you all so much!

Thank you for helping to shape me into the person that I am today! I just want to leave you with an activity and a video to do. In one of my classes, my teacher Hermano Vargas wrote three questions on the board that I would like you to try to apply to your life in this time of Thanksgiving.

The questions are:
1. Where would I be without my church? What sins or temptations would I fall into or struggle with? 2. What blessings do I receive as a member of my church?
3. What does God want for me right now?

When we took some time to answer these questions I was in awe. I realized that I have been protected, comforted, watched over and taught so many good things because of my church. I would not be the good person that I am today without my church and the things I have been taught and the kindness that has been showed to me. I hope all of you can answer these questions for yourselves too!

We receive so many blessings by being members of any church because Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ see that we are striving to walk with them and be like them! And I know that God wants so much for all of us right now and he knows that we can do anything.
There is a scripture that I found this week (I've read it and liked it before but I guess you could say that I re-found it this week and I want to share it with you) John 15:13 -- Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Christ is talking about what He is about to do and He says He is laying down his life for His friends, but we know that He suffered for all the people in the world, even those who crucified Him. Christ is our ultimate example and loves everyone and I bear my testimony of that. And because of the things which Christ did for all of us, we have the opportunity to be forgiven of our sins and how grateful I am for that!
One of my favorite scriptures in The Book of Mormon talks about this very thing, it is in the last chapter of the book: Moroni 10:32 and it says-- Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
I love this scripture because it fills us with hope and gratitude and love for our brother and Savior Jesus Christ.
I hope you know how thankful I am for Him and how glad I feel to get to share this message of peace and happiness with so many people.
One final thing I want to leave you with is a video, it's a short message by my favorite apostle or one of the leaders in our church: God's Word Never Ceases by Jeffrey R. Holland.
It is powerful and brings us comfort!

I love you all. I know that Christ lives and I am so grateful for you all and the blessings in my life!~ Please have a happy Thanksgiving!

I forgot the most important part of life advice!!!!

If you're ever feeling down or stressed or tired, try eating a donut in the shower. It changes your life! Just trust me on this one! 

I love you!!!!
--Hermana Alayna Nelson

PS: I sent my sister some pictures around campus and she's also going to post some songs that are powerful and make you feel the spirit :) So check out the blog under the MTC photo a day and under this post! Love you all! BYE