SISTER DeGOOYER - WEEK 24

Goooood morning! 

 

9 days until Christmas! I have had a weird dream every night this week. 

This week, it snowed 4 inches and then froze over. Luckily the day it snowed we were able to shovel our whole street's driveways and sidewalks. It was a fun job and it reminded me of the warehouse, sometimes it just feels good to get out there and work!

We are in full swing for Christmas! A sweet lady in one of our wards, gave us a nativity, a small Christmas tree, stockings, and other various important Christmas-y things! We were so grateful! This week is crunch week! We have planned every spare moment, with service, contacting, and doing other missionary like activities! We are excited to see what all this effort brings come next Sunday aka Show Time. :) We have set a good goal, and we plan on accomplishing it. So, I invite y'all, wherever you may be, to invite a friend to next week's Sacrament meeting. It is a simple invitation, "My church is holding an amazing worship service full of songs about Jesus Christ, this Sunday, at 9am. Would you like to come?" :) 

We have met a couple of really cool people this week! The other night we met a sweet sweet couple: Don and Caroline. We knocked on their door, and they immediately welcomed us into their home. We talked with them for a while about faith in God and the Spirit of God. They shared their testimonies with us, and I found myself crying as they described how he has helped them through some of their hardest trials. I testified of my belief in God, and how he has helped me, and how he helps me every day. It was so good! They invited us back for hot cocoa this upcoming week and we plan to share the new nativity video with them. I am excited to get to know them better, and to hopefully show them the fullness of the truth that the gospel of Jesus Christ holds. 

We got to go to the temple this week! It was so good! My goodness, I love the temple. Without fail, joy and peace fill me everytime I go. This time was no exception! The Twin Falls temple is so beautiful, I think it is one of my new favorites. :) I am so grateful to be in a mission that has the ability and the allowance for us to go every month. 

Sidenote: I found my new passion this week. There is a family here in Kimberly, who is remodeling their home. This week we got to go over and help. My goodness, it was so much fun! Sister Osborne says she could see me flipping homes. So, look out world, Sister DeGooyer the author and flipper of homes! Seriously though, I loved it! 

I hope your weeks have been wonderful! Keep praying and reading your scriptures, it brings so much joy, peace, and clarity. I love y'all so much! 

Sister DeGooyer 

Snow! 

I'm a pro 

Santa and Mrs. Claus 

Classic 

Making jewelry with my district 

Road Trip to Poky

Caulking 

OH, HOW I LOVE MY Y.S.A.s!

Scott and I LOVE serving in the Louisville YSA Branch.  I honestly feel that these "kids" are "MY" kids!  I love each of them.  I could point out wonderful virtues and life lessons I have learned from each of them. 
Soooooo we invited a few of them over for dinner and games.  It was so much fun!

Our sweet sister missionaries!

I love these girls!

The Candy Bar Game
(Basically just an excuse to eat chocolate!)

A Gift Exchange

Joseph rocked the antlers!

And then on Saturday, Alexis chose to be baptized!  She is so truly amazing!  Her testimony is so heartfelt and sincere!  Her baptism was truly a special day that we got to participate in!

Me - Alexis - Scott - Sheila

Alexis really rocks!

And today... we had our Christmas celebration with the entire branch!  I'm so blessed with these associations!

MY KIDS!

Susan won the Ugly Sweater Contest for the Girls.

Anthony won for the Boys.

Scott and I are truly blessed with these Y.S.A.s!  We love them so much!

"MY" KIDS - I'M SO PROUD OF THEM!

My recital two weeks ago was WONDERFUL!  I love all my students!  And I'm so grateful for the opportunity to teach these great kids!  Their hard work and effort paid off! 

NATIVITIES

Last week I participated in the Festival of Nativities with our community. It was an amazing experience! Scott spent 2 whole days decorating my corner.  He used 90 of my nativities. (Only part of them.) Then I was able to bare my testimony of the Savior every day of the event as I organized the story tours and took many people around the display. It was thrilling! Looking back: Scott and I decided our talents were best used the way they were. He is truly a genius when it comes to decorating. And I'm passionate when talking and meeting people - especially when it comes to sharing my testimony. We were both "used" correctly - and we both compliment each other well.
Here's some of my display:

This whole corner is mine!

Sheila gave tours also - missionary prep.
She was out of her comfort zone, but she conquered!

She is truly a beauty!

This is the very first nativity that started my collection.

I saw this nativity at a craft fair with my mom when I was 12 years old.

I fell in love with it.  But it was sold.

Mom convinced the creator to make another one and drove
over 10 hours round trip to get me this precious display.

Grandma T put this homemade nativity 

out on her dining table every Christmas. 

I spent hours looking at this precious nativity.

When she journeyed on, I inherited this beautiful display.

It's one of my favorites!

It reminds me of her AND my Savior.

Katia's nativity!

When our daughters were born, we got each daughter

a nativity for their first Christmas.

It's a wonderful tradition!

And, yes, we already got our grandson one!

This is my newest nativity.

It is really traditional, which I love!

The symbolism in these displays makes it even more dear!

My wonderful mother-in-law gave me this Jerusalem nativity!

Made of real olive-wood, this nativity is dear to my heart!

I love that my mother-in-law loves nativities as much as I do!

Scott REALLY loves gnomes.

Who knew we could find a nativity consisting

completely of these silly creatures!

This one makes me smile!

Being creative is AWESOME!

Scott made this one-of-a-kind nativity out of bottles from work.
I love the creativity.

I love the uniqueness.

I love my husband's quirkiness!

I am truly blessed!  God lives!  Jesus Christ lives!  Because of Easter, we celebrate Christmas!  And I am truly grateful for Him!

SISTER DeGOOYER - WEEK 23

Katia is always winking...
I reminded her last week:
"A wink is the same as a nudge to a blind wombat."

This mama is sad because there was no letter this week. 😢 But I did get lots of pictures of my baby girl!  😃 According to our phone call, she is busy, happy and well!  That's all I can ask for!  I love this sweet missionary!

The backyard....

Service with a smile - wrapping gifts!

The Kimberly Nativity Display

Katia thought I should own a chicken nativity.
I wish I did.  It's awesome!

The Live Nativity
And my daughter is an angel!

An Angel with an Alpaca!

Driving to Pocatello for the night.

Temple Selfie

Lots of progress has been made on the temple in 3 weeks.

A surprise visit from the mission president and his wife!
Katia loves them so much!

I'm sure she is contemplating how life without Dr. Pepper 

(and the gospel) would be devastating!

SISTER DeGOOYER - WEEK 22

Hello, family and friends!

What a week?! It has been a crazy one, so much has happened. Thanksgiving was great; I got to talk to my family, which I loved! It is always great to hear from them and see what is happening back home. 

What's new: We have a goat wandering around in our backyard, it came from our behind neighbors, but I'm not sure how it got through the fence. I can't decide whether we should call it oreo or chocolate lightning. Haha, it appeared just this morning, so I'm sure we won't be able to keep it. 

We've been walking and walking and walking. Sometimes the wind is so sharp and so cold that it takes your breath away. It is an adventure for sure! We love it though, and my feet have stopped hurting! We sing as we walk, and in my case: dance.(I don't think it says anything about dancing in the new handbook... but, maybe I should read it over again.) 

I have almost finished the Book of Mormon again! It is so good, but the ending is so sad. I can't imagine what it was like to be Mormon or Moroni, to watch your people die by the thousands. I was touched reading Mormon's apology. He knew he had to write their demise, but he did not want us to have to read it because it hurt him so deeply. Even though the end of the Book of Mormon is so terrible, I think the books Mormon and Moroni are my favorite. They are part of the reason I am out here. We read about the great demise of the Nephites; why did they fall? They forgot their Savior. I have realized being out here, how many people have forgotten their Him. So, that is my job, and the job of any true believer in Christ, to share the message of our Redeemer! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Much love, 

Sister DeGooyer 

Oreo Lightning and us 

Despite what it may look like, it is a sugar beet 

Decorating for Christmas service 

DeGooyer sandwich!! (Thanksgiving tradition!) 

At first I thought it was a contradiction....

Zone Thanksgiving breakfast 

Walking in the dark- temperature below freezing- in the middle of nowhere 

Me and a really adorable stuffed animal that I wish was mine

Service- we be raking (The irony is that it snowed the next day!)