Bednar and Archuletta Christmas!!

Hiii so much to say this week wow. First: Family! It was so AMAZING to call and hear your voices on Christmas. Fastest 30 min. on planet earth and I know I cried and butchered my Korean testimony...but it was the best Christmas present ever and the highlight of my day. I miss you all and can't wait to call for longer in 2 1/2 weeks! So last week I promised exciting news and seriously Christmas as a missionary/in the MTC is the best. In the morning we heard from (surprise!!) Elder David A. Bednar and his wife. They passed out 150 cell phones and did a Q & A devotional with us. Elder Bednar had so many profound and powerful answers for us and I literally took 4 pages of notes (many, many goals) but my favorite part was something Sister Bednar said. She talked about when they used to do Q&A discussions as Presidents of BYU Idaho. She always liked to have each lesson/talk planned out with exactly what she would say, so for about 10 years she never would participate in the meetings. One time when Elder Bednar invited her to answer a question, she stood up and immediately knew how to answer as she started speaking. She promised from that point on to never decline his invitations for her to answer questions no matter what. Even when she is afraid and not sure what to say, she knows that as she takes the first step in faith, by walking to the pulpit, Heavenly Father will always tell her what to say to reach those listening in the audience. As soon as we became the oldest Korean district here in the MTC and I allowed it to really sink in that we are leaving for KOREA in 3 weeks, I started to doubt myself with the language and felt really unprepared to speak to people there. We are promised in the scriptures that if we open our mouths, they will be filled. No matter how afraid I might feel, if I have faith and love the people, I know I will be able to communicate with them. NOT perfectly and with many mistakes...but I know as I open my mouth I will be able to share this message. D&C 6:36 - Look unto the Lord in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Next surprise of Christmas day....David Archuletta! As Demi said in her letter to me...wow, great way to get those crying sister missionaries (who just talked to their families) back into MTC focus. Ummm hi. Yeah! He sang mostly Christmas songs and a few hymns. The best part: so I said in an email a couple of weeks ago that we like to listen to "The Prayer" by David Archuletta from Mormon.org...understatement. Probablyyy every language study and about 2-3 other times each day we play it. So basically picture me hearing my favorite song, live on Christmas day. Wow, Happiness. Also, he closed with "O Holy Night," my other Favorite Christmas song!! So I guess you could say it was a pretty good day.

Another super quick thought. We had a devotional on Tuesday by Elder Mervyn B. Arnold of the seventy where he talked about the "4th Watch." Jesus stood and watched the disciples as they struggled in their boat during the huge storm. Then as He walked toward them, it says "he would have passed them by," they CRIED OUT, to which He says, "be of good cheer, It is I." The Lord already knows what winds will blow against us - rejection, pain, sorrow, doubt, sickness. He will always be watching and waiting for us to cry out to Him. "Our blessings are conditional on our asking for them. As we pray, the Lord will always come to comfort us during our own storms. Then in the story, the disciples see Jesus walking on water and Peter leaves the boat to meet Him. Elder Arnold pointed out that Peter was the first and ONLY one who left the boat. He challenged us to always be the first one on our missions - to approach someone in the street, knock on a door, share our testimony. We can't just sit in the boat and complain about our circumstances or wonder why we aren't seeing change. Even during the overwhelming storm, as Peter left the boat and focused on the Savior he experienced a miracle and walked on water. Whatever storm we are facing, as we replace our fear with faith in Christ and be the first one to leave the boat, we will see miracles.

Have an amazing week!! As they say in Korea: 새해 복 많이받으세요!!   (HAPPY NEW YEAR - Receive many blessings in the New Year) Saranhamnida!

Love,

Davis Chamae

The Last Straw (Majority of the straws came from holding the door open for people....still counts! Still full)

Christmas Eve Party with the District

KTown – Christmas Eve

Presents under our HUGE Christmas tree

Hedgehogs!! And Christmas PJs

A gift from my favorite soon-to-be missionary – Allie Romney!

White Christmas!