Craciun Ferecit

Merry Christmas family!

What a beautiful time of year it is and what a beautiful week it has been! I don't even know where to begin. The Lord continues to bless me far beyond what I deserve.

I am happy to say that the package you sent me made it to Arad in time for Christmas! The Assistants to the President made their way to the west for a special exchange just to deliver all the packages that arrived late. They were very sneaky about it. Thank you all for the package. I may or may not have opened most of it already. :) I just couldn't wait until Christmas. The Calendar!! SO impressed! It is beautiful. All of it was beautiful but I especially love the letters and pictures. Thank you all so much. Mari, did you make that scarf? Very well done. It's beautiful. I am so blessed; My family is wonderful.

Because it is Christmas, we have been doing an excessive amount of caroling. I love it. We ended each night sharing the Christmas spirit through song to all of Arad. (well, some of Arad.... and trying to share it... sometimes it's hard to share Christmas spirit with a door that won't open, that doesn't stop us from trying though.) It was beautiful nonetheless.

The highlight of my week and possibly of my mission was when we went caroling to a retirement home here in Arad. My testimony grew that night. Sometimes, our testimonies grow and we don't even know it and then we look back over a period of time and we see the growth that has taken place. And sometimes, in one event, our testimonies grow right before our eyes as we feel the Spirit strongly testify to our hearts. Singing to some of Heavenly Father's precious sons and daughters who live in that retirement home was one of those moments for me. I felt how dearly God loves them and has care over them. Tears filled their eyes as they sang along to the carols they recognized. As I sat next to many of them and held their hands as we sang together on their beds, my heart was overcome by the spirit. It bore powerful witness to me that Christ is the Savior of the world. He was born in the most humble of circumstances, lived a perfect life, suffered all the sins and pains of the world, and died on a hill for all to see. God loves us all so perfectly. It is beautiful how tenderly He takes care of us. I know I say this every week, but my testimony grows each week as I see the hand of the Lord in my life and in the lives of those around me.

One lady at the retirement home, who everyone told me not to talk to because she couldn't hear, sat and talked to me and told me of a dream she had had and in that dream, she saw our faces and she has kept our faces in her mind. I told her how much God loves her and how He is taking care of her. I know she heard me as she cried in my hands and nodded her head saying "I know He loves me." Despite her challenges of losing all seven of her children and being alone for most of her life, she still knows God loves her. I so admire her faith.

I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for that experience and that I got to celebrate the birth of my Savior through song with some of my very special brothers and sisters. 'O Ce Veste Minunata', a Romanian Carol, means so much more to me now as it reminds me of these beautiful people singing the words along with us with such love and gratitude for their Savior.

Saturday night, we had a branch Christmas Party. It was wonderful. Mos Craciun (Santa Clause) made an appearance and came with gifts. A tradition here, at least I think it's a tradition, is you have to sing a carol to Mos Craciun when you sit on his lap in order to get your presents. All the children in the branch went and sat on his lap, sang a song and received their gifts. And then Sora Decsy (coordinator of the Christmas party) announced that Mos had presents for the missionaries, so we had to go up and sing a carol for Mos and get our presents. Mos Craciun was terrifying. Definitely wasn't the real Santa. I'll send pictures.

I've already talked about this with some of you so please forgive me for repeating but something that I have come to understand even more this week from every study, every meeting, every lesson, is how much Heavenly Father wants to bless us with gifts and how much He wants for us to receive those gifts. It's okay to receive gifts. Sometimes, I have a hard time receiving gifts for a number of different reasons but mostly because I don't feel worthy of them. I realized how much that must hurt our Heavenly Father when He blesses us with gifts and we don't accept them because we don't feel worthy of them. My goal is to accept every gift He gives me, expressing my gratitude and love while striving to live in a way that helps me feel worthy of those gifts.

I've also learned how much Heavenly Father sincerely cares about our desires and how He wants to bless us according to our desires. I love in the scriptures when it says "What desirest thou?" Heavenly Father cares so much about what we want. God truly does want to bless us according to our desires. It's okay to express our desires to Heavenly Father. It's okay to ask for things. Of course, it is so important to remember that as we do, we must recognize that the answer is always "yes or something better". Sometimes, that "something better" doesn't really seem like something better, but of course it is. Heavenly Father cares so much for his children.

Anyone want to hear my extremely embarrassing story of the week? Oh gawl, it was awful. So, the other day, I was at the store with my companion and Elder Groberg and Elder Harrison (Assistants were doing exchanges with our Zone Leaders) and after about a half hour of us walking around shopping for secret Santa presents for a member in the branch, a nice, sweet lady comes up to me and tells me my skirt is tucked in to my tights in the back... and NO ONE TOLD ME!!! Everyone I was with claims they didn't notice but I don't know if I believe them. So embarrassing. Luckily, it's getting to the point where I have to wear a 2-3 pairs of tights because of how freezing it is so it's not like anything was seen, but still. We had a good laugh and I am now very conscious at all times about my skirt and making sure I have zero wardrobe malfunctions.

I feel like I had so much to write but now I just can't think of what it was. Maybe my brain is wanting to save it for tomorrow's conversation :) So excited to see all your beautiful faces and tell you face to face how much I love you. I hope you have a very wonderful, merry, happy Christmas. I hope it's snowing where ever you are. I hope you have all watched Elf and The Grinch at least three times each. I hope that you get absolutely no sleep on Christmas Eve (that's today!) because of your excitement for Christmas. I hope that you leave cookies and milk for Santa Clause. I hope that you get to feel that warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart as you spend these days with people who are closest to you. And most of all, I hope that you recognized how our lives are affected on a daily basis because of the birth of our Savior. And I also hope you know how dear you are to me and how much I love you.

Merry Christmas family. Sarbatori fericite.

Va pup,
Sora Cook

PS for Christmas, President Hill gave us voie (permission) to watch two movies, one of which can be in theaters as long as it is G-rated, animated, or The Hobbit. So, we will be seeing The Hobbit this week. I don't really care to see it, but my district is all dying to see it. Ce sa fac...