Merry Christmas!

Hello Loved Ones!

It was so good to hear you all! Honestly, I loved it a ton. Man, did that 45 minutes fly by though. That's to be expected, I suppose. I only have a very little amount of time to email today, so I have to be brief. Sorry! I will give a more complete account next week. I'm so glad that you all had a great Christmas! And you got to spend it with the Nethercotts! Lucky! It looks like you all had quite the party. I'm happy about that. So when do you guys head off to San Francisco? That should be a lot of fun. This time, I propose that you all ride bikes all the way across the Golden Gate Bridge instead of only halfway. I bet it's going to be a blast. I'm excited for you guys. I have to compliment you all on the very organized system you created for the phone call. That made things flow smoothly. Good idea. I wish that we could have Skyped, and my heart dropped a bit when I opened the 25th day of the advent calendar and saw that you put the Skype account name in there. But, it worked out well. President Calderwood gave us permission to Skype a few days before Christmas, but a bunch of the members in my branch were out of town, so we didn't have a lot of available computers, if any. Now that I know we are allowed to Skype, I'm going to make sure that I get it sorted out very early so I can see you all on Mother's Day. 

Before I go any further, I have to thank you all for the wonderful Christmas presents. I loved them all. I am super excited to try out the table-top air hockey. I didn't even know that existed. And the pajamas and slippers are super comfortable. Everything was perfect. The goodies were also divine. All who partook were very impressed. It just wouldn't be Christmas Eve without Momma's goodies. Grandma. thank you so much for the toffee and peanut brittle. You know how much I love them both. You're the best. Thank you one and thank you all. Honestly, you made my first Christmas away from home a treat. I missed you all, but throughout Christmas Eve and Christmas, I just kept having a feeling of fulfillment and I kept thinking that I was absolutely where I needed to be this Christmas, even though that meant being away from my family. 

One thing that I want to share before I run out of time is the 2013 Vision for the mission that President Calderwood unveiled at the Christmas Eve mission conference. The vision is as follows:

"I am set apart from the world to serve the Lord Jesus Christ here in New York. By serving my fellow beings, I am serving my God and I am forever changed. My voice is HIS voice. My works are HIS works. My attributes are HIS attributes. The TEMPLE is the goal. The MEMBERS are the key. The DOCTRINE OF CHRIST is the path. The ATONEMENT is the ONLY way!"

It was a very powerful moment when this vision was unveiled. I am really excited about it, and I want to make it a part of me. It just says it all perfectly. Though it can be sad to be away from you all at Christmas, I am so thankful that the Lord has given me the opportunity to serve here in New York. I know that the Lord will not be satisfied with anything less than my best, and neither will I. Thank you for all your support that helps me to give my very best. I feel that we are all working together in a great cause. There is much work to do. One of the thoughts that keeps me going through difficult times is the realization that I need to put in a lot of effort in order to even begin to pay the Lord back and do my part. I couldn't be satisfied with myself if I let this opportunity pass me by, and I could not look any of you in the eye with a clear conscience and bear my testimony of the truthfulness of this work if I shirk my responsibilities and fail to work until the tank is empty. I'm going to make sure that that doesn't happen. I love you all so much, and I am so grateful to each of you for all that you do for me. 

Love,
Elder McDonald