Christmas Miracles



 December 26, 2021 

Dear Family & Friends, 

Merry Christmas!  Last week was fun!  I’ve been blessed with opportunities to serve and opportunities to see the hand of the Lord blessing people. 

On Wednesday I visited a couple people.  One of them was my friend Sheri who is blind.  She had some shirts that she was having a hard time telling front from back, so I sewed a small ribbon inside each one.  Sheri is such a cheerful person, it put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. 

In the afternoon I was able to go teaching with the Hermanas.  This was enjoyable and the people we met were very kind, even when I accidentally used an incorrect Spanish word. I intended to say, “Jesus conoce a sus ovejas” (Jesus knows his sheep.) But I accidentally used the word “abejas” (bees) instead of “ovejas.” Yes, I told them Jesus knows His bees!   

After that I went with the young missionaries and other church members to deliver food to a local food bank.  Our local congregations had a food drive a couple weeks ago.  And we had also received a truckload of frozen meat from the LDS Bishop’s Storehouse which we took to the food bank.  The local food bank is run by the Methodist church.  They are wonderful people and do great service in the community.  We work with them on a regular basis.  Anyway, they called our food delivery a “Christmas Miracle.”  It was great to work together unloading the food.  Afterward, we prayed together and left amid hugs and Merry Christmas wishes. 

On Christmas Eve my companion & I and the young missionaries had dinner with the Coombs family and some of their friends.  We had potato soup which reminded me of Christmas Eve when I was a child.  Then we played some fun games. We ended with testimonies.  Everyone shared their testimony of the Savior.  One young man who coaches pole vaulters at a local high school said when he watches the vaulters there are usually about five things they are doing wrong, but he tells them just one thing to work on.  He said that’s how our Savior is--He just gives us line upon line--one precept at a time.  The Lord is patient with me, I want to learn to be patient with others. 



Primary Gifts


On Christmas day my companion and I enjoyed opening Christmas presents from the Primary children who had given each missionary a large bag of wrapped gifts.  Each gift had a scripture taped to it that was a clue to the contents.  For example, Matthew 7:10 (“…if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?”) was the clue for Swedish Fish.  And I think John 11:35 (“Jesus wept”) was the clue for a box of Kleenex.  But the best part was the handmade cards.  (See attached.) 

Then I opened my family gifts and talked to family members on the phone.  But for me, the biggest Christmas surprise (a real miracle) was seeing Paul and Adam together enjoying Christmas with Dan’s family. Due to a series of unfortunate events, Paul and Adam hadn’t spoken to each other for about two years.  But today I saw them eating dinner and laughing together.  I can’t point to any particular reason or series of events that brought this about, but it happened and I give God the credit. 

May you all see God’s hand in your lives and may you all find opportunities to be God’s hand in someone’s life. 

I love you all xoxo 

Sister Manwaring 

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