Sister Kofford in Tahiti: Merry Christmas!

12/21/15

Iaorana friends and family! I love and miss you all! I look up to you all and am so thankful for all that you do for me in my life! I hope that you are all loving your life and enjoying this wonderful season of Noel! The Christmas spirit is real and I hope that you are feeling it as much as I am! We had a great week! Yesterday, we taught the YW and did a question and answer lesson! One of the questions was, "What has been the funniest moment on your mission?" I had a hard time responding, because we laugh everyday! I love my life and my mission! I love you and I love our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ! So much to love in life! Never let a day go by without loving! One of our new converts pulled me aside the other day and asked me if my face hurt . . . haha I did not quite know how to respond. Confused I told her no and asked why. She explained that everytime she sees me, I smile! I was happy with this comment and smiled again! There is so much to smile about! This Church is so true! I am convinced with the very ends of my heart strings of the truthfulness of the restored gospel here on the earth! I am happy and not a bit ashamed to share the message that has changed my life! So, remember to smile each day! Your life is beautiful because of this gospel! We had two baptisms of two little boys! Both of them have members in their families that have fallen inactive because of lack of effort! Through their children, these two families were reactivated right in time for Christmas! To give a little bit back to he who gave us all! Such a great week and another one yet to come!

In life, I know there are ups and downs, there are good times and hard ones. There are blessings and trials. Always opposition in all things! I know that we are destined to fail at times, but to be able to pick ourselves back up and go forward again! As a Missionary, I have made lots of promises with our Heavenly Father, one of which is to do my best to never fall inactive. I learned something this week that helped me realize how this will come to be. When building something in life, the first thing we have to do is construct the foundation. For a sturdy house, we need a sure foundation. Even with the lesson of the restoration, we teach everyone that this Church was built with a foundation of prophets and apostles. This is how the Church functions today with our modern day leaders of the Church! God is good and he is very orgainized and clear. In our everyday life, we too need to be living on a sure foundation. Our foundation is Jesus Christ, like we learn in Helaman 5:12. I know that as we center our lives on Christ, everything else will unfold itself and in our circle of living, things will be balanced and good. I love a quote from President Monson in the October General Conference. He says, "When firmly planted, our testimonies of the gospel, of the Savior, and of our Heavenly Father will influence all that we do." I want this kind of life. I want to honor my baptismal covenants and take the name of Christ upon me and remember Him in all that I do. I want to live a life that will allow me to stay firmly planted in my testimony of these things. There are no limits when Christ is at our side. He is capable of everything and so are we! I am so thankful for the gospel in my life! I am thankful for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, that I came to know at a young age and the relationships that I have gained with them as a Missionary! I love my Heavenly Father! He is the reason I am here! He is the reason for my life! So, as you go throughout your lives this week and in the future, find something to do to better build your foundation on Christ! Especially with the season of Christmas and everything good that is happening! Keep these thoughts and feelings and be a Christlike person everyday! Joy is promised and it does and will come! Thanks again for everything! I love you all! Thank you for your Christlike examples to me! Have a great week and a very Merry Christmas!!!

Love, Sœur Kofford