changes in this beautiful Christmas season!

Dear Family,
William's baptism went really well. (I'll send pics next week) There was a sweet spirit there as he made this covenant with his Heavenly Father. I feel privileged to have been able to help him make the final preparations for his baptism this last week.
We have also been helping Angela with her move a lot. She has very little but her apartment will be a home yet :). We met her grandmother Azucena with whom she is now living. She has some experience with the church already--her sister is a member!. We're excited to start teaching them both!
Transfers are this week. My companion is being transferred up to Kitchener and I will be staying here with Hna. Varley. I've been hoping for the opportunity to work with her more closely after going on an exchange with her a couple of months ago. But I will certainly miss Hna. Ence. It has been wonderful to work with her again the last 6 weeks and I have learned so much from her...again :). She has helped me a lot this last transfer. We have learned a lot about humility and patience and faith, and diligence. Just to keep going when it gets tough and we're not teaching as much as we'd like. (sorry if this doesn't make a lot of grammatical sense, my thoughts are all over the place right now, though nothing like Hna. Ence.)
And with the change, God is so good! On our way to do a little shopping today we ran into one of our investigators with whom we haven't talked all week: Adriana! We didn't know how Hna. Ence would be able to say goodbye. Adriana will be going back to Mexico very soon. We hope to help her continue to progress and to find the missionaries down there. I love her so much and will miss her.
We also met two new investigators who have some promise. One of them is a scientist so it was a very interesting lesson :) He was a little blown away when we taught him that God has a body and that heaven is a place. He's excited to learn more :)
Here's to another wonderful, jolly week in this beautiful Christmas season!
Love,
Hna. Cottam

CHRISTmas

Dear family,
We found someone new to teach! His name is Gelbert, and we found him by calling old street contacts. He is really interested and wants to change his life for the better. He is having to overcome many addictions at this point in his life and wants some extra strength. He accepted to be baptized on Jan 6th :)
Adriana is not doing as well. She had an appointment with immigration and they are sending her back to Mexico. She did come to the primary party but missed church yesterday. She is really stressed and has asked us not to come by this week. We were able to organize so that she could get a blessing of comfort and counsel and she appreciated that. So we will be praying for her very hard.
Angelo had a change of heart. He wants to be baptized now. So we set a date for Jan 6th as well. The Lord works in mysterious ways and he has with Angelo. :)
We've met several in-active and less-active members this week (we are hoping to find investigators through them). So we have started to work with Bro. Ortez and Bro. Espinoza. Each have their challenges, but both seem to have the potential to make it back. Bro. Espinoza has many friends and family we can work with, so it will be good.
Two of the investigators from the Elders are moving into our area so we're excited to work with them. William has a baptismal date for this Sunday. Angela also is very receptive and prepared. We will be helping her move tonight.
I love that Christmas is on the air. It's a wonderful time of year (and a great conversation starter :)) And I know that as we put our trust ever more fully in the Lord, His purposes will be fulfilled. So often this work is hard, but it's like the currant bush and the gardener. Sometimes He cuts us down so we can grow and bear fruit, eternal fruit. I love you all. I love this work. I love the Lord. I will do His will.
Love,
Hna. Cottam

CHRISTmas (continued)

“[President Brown] told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and he thought he heard it say:
“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.”
President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’”
Years later, President Brown was a field officer in the Canadian Army serving in England. When a superior officer became a battle casualty, President Brown was in line to be promoted to general, and he was summoned to London. But even though he was fully qualified for the promotion, it was denied him because he was a Mormon. The commanding general said in essence, “You deserve the appointment, but I cannot give it to you.” What President Brown had spent 10 years hoping, praying, and preparing for slipped through his fingers in that moment because of blatant discrimination. Continuing his story, President Brown remembered: “I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, …I threw my cap on the cot. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?’ I was as bitter as gall. “And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. … And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’”God knew what Hugh B. Brown was to become and what was needed for that to happen, and He redirected his course to prepare him for the holy apostleship.”
I love this story! It is so true and applicable to my life many times.
Hna. Cottam