Halfway there

Dear Family,

Sorry...that was the most creative title I could come up with. You should see December 11 in my planner. I can't read it because I wrote HALFWAAAYYYYYY!!! all over it. I'm not excited or anything. But I was thinking the other day about how homesick I was in the beginning (embarassing, but I know it's like not a big secret...sorry 'bout that) and how I would think that by the time Christmas came I'd be more than half done. Then I realized um hello...that time has come! It's so strange how time goes on a mission! I don't know if it's because we do the same thing every day or what, but it's crazy. It doesn't feel fast when it happens, but one day you look back and realize that 9 MONTHS HAVE GONE BY (that's a whole baby!)!!!! I have no idea where they went really. I had like a major flashback to the MTC the other day and then realized how long ago it was that I was there and had to sit down and put my head between my knees. At the same time the nine months that I have left seem like forever. So I just try not to think about it too much. Sorry, random rambling.

This week has been loooonngg and crazy. On Tuesday and Wednesday we went on splits with the Stockholm sisters. Sister Lundén went to Stockholm to be with Sister Wood and I stayed here in Örebro with Sister Swenson. Seriously, she's adorable! I hope I get to serve with her soon...in Stockholm. I love Stockholm. It's my dream to serve there! Wednesday we had to switch back so I got to sit on a train for 4 hours between here and Stockholm...both ways. Whee. It was a nice nap. Because of that trip we didn't have much time for anything on Tuesday and Wednesday. Call me crazy, but I thought the idea of splits was to work in another area or have another missionary work in your area. this just turned into a way complicated slumber party. We need more sisters here. So if you know anyone...we need missionaries in Sweden. Thursday we taught our recent convert, Henri and then he stayed for a teach with Will. It was a great lesson. The Spirit was very strong and we got to know a lot more about him. Friday was weekly planning. whoot. Nothing really to report there. It's always insanely boring to weekly plan. We get so sick of sitting and always need chocolate and we're both just crazy by the end of the day. Saturday was the ward Christmas party!!! It was seriously the most fun I've ever had. I'm sending pictures and possibly video footage. They also celebrated Lucia day with a little performance by the primary children...all 6 of them. They did what's called a Lucia tåg (Lucia train) which is a little procession of children dressed up and singing. Then they sang some songs for us. I love the members here! The party was a huge hit and we had 2 investigator families and James come! I also sang. Yesterday we had a few investigators in church. One actually just came to give us Christmas presents. His name is Gunder and it was the cutest thing. Right after the sacrament a member comes to us to tell us that we have an investigator looking for us and he was standing out in the foyer with a plastic bag. He never likes to come into the chapel for sacrament meeting and usually just sits in the foyer. We don't actually meet him and teach him because he doesn't like meetings. But he loves the Book of Mormon and believes in Joseph Smith. We see him in town all the time and we love him! He said to Sister Lundén that she's his best friend. So he gave us both little presents. Little boxes wrapped in cute red paper. I can't wait to open them!! Last night we got to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and it was fantastic! Our investigator Eddie came out of the blue. We were so happy!

I especially liked President Uchtdorf's talk last night about keeping Christ in Christmas. We've been talking a lot about the meaning of Christmas to investigators and members and even talked about it when Sister Swenson and I were out contacting last week. I was so surprised that Jesus Christ is not the first thing people think of when they think of Christmas. Even when you look up Christmas on Wikipedia (which I just did...just curious) Jesus is not the first thing it talks about. When we were out last week, we would ask people what they thought the meaning of Christmas was. Without fail, the first thing they would say was that it's a time to be with family and be kind to others. Then we get a lot of presents and eat a lot of food. Most of these people don't even know why we celebrate Christmas! It's so important to remember that this is a time to think about our Savior. I'd like to bear my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ lives. I'm so grateful for this season and the chance that I have to testify of Christ.

I've also thought about why we celebrate Christ's birth. Yes, it was a miracle that the Son of God was born of Mary and came to live on earth. But it's more than that. I think about the people who saw Baby Jesus. Simeon and Anna knew that he was our Savior. The wise men saw the star and knew that it meant that that our Redeemer had come. He was born and lived and died for us. I'm grateful for him and his sacrifice and love for us. I know that he loves all of us and if we believe in him we can live with him and our Father in Heaven again.

Thank you for all of your love and support! Mom, I'm very impressed with your Swedish! I really wish I'd gotten to see a big Lucia day concert, but we didn't have time. Kinda sad beacuse this is my only one in Sweden! It's my only Swedish Christmas too so I gotta make the most of it! Which reminds me, I was thinking of calling home at 12:00 your time on Christmas day. Does that work for you? That way you'll have time for presents, breakfast and Jake. Anyhoo, what you said mom is, "I wish you all a happy Lucia day and third advent!" Advent is one fo the traditions here. The 4 Sundays before Christmas are called Advents and they light a candle every Sunday and sing "Nu tändas tusen juleljus" or "A thousand Christmas light are lit." I think it's to symbolize the star when Jesus was born, but I'm not sure. Gotta check Wikipedia again. I hope you all have a great week! Love you and miss you all so SO much!!

Love,
Syster Coleman