Patience

Was Grandma's Christmas party for work? (The kids went to my mom's work Christmas party on Saturday) That is cool that Lewis put up the decorations by himself, I guess he is 16 now. I am starting to feel old! I bet calling on Christmas will be weird, seeing everyone so big now. Oh and I can still Skype this year. So no problems, but just less than an hour for the amount of time.

I can't wait for Jenna to get her call! That is so exciting! She should come here! Or France. Where does she want to go?

 I think I'll get you to apply to U of C and McGill, and maybe BYU too, if it isn't too complicated. That would be cool if Aaron went. (A friend on his mission planning on going to BYU) I get Jason's e-mails every week. I think he is in South Carolina, or North. Seems to be doing well, it's crazy that we are on missions. Has Joe Pickett left yet?

Oh hey mom, I was thinking of an awesome adventure! Do you want to go to China? One of our members here, Jeffrey is going back to China in the summer and said if I want I could come and stay, he would find a place to stay and provide food! I told him that you would naturally need to come with me, and he said sure! I thought it would be cool if like you and Dad and I went. Although I don't want to be selfish, I know it would probably be too expensive for everyone to come. But it would give me a chance to use my Chinese! And you could get a chance to take great pictures of things like the Great Wall! What do you think? There is a member here, Kevin, from Toronto, and he lived in Beijing for 1 year on a scholarship from the Chinese government. I thought that would be sweet, seeing as it would help me in my dream to be a pop-star in China, but I don't think I could leave for that long again. So maybe a few weeks would be fun.

I got the birthday package, but I haven't opened it yet, but I guess I can now! Thanks mom and dad.

The car looks so cool! I like Toyotas.  (We bought a car.)

We have our ward Christmas party/talent show tonight. Should be fun.

This week wasn't too bad, all of our people are busy with finals, so it was a little slower, but that's alright. Chinese class at church is great, a lot of people have been coming out.

Oh ya, on Tuesday, we road-tripped to Montreal for a meeting. It was great! The Spirit was so strong, and I renewed my resolve to be the best I can be (that happens a lot on the mission). We tend to go on emotional cycles, and when we are on a low, we are self-conscious and realize we make a lot of mistakes, maybe in teaching or in following the missionary schedule, or whatever. But then we resolve to improve and great things happen. I guess this is a life principle, not just a mission thing. But it's great.

This week I gave a training on Charity, I LOVE giving trainings! It is definitely important to think about Charity, and trying to follow the example of Jesus Christ in love and service to others. Also this week I have been studying Patience. I have a lot of room to improve here. I realized I had always thought of patience as the ability to wait. I have now discovered that a more accurate definition would be to endure trial/hardship, while maintaining peace and avoiding frustration... easier said than done. Luckily we can use our faith and rely on the Lord to strengthen us and help us endure (see Alma 31:31).

Well hope you have a fantastic week! Lots of love,

Elder Heinzlmeir