MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE THAT I LOVE

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE THAT I LOVE!!!!

sorry this is going to be short because today has been crazy but my

new area is Santee- I cover like 1/4 of the mission haha it's a very

large area and includes a couple more cities also but I love it. It

really feels like I just moved back to the United States, it's kind of

disappointing when now everyone speaks Spanish anymore...we serve in a

branch but it's super strong and the members are awesome! It was

really hard for me to say goodbye to Calexico but things are good. My

new companion is sister Hanson from south Jordan she's been on her

mission like the same amount of time as me and she's super cool I love

her!

Today I got to go to the temple after a couple months of being away it

was the best Christmas present I could have asked for! I honestly feel

so very blessed to be a missionary this Christmas and even though I

miss all of you I love that I get to be a representative of our Savior

Jesus Christ. My companion shared with me a quote today that was super

impactful for me...

"we should not complain about our own life’s not being a rose garden

when we remember who wore the crown of thorns"

-elder Neil Maxwell

I think this Christmas we can all remember our Savior and give thanks

for the many blessing which we enjoy! I love you all!!

Hermana Koelliker

hasta luego calexico

Well my days in Calexico have come to an end.....everything went so well this week with the ward and area that I knew I was going to get transferred, the mission comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comforted honestly when you get too comfortable you gotta move. 

Last Wednesday we had an activity for the youth and we went caroling and when we got to the first door we looked back and there's like a hugeeee group of members from our ward and youth that were there at the activity and we were so excited!! Sang some joy to the world and we wish you a merry Christmas and had some hot chocolate and cookies it was so awesome the ward is just taking off!! 

Thursday we took a trip up to San Diego and had the mission conference with Elder and Sister Clayton. It was super awesome they talked about having "fire in our bones" and how we need to work hard and let that fire of faith burn within us. He also talked about how we need to do the harder things. He said it's easy not to rob a bank but it's harder to be charitable. We all have the potential to accomplish more, to do the harder things! 

We have some awesome investigators right now that are coming to church and will be ready for baptism really soon. Sister Castellanos is going to keep the work moving forward in Calexico. I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I've had to serve with her and here in this ward- I have made some amazing friends and have learned so much from the example of the faithful members here. 

It's amazing to see how everyone's mission and life experience is tailored perfectly for them individually. I'm excited to see where I'm headed next on my journey! 

xoxo, 

Hermana Koelliker

My trainer sister chamberlain went home this week!! I am going to miss her she's amazing and will always be a good friend of mine! I said goodbye to her at the mission conference 

good news!!!

HOLAAAAA FAMILIA Y AMIGOS

I can't believe it's almost Christmas hahah the people here spray paint their windows white on the edges to make it look like snow, makes me miss Utah. It's actually getting pretty cold here when we go running in the mornings were like freezing hahaa my comps muscles keep giving out in the morning while we're running and she keeps tripping and we always laugh cause she looks like she's a baseball player sliding into home base don't worry she hasn't gotten hurt yet she just keeps back up and keeps going. 

Anyways were still alive down here in Calexico my nightmare of getting kidnapped across the boarder hasn't occurred yet so that is great news. We are actually finding a ton of new investigators lately and things are progressing

This week I've been thinking about the Savior a lot and what his birth and life mean to me. In the bible dictionary under gospel it says that it means "good news" I loved that because the gospel really is the best news there is. The more I learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ the more gratitude I feel for our perfect Savior and Redeemer. I like to think of our existence almost as a maze or an obstacle course-not the kind that you do for fun but one that is really quite challenging and in fact impossible to do on your own. At the end of the course is the best reward you can think of eternal joy, peace, happiness, everything good. Jesus Christ is standing right there in front of us and saying look I went through this all before you to clear the way, just trust me and I will show you how to get where you want to go. He sees more of the picture then we can and for this reason He gives us commandments that he knows will keep us safe on the path going in the right direction. When we are prideful, lazy or distracted and choose not to follow Him we wander off and get lost things become more difficult and we aren't progressing. However, there is always hope, He will always leave His arm stretched out to guide us back. We need to always remember that Jesus Christ loves us perfectly he wants us to have eternal life and He knows how we can achieve that. We need to have faith in Him, be obedient to His commandments and know that He will guide us safely home. 

That's all for this week! Sorry I'm not good at writing long emails but know that I love you all and pray for you everyday!!! 

Xoxo Hermana Koelliker 

Ha Nacido un Salvador

DECEMBER! Woahhhhhhh where has time gone? I can't believe it but the

church came out with a new Christmas video and if you haven't seen it

you need to go on lds.org and check it out! I am really excited for

this month to be a missionary and strengthen everyone's faith in our

Savior Jesus Christ!!! During the third hour of church the bishop was

like hey can you guys teach relief society and Preisthood combined and

we just did it on the spot but it turned out pretty good it was about

missionary work and the Christmas video haha everyone was getting a

little hungry and sleepy cause it was 1 pm so I made them all stand up

and role play and practice sharing the video pretending that the

person sitting next to them wasn't  a member of the church. It turned

out really good so that's all of your guys homework go watch the video

and share it with someone else!

Anyways this week was the baptism of Martha wow she is so incredible

we started teaching her just over a month ago and now she is one of

the strongest members of our ward, her testimony of the Book of Mormon

is solid and she's helping us teach her husband now yay for the gospel

the talks on her baptism were on point she was in tears and the spirit

was so strong!!!

Sorry gotta go but life is good! Gospel is true! Keep smiling

I LOVE YOU