Beautiful Snow

Hi,

The immense amount of snow we have received makes all of the trees, etc. look like a winter wonderland. It really is quite beautiful. But it is extremely cold as well and the wind is always blowing. We just got home from church and it is currently 12 degrees. The forecast high for tomorrow is now -15. With the wind chill it will feel like -45-50. As of this morning, we had received 26 inches of snow already this year. The normal is only 11 inches. And it has been snowing all day. It is pretty to see when you are looking out from a warm apartment, but it is just too cold to breath.

Missionaries have been in 5 car accidents this week; the latest just an hour ago. 4 of the 5 cars had less than 3,500 miles on them. Fortunately no one was hurt in any of them. One accident was our car getting hit by a snowplow in the morning while the missionaries were studying. It ripped the rear bumper off the car. Sadly I have been keeping the body shops busy. 18-19 year old missionaries have just not had enough winter driving experience to handle these conditions. I have actually had fun driving in the snow, but I also have all-wheel drive.

We had a fun New Year's celebration. The two of us played games and drank Sprite New Year's eve. Sister T whooped me good at the games this time. On New Year's Day we went to the Palmer's house along with 4 other missionaries and celebrated Happy Noon Year. Since missionaries can't be out past 10:30 they have them over at 11:30 am and do the countdown, noise-makers, lunch and play games. We played a game called Encore where there is a word or a category that each team has to sing a song that includes that word or category. You go back and forth until one team can't think of any more songs. We laughed and had a great time.

I have found that someone who has had an accident, lost a loved one or had some other tragedy tends to be far more interested in hearing about Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. We have had several missionaries who have found someone interested in learning more who has recently had such an event in their life. It is exciting to hear them share their experiences as I monitor their Facebook activity. They are amazing teachers and are so full of faith and enthusiasm. There are so many people who really need God in their life, but don't realize that is what they are missing.

As we try to stay warm in this deep-freeze, I am so grateful for the warmth of companionship and friends. I am grateful for the warmth the gospel of Jesus Christ brings not my life. Share the warmth of your smile and life with someone and bring some warmth into their life. Have a blessed week.

Elder Taggart