Hello! It's Monday again here in the MTC and we have the opportunity to email home again, yipii!

Dear Mom,

It's so great to hear from you every week, it really is. We're all so excited to be traveling today and heading to Thailand where we can start the actual mission part of our missions. Haha. Yea, I just realized that as I was thinking about it - I did forget to include the travel plans. We leave at 11:30 today - in a few hours, to the SLC airport where we will then leave around 4:30 to LA. We will then have a 7-hr lay over until we fly to Hong Kong then we'll be in Thailand 4hrs later. We have about 30 hours of total travel time. We'll likely be calling home in SLC or LA, but I'm not sure. We leave today, but won't be in Thailand until the 10th. It's probably too late to call today, but I'll see if we can call in LA or something.

I didn't play a part in the Thanksgiving program, but I still enjoyed it alot. There were two Indian men and women, Puritan men and women, and three turkeys.

The speaker said that agency is different when we are baptized because - in short - when we enter into covenants and make decisions to break them, we no longer are excercising agency but are breaking covenants. It was a very interesting way to look at it. We have a responsibility to choose certain things when our agency is changed and when we don't, we aren't using our agency to choose not to obey, but are simply breaking sacred covenants we've made. Maybe I'll get my notebook and see how it was explained to help a little more. I'm not the best with words.

Wow, Sister Sylvester came home already. It almost feels like she just left, at least to me it does.

I don't know if Brother Eggett is related to the Eggett's in our ward, but I have met a lot of people here that know a lot of other people back home. I also wonder if Sister Johansen and Sister Belnap in my zone are related to anyone we know.

We saw the first presidency Christmas devotional, too. And we watched "He is the Gift" several times here in the MTC. It's a great video and everytime I watch it, I marvel at the scripture - John 3:16. "God so loved the world". God so loves the world. God so loves us. Each and every one of us. He knows all of us deeply and cleary and more than we can even comprehend. He wants the very best for us and knows how we can get there. He's guiding our lives every step of the way. He is always there. He so loved us that he sent His only begotten Son. His Son was a gift to us. "He is Christmas". That's such a simple, powerful, and true phrase. "He is Christmas". He was the gift to the world, for the world. As I watched that video for another time, I thought about how Christ's birth was a gift, but it wasn't the only gift. The Atonement was an amazing gift, as was the resurrection. "God so loved the world" and he continues to love the world. He sends us gifts along the path of our lives all the time. In the District Devotional review after this Sunday's Christmas devotional, I had the chance to hear one last testimony from everyone here in the MTC. As I listened to their thoughts and felt the Spirit, I knew that each one of them was a gift in my life. Having the opportunity to be here in the MTC for these nice long weeks is such a gift. Having the opportunity to get to know all these great Elders, Sisters, and our teaches was a tremendous gift. I know that Heavenlly Father and Jesus Christ are with us every step of our lives. Through hard times and good times they desire for us to be happy, successful, and to become the best sons and daughters They would have us be. I know that Christ lives. He is the gift and we can use the gift in our lives. We need to use the Atonement in our lives to strengthen us, to help accomplish our purpose in this life - what ever it may be. Heavenly Father has a plan for us and knows exactly what we need to do. As missionaries, we are told a lot that He is preparing people to hear the Gospel. He is softening people's hearts and people are waiting for us to show them the way that will bring them lasting joy in their lives. We are told that as we follow the Spirit, are obedient, and work diligently, that we will be lead to the people that have been prepared for us and we will be able to help them. We've been guided in our lives in such a way that we will be able to touch people in ways that are unique to each of us. I know that this is true and that as we strive to do as Christ would do, we will receive tremendous blessings in our lives and great opportunities to love and serve others. When we turn outwards as Christ would, we will develp the Character Christ more fully in our lives and will be blessed in blessing others. I know that these things are true and am so thankful for this Thanksgiving/Christmas season to share the love of Christ. In Thailand, they don't really celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas, and I'm so excited to be able to share with others what Christmas is all about.

Elder Sun