to Hermana Patterson (Lexi), Love Liz

Feliz Navidad Hermana Patterson! 

I hope you are having a beautiful Christmas morning in Costa Rica! As I got your name last spring to be the one to do service for this Christmas, I knew it wouldn't be too difficult! A new missionary has lots of needs and wishes.

My first thought was that I should do something related to Lauren's Wedding. It was fast approaching and I knew it was probably weighing heavy on your heart that you couldn't be there, and probably Lauren's heart as well. But then I thought about how Christmas time was so far away from the time of the wedding and you would've probably gotten over it by then. Have you? Lets hope because I didn't do anything in that regard!

The next thing our readers might be thinking is that I probably committed to writing you a letter every week all year without missing a single beat....but you and I both know that didn't happen either :)

Something I did consider was to serve our local missionary effort a little better and have them over to dinner more often and try to give them names of someone they could teach. I know you would've loved that if you had someone who did the same to you where you are. But alas...that too did not get done.

Instead, I turned my thoughts to how I could be a better missionary myself. I did this in two different ways.

First of all, since the beginning of the year I've been trying to figure out what to do with David's blog and what is the point and purpose? Since we had finished his anniversary service project, I didn't know what to do with it. All I knew is that I didn't want to let it be lost in cyber space with no further benefit to anyone. As I thought and prayed about both service opportunities (David's blog and your Christmas gift) I realized I could try to merge the two together. And so I began changing the focus of the blog from our grief of David's loss into helping other people who have experienced similar devastating loss. I suddenly knew who my audience was. I was able to make new posts with them in mind. Members and non-members a like. I re-vamped the “suggested articles” section and added a “suggested books” area. A lot of this was done shortly after Ryan died. With everything so fresh on my mind and the Holy Spirit evident in that week – I used that strength to let the Lord guide me in what to do.

Now, almost every time I know someone on Facebook who has lost a loved one or expresses their grief in loss, I send them the link to the blog in hopes that they find help and peace. I feel like its a wonderful missionary tool to have people read about what we experienced and also read about what the prophets of today are saying about life after death. Lastly, just this week I added a new link at the top/left corner of the blog that says “What We Believe”. It provides a link to mormon.org with information on the Plan of Salvation. I'm hoping this will be informative to any non-LDS who want to know more about why we feel so strongly that we will see our loved ones again some day.

 The second effort I made with you in mind throughout the year was a tiny bit more “missionary-ish”. No, I didn't convert anyone. I never even told the full time missionaries about anyone. I just did what the prophets and apostles have been telling us to do – be a better friend and always be an example of Christ and testify as often as possible of my love for the Savior. Let me tell you about two of my friends who have been on my mind this year.

The first friend I'll tell you about is already a member. But she is not active. As much as I would LOVE for her to come back to the church, I know it's not my decision. Early in our friendship, she explained to me some of her reasons for drifting away, yet she still comes from time to time. So I asked her “Why don't you leave completely? What is it that keeps you lurking around?” I wasn't trying to convince her to do anything drastic about her membership, I was just wondering what was it that was keeping her from doing that. She said without hesitation “Even though I have my doubts about many things, the one thing I will always know and never deny is that Heavenly Father and Jesus love me. And I always feel that love when I do go to church.”

I was so touched by her sincerity. I knew then that if there was just ONE thing I could do for my friend, it would be to help her feel that love of her Father and Brother more often in her life. I don't try to push her or make an issue of the difference in our commitment to the gospel. Instead, we both embrace and respect each others lives.

My other friend is a wonderful person too. She is a non-denominational Christian. And let me tell you, this woman LOVES the Savior. I have never – NEVER – met anyone (even LDS) who bears her testimony more often and more sincerely than this gal. Our very first communication included her testimony of how much she loves the Lord. Ever since then, it is a constant thread in our communication.

 Again, I would LOVE to invite her to church and introduce the missionaries to her. Some day I do hope to do that. But I've learned (the hard way) that things like this are not on my time table. It is in the Lords time that something like this will happen. She already has a wonderful relationship with God and the Lord. It's not my place to tell her she is doing anything “wrong”. She is not. Instead, I hope to help her see that there is still more she doesn't know. I want her to know someday that our church doesn't want to take anything away from her that her current church is teaching her. Just that we have more to add.

In the meantime, I try to see her as often as possible. We go to lunch, we help each other with projects and we keep in touch through social media and texting. And without fail, every time we get together – we both bear our testimonies to each other. She usually is first to start.

So, dear Lexi – I hope you have felt served in these efforts. I'm sorry I haven't written you any letters or fed our local missionaries in a long time. I think about you often and read your blog posts. You are doing a fabulous job down there and our own little family feels the daily blessings of you serving where you are. Thanks for being a wonderful example to my children. You are a special person to us – and we are so glad you came to our family to live!

Merry Christmas!

Love, Liz