Clothing The Naked

Dear friends and family,

I'm not really sure what to write about this week--and I don't know if I even can explain what I would want to say. This Christmas was probably the most focused and Christ-centered of my entire life and now that it's over, I can look back and see just what a miracle it was.

Much of this week was spent in preparation for the clothing donation we organized this week and all in all, it was a success. We had to haul tables from the church, lay out the clothes, organize, prepare hot chocolate and cider, organize again, put up signs, organize again, clean, etc. etc. The 3 days leading up to the event were crazy and the 2 days that we actually gave out the clothes were even more crazy. It was so much work and so much effort put into that by all of the missionaries from the zone and in the end, I am so greatful that we got to be there to see those refugees collect their clothes and to be honest, Elder Jeppson and I were the blessed ones to be able to see the fruits of that effort.

There were so many miracles that surrounded this effort, but there is one that I would like to share. During the second day of the clothing donation, a lady from Burma, carrying her two kids with her, came up to us holding a Bible. We had set out a table with Bibles and Books of Mormon and quite a few people actually took them--but this lady just looked at me and so humbly said, "could I please have this?" It was such a tender moment to be able to see and recognize such faith in Jesus Christ from this woman and I will never forget that. It was such a blessing to be able to participate in all of that.

I'm grateful for my family, both back in Utah as well as here in Illinois, because I really do have family here. To be honest, it's difficult to not think about family during Christmas, but there are two families here that specifically made an effort to help Elder Jeppson and I feel at home and when we were with them, I felt just as much joy as I did with my family.

I know that this Church is true and it just has to be--when you look at the members and those who would sacrifice everything to bless the life of someone else, it's very humbling and I feel very grateful. Love you all and I hope that you all have a glass of sparkling cider for me for New Years...but just one...;)

Elder Arkoudas

Thank You!

Dear Friends and Family,

The day just kind of escaped us and we were super busy! I wish that I could have sent you all a personal email telling you thanks for the birthday wishes. Thank you all so much! Your emails made my day! Merry Christmas and thank you for your support! I love you all so much!

Elder Arkoudas

Just a Few Christmas Miracles

Dear friends and family,

I understand more why this really is the most wonderful time of the year (what a great, cheesy way to start out an email right?)

This week we saw so many miracles and it has been such a fun week! As I talked about before, we moved apartments from Batavia to West Chicago and that has been one of the inspired actions of the mission. When we went into the main office of our new apartments to finalize some things, the ladies working there immediately told us, "let's go meet the manager!" She is a Romanian lady named Cornelia who is kind of scary looking, but she is so nice! Immediatley she asked us, "So what are you going to do for our community here?" It turns out that our apartment complex is also a refuge for refugees from all over the world and within 2 days of living there, and 15 minutes of meeting the head honcho, we were able to set up a clothing drive and a bunch of other stuff to help out the refugees this Christmas season.

We were also able to go on exchanges with the other Elders in the Zone this week and we had a blast! I was especially impressed by an Elder in our district who is just about one of the most humble people that I have ever met in my life. As we sat down to do our companionship study, I asked him what I could do to be more humble and he gave me some advice that I had never thought about before. He told me that we always need to realize that everything we have, we recieve from God and that there is literally nothing that we can earn or gain in this life for ourselves--everything is a gift from God. As I have applied that this week, I have seen so many more blessings and that in and of itself is humbling.

I know that Christ lives and that he is looking for every opportunity to bless us. As we try our best to do what he wants us to do and as we follow his commandments, I know that we will develop those attributes of Jesus Christ. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Elder Arkoudas

We went caroling with the Elders quorum

Light the World Day 7

Day 7: Jesus taught :"let the children come to me".- Mark 10:14

Although we are not kids ;) the family family helped us to #iluminarelmundo today for feeding us and for a good fun night. Thank you!

Day 7
Jesus taught:“Suffer the little children to come unto me.”—Mark 10:14

Today we had the opportunity to help prepare sweets for the children visiting the office of our apartment. I know that it really is for the simple acts that we make day to day that we can bless the lives of others

Light the World Day 6

Day 6: Jesus taught :"do not judge, lest you be judged".- Matthew 7:1

Today we decided to start a thank-you diaries so we always look for good people.

Light the World Day 4

Day 4

Jesus Taught: "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." - Matthew 22:39

Follow the Spirit

Dear Friends and Family,

It has come to my attention today that my emails have gone from being travel logs to sermons and I realized that if anyone is still really reading my emails and not just looing at the pictures, you probably want the good stuff;)

So this week I had an crazy good study of Alma 5. I suggest that you all read it and think about it in this context: If the Holy Ghost is the purifier, that means that everytime we do something that the Spirit whispers to us to do, we are becoming more like our Heavenly Father. I have had real struggles following the promptings of the spirit--call it lack of courage, laziness, whatever--and it was seriously affecting the work. As I studied this and realized just what the Spirit's job is, I realized that it honestly doesn't matter what it is that we're asked to do, if it's from the Spirit, it will help us in the long run.

As we were driving last night on the way home, I saw someone on the side of the road walking their dog. I felt impressed to stop and to be honest, it was cold, dark and probably not the best situations to talk to someone. We did it anyway and as we started talking, she said something like, "I've heard a lot about the Mormons. You know what I've heard?" (at this point we were thinking, "Oh great, here it comes") but she said, "that they are great!" It's crazy how blessed we are when we follow the promptings of the spirit.

Love you all and thank you so much for all that you do for me! I can feel your prayers and support!

Elder Arkoudas

We went caroling a a zone.

Light the World Day 1

Day: 1
Today, we decided to share and give our talents. Nothing brings the spirit of Christmas more than the Christmas songs!