And I'm OFF......to Atlanta, Georgia!

The MTC Map picture, with Sister Menasco!

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I thought I'd share what my Christmas looked like. It was quite different from any year I've had! 

As soon as I woke up I ran over to the sister's room where we had a "Christmas tree." Sister Keeler's family made this cute little tree with pictures of her family as ornaments. Though it was her family, we all adopted the tree as our own and set our presents under it.

The tree!

I got some pretty sweet gifts from the family. Thanks fam! And of course it just so happened that our Brazil picture frame landed right at the top of the tree. So it was almost like the star on our tree:) 

The star!

The "stockings" er, Christmas shoes....

So for our Christmas celebrations, we had four special events. First of which being a Christmas Program. This was one of the most entertaining parts of the day! We had lots of singers and pianists but the coolest of all (Grandpa will like this!) was an elder who put on a magic show. He had umbrellas and confetti and the whole shabang. Seriously, it was insane! 

The next event was Elder Bednar's devotional. One of the coolest experiences!! Not just because Elder Bednar is a genius, but also because we were part of an experiment. What happened was, they passed out 200 cell phones between all 16 MTC's in the entire world. We then texted questions to Elder Bednar's iPad in which he and his wife would respond to. Basically it was a Q&A with an Apostle... pretty cool, huh? It was so insightful and crazy how so many of the responses were the exact words that I needed to hear. If you were wondering, yes, I did text in a question, but he didn't get to it. Also, it was super weird texting haha it's been a while!

The last two events were quite musical. We had a jazz concert by Ray Smith who played lots of Christmas medleys. Super cool to hear some live jazz!! Then later we watched the 2012 Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas show. THAT was cool... mostly because they had a guy named Alfie Boe sing "Bring Him Home" which made me cry. As per usual.

But the best part of Christmas (next to Elder Bednar's devotional, of course) was ending the day with my district in our classroom. We sat in a circle around our small tree with just our Christmas lights, drinking hot chocolate and reading the story of Christ's birth. Overall, my Christmas here was an unforgettable one. A celebration I will cherish forever!

the M&M Tree!

I'm so happy to have been in the MTC for Christmas. It seems fitting that I could start the MTC with Thanksgiving and end my term here with Christmas. Started with a bang, and ended with an even bigger bang. And that's exactly how I've changed. I've grown so much more than I expected to in just the first 6 weeks of my mission! Knowing that I still have so much time on my mission, I hope I can keep improving myself as I focus more and more on others. You know..... you don't have to be on a mission to do the same!(hint, hint!)

Elder Williams, the one without his suit coat, is going to Atlanta too!

Next week I'll be headed to ATLANTA GEORGIA!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I can't even begin to express how excited I am! Who knows how long I'll be there but whatever the case, I'd be happy to serve there for my whole mission. It doesn't matter where I 'm called to... wherever I go, my purpose is still the same. 

The letter with my reassignment to Atlanta, Georgia!

Eu sei que estou chamado para ser uma missionaria em Atlanta por um proposíto. Lá, as pessoas estam preparados ouvir a mensagem de Jesus Cristo. E eu estou preparado ensinar-los. Eu sei que o Senhor mim precissa a convidar Seus filhos para achegarem-se a Cristo. O trabalho de Deus é o trabalho melhore. Por Causa que eu não sou uma professora perfeita, a caminha somente para fazer o trabalha de Deus é por meio da Expiação de Jesus Cristo, do Espírito Santo, e do Livro de Mórmon. Eu sei que o evangelho de Jesus Cristo é verdade e eu vou amar ele para sempre. 

Until next week in ATLANTA!!!!

Sister Hawkins

PS: those who know Portuguese... don't hate on all my errors! 

Note from the Mom: We didn't get to talk to her on Christmas, but we got to email with her for a bit, which was also nice. And we WILL get to talk to her when she's in transit to Atlanta.  We're excited for that!  And excited for her next adventure. She's ready!