Happy Sunday!

Started off the day right with CHURCH. Oh how I love church and I really do LOVE my ward so much! I am really going to miss my ward and the meetings-never before have I felt the spirit so strong in EVERY single meeting, like I have here in the Manhattan 8th ward. I leave uplifted and inspired every week with a desire to make a change and do better. I am finally getting some really great friends in the ward too... right when I am about to leave. I am actually starting to get REALLY sad about leaving. My Bishopric is AMAZING!!! They are each so kind and friendly and full of knowledge and light. I will definitely miss everything about Sundays.... and since it was Testimony meeting-I'll share my short testimony with you.

God truly knows our every single need and gives us what we need, in the way we need it. I believe with my whole heart that opportunities and people are placed in our paths at a specific time for a specific purpose-That every moment is important and a gift from God.

Another thing about Sunday that I will miss is........... MY LOVELY DANCE TEAM! We had our Holiday Party which included "The Amazing NY Race" around the city. We were split into groups of 4 (my group included Ali, Amanda, Maria, and Me) and went around the city finding specific things that we had to document with pictures.... It was a BLAST! After the Race we ate home cooked pasta by our coach Ashley and some lovely dessert (including my Banana Cream Pie (I was dying for an occasion to make it so I could have the slice I didn't have any at Thanksgiving)) We then gave our secret Santa gifts (I received some chocolate candy bars and a class at Broadway Dance Center!!!-awesome gift!) I will miss my dance team SO much-they have really been my favorite part of being here.

The Amazing NY Race- 20 things to take a picture with/of
1. Construction Worker

2. Older Couple Kissing

3. Man with Baby (yes.... she may be a little old but she had a stroller so.... it works)

4. Group with Sunglasses On

5. Girl Wearing a Mets Hat -SO hard to get, we seriously STALKED this guy and ran after him just to get this picture! SO awesome.

6. Sports Team with Gear-found on the Subway floor.

7. Bride

8. Dog with Clothes On

9. Doorman-attempt 3 (first one-couldn't tell it was a doorman, second one-said no)

10. Cop- He was overly excited about his one! haha

11. I LOVE NY Shirt

12. Clothing that Says Brooklyn -We found a man wearing a Brooklyn shirt... he didn't want a picture though. So this was the best we could do.

13. Someone Riding a Bike

14. Triplets

15. Stuffed Animal

16. Mohawk. haha

17. Eating a Burger-Picture was too priceless to post... sorry

18. Reading Eat Pray Love

19. Fountain

20. Ad with an Expired Date-only at FIT

Yes-our team found ALL 20! We rock! We were also given 6 pictures of specific locations in the city that we had to find and document. We had time for 3.

Relaxing on a Bench at the Highline.

Spinning in front of the Alamo Cube

Dancing like kids in front of the Peter Pan sculpture. (This was the first time I have been to the upper east side... 86th and the East End of the Island in this cool little park!)

and for 25 extra points... 8 people Blowing Bubbles

Our team didn't win... in fact we came in last out of 4... haha but it was SO SO SO much fun!

After my lovely adventure I went to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was SO good. I really haven't thought of the REAL TRUE reason of Christmas yet.... being Christ (which is horrible of me, I know!). It really put me in the mood for the season! It is hard to put aside all of the commercial aspects of the holiday, all the decorations and presents and really remember the meaning behind the holiday. Our Savior, our Redeemer, was BORN!

"O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!"

Merry Christmas-Happy Holidays.