It was our beloved Savior’s final night in mortality, the evening before He would offer Himself a ransom for all mankind. As He broke bread with His disciples, He said something that must have filled their hearts with great alarm and deep sadness. “One of you shall betray me,” He told them.
The disciples didn’t question the truth of what He said. Nor did they look around, point to someone else, and ask, “Is it him?”
Instead, “they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?”
"In these simple word, "Lord, is it I?" lies the beginning of wisdom and the pathway to personal conversion and lasting changes. And if the Lord’s answer happens to be “Yes, there are things you must improve, things I can help you to overcome,” I pray that we will accept this answer, humbly acknowledge our sins and shortcomings, and then change our ways by becoming better."
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
On Christmas Eve many of our Senior Missionaries donned Santa hats and set off for all points of the Mission to deliver last minute packages received from loved ones or to drop off a little something extra to our young missionaries far from home. We would have enjoyed sharing pictures of our various stops along the way, but "secret" meaning keeping both our identities and theirs confidential, sorry.
Elder Oglesby, Elder Stewart, Elder Hemsley, Elder Bagshaw, Elder Jackson and Elder Thompson helping us to keep our Christmas traditions alive.
Sister Lamy and Sister Potter, assigned to the Hunter's Creek area, finishing up the Christmas Singing Snowman jig saw puzzle while their breakfast was being cooked.
Sister Potter is patiently waiting for her Visa to be approved to serve in Australia.
Christmas Day!
We began the day by preparing breakfast for the Elders in our area, all six of them, and an hour later feeding the two Sister Missionaries. Then it was off to see the movie "Unbroken" with friends and home again to open our Christmas presents. Beautiful family pictures, gift cards galore, a book and even a scented winter candle-we must have been very good this year.
Later in the day a group of the Senior Missionaries got together to enjoy Hawaiian haystacks for our tropical Christmas dinner.
On the day after Christmas...we got more mail :(
Elders Metcalf and Honda, assigned in the Winter Park area, had an extra bed and desk they wanted removed to make more space in their apartment.
"When we start believing that our contributions at home, at work, and at church are greater than they actually are, we blind ourselves to blessings and opportunities to improve ourselves in significant and profound ways."
As we prepare to welcome the new year it has become a time of self evaluation ...
A Parable of Dandelions
Once there was a man who enjoyed taking evening walks around his neighborhood. He particularly looked forward to walking past his neighbor’s house. This neighbor kept his lawn perfectly manicured, flowers always in bloom, the trees healthy and shady. It was obvious that the neighbor made every effort to have a beautiful lawn.
But one day as the man was walking past his neighbor’s house, he noticed in the middle of this beautiful lawn a single, enormous, yellow dandelion weed.
It looked so out of place that it surprised him. Why didn’t his neighbor pull it out? Couldn’t he see it? Didn’t he know that the dandelion could cast seeds that could give root to dozens of additional weeds?
This solitary dandelion bothered him beyond description, and he wanted to do something about it. Should he just pluck it out? Or spray it with weed killer? Perhaps if he went under cover of night, he could remove it secretly.
These thoughts totally occupied his mind as he walked toward his own home. He entered his house without even glancing at his own front yard—which was blanketed with hundreds of yellow dandelions.
Are we guilty of being blind to our own weaknesses?
"Treating ourselves to Smashburger after a day of service.
Some of us are convinced that our busy schedules or unique circumstances make us exempt from the daily acts of devotion and service that would keep us close to the spirit. It is easy to become creative at coming up with excuses for not doing what we know we should be doing!" Is your heart set on the convenient things of this world, or is it focused on the teachings of Jesus Christ? "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
In a little more than a month we will be heading back home to California. With all that is still left to be done we decided to get a heads start on packing this weekend to allow us time to tend to more important things.
Elder Weston Gale bringing music to the Poinciana Branch!
May we from this time forward seek with all our might to walk steadfastly in the Savior's blessed way-for seeing ourselves clearly is the beginning of wisdom.We must put aside our pride, see beyond our vanity, and in humility ask, "Lord, is it I?"
Wishing you a happy, healthy, better you for the New Year! 
