Merry Christmas!!!

Hey Family!

How is everybody? Looks like from the picture your enjoying some Christmas traditions and family time! Perfect Christmas Eve! I super jealous of the Christmas dinner tonight with the Lamberts and Greens, that’s one of my favorite parts of Christmas. You will all have to write a little letter telling me how it went and how Christmas goes tomorrow morning!

So it was really good to talk to you all last night, but I don’t have a whole lot to say today. I want to thank mom for sharing her experiences with me; that was really cool. Here in our ward we have been working on the young men and women a lot. I have thought a lot about them and about my own experiences in Young Men’s. One thing that really had stuck with me is something my bishop said in our singles ward when I was at school. We were talking how it’s kind of hard for kids that grow up in the church to get and maintain a really strong testimony because the church is all they know and they don’t have a lot to compare with. But in one of our bishopric meeting he said something like “we already know that, but all we can do is invite and create opportunities for these kids to feel the spirit”. I think that is super important, maybe it’s not going to mean anything in the moment or the kids that you work with won’t be changed right away. But as a leader of young people I think that the key is just to provide them with experiences to feel the spirit, and when it really counts they will remember all the have learned, what they know, and most importantly what they felt. I know that how it was for me and a lot of other kids my age. But when it came time to make decisions I always had that foundation from all of the experiences I had in the past.

So that’s my little two bits on the young men and women, which you all probably already know haha, but there it is. Merry Christmas to you all, remember it’s all about Christ. This week I had the opportunity to finish Jesus the Christ (I am pretty excited I finally finished!).  His life, His example, His qualities, and His love are truly amazing, something you cannot describe with words.

Don’t forget to read the nativity tonight! And you should read 3 Nephi 27:27 as well. It’s one that has been on my mind since I started my mission.

Love you all

Elder Utley