Elder Brantley Shattuck:

Merry Christmas - Elder Shattuck & Elder Shaprio

December 18, 2008
Yesterday was our Christmas conference and that was the reason I didn't get to e-mail yesterday. I just finished a meeting with the zone leaders throughout the mission and we had a guest speaker, Elder Clayton Christenson from Harvard and a member of the 70. He came and did a case study with us. It was amazing, he is a very brilliant man and we had a lot of fun listening to him help us understand some things. The spirit was strong today. He was amazing!!! Wish I was smart enough to go to Harvard just so I could learn from him.

I really hope we don't miss each other again today but if we do just know that I am doing really well. We have a woman named Helen who is getting baptised on the 3rd of January. It has been an amazing experience to be able to teach her, she was already converted when she came here to the states and we simply were asked to go over the lessons with her and make sure she is ready and prepared for baptism. She grew up in and is from Malaysia with a Hindu background(which accepts all religions that do good) so it is a huge process for her to proclaim Christ as the Savior and that there is only one way. She is fully converted though and I love teaching her.

I often times wonder if my calling in my mission is to just teach older single women, I think the Lord knows that the young women would get me in trouble, but men would fear me because of my natural good looks and smooth confidence, so he has me teach older single women...... there is no such thing as righteous pride just so you know, I will repent.

Christmas conference was pretty good, it was full of corny little gimmicks put on by other missionaries and some of the mission presidency. The last part of the conference was all spiritual though and we heard from our mission presidency and their three wives. It was great, President Ward(1st counsel) told a story about a tall red headed boy who went on his mission and served very faithfully and then talked about the moment he stepped off the plane and into the airport. His entire family stood in the same spot watching him walk down the long and lengthy hallway smiling with such excitement and happiness. He then described the individual members and what they were doing while watching their son, or older brother, walk down the hall with his hair parted and his name tag on....... No one moved an inch, until the Missionary's father took off sprinting to give his son a hug that he had been waiting for two years to do. Time seemed to stand still as the two giants stood there embracing each other with tears rolling down their faces. President Ward then asked the question, "Do you get the sense of what it means to come unto Christ" ...... I have been pondering about this story for a while and it really has given me a great image of what it might be like to run into my Savior's arms and cry with him knowing that I have done what he asked me to. It will be such a wonderful and joyful day!

I hope Christmas goes well for you and you get everything you have ever wanted. I will call sometime during the afternoon maybe a little earlier and let you know when I am going to make my real call, plan on like 11:00 -1:00 your time though.

Thanks you mom, I love you, and just so you know, you shouldn't hate sending my package to me through the office, it just means you need to send it earlier next time:). Love you, Elder Shattuck