week 33-My last letter home...or some would say

Well, this is it! The last letter I'm going to send home! The World ends Friday, so I guess this is it. I hope everyone is prepared!

My heart is breaking this week... the Hobbit came out... :( haha

Also, Rebecca, keep an eye out for a girl with the last name "Gustavson" at HEFY Fiji. Elder Gustafson is serving out here and came out with Elder Cannon! They're from Canada.

So, this week it seemed like nobody was home. It was crazy. Somehow, the Lord guided us to things to do though, so no complaints :) Actually, there's much to be grateful for.

The big event of the week is the Christmas Party. It started with Elder D and I trying to practice for him singing "O Holy Night." He was nervous because he was one of three singing it, and we needed to practice, but every piano was in use, or getting tuned. The only one left was the one in the locked chapel. So, I got a spatula, slid the bolt and went in. As we were leaving, President saw us. "How did you get in there?" He asked. Thinking honesty was the best policy, I told him I had picked the lock with a spatula. "Thank you so much Elder Hodgson! You are the man!" Apparently he was looking for a key to the chapel and couldn't get in. haha.

So, the program started and we had a talent show. Elder D nailed O Holy Night! It was amazing. Everyone was great though. We had a bunch of fun acts. We had piano, guitar, banjo, the Senior missionaries did a bell choir. Some sister missionaries went all "hip-hop" on "Far Far Away on Judea's Plains." It was hysterical.

Afterwards, we went into the chapel to have a testimony meeting about Christ. President called on about 8 missionaries to bear testimony. We also went over the "dos" and "don'ts" of Christmas day. That was pretty fun/funny. President Riggs is awesome. He's much younger than most I've seen so he still has a lot of lifeblood in him. He spoke in our stake conference a few weeks ago and started his talk with: "My name is Matt Riggs. My parents gave me a name that rhymes with "Fat Pigs." How cruel is that?" One guy in our ward commented with a little disdain "Well, he's not your father's mission president." "No," I replied proudly, "He's mine." He's an amazing man.

After the testimony meeting, we went back into the cultural hall and had lunch/socializing for the next two hours, which missionaries rarely get. It was great to see everyone again. We got a picture of our whole MTC district for the first time since return and report. It was great to see them all again. To see old companions and missionaries we used to work with. It was a great day.

That night, we had our ward Christmas party. Guess what was sung there? O Holy Night! haha. It's okay though, it's a great song. :)

So, the end of the world! It's happening this week. Anything that anyone would have done differently? I hope not. Everyone please, if you get a chance, read President Uchtdorf's talk from last conference. It's an amazing look on what our priorities need to be in this hectic world we live in. "Let us not wait until we die before we learn to live."

Now, lets get one thing straight. I don't think this is the end of the world. I expect to see my family on skype next Tuesday, four days after the world ends. But I think this is definitely a good opportunity to look at what's important to us in our lives. I've noticed on my mission that I miss a lot of things from my former life, but they aren't always the things I expected to miss. It's been a great reminder of the things that really are important to me, and it fills me with little regrets of things I wish I'd done differently, different emphasis' that I'd had, and it fills me with big resolutions to do better with those things when I'm home. It's a great reminder and I hope we can all take a little inventory to help get the right perspective.

Until next week. Merry Christmas!