December 15, 2014 - STAYING IN TAMPA!

Sisters Coleman and Vanderhoff
Both staying in the are.

L. is getting baptized!!! And I'm going to be here to see it! I found out I'm not getting transferred, and I am quite happy about that :) I really thought I was done for, I've been here for almost 6 months. But alas, I live to see another transfer here in the Tampa 4th Ward. And Sister Vanderhoff is staying too! And we set a baptismal date with L. He's super solid too. We gave him a book of Mormon and the next day he told us he was already done with 1 Nephi. Um, what? He's so awesome. Needless to say, it's been a pretty great week.

K. and J. are doing really well too. K. is so adorable, when we found out at the Christmas party that neither of us are getting transferred she was running around saying "They're staying!!!!" And they were like what are you talking about? She's such a smart little kid, she's never been taught anything about God in her life before, and now she knows so much. She remembers and understands almost everything we tell her. And even more, all the time we're like how do you know that?? This kid is 7! She told us she's been feeling really good lately, especially when she prays, it's so cute. Another funny thing she said this week: she was talking about her grandma coming over and she said "Yeah, she's still alive! And my mom is like 30!!!"

Oh yeah, and I cut off all my hair this week. It was just too long, it was like getting past my waist. It's so much easier to deal with now. Hallelujah.

New Haircut
Dressed for ugly sweater contest

We had a mission Christmas party at the beach all day on Wednesday, that was super fun. Some days it's still hot here and others it's freezing cold, it's pretty annoying. But thankfully the beach day was one of the warmer ones, at least until the sun went down. We had our ward Christmas party this week too, and that was also really fun. The food was really good,and there were so many non-members there, it was awesome! Like all of our investigators and potentials and less-actives were all there, it was kind of overwhelming trying to talk to everyone. And they gave us enough leftover pork to last for the rest of our lives. 

Mission Christmas Dinner

Ahh Christmas is next week, I'm so excited! I don't really know what we'll be doing, but it's Christmas, I'm sure it'll be great :) I'm glad I get to spend it here too, I don't think I would've been too happy being in a brand new area with a new companion for Christmas. I love everyone here so much, I don't know what I'm going to do when I get transferred.

I just love this season that we get to remember the birth of our Savior, the greatest gift we've ever been given. It's been really nice to be able to just focus on that this year. If anything, my mission has definitely taught me what's actually important, and I'm so grateful for that.

PS.  Sister Vanderhoff, Jordan's companion, sent us a very sweet Christmas card, thanking us for raising an amazing daughter.  She included two photos.