Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

    Sorry for the delay in e-mails – the libraries were closed a TON these past two weeks!
    My first Christmas in Los Angeles was incredible! It was topped off by our baptism of M, K and P on Christmas Day! I had the privilege of baptizing P which was SO cool! Being my first baptism in Spanish, I was a bit nervous but the Spirit took over and everything turned out well! I also confirmed Pedro this past Sunday in sacrament meeting. This was really hard for me. My mind seemed to stop working and I had to pray for the words to come in Spanish. I am pretty sure I repeated myself and it was not the best blessing, but several members complimented me afterward. They said it was beautiful and they felt the Spirit. They must have heard a different blessing than the one I actually gave!

     A few Mondays ago I was on splits in the YSA English ward here, and I ran into two guys who knew some missionary acquaintances of mine. I met Spencer Fieeki, who served in the Atlanta mission with Elder Joshua Crandall. This was hilarious! He promised to send a picture and video of the night to Dad, but I don't know if that has happened yet or not. I also met Elder Moala who served in Honolulu with Elder Keita Katanuma!! It was another comforting experience to testify that the Lord loves us! At this Activity, Elder R and I won a rap contest with Spencer and some other YSA members. It was very fun and made me wish I was in their ward more often!
      The Christmas devotional was also a blast!! I got to see all the missionaries in the our mission and it was so joyful! I was reunited with E. Richards from the MTC and E. Rosales as well. It was pretty strange sitting in the chapel with Elders Cressman and Matheson. I never would've believed we would all be here together. We even got a picture with Santa. I believe Elder Cressman sent it to Coach Robison, but I don't know. I was also on splits with a biking elder which means I got to realize how out of shape I am! I have not ridden a bike since my junior year I think...Santa Vaca that was forever ago! Don't worry though, I was at about 197 after Christmas, so I lost a few pounds which was nice.
     Our teaching pool has shrunk due to being dropped, dropping or baptizing those in our pool. I really want to find more people because I very much dislike the lag in teaching. Thanks for all your letters, prayers, gifts and love this past holiday season. I felt so loved and I hope I have given some of this love back to you all! Until next week!!!

Baptisms This Christmas!

    Hey family!! I miss you all this Christmas and hope you are enjoying the spirit of the season. This Sunday we are having 3 baptisms!! The H and C kids are so excited and so are we!!! This will be the best Christmas present for everyone!
    I forgot if I mentioned how many times we make beans and eggs. It is now a Sunday night tradition. Elder C loves them! Now, when we shop, we always need to get our Huevos Rancheros supplies. I hope that Norwegian pancakes will be a hit as well.
    To update on other investigators....J came to church again without her girls!!! Yay! She was there before we were and waiting patiently for it to start. We taught her about donating tithing and fast offerings and she is gung-ho about it. She wants to pay now even though she isn't a member. I guess we can't stop her from donating!
    I was super bummed that we dropped an investigator and got dropped by another investigator, but the one we dropped more that the other. I prayed a bit for him and a few days later, he called. He apologized to us and told us when his schedule is free.
    I love you ALL!!! Thank you so much for the cards and gifts!! I have saved most of them for Christmas day...you know me, I love Christmas! Remember what it's all about and it will be that much more special!!! Merry CHRIST-mas!!

I Stayed Put This Transfer

      Hey family!!  I wanted to let you all know, I stayed put this last transfer.  The only difference for our companionship is that E. Coulson is the new district leader. :)
    First off, I had some elote last week....the corn on the cob stuff that Stephen is always eating on Nacho Libre!  It was very good, but it’s un enfarto esperando a pasar (a heart attack waiting to happen).   On Wednesday night I taught the English class, which was super fun; I think it helped my Spanish a bit.  I thought Spanish was hard, but English is even more confusing...;) 

       J came to Relief society and Church all on her own this last week!  Her daughters are in Mexico, and she used to only come with them!!  It made my heart leap when I saw her!  This week we attempted to contact a new referral but couldn’t get past the two devil dogs to knock the door, so I found a piece of pipe and banged of the door from over the fence :)  No one answered, but I asked the neighbor girl about the referral, and she and her parents gave us so much information that we knew we couldn't drop the lady.  We were starting to think we’d been given a false address but now we know it’s legit!  We'll try back soon.  We set up a Visitors Center trip with the C & H family.  We will go on Saturday.  They again came to church -- the parents drove them and everything!  They are still way excited and the kids in the ward seem to be friendshipping them.  I am so happy for them!

December Already?

     Crazy to think it is December, no?  Hearing Christmas music in sunny weather is not how it was meant to be!  On Friday we thought there had been an accident, but it was really Santa being given a police escort!  We had two recent converts in our area sealed in the temple on Saturday and we also attended the baptism of another investigator who we helped to move out a while ago.  Pretty crazy weekend! 

      I finally made beans and eggs last night!!  It was very good and it reminded me of home.  I almost felt like I was getting ready to go to the church for activity night.  Y and C, the daughters of J, left for Mexico today so we are unsure if we'll be able to teach J, but hopefully. We have three new young investigators that are super excited and want to be baptized on Christmas!!!  They love lessons and are very eager, plus they came to church!!  I will let you know more soon.  The group letter [at Thanksgiving] was much appreciated!

Holiday Time

      Last night was SO AWESOME!!!!  We had the baptism of K and L!  I did not baptize them but I still felt so special being able to witness this miracle.  When they finished changing in the dressing rooms, Elder C and I sang Asombro me Da (I Stand All Amazed).  We both had solo parts and it was so scary.  I have never really sung a solo just standing there.  Musicals are different because you are in a costume and it is not you.  When they bore their testimonies, the spirit was so overpowering!  Most people cried.  I did.  It was so crazy to know how much the Gospel has already blessed them.

     On Thanksgiving we cooked a turkey for one of the families in our ward.  Hermana C didn't know how, so Elder C led the way in teaching her (I didn't know that much either).  We also picked up trash around a park for two hours that day, and that was actually fun being out with our entire zone.