Ho ho ho!

First off, I read Elder Holland's talk this morning and I LOVED it all over again! Christ does need disciples forever!  It pumped me up and really primed my mind with LOTS of questions. If you have not read it recently, maybe it will help you out today!:D 

We set a baptismal date with our investigator Ar and he seems pretty excited! We were called upon to give a blessing to one of the sisters’ investigators, and we met at the church to follow them to her house. As we pulled into the parking lot, it was somehow open and a man was waiting for us. He asked us if we could give him a "sick blessing" and we obliged. Somehow the door was unlocked; we went in and gave the man a blessing for his kidney stones. We finished and he left. Weird. I am pretty sure he was one of the 3 Nephites! ;)

We are making our new zone goal called NEWB Runnings, like cool runnings. It is a race and we are really excited for it! :D We are presenting it tonight, since we need to be inside by 6:00  for New Year’s Eve.

The VC sisters saw cousin Carmen again last night and let me know. She must come down fairly often.

I LOVED talking to you on Christmas! Those of you who I couldn't talk to, I am sorry. This week seemed to go by slow because of the holidays, but it all seems a blur! I hope you all have a happy new year! I cannot believe it is already 2013! WOW!  Sorry to keep it short! I love you!

P.S. Thanks for all the gifts, love and prayers on Christmas.

It snowed!

So, it did "snow" a little bit after our Christmas devotional this morning, which was really fun. Elder K. was transferred and Elder H. from Farmingon Utah is my new companion. Elder K. only has 4 days left in Downey... I remember when he still had 3 months left. Wow.

Christmas is here!!!! Feliz Navidad! We had a lesson with a woman named D. who has some potential. We will be seeing her again after the holidays.

We challenged the zone to give out as many Books of Mormon that we could in a day and together we handed out 29 on Friday! It was a great day and everyone was pumped! I will finish reading the Book of Mormon tonight or tomorrow! I love the Book of Mormon!!!! I am a bit sad, so I will just have to start over! I am also planning on reading Doctrine & Covenants and New Testament along with it! I have never loved reading the scriptures so much! 

A member took us to Denny's for lunch on Saturday and they have a Hobbit-themed menu. I absolutely loved it! I may have to go back just for that!

We had a lesson with A. and discussed all of the things she can now do as a member of the church! There is a ward baptism trip on the 2nd of January that we are planning to help her be ready for. She really wants a patriarchal blessing and to have a calling in the ward! She has even signed up to feed us this week and next week. She was confirmed yesterday and the ward was very supportive.

This morning when we got to the Christmas devotional I found that I was on the program to sing We Three Kings in an octet, so I sang. It was a great devotional. I love you! I will talk to some of you very soon!!!! Merry Christmas!!!!

I'm dreaming of a warm Christmas?

It was a bit chilly last week and I was really cold. It made me realize that I will probably die next winter when I’m back in Utah. I have been babied in the warm weather! I miss the snow, though (just not the wet part).

Some of the missionaries I know met Elder Nathan P. at the Temple the day before I was there! It would have been so cool to see him at the Temple! Maybe next time! The family who invited us to their wedding got some pictures to me and I will try to get them in another attachment today.

We helped the M. family set up their Christmas lights, which I have been dying to do. Our houses look so festive now! :) We had fun using a machete to trim the banana tree and chop a pumpkin in half.

On Saturday night, we went to the visitor's center with A. for a Christmas concert. Her mom and two cousins came with us :)

The biggest news of the week is.... A. was baptized! It was a very smooth service and the day was a Spirit-filled day. A. and D. (her mom) made a lasagna and a cake for refreshments. They received some great fellowship from some other members from Belize and I hope her family wants to come back. I think for sure they will make it to the Christmas party!

Transfers are tomorrow and I will be staying in my area for sure. My new companion will be discovered tonight so whoopee! Sorry it is a bit short. I will talk to soon! Have a Merry Christmas!

My name is not Steve!

Well, the Temple was awesome!!!! I feel really peaceful. I should finish the Book of Mormon on Christmas Eve at the current pace I am going, so I want to make that a fun evening and read the story of Christ's birth too. I remember doing that together and I liked it a lot.

We had a BBQ lunch at our apartment with our missionary neighbors on Wednesday. It was a BLAST! It was the first time any of us had prepared the meat and it was a bit salty (too much tenderizer..:). 

A. came to church on Sunday and she loves Relief Society. She also passed her baptismal interview last night! She will be baptized this Sunday! Now we get to work on the program! Woo hoo!

We have been blessed to help lots of members and others set up for Christmas and clean up their yards for "the winter". I love serving! You all know that Christmas is like my favorite time too. I miss wrapping presents and setting up the tree. I set up ours and it looks great!

We are expecting many new missionaries. By June we are supposed to have around 260 in the mission, which is 80 more than we have now! Santa Vaca! I am so excited! Transfers are next Tuesday, so changes are coming, but I am very unlikely to move. Elder K. goes home in 2 weeks and we will get a new companion till he goes. I love you all! I hope you are safe and well! I am definitely thinking of you this time of the year. I will talk to you all in a few days! Time sure flies.  I love you!

P.S. "To catch the real meaning of the 'Spirit of Christmas', we need only to drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ". ~Thomas S. Monson

Now that's what I call Mongolian barbecue!

We had a short lesson this week with V. the referral. He is trying to get another job so he can come to church on Sunday. He is from Nigeria and I know he would love the cultural mix of people in our ward!

M. is still excited for his baptism, but he didn't come to church yesterday. :( We will hopefully have a lesson tonight with a member and see what is up and how we can help. We had a FHE at a member's home last Monday night and it was very successful. J. and his girlfriend came and so did M. That night I ate the best pupusas I have ever eaten in LA. It was incredibly tasty.

A. has still been making progress, but she was sick yesterday and did not come to church. We will hopefully see her tonight. We are planning a movie night for all the missionaries in the ward to bring an investigator so we can watch the Joseph Smith Movie together. Sounds like fun! 

On splits (again in the 3rd ward), we went to a member’s home where they like to mark the height of each elder that comes into their house, on the back of their door. They got excited when I came in and put me on right away. It was fun to see me several inches above the door itself on the frame. It was a blast being back speaking Spanish for a day. The members I met made me feel good, too, by saying hi as we passed at church.  We spent a lot of time serving people on Saturday, too. We got to help a member put lights up in her complex. She then made us Huevos Rancheros. Yummmmmm.

Well, I love you all! I hope your Christmas is a "White one", but don't forget what it is all about!