La Semana Navideña (casi)

December 19, 2016

Okay. This week was crazy. Seriously, last night we just died. But! It was super good :) we went on exchange Tuesday to Wednesday, and Sister Baine came to Englewood with me! She was the first STL I ever went on exchange with 9 months ago in Lakewood! Isn't that cute? :) it was so awesome! We worked hard and had a really good time. She's a great missionary. 

On Thursday we did all kinds of good weekly planning, and my poor little companion was pretty sick and ended up taking a little nap and I made some calls. That night we went and saw Hermana Torres, who is the teacher of the youth Sunday school class. She asked us to teach her class on Sunday and fed us hamburgers and hot chocolate! Oh man. I hadn't felt that sick in a long time. But! She's a sweet lady :) and she gave me a little scarf to stay warm walking home! Love that little family. They take good care of us. 

On Friday morning we went to the all-mission December conference!! Woo!!! It was seriously the biggest party ever. All my best friends in one place :) we sang La Primera Navidad again (those elders and I) and Bishop Bart Oats gave us a sweet training about football and missionary work! He's won a couple Super Bowls and stuff. NBD. But it was pretty funny, he showed us part of the 2007 super bowl and we all got so excited! Man, football. Such good stuff. Haha then we had an amazing lunch of ham and potatoes, and I sat with Sister Pace and her new trainee, Sister McCleve, Sister Gibson, and Sister Smith. I love those ladies. Then we had some hilarious elders sing the 12 days of Christmas in NJMM and it was SO GOOD. I'll try to send it to you, but it might be too big! So funny. Then we had a couple other funny skits in the gym, and then back to the chapel for another training from President and a Sister Taggart. I love them so much. They and the other senior missionaries did so much to help this Christmas time be all good and happy :) then after we got all our packages and took them to our cars (so excited!! And I'm loving the 12 days of Christmas <3), and headed out! I went back home with Sister Peña and we had a good exchange all weekend! It was a two-day exchange, which was cool! 



Elder Wagner, nephew of Ted and Leslie Wagner
Now I'm not Wagner-less this Christmas!!!

 

On our exchange, we met this referral named Patricia. She's this young mother from the Dominican Republic, and super awesome! We taught her the Restoration and when we asked her if she would read the Book of Mormon she said "yeah, of course! I don't know what it is.. but something inside me makes me feel like I really need to read this Book. I need to know if it's true. I don't think it's a coincidence that you found me right after my son said he wants to go to church." It was SO AWESOME. And she invited us over for dinner the 24th!! So I'm super super excited about Patricia :) it was a great exchange! Sister Peña is from Peru, and we talked in Spanish the whole time! Woo! My Spanish is getting a lot better with my Mexicana. I love sister Holguin so much. I seriously miss her a lot when we go on exchanges.. it's the best :) 

So yeah! It was a really great week! Super busy and exhausting, but así es. Being a missionary during this Christmas time is the bomb :) Christmas here on the mission is pretty different than it is back home, but I love it! There's no time for shopping for presents or decorating a Christmas tree, really, but all we do is focused on the Savior. And that's the way it should be! We give our all every day for Him. I'm so blessed to be a missionary this time of year. I get to focus solely on Christ: His birth, life, and sacrifice for us. I get to go out every day and find the people that are searching for Him but might not know where to find him. I get to read His words every day and apply them to my life and the people here that I love. I get to share the power of His light and love with everyone I meet. I'm not a perfect missionary in any way, but He is so patient with me! I know He lives. He was born a cute little baby, just like us. He grew up, just like us. He was tempted and sometimes hurt, just like us. But His mission here on earth was so much bigger. He was the Only Begotten Son of the Father, the Prince of Peace. He came to this fallen world to save it! And He accomplished that mission, out of love for us and all our brothers and sisters. 

I love you all SO SO MUCH!