Week 22

Hello Family! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! It was great to hear all of your voices to hear your love and support! This Christmas was very different than any other year but it was so great! We started by receiving a phone call from the Hoover's in Maryland bright and early at 630. Well actually we were awakened earlier by the excited grandkids that were up and waiting to see what Santa had brought them. After we finished talking to the Hoovers we went out to open presents. I opened my presents from home while Sister Hoover was on the phone. I loved all of them! I really love the new jacket as well as everyone else. It is very cute. It is fun to receive a new wardrobe! I get tired of wearing the same outfits day after day. We received stockings with a bunch of goodies. We also got lotion and body spray and stationary. You can never have enough of that. We also got 5 gift cards. I am excited to use them! It was really fun to open presents with the whole family. It was just like it would have been at home but a lot more people! There were 5 grandkids and 6 children and 3 spouses, plus grandma and grandpa. It was really great. Then is was time for me to talk to the best family in the world! You know who you are! I was sad little Matthew wouldn't talk but it was great to hear the voices of those I love dearly! It made my day! Then we ate French toast and bacon for breakfast. After breakfast we headed out to District meeting. It was a wonderful lesson about faith, virtue and humility. I have been studying faith and it has really been edifying. It is amazing how much you think you know and then you realize that you have learned something completely new. That is why we continue to learn and study the gospel our entire lives because we can't learn it all at once. We had Christmas dinner with the Kennedy's. They have a son who recently returned from his mission in Ohio. It was fun to talk to him and hear missionary talk. You could tell that he missed it. I know I will. We then went over to the Bautista's to share some Christmas cheer. Cleo fed us again. Luckily we knew that she would so we ate slow and not too much at the Kennedy's. We then watched The Testaments with them. It was weird watching it in Spanish. Korihor's voice is not as annoying in Spanish. It was great because the spirit was the same even though I couldn't understand all that was being said. It was good to watch the life of Christ and to see His love manifested as he performed countless miracles and acts of selfless love. We gave this movie to them for Christmas with a picture of the Los Angeles Temple. They loved it. The entire day I was overwhelmed with love. After the Bautista's we went home to do our studies. It was pretty weird to do studies at the end of the day but it was the only time we had to do them. Overall Christmas was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. The spirit was different than ever before. I know it was because I am a missionary and my whole life is centered in Jesus Christ. When we focus on him it is an amazing difference. The rest of the week was good as well. Wednesday was a crazy day. We visited Noma and wished her a Merry Christmas. She had fallen last week and broke her arm. She is a sweet old lady. She was grateful that we stopped by. After Noma we went to fill up with gas. I couldn't get the gas cap off and neither could Sister Hoover so we went to the Wheeler's. Brother Wheeler was outside working on their car so we asked if he would help us. He tried and tried and couldn't do it. He went to the garage and came out with a huge wrench and hammer and he finally had success. However he broke it in the process. So he went to Autozone to get one but he couldn't because it was a dealer part. He went to Mazda and argued with the people to get it. They were closed but someone was there so they helped him. They said that they needed the car and he said I could go home and get it but then you would be closed. They finally gave him the gas cap and gave him paperwork for us to fill out and then we were to go back on Friday to give it to them. I felt bad. They were supposed to be at the hospital visiting their new grandbaby. They are a wonderful family. I really love them a lot. We went caroling with the elders in our district and it was really great. We went to the Capps and sister Capps was just thrilled. Brother Capps slept right through it. He was sad he missed it. We sang to the Bautista's and a less-active family, the Flacks as well. It was really great. After caroling we went home for a few minutes to get stuff for the weenie roast. While we were outside there was a stray cat that we had promised to get for a family in our ward who don't have much. We caught and took it over there. Noah was so excited that he couldn't even talk. It was a great moment. A true Christmas miracle. There is nothing better than seeing people light up as you make their day. We then went to the Bautista's. I have to say that it was quite entertaining to have a weenie roast with a Spanish family. They really seemed to enjoy it. I told them that it was one of my favorite traditions. It was so fun. When we got there Cleo was cooking a huge meal for us. The boys forgot to mention to her what we were going to eat. So we had the weenie roast and then had round 2 of dinner. While I was roasting one of my hot dogs Cleo asked me if I wanted some spaghetti. I thought she was telling me that she was going to be eating some spaghetti so I just said Si. Needless to say I had a big plate of spaghetti and half of a chicken to eat when I sat back down. It was pretty funny. I understand part of her Spanish. One day I will understand correctly. We opened presents and we had a great time. It will definitely be a Christmas that I will always remember. On Friday we had a great lesson with Brother Capps. We have been trying to commit him to baptism for like 3 weeks. Every time we get close the phone rings and we have to leave. This week we were determined to do it. We talked about the different steps we have to take in our life to get to the celestial kingdom. We talked about how we can endure to the end. I started crying because of the overwhelming feeling of love that I have felt this last week. It is so great that I can feel like I have family here while I am on a mission. We committed him to pray about being baptized. He was a little surprised but I think that he will do it. I think he is surprised at his progression. The spirit was so strong and it was just wonderful. We also had an amazing day yesterday. All of our lessons were great and we talked to a bunch of people on the street. Not to mention that it was about 75 degrees. It was a beautiful day! It was so great! I also finished the Book of Mormon 2 times this week. It was so great! I was excited to finish reading it in Spanish. I didn't understand all of it but it is a lot better than the first weeks I was reading it. I understand the story line so I just need to practice reading it. As I finished reading it, my testimony was strengthened and I know that it is true. I know without a shadow of a doubt that the gospel has been restored and that the Book of Mormon truly is another witness of Jesus Christ. I learn so much everyday and I am overwhelmed with the feeling of its truth. I know it is the word of God. If you aren't reading it I suggest that you make a new resolution to read it everyday. I promise that it will bring you strength and that you will receive that witness for yourself. Moroni's promise is true. I have done it and I have seen it work in the hearts of the people here. I love you all and hope that you have a great week! You are the best!