When I say Skype is truly just about the best invention ever, I'm not kidding! Nothing does a mothers heart so good as talking to her missionary son and hear him so happy! What a blessing to be able to spend time talking with him - the whole family plus 2 gathered around for nearly an hour and a half and had a great visit. The time went far too quickly, but we truly loved every last minute of it.
It was really good to talk to all of you too!! Yes, I felt really homesick after haha! But I'm alright now! It took a few days but it was really good to see all of you, even though it doesn't feel like it's been almost 4 months! It's great to hear everyone is doing well! :)
Not much happened last week...We had our zone christmas party last P Day, and at the end, we did a white elephant gift exchange. I got a duck dynasty christmas hat haha! It's pretty awesome! Christmas eve, we had District Meeting, and then later that night we had dinner at a members house. Christmas, we went to the Morales' house in the morning for breakfast tomales and "caliente", a really good hot fruit drink thats kinda like apple cider, but I like it better! After that we just went back to the apartment and played basketball on the little hoop you sent and made cookies to take to a few members, rather than interrupt family parties on the holidays. The Morales' invited us back for an early dinner at about 3:30, and that was really good!! It was meat, rice, and veggies. They made this salsa out of chiltepe peppers, you can only get them from guatemala, they are waaayyyy hotter than jabaneros!!! It was really good! But never eat the peppers alone, they're so hot!!! After that, we made our way over to the Chiviliu's for our skype call. And the rest is history. ;) Carlos, the member I've told you about, got us christmas presents! E Jellen is his favorite, and because he's leaving, he bought him some really expensive usher cologne and body wash. He bought me a towel. hahahaha!! I don't really care, I just thought it was funny ;)
But after christmas it was just a regular slow week...I had an exchange with E Guijarro, from Mexico City, on friday and saturday, that was fun! We got to go give another blessing of health to Judith on friday night, she was in the hospital for a heart problem I think she said, and she felt better after the blessing.
I'm sorry, but this week really wasn't that interesting...we didn't have any super spectacular events going on or anything ;) The thing that has stuck out to me this week was just the realization of how much Jesus Christ has done for all of us and how much He love us. This has been a weird Christmas, I didn't expect to be here last year, but that is something that has come to me as I've studied Christ's life and listened to talks and all sorts of stuff this month. I know that Jesus loves all of us, and that is why I am out here as a missionary, to share that love :)
Love you guys!! Have a great week!! :)
So…..I have to preface this next one with some background….
The Sunday before Christmas, in our church meeting - it's typically inspired music and messages related to Christ and Christmas. This year, unbeknownst to any of us, our sweet choir director had contacted all the missionaries serving from our ward and had them jot down their thoughts - a short little message about Christmas. Then, in between the musical numbers, those messages were read from the pulpit. It truly was a powerful meeting. Emotions were close to the surface for many that day - not just the families of those missionaries, but the whole ward. In a way I can't really explain, it brought a feeling of unity, and a powerful reminder of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. There were more tear filled eyes than dry that day. It was beautiful. Here is the letter from Tanner…
November 18, 2013
The birth of our Savior
was the most amazing thing that our God could have given us. A lot of times I
think we take that for granted; that on that Holy Night, a child was born. A
child who would lead a PERFECT life, a child who would teach us to return to
our Heavenly Father, a child who would suffer for our sins, suffer for our
temptations, and suffer for our afflictions, all so that He would know how to
best help us. That night, a Savior was born, and I think it was no coincidence
that a new star shined in the heavens, because a new light was born on earth; a
light to lead us, guide us, and show us the way. How amazing it would have been
to have been a shepherd and heard the angel and seen the Christ child!! What an
amazing gift, and what an amazing night.
I know that Christ was
put here to lead us back to our Heavenly Father and to help us find peace in
this troubled world and there was none other who could have qualified for that
same responsibility. Jesus Christ is our
older brother, our Savior, our Advocate, and our best friend. We can never
understand Him perfectly, but He understands us, and that is a gift that we
should cherish more than anything else.
Elder Nelson
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