I Want to Wish You a Merry Christmas, from the Bottom of my HHEEEAAAARRRRTTTT

Hey everyone and Feliz Navidad to everyone!!!! I hope everybody is having an amazing Christmas and spending it with friends and family, or to my follow missionaries out there, I hope that you are finding the true Joy by helping others come unto Christ by the good news of this Grand Gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit of Christmas has touched me a lot this time of year and so I would love to share some of my thoughts and feeling with you as I have been changed through grace and merits of a baby born 2 millennia ago.

First of all, a little update of what has been going on around here, since I haven't written in a little bit. Well, im getting more into my fourth whitewash (which means they replaced the old 2 missionaries with 2 new ones in an area) for the 4th time in 4 areas. So the work has been a little slower recently but we're working with a LOT of faith. And so we're trying to get to know the members, the people in teaching, and basically everyone haha because our area is so small.

Buuuuutttt... since we're in a little small town in the middle of Mexico. These guys like to party! Like for real. So these past two weeks have been just straight parties from the ward and also the mission. So this last week we had two ward Christmas parties (I'll drop a video down below of one) and so it's actually been a great opportunity to invite friends who aren't members of the church. And we had a whole bunch of people show up! So that was a big miracle and we're hoping to put a lot of them in teaching too, because come on who doesn't love tacos and piñatas and the song "Feliz Navidad"????

But, we also had our mission Christmas parties this week!! And oh my gosh, they were sooooooo HYPE!!! For example, it was with half the mission so we got to see all of the boys there which was awesome. And then we had a little devotional type of thing (which I'm gonna explain as my spiritual thought so don't fret I'm gonna explain it). And then we had a TALENT SHOW! So every district had to perform a talent and we sang "Joy to the World" in Spanish, English, and Portuguese. But the best talent was by far when some missionaries WRAPPED up President in wrapping paper, and then his wife came and had to cut him out.

After that we presented our Home-Made nativities. We, of course, made our nativity out of Potatoes. And we got 2nd place so not too bad.

After that we did Piñatas and it was soooo funny because when President was going, he let go of the stick and almost killed one of the hermanas so that was funny. Also, we ate for dinner Ham, Turkey, mashed potatoes, Tamales, ensalada de Manzana, y a classic Ponche! Overall it was one of the Best parties of the whole mission and they even gave us teddy bears with our plaques on it.

So our Presidents Wife gave us a small thought on based on the First Presidency's message on Christmas. This is what it says,

The Christmas season is often associated with gifts. The most desirable gifts are those offered to us by our loving Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. These gifts are made possible because Jehovah condescended to come to earth as the baby Jesus. He was born of an immortal Father and a mortal mother. He was born in Bethlehem under the humblest of circumstances. His was the holy birth foreseen by prophets since the days of Adam. Jesus Christ is God’s transcendent gift — the gift of the Father to all of His children (see John 3:16). That birth we joyfully celebrate each Christmas season

Jesus Christ is the greatest gift of all. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he has bestowed various gifts to us, but none is more precious than the gift of the Atonement.

And so as a mission, we all brought our favorite picture of Jesus Christ. And on the back we wrote our feelings, our gratitude towards, and our love for Jesus Christ. And we also wrote to him and told Christ what we were going to give to HIM this Christmas season. And then we made a stocking for Him and put all of our pictures in it. 

Now, that probably sounds a little cheesy but for me, it impacted me a lot. It made me ponder and reflect about everything He has done for me and also what I have done for him. The answer: Is that I have a longway to go. But that is why He was born in such humble circumstances to show us it is possible to reach our highest potential no matter where we start. We must USE the amazing gift of His Atonement or else it was done for nothing. 

I would like to extend the same invitation to each and everyone of you. Reflect about what you are willing to do to show your gratitude for Jesus Christ and everything that he has done for you. I promise that your faith in Him will grow, and your hope to make progress for your eternal reward will increase. I love you all!! And have a very Merry Christmas!!!