Hey Familia,
Guess what happened last week? We finally figured out how to skip down lines on these Latin Computers. So now my letters might actually look like letters after all. I can't make the same gaurantee for my spelling though. Well where to start? This week has gone by even faster than the last week. I'm just going to stop counting what day it is because they all run together. So from now on I'm just going to count the p-days. So this is P-day number 8. I've only been in the mission field for 8 days then. Only 96 left.
Surprisingly though, a lot has happened since last week, even though I just mostly sit in class and do nothing all day. So since last P-day, I think I've really gotten to get to know the people here. That's what my theme is going to be this week I think. We all spent Christmas together and did so much together since last week that I really want to share just a tiny bit about some of my closer friends here. What's great about these friends is that we at least have two things in common with eachother: we all have gone through some kind of trial or another while we've been on our missions (whether it is the language, some health issues, or something else), and the other is a moving testimony of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that has driven us from our comfy homes out into this great adventure. We are nowhere near perfect people, or missionaries, but we try and we've been changed through our efforts.
So since you already know about my companion, I'll start with the others in my room. There's Elder Biliter: a really nice, open and all around cool guy from Florida. He likes all sports, music, and fun stuff. He went to BYU Hawaii and loved it; I might go there after my mission just because of him. Then Elder Miess; he's from American Fork and says he lives like two or three minutes from the Mt. Timp temple. I asked him if he knew the Farnsworths and he said they sound familiar but not really well. There's Elder Robinaugh; another really nice and cool guy from Grand Rapids Michigan who makes life easy for everybody becuase he's easy to get along with. Then Elder Bell; he lived in Vegas most of his life then moved to Idaho with his foster parents where he met the missionaries. He was baptized like two years ago and he has an awesome testimony. Then outside of my room there's been two that i've really gotten to know lately. There's Elder Madsen: he's from Highland. He went to Olympus and played rugby at Highland high. Then he played rugby at University of Utah. He's a huge University of Utah fan. We get along really well. He's a complete jock but makes everybody feel welcome and special. Then there's Elder McKinly from Salem, Oregon. He went to BYU but we get along super well. He's into all sports and music and movies too.
I wish I could write about more people but i want to share about Christmas. All these Elders made Christmas so special. We all grew togther so much, that we all strive to be better and follow the rules to a tee. We were told we are the President's favorite group so far in the last year that he's been here. We're going to all sing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing at the Farewell Devotional next Tuesday. We practiced a couple times and it sounds nice, especially since we're going to sing half in spanish and the other half in english. And its going to be acapella. So now on to the Christmas festivities. Christmas Eve started out like just another day until about 3 in the afternoon. We all gathered to play a special game. It was about missionary work, and scriptures, and facts about the church and stuff. It was fun for the time we played it. Then we after dinner we had a devotional all about the savior. It was special. They narrated his birth and we sang lots of songs. Then after the devotional we had this fruit cake stuff that wasn't half bad and hot chocolate. We all went into the court yard after that and each district sang a christmas song of their choice. It didn't have to be a hymn, so there were some funny ones like the Grinch song. We sang I'm Dreaming of a White Cristmas, and it definately made me think of home. Not only becuase we usually have white Christmases but also because we watched Holiday Inn a lot. Then after that we were allowed to just talk in the courtyard till bedtime, but we all wanted to continue to sing American Christmas carols, so we did that for like another half an hour. It was fun to sing those special (sometimes annoying) songs together. Then we all went to bed. I tried to at least. At like midnight, there was a war going on outside in the city. There were so many fireworks that it lit up the sky and the bedroom. It sounded literally like bombs were going off. It was scary at first but then it was cool to see them.
The President gave us all the gift of an extra hour of sleep Christmas morning which was much appreciated. Then after breakfast we watched the 2009 First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was so nice to hear the prophet's voice and to hear all of their words about the savior and this special time around His birth. Then after that we had a huge buffet lunch that was pretty good. Then we all got changed into our P-day clothes and did piñatas, kickball, and volleyball. It was a fun day and I was very appreciative of the President's and his wife's effort into making that day special for us all. Then before bed we got to watch The Other Side of Heaven. It was a little more cheesy than I remember, but I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it. I felt my savior's love for his children and especially for me at this time when i was missig my family. Christmas was definately not the same as it was at home, but it was special for us all.
After Christmas, life went on as usual. I was feeling kind of anxious and nervous about going into the field next week. But I quickly came to realize that i was as ready as I was going to get, and that the Lord doesn't expect me to be perfect, but rather to walk by faith, trust in Him, and try my hardest. That is how we learn in this life. We struggle, make mistakes maybe, but then learn from them and rely on the Savior to make up the rest. I definately know how Nephi felt when he penned those famous, inspired words in 1Nephi 3:7. I know that if we trust in God, everything will turn out okay. I actually don't know what the travel plans are for me yet. I don't find out till like Saturday, but Arequipa is only like a 90 minute plane ride from here, so I should be fine. I will leave on Tuesday the Fourth of January though, I know that for sure. Well, my time is running out, so I'll have to call it a letter by now. Make sure to thank the whole family for their letters. I got them yesterday and it really made my day. Even though I'm not really close to my cousin's kids I felt loved by them and their thougts. Also tell Andrew thanks for his letter in spanish: I understood the whole thing. The church is true. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts. Also thank you for your continued efforts in reading the Book of Mormon as a family. I know that book is true and it can bring the most happiness and peace to your life. More than any other thing in this life.
I love you as always,
Sincerely,
Elder Child
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