Glad Tidings of Great Joy

I hope the Holidays go well for everyone! Our Christmas Eve and Christmas here were wonderful and special. Christmas Eve we had a fancy dinner complete with steak, mashed potatoes, and even cheesecake. They feed us so well everyday but that was extra special. I spoke in Sacrament meeting that day and shared a talk about baptism and how we need to remember our covenants and rededicate ourselves each week. Especially being full time missionaries the promises we make when we are set apart are very similar. It was all in Spanish of course, and I got lots of compliments from the Latinos. Christmas morning we got to sleep in an extra hour and then had a huge pancake breakfast with the help of the American couple temple missionaries here. I'm grateful for their help and all they did to make the day special for us. Each one of the missionaries even received a gift from the president, a Chile beanie, and a chocolate bar. Complete with lots of food, devotionals and time to relax-

Another week gone by! Most days follow the same routine so not much new things to report. The group of missionaries we arrived with did leave this week, so now its a new batch. Hopefully we can make friends with them and keep practicing our Spanish! We had Elder Brag come and speak to us this week, a member of the Area 70 presidency. It was a great message. He also said he would be touring our mission in February with Elder Christofferson!!! That's going to be a really cool experience! We had Papa Johns pizza for the night when we were the only district here and it was delicious, the exact same as back home. Even had my favorite, BBQ Chicken. What a treat that was. We had a lesson from a member of the MTC Presidency and he is learning English. He set a great example for us in not being afraid to speak a new language, even if we make mistakes. He made a comment about getting new members to the temple an hour after baptism instead of a year and that was funny. Were blesse

We have the opportunity each week to attend the temple because we live on its grounds. What a nice opportunity and blessing. There is also a distribution center right here so I was able to go and buy a small Spanish himno last P-day. Funny story about last p-day, a lady (a member) stopped us on the street and said something about water. I at first thought she was asking about the water of life, Christ or something....but then she grabbed my companions water bottle and took a sip! Very interesting and funny. We proceeded to practice our Spanish and shared our testimonies with her, a goal we had that day and one we have often, to share the scriptures we're memorizing that day, week, etc We also had the chance to share some #light the world cards with people last week and will do it again this week. It is much more fun to actually talk to real people  and not sit in a classroom all day. We got to take pictures of the lights in the evening last p-day, a blessing from Presid

 The Beginning Hello all!  This week has been crazy, feels like it has already been forever, but we have made it through one week. I'm already learning so much and feeling the spirit everyday. It was a long flight from Dallas here to Santiago, but I was able to sleep a little and it was fun to experience being fed on an airplane. There was one other Elder on my plane with me, and we met up at baggage claim. He is from Arizona and is now my companion, Elder Arnett. There are 8 missionaries in my district, 6 Elders and 2 Hermanas. I was asked to be District Leader and with that comes a lot of responsibility. Leading introductions numerous times a day, being a constant example of obedience, and so on.  The MTC (Missionary Training Center) is unique here in that we are literally living on Temple grounds. We live in the Hospedaje which is directly behind the temple. Our bedroom (Which we share with two sets of Latino missionaries)  window  gives a beautiful view of the temple