Christmas Time!

           So here they celebrate Christmas mainly on Christmas Eve. We got to go to a member's house for dinner that night around 8 (and that was early for a Christmas Eve dinner here!) It was really good and fun. I sent a picture of us by their Christmas tree. They are really well off. Especially here in Brazil. They have a super nice house. Then on Christmas morning I opened up that Christmas package I have been carrying around for the last two months- talk about a build up of suspense! It was perfect- thank you! I am going to buy some bread and jam today so that I can have a pb and j sandwich! I am super excited for that! I have missed my daily pb & j :) I also gave all the sisters living with me little gifts and cards I had made. I was the only one that had thought to get gifts for the other sisters... Haha, it was actually really cool to give completely unexpected gifts though. They were all super excited, even though they weren't amazing gifts or anything. After that we had study as usual. We then went to our Almoço appointment and had time to skype. After that it was back to work as usual! It was more or less an average mission day other than skype and presents. The only thing is that because it was Christmas, most people are home with their families and not really interested in letting in two strangers to share a message. So with that in mind we made other plans! I made Christmas cards for all of our investigators and then Sister Malta and I went and visited them all and sang some Christmas carols. That made for a lot of walking! Usually we pick one area to work in each day, but to visit all the people that we teach, we had to basically walk the entire city! It was really cool though. They were all happy to see us and I think they were able to feel our love for them and how important Jesus Christ really is! We were out serving as usual- even on Christmas! We also wrapped a couple of copies of the Book of Mormon (very beautifully, I may say too) to give out. I really liked that. What better gift could we give for Christmas?! While we were walking to an investigator's home, I saw this lady sitting on the curb all alone. She was probably in her upper 20s. I stopped to talk with her (of course!). I learned that she was waiting for the bus to head to work. She didn't have any family here in Alfenas and so her Christmas wasn't so great. She was feeling very alone and sad. It was cool to be able to talk with her and brighten her day a bit. I decided to give her one of my wrapped copies of the Book of Mormon. You should have seen her face light up! I think that may have been the only gift she received that day. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to be here and make a difference in people's lives. It was amazing to spend this Christmas completely focused on other people and bringing them joy. So even though I miss you all like crazy, I am happy to be here sharing this glorious message.

Finally opened her Christmas gift!

Of course she found a tree for Christmas!

 

This week I also developed a very deep gratitude for seat belts. Don't worry, I didn't get in a car accident! I am safe and all is well! This week we had one of the members and his wife come along to our lessons with us one day. He offered to drive. Ben, I take back anything negative I have ever said about your driving. You are an AMAZING driver. Haha, this brother makes your driving look like road-test perfection. You know in Harry Potter when they ride the night bus? It was seriously like that. Not even exaggerating. He was weaving in and out of other cars at neck-breaking speed. It was supposed to be just one lane, but he treated it like there were two lanes. I swear we only had centimeters of space between our car and people, cars, signs and everything else we passed. And the back seats of the car did not have functioning seat belts. I have never wanted a seatbelt so badly in my life! I was praying like crazy the entire time that we would survive the car ride. But in spite of my doubts, and the laws of physics, we somehow made it to all of our appointments in one piece. Without even a single scratch on the car. I seriously do not understand how that was possible. Needless to say, I am more than happy to walk on my own two feet in the future. He can just meet us at people's homes if needs be.

Loving the work as always

Okay, the Maxwells may have a slight obsession with flowers...

Beautiful and green! I love it!!!

 

Well, I think that just about sums up my week.

 

And Happy New Year too!